The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

villafan10

Bone_Idle wrote: »

I've been looking at our budget again, and it looks like we're going to have to put less away in monthly savings, not more! This is mostly because I've increased what we've got allocated for bills, just to be on the safe side, so if it turns out I've been over-cautious there should be a spare bit of money somewhere. But it's very frustrating! Best have another look and see where else I can squeeze things...

Some things you just can't avoid.. well unless you want your leccy to suddenly switch off etc. Just make sure you got no money wastage and you know you've done as good as you could :money:

lostinrates

villafan10 wrote: »

Some things you just can't avoid.. well unless you want your leccy to suddenly switch off etc. Just make sure you got no money wastage and you know you've done as good as you could :money:

Agreed!

If you have it left over at the end of say, three months, you can always add it to your savings. I wonder i its worth you having a separate instant access savings account which might have lower interest but can be got at 'if needs be'? That might be the middle ground solution?

But really, while we are all saving away we have to remember this is part of life too, prudence is necessary but frugality to the point of fear and suffering shouldn't be!

ZoeGirl_3

Hi just an update, I have found (or squeezed out) another $1000 in my budget and it only leaves 500$ to find over the next 5 months that needs to come from outside my savings to meet goal. There is just no where else to squeeze money out lol ...

So now I am thinking and might have a lot at options...

If my targets were easy to reach I don't think it would be as much fun, lol, but I don't think i have to make em quite to tricky either...

Bone_Idle

villafan10 wrote: »

Some things you just can't avoid.. well unless you want your leccy to suddenly switch off etc. Just make sure you got no money wastage and you know you've done as good as you could :money:

Thanks - it's all about cutting down on the wastage, isn't it? I think we're pretty good about turning things off when not in use, not wasting the gas and so on, but those headlines about 40% price rises get pretty scary! Especially with autumn just around the corner - or already here, judging by the weather we've been having!

I've been doing my sums again, and if I can manage to get £100 a month into savings I should reach my target of £20,000 in about three years time. Or, if I allow for interest on what I've got saved already (which I reckon could be about £800 a year), I can reach it in two years by puttting away £85 a month! So I'm going to aim for £100 but not be upset if I only manage £85 It's nice to have a concrete goal!

villafan10

yes indeed.. I've had a few years of frittering money away but now times have changed, I've got a £25,000 target for just under 3 years. It's achievable but still an achievement I think. Follow my progress in my signature :j

louby_lou

everyone here has really motivated me! Im renting atm but cheaply and want to save for a deposit with an aim to but in about 5 years time. got nothing saved yet but i certainly plan to start now! thanks!

countrygirl27

Ok so Im annoyed. In order to help my saving for a deposit I opened the much publicsed Halifax regular saver account and I moved some of my savings to them as well so I would get 12% on my drip feed account. This was in mid July. Anyway, I noticed a week ago that the money didnt seem to be going in so I rang them and they said everything was fine check with my other bank. Ring other bank, (LLoyds) and they say 'oh no there isnt a standing order' so I set up one and make an emergency payment so that I meet the t&c's. but now Lloyds have made two payments into the regular saver account in 3 days and I'm worried that I will have broken the t&c's of the account and not get my wonderful 12%.

Why are the people in banks so inept? I checked with both Lloyds and Halifax a month ago and the assured me everything was set up ready to go.

I'm off to sulk now.... and maybe ring Halifax later.

Synonymous

Hello everyone, can I join too?

I'm 24 and saving for a house of my own. I didn't have a target before, but now I'm thinking 20k. But seeing as prices are falling all the time, and I don't know what size property I'm after, I don't yet know how much this equates to! (I will be doing sums for the rest of the day!).

So far I've got £10,600 in an ISA. Opened another flexible saver but this is mostly for saving for things like annual car insurance and eventually a new car.

In terms of Ingoings and Outgoings I am paid four-weekly (so an extra payday a year) I take home £1100 (after tax, NI, pension, union subs and student loan repayments). Outgoings - £100 board, £160 petrol, £20 phone, £14 broadband, £12 cinema, £60 for clothes and makeup and a weekly allowance of £45 (£180). I save £550 immediately on payday, and clear current account out except for weekly spend and upcoming DDs into flexi saver for max interest.

My ISA is only at 5% but I can't move this now until April can I? Just in process of moving current account from HSBC at 0.1% to A&L at 1% (plus £100 cashback, as recommended by MSE)

If anyone can see ways I can improve my saving then I'm all ears, would be nice to be in my own house by next summer but dunno if I can save enough by then, plus market may not have bottomed out by then.

Also, I was thinking of stoozing for a bit of extra cash, if I want a mortgage as early as next July would I be best putting this off because of credit report? On the other hand, I don't have a credit card at all so thats probably making my credit report worse. Aaaargh, there's so much to think about!

lostinrates

Countrygirl, thats terrible! Do pursue it and let us know what happens.
Welsome Synomymous. Seems like an excellent rate of savings to pay, well done!

MrDT

Hi Synonymous I'm aiming for 20k too, you've got off to a much better start than me though!

Regarding the ISA, if you've paid anything in this year (from April) you won't be able to transfer and pay into another ISA until April '09. If you haven't paid anything in since April you can transfer and pay into a better account. I'm not sure what the deal is if you've paid in this year if you can transfer to another account and just not pay anything else in til next April. There's an ISA subforum on the savings and investments board (I think) that would clear this up for you in no time I'm sure.

Personally I doubt that the market will have bottomed out by next summer (who knows!?) but if the right place at the right price comes along before things turn around I'd be happy to buy in a falling market. Don't fixate too much on calling the bottom of the market, *nobody* can call it with any real accuracy until way after the fact

I doubt stoozing or tarting would do your credit file any favours, but I reckon building up a bit of 'good' history with a (maybe cashback?) credit card that you pay off in full each month would be a good idea

Anyway, welcome to the thread, and good luck meeting/surpassing your targets!