The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

ZoeGirl_3

Country Girl, sounds like what I want, lol, *sigh* little cottage somewhere ...

I want to join too please, we should give ourselves some kind of challenge like the GC board does, save an extra amount above normal savings for example??

Well if anyone is keen, let me know

lostinrates

ZoeGirl, I'm up for that......

well, livery is set to stay low over winter. I was offered a horse I used to ride for a gift and she's a horse I've always loved and wanted, but I've been sensible and after many tears turned her down. but the people whose land I'm using at the monet have made me an offer for winter I can't refuse. Instead of going back into livery I'm going halfs on tarting up their field shelter and staying for winter. This will be saving hundreds in livery and in petrol (ins short walking distance) and benefit them as well as us as they get the material increase in there facilities, their horse gets companionship and they never have to attend to their horse (retired).

Other savings this month:1. bad news...had an encounter with a pothole and it got my wheel a well as tyre...good news, heavenly person at ATS is beating out the alloy for me to save me the cost of a new wheel!
2. decided against a holiday....DH is woking in Paris from March...so while not a holiday for him i will have somewhere to go for a change of scene. Must look into cheapest way of booking eurostar.

jamtart6

great news lostinrates the hundreds you would have spent can now go towards a house

The type of house I want to buy is now about £10k cheaper than it was at the start of the year (plus a cheeky offer, it could end up 15k or 20k less than the start of the year), I hope this will continue to fall !!

We have just stashed another £1000 away which means we've saved nearly 6% (5.7% to be precise) deposit so I'm very proud of us!! Luckily OH has started to see the light and realises that by putting in £200 per month, the savings actually go up by £400 a month as i'm putting £200 in as well, hence it mounts up quicker, he's thrilled with the current total and is starting to get the savings bug i suspect and not before time either!!

ZoeGirl_3

Well the reason I want a challenge is I need to find $1500 NZ (or about 500 pounds) to meet my savings goals by the end of 2008. Doesn't sound like much maybe, but my budget is very very tight already, and this money will need to be either earned from some other method other than my job ie a second job, or by cutting back further in my budget...

And before the end of the year there are 5 months so it is about $300 NZ (or about 100 pounds) per month, starting in August

So I don't know where it is going to come from, but I am up for ideas lol...

Already take my lunch etc...cook from scratch....don't drink much....hardly use car....etc..

MadSage

I'm currently saving as a FTB. The plan is to save a 50K deposit, plus 30K for fees, furniture etc., and a safety net for mortgate payments, before summer 2009. Depending how things go, we may be looking to buy before the summer. Basically we will be looking to buy a four bedroom house (one bedroom for us, one as an office, and two for our kids when we have some - no plans just yet) with a garage. Current prices are around 215K.

I've been self employed for just over 3 years and now have two long term contracts as well as occasional short term contracts, which give me a fairly stable income at the moment. My partner has just recently gone self-employed and isn't likely to turn a profit this year, so the savings are all down to me. My income before tax is anywhere between 3-6K per month. Outgoings are usually less than 600 per month.

I currently have around 33K in a Kaupthing Edge term account, 5K in A&L Direct Saver, 10K in a Halifax ISA, and 7K in Sainsburys bank which is reserved for my tax/NIC bills. I also have shares in a company at the moment which expects a multi-million pound investment in the next few months. I stand to gain around 10K from that deal if it goes through, and I'll still own shares in the company which is expected to grow in value over the coming year. On top of that, I'm expecting bonuses from a couple of contracts during the coming year.

No debts. Never had any, and never will - apart from a mortage, but I'm hopeful that I can pay that off fairly quickly.

countrygirl27

I like the idea of a challenge but I find it hard to work out how much actual money I have! I know that sounds silly!
For example, I earn £1250 p month take home. I live at home with my aged M, and pay £200 pm to do so and here is a run down of my expenditure. I have a horse (major passion - will not give up at any price!) and I keep him on a really basic level and it costs me £145 pm. Then my car, I think it costs (per month) £15 tax, £100 petrol, £30 car ins and approx £30 is put aside for garage bills. Then I top up with Tesco £9 p month, and I don't want to spend my whole life living indoors not doing anything so I probably spend about £60 a month going to the pub, cinema etc. Not particularly extravagant!

I think this leaves me with approx £660 a month left over and yet that isn't the amount I manage to save away! What I find hard to control is what I would term cash leakage! Things like, for example, birthday presents, a dog bed!, cugh medicine, fillings at the dentist, new socks, hair grips, breakdown cover, the coffee club at work. These are sorts of little things that you don't really notice buying, but add up. I have tried to be able to measure it and control it by withdrawing £40 a month and using that for these sorts of purchases. But even so the money still leaks away somewhere!

I am very moneysaving conscious - I have a clubcard plus account to pay for my petrol and then I use the vouchers to get the car serviced and buy magazine subscriptions as christmas presents. I discount my Tesco mobile top up online and use the library a lot! I price check everything I buy! I sell on amazon my old books and CDs. I have a sporadic Saturday job as well as a full time job. I run up and down the road rather than join the gym. I make and take my lunch to work.....

I feel a bit like Ive ranted, but I do wonder where some of the money goes! I know people will suggest a spending diary, but I often buy things on behalf of other people etc and then it gets complicated.
Any ideas on how I can cut my cash leakage down would be helpful!

Rant over.

Bone_Idle

Hi everyone, can I join?

I'm 29, OH is 23 (and regularly enjoys reminding me I'm going to be 30 next year!) We're renting a small 2-bed terrace at the moment - living expenses are covered by my wages, which is lucky because OH isn't working and is 7 months pregnant...

We have a smidge over £16k as our deposit at the moment, hoping to get that somewhere nearer £20k over the next couple of years - during which time we're hoping that the asking price for a 3-bed house around us drops from around £140k to about £125k. My folks will help out with a bit - but pride means I want to get a decent chunk together myself!

The most I've been sticking away recently is between £35-£50 a month but after reading all your posts I'm going to see where we can cut back so I can try to up that to £100. Wish me luck!

MrDT

Just want to say 'hi' and 'good luck' to all the new people that have joined recently; and Bone Idle especially, congrats on soon becoming a daddy :T (rather you than me though )

countrygirl27, I'd definitely be the first to recommend a spending diary Could you not omit the purchases made on behalf of other people if they pay you back for them? Or even have a column in the spreadsheet for recording purchases on behalf of other people, and when you get the cash off them put that in as a ''negative spend' in that column so it all balances out over time if you get me?

I won't be putting away as much as I usually do this month, but since I'm already ahead on my target for the year that's ok I guess. I have some big spends coming up, a stag do, a mate visiting for the first time in two years (he has been serving abroad and will be introducing us to his newborn when he comes up - major beerage and some kiddie gifts are in order!), some big charity commitments etc, so not a cheap month. Have reduced my savings standing orders this month so I don't have to skimp on these things, got to remember to live life not just plan it Of course, at the end of the month if I've anything left I'll shovel into the savings accounts, and the standing orders will be bumped up to their usual level ready for September!!

I'm pleased to say that I'm still on course to meet my annual savings target in September Anything over that is a bonus. Hope everyone else is getting on nicely

PS - I'm going for a second viewing on a house tomorrow morning. Might be wiping out my savings sooner than I thought!

Jaymz

Hi Everyone,

Is it ok if I join this thread? My situation is that I am 23, just returned from travelling and am saving for a desposit on either a flat or small house. I earn £1500-1600 after tax each month plus a little extra from eBay and I am aiming to save £20k for a deposit. I currently have no debts and my outgoings are very low.

I would like to buy next year at some point (maybe during the summer) but it all depends on what happens with flat/house prices around here. I live in the Thames Valley region and places are VERY expensive.

Currently I am saving about £700-800 per month and whatever I have left at the end of the month I am transferring to my savings account. I know that I am not making the most of my savings as it just sits in a standard Barclays e-savings account!

Looking forward to joining in any challenges if there are any

LittleMissAspie

First target reached! Have updated sig.

countrygirl27 wrote: »

Any ideas on how I can cut my cash leakage down would be helpful!

A standing order straight into your savings account after you get paid. I get paid around the end of the month, and I have standings orders set up for the 1st. That's it, gone, can't spend it. From what you've said, your SOA would be something like this:

Income: 1250

Outgoings:
Rent 200
Horse 145
Petrol 100
Car Ins 30
Car Tax 15
Car Savings 30
Mobile 10

Savings 600

Spending Money 120

That's how I organise my money. I round bills up to the nearest £5 for leeway and treat my savings like a bill that has to be paid no matter what. I take my spending money out as cash, you could take out £30 a week as you don't want to be carrying a lot of cash around. It's a lot easier to keep track of what you're spending with cash. You can see exactly what you've got left.