Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

LadyWithAPlan

@debtfreewannabe321 tx - luckily I am getting a contract mortgage - and my MIP is in that 
you have to have worked as a contractor for over 18 months (I have for a decade) so 
I am thus not looking for a FT job but a contract job - better pay, flexible etc and can get this contract mortgage 

if I can’t get a new contract and have to do FT paye then I will be aware of this probation period tx

debtfreewannabe321

Oh I see! Phew..I didn't want it being another thing to delay you being able to move!

LadyWithAPlan

@debtfreewannabe321 phew indeed ! The buying a home now is vital as the new  rents are not far off me borrowing £300k of mortgage levels.. though I am still earning decent interest to cover half of it or more..

FREEZING and rainy outside - i have not left the house

My lovely neighbours  - their stress carries on - understandably lots of people are v worried about having to move/become homeless  either in 2 weeks or in 6 weeks (I may be the latter but really should be ok). So many of them are failing these insane affordability checks - I may yet - given my freelance contracting income -  but wont know for a month so getting  ideas for plans in place in case. A Thai beach seems like a good idea right now.

My mum tells me she has the feeling it will be fine for me  so I am believing her.   
Plus I  am chanting hard for a solution for all of us. At least I have family and money to back me up.. I wont end up homeless, I have places to stay.  I don't want to spend my deposit on high rent  but I do have a safety net which means I am sleeping  soundly this week unlike some friends.. some of whom are on benefits  or low income and basically being thrown out to nowhere in 2.5 weeks .. despite never missing a rent payment in years...

I also have lots of friends really struggling also outside of my neighbours  - work is harder to get, costs are going up ...rent,, food, going out is now expensive.. I definitely feel less stressed and calmer with my tight control on my spending and still doing nice things.

Luckily YNAB has really curtailed my spending naturally this year - I can see I have saved 25.318% of the money I have actually  received in the 11.7 months  into either house deposit or pension savings.. It will be more as long as I get paid next week. Much better than my tracking Oct/Nov/Dec spending  last year..
The money I have received  this year I have used wisely for the most part. and had fun
I have yet to start Xmas shopping mind.. and the Dec 2023 £ spend on xmas gifts  ignores what I had already purchased Nov 23..

Annual spend - I started YNAB Nov 30th last year so finally getting some accurate figures - I have always budgeted but not ever  bothered adding all the little bits up properly (and I would move money from my virtual pots so hard to calculate my actual real spend)  so YNAB is great for this collation as its all on reports - every penny I have spent is clearly defined.

All figures from Dec 1st so 11.7 months - will update at EOM

So  11.7 months spend: food at home = £2063.81   and abroad food (cooked in apartments)  £655.04 
This does not include  household goods such as toilet rolls, meals out either in UK or abroad - it is rare I eat out, normally a bday treat or a special occasion.
I always go for drinks instead of meals out with friends  (£1265.83  this year !! but this  breaks down to  £105 per month which  is my social  spend  plus £15.38 pm extra on entertainment so really not that bad seen monthly  - I also can see a hefty cabs/train spend as well

Splits include 
Grocery  £1483.43
Bulk      £129.5
xmas food £67.98
Meal boxes/takeaway £150.82
Junk /sweets  £167.37

Software language madness
Even though YNAB exports a fabulous report in csv/excel showing all months and the categories of income/expense and gives you totals and avg per month.. I decide to look at it via Python (!) why?!! .... it was a bit chaos - I did get  my answers but  took a lot longer  workaround  with a lot of me googling/ai'ing but also could see how the csv was created causes issues, I am still learning - I dont want to get too dependent on AI..

I am a work in progress on this programming  - however a month ago I would have no clue how to even start this  process and had zero Python so I am learning I want to give myself that credit of I am learning ...
i was going to do some  course study this weekend but actually a practical real world test is v useful and reminds me to go back and keep going through all the course..

Queen_of_the_Hive

dawnybabes said:

I didn’t think landlords were allowed such a big increase ? And if they are then they shouldn’t ! How are people supposed to be able to afford such a jump !

Totally agree @dawnybabes but same thing happened to us, we didn't have the income to match! Bloomin awful for anyone going through this!

Queen_of_the_Hive

@LadyWithAPlan I am so sorry to read of your potential situation. I know how horrible it its. Hope you find a suitable solution that works for you.

savingholmes

Sounds awful on the new management company. I don't understand how they can refuse to accept contractor income? Hope it works out in your favour although I feel desperately sorry for your neighbours.

Cheery_Daff

So sorry to hear about your flat, and I am very glad for your sake that you have enough dosh not to be worried about being homeless just before Christmas. What a rotten situation all round though xx

KajiKita

Saving 25% of your income?! Well done 👏😊 I’m genuinely impressed. Not sure I would want to or, out my percentage across the year! 😉😂

Heavy spend on cabs and trains - well you don’t run a car, so that’s your alternative and I suspect, still cheaper, especially in London where parking is so awkward / expensive. 

I’m impressed by the practical application of Python. From the little I know of it, the condition (formatting) of the data before it’s imported into python is critical - how compatible is the YNAB data with python?

Agree with everyone else that the flat rent increases and affordability checks etc sounds absolutely brutal. Totally reinforces for me how in the hands of landlords tenants are in this country. Not sure what it’s like in other countries. Thank you for chanting for the rest of the tenants as well as yourself. I hope everyone else can find something secure as well. I think what makes me saddest, is that the little community you have will be broken up. Might be worth getting formal contact details (email and mobile) for the people you’d want to stay in touch with now, just in case everyone does get scattered to the 4 winds …?

KK

Watty1

Just caught up.    Your neighbours, feel so sorry for them, and to try and sort something at this time of year is so hard, plus, busting apart a small community.     i have a feeling you will be just fine, but, yes, very stressful for all of you.  Focuses the mind on joys and gratitude and plans to move forwards

debtfreewannabe321

Your neighbour's need to stay put until they have their section 21 which they can then take to the council to initiate some help there. Especially those on benefits. They will be put up in a hostel at the very least. But if they leave I don't think the council are obligated to help. Unless things have changed since I went through this myself....

I believe you'll be okay too 🙏🏻