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Looking for advice on FTB plan
momo12
Posts: 73 Forumite
Hi all, looking for some advice on how to start off with saving for a home for the first time.
My wife and I have around £10k in credit card debt, all 0% interest rate until 2027. Half of it is tied up in a private car purchase.
We have around £5k in savings/rainy day fund.
We have 2x help to buy ISAs, that have laid dormant for a while. We have recently started paying in £200 a month to each one. But looking into it, that can only get us a house less than £250k in Scotland. I think with our family size and ideal location, there is a chance this may be too small a budget for us.
Forgive me for being ignorant to the options but I've come across the lifetime ISA and opened one the other day with £1 to start the 12 month clock. I understand the logic of putting in £4k before April but that obviously diminishes our savings pot for right now.
We should be able to put around £650 a month, I guess I'm looking for advice on where I should put the cash. Is there any benefit from clearing half the credit card debt instead? It could open up another £100 a month.
I think I'm right in saying that we could use the 2x help to buy ISAs as well as the lifetime ISA. Would I get the bonuses from all three? I doubt it?
Thanks in advance.
My wife and I have around £10k in credit card debt, all 0% interest rate until 2027. Half of it is tied up in a private car purchase.
We have around £5k in savings/rainy day fund.
We have 2x help to buy ISAs, that have laid dormant for a while. We have recently started paying in £200 a month to each one. But looking into it, that can only get us a house less than £250k in Scotland. I think with our family size and ideal location, there is a chance this may be too small a budget for us.
Forgive me for being ignorant to the options but I've come across the lifetime ISA and opened one the other day with £1 to start the 12 month clock. I understand the logic of putting in £4k before April but that obviously diminishes our savings pot for right now.
We should be able to put around £650 a month, I guess I'm looking for advice on where I should put the cash. Is there any benefit from clearing half the credit card debt instead? It could open up another £100 a month.
I think I'm right in saying that we could use the 2x help to buy ISAs as well as the lifetime ISA. Would I get the bonuses from all three? I doubt it?
Thanks in advance.
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Comments
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While you are on zero %, putting money into savings is a good idea. But you need a plan to pay off that £10K before you start getting clobbered by interest come 2027. On a £10K debt, that could very quickly push you to the brink and scupper any plans for property ownership.momo12 said: We should be able to put around £650 a month, I guess I'm looking for advice on where I should put the cash. Is there any benefit from clearing half the credit card debt instead? It could open up another £100 a month.
Any language construct that forces such insanity in this case should be abandoned without regrets. –
Erik Aronesty, 2014
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.3 -
As this is more of a financial question than a property one, you could be better off posting/looking in this forum.
Savings & investments — MoneySavingExpert Forum
If you have detailed questions about ISAs there is also a sub forum of the above one as well.
ISAs & tax-free savings — MoneySavingExpert Forum
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What's the numbers?
Anticipated property value,
Current amounts in HTB Isa(s)
Date the 0% deal ends?0
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