The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

tara747

Wow Louba, that's great going, well done you! How long have you been saving for?

Bufger

loueyn wrote: »

Hi Everyone

I think I need to join this thread purely for moral support. I feel like I've been saving for a deposit for a lifetime. Me and the o/h are saving for our first house. We have a combined take-home wage of £2200 (in our pockets after tax) and currently have £22k saved.

We're getting to the age where we need 2+ bedrooms and a garden. Oh and he's got motorbikes so obviously we need somewhere to put them!! Houses that match our requirements in our area are currently going for around 120k so 30k need realistically (or 25k and a bargain/miracle!). We're nearly there but it's taking so long I'm starting to lose the will to save!!

Just put £900 away this month but still feel quite glum. I think it's because we currently live in a static caravan and winter's on the way. We were really hoping to have got somewhere by now!

Happy thoughts needed!

Good luck everyone else with your savings. How do you all keep positive?

Lots of mugs of hot chocolate and plenty of romantic walks so you can talk about your first home! Just talking about it can get you through. If you're really down and losing sight of the end goal have a trip to B&Q or Ikea and pick out a wallpaper or a design you like, start to imagine how you want it to be!

You'll get there. Its so exciting when you do.

Best of luck to you (and to everyone saving hard!)

Louba

Thanks Tara! £20k is from OH's savings which he has built up over about 10 years or so by being careful and investing, much more sensible than me....and owns less shoes! The rest is from about May this year, I got a new job with a nice pay rise and all of the extra money is going into the deposit fund together with what would have been normal savings and anything we make from selling stuff and saving on bills.

loueyn

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement! I'm starting to feel a bit more positive we also went to see a mortgage advisor again last week so that's helped to focus me. Strange though as I thought they were meant to be tighter on lending at the moment - we can borrow £170k if we want it!?!?! (whether we could pay that back is another matter entirely!!)

Save, save, save and thanks Bufger, the hot chocolate and romance are exactly what we need! :-)

Bufger

loueyn wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement! I'm starting to feel a bit more positive we also went to see a mortgage advisor again last week so that's helped to focus me. Strange though as I thought they were meant to be tighter on lending at the moment - we can borrow £170k if we want it!?!?! (whether we could pay that back is another matter entirely!!)

Save, save, save and thanks Bufger, the hot chocolate and romance are exactly what we need! :-)

Yeah we could borrow 220k but went for a 130k mortgage so we were well within our means. Its always tempting to get a better house as you can borrow more but in uncertain times (with regards to jobs and house prices) its better to work out how much you can pay back if one of you loses a job and has to work at Asda or whatever.

I always think of the worse though. I guess its better to be safe than repossesed!

tara747

Louba wrote: »

Thanks Tara! £20k is from OH's savings which he has built up over about 10 years or so by being careful and investing, much more sensible than me....and owns less shoes! The rest is from about May this year, I got a new job with a nice pay rise and all of the extra money is going into the deposit fund together with what would have been normal savings and anything we make from selling stuff and saving on bills.

I'm like your OH then! Mine hasn't saved anywhere near as much as I have and it can bug me a little sometimes. I feel like I've been so disciplined (including before I met him but about £20k of my savings have accrued during our relationship) and he hasn't - and maybe he's had a more interesting life. I sometimes want to just splash out on something just for me!

How do others cope with the disparity in deposit savings between them and their OH? I know this has been discussed before but it is interesting.

I'm up to about £28,500 now and am on track to get to £30k by the end of 2009 woo! I'm thinking of aiming for £11k next year, and if I get a pay rise I'll add it to my target.

Louba

tara747 wrote: »

How do others cope with the disparity in deposit savings between them and their OH? I know this has been discussed before but it is interesting.

We're evening out as my salary means I can put away more on a monthly basis and will pay more on the mortgage once we move so by the time we move we'll be at least equal and probably tipped to my having contributed more. I've also put in more to our current flat. Strangely although to date he's contributed more to our deposit savings it is him who feels that he should be able to put in more on a monthly basis and toward future mortgage payments - I guess its a male instinct to provide :rolleyes:. I think if I wasn't able to even out the contribution I'd feel uncomfortable as I'm an independent pay your own way kind of girl. If I put in more in the long run that's fine with me as its fair based on salaries but again I know that OH would prefer things to be equal. We'd both feel differently if either of us thought the other wasn't making an effort. He's used to being on his own and I've been married, divorced and then fiercely independent so all of this stuff is part of getting used to seeing things as "us" and not him and me....no-one every tells you how to do that bit . Sorry - bit of a ramble but it's a hot topic in our house! Interested to hear what other people's experiences are.

Tara well done on your savings and good luck on the £30k, I can't wait for us to clear 30.

tara747

Louba wrote: »

We're evening out as my salary means I can put away more on a monthly basis and will pay more on the mortgage once we move so by the time we move we'll be at least equal and probably tipped to my having contributed more. I've also put in more to our current flat. Strangely although to date he's contributed more to our deposit savings it is him who feels that he should be able to put in more on a monthly basis and toward future mortgage payments - I guess its a male instinct to provide :rolleyes:. I think if I wasn't able to even out the contribution I'd feel uncomfortable as I'm an independent pay your own way kind of girl. If I put in more in the long run that's fine with me as its fair based on salaries but again I know that OH would prefer things to be equal. We'd both feel differently if either of us thought the other wasn't making an effort. He's used to being on his own and I've been married, divorced and then fiercely independent so all of this stuff is part of getting used to seeing things as "us" and not him and me....no-one every tells you how to do that bit . Sorry - bit of a ramble but it's a hot topic in our house! Interested to hear what other people's experiences are.

Tara well done on your savings and good luck on the £30k, I can't wait for us to clear 30.

Good for you Louba! I like your attitude.

I don't even count my OH's savings in my total as I prefer to just set my own targets IYKWIM. I know how much he has saved and intends to save but that's it. Also, if we ever split up it's good to know that I'd have my own financial security/safety net. So until and unless we buy a house it's all separate! He does save a lot harder since he met me though! And he says I'm better with money than any girl he's ever met...

Phirefly

tara747 wrote: »

How do others cope with the disparity in deposit savings between them and their OH? I know this has been discussed before but it is interesting.

My OH has only just eclipsed me in earnings since we got together 6 years ago. When we met he was in (not massive) debt and while I was busy saving, he was busy putting away the same amout to clear his debt.

That got sorted out a while back but for some time he was earning around half as much as me. I found this period was when I found saving the easiest as we matched our spending based on his means, so any additional funds I had got put away.

The tricky part came when we were both earning similar amounts as it was like a floodgates opened and we wanted to treat ourselves.

Today our savings are pretty much 100% what I have put away, but he's earning more now and we're in it for the long haul together. Not only that, what I have saved up to now seems a spit in the ocean compared to our target!

Dinah93

Whats mine is yours. All our money is joint, I'm taking him for better or worse, richer or poorer so we don't have any split money. I earn nearly double what he does, but equally when we met I had about 6k of debt plus a student loan and he had 7k in savings.