The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

Martas

I meant to join this thread for a very long time At the moment we have roughly 6k. I really need to have a proper look at our accounts and set up savings account to keep a better track of it. We didn't set a target but would like to have at least 15% so depending on a house we will fall in love with, it will be between 10 and 15k +3k for fees + 5k to make some basic changes in the house. At the moment we really like the house which is only 65k it's in a very good area- nice neighbourhood and in a catchment area for one of the best primary schools. It has a very good space downstairs, bedrooms are smalish but we could live with that or potentially turn side extension into double storey. I check every day if it got sold yet hoping that it didn't:rotfl:

lawlie wrote: »

All our friends seem to get deposit gifts from their parents - the luck of the both of us that we end up together and neither of us are lucky enough to be getting a single penny from our parents!

I will not get any money from my parents as well (they would really like to help but at the moment they are paying an absolute fortune for my sisters dentistry studies). To be honest I feel great that all the money for the deposit comes from our hard work and sacrifices- it really gives us a sense of achievement:D

tara747

Bit of a 'grr' update from me:

My new total is £68,258, so I saved £698 in May.

But I'm not sure how this is possible. I did a quick tot up of my spending and it came to £586. Now, I earn £2,190 (after tax) per month, so I should have £1,604 saved. So !!!!!!???? And this is not the first month I've thought this. Where is my money going??? :eek:

I'm no auditor, but by golly I'm going to go through my accounts and see what on earth has happened.

I have a lot of accounts and move money about to maximise interest... if I can't keep up I'm seriously considering having EVERYTHING in one account so that I'm not doing lots of transfers.

Robj10

Hi, after reading through some posters progress on here, I think its time I joined in too!

Okay, so I'm 21 years old. I work full time picking up minimum £1400 4-weekly (so 13 payments a year) after tax. Overtime is available at the moment aswell so can pick up around 1600. I also still live at home.

Looking to save around 10-20k for a deposit on houses around the 100k mark.

Now, up until recently I've lived a bit of an expensive lifestyle (which i have no regrets about ) & have got £1300 on a credit card, and £4500-5000 remaining on a loan for my car. At the moment my monthly expenditures come in at about £700 (Board, car insurance, credit card payments, car loan payment, phone contract, etc, etc) which leaves me with 700-900 each month and I've been saving £300 a month towards 2 holidays this year (one with the lads, one with the missus) which has paid both off and also spends for both. So my usual monthly spend over the past 6-12 month has been 400 quid (then anything extra I just put on the credit card and pay that off with extra money from overtime).

Now, in the next couple of weeks I'l be inheritting between 8-10k. I plan to pay off my car loan, and clear my credit card (and then cut it up!). Then pay off my car insurance in one go as it is due next month (£600) & car tax (£180).

So that should leave me with a minimum of £1000 which will be my starting block, but most importantly it should leave me debt free.

Now, my monthly bills should come up to a measly total of £170 (Board, phone contract & few other small bills). Which leaves me with £1200-£1400 to play with a month. So I plan to save £700-900 per month depending on how much overtime i work (putting £500 into an isa and the rest into a savings for easy access if needed). leaving me with £500 general spends a month (should cope fairly easily)

I also do a share incentive plan (where my company matches the shares I buy). I pay £50 a month which comes out of my payslip before i see it so I dont even notice it going. They currently have a value of £3000 although i have to wait 5 years to cash them in without forfeiting the matched shares. I dont plan to use this money - unless something goes drastically wrong over the next few years.

Also, my girlfriend is looking to save £200 a month to throw into the pot aswell, although shes struggled of late because of one thing or another, but thats another story and I've probably bored your enough by now!!

So yeah, thats my plan. Hopefully i will stick to it, will post an update in the next couple of months! Wish me luck!

Cheers for reading

BeachCat

Hi all,

Monthly update from me. Less commission this month so only £400 added to the pot (plus £100 added to my holiday savings account).

The good news is, OH and I have seen some new builds that we're interested in. Under the help to buy equity loan scheme, we have already saved enough money to cover the deposit and fees so the end may be in sight! Although the houses are not even available for reservation yet and likely won't be completed for some months so we're going to keep saving and put any surplus towards furniture and the beginnings of an emergency fund!

Happy saving everyone, keep focused on the goal

debrag

Is the help to buy equity loan scheme a good thing? From next year I'm going to be saving for a deposit for 2019 (when my credit report is no longer crap) and may have to do something like this, depending on the deposit I manage to raise.

EDIT: wont be able to do help to buy equity loan scheme as it ends in 2016.

BeachCat

I think it depends on your individual circumstances but for us I think the help to buy equity loan is a good thing

Our interest rate and therefore mortgage payments would be much lower on the HTB scheme than a 90% LTV mortgage on an 'old' house. As the payments would be pretty much equivalent to the rent we pay now we would be able to continue saving as we do now and pay off at least 10% and hopefully the full 20% loan after 5 years.

It also depends on whether you like new build homes, fortunately we do!

You hear scare stories about new builds being overpriced and negative equity but nobody can predict the housing market and we don't intend to move again for 5-10 years so we'd hopefully have enough equity built up by then.

As for the depreciation of the value of a new build, I see that as the money I would have had to spend bringing an older property up to the same spec (new kitchen, bathrooms, windows, roof etc) and also the money I'd be wasting on rent whilst saving up for a larger deposit!

I think for those who would be struggling to afford the mortgage repayments even on the HTB scheme, it may not be such a good thing though. And if you hate new builds then buying one using the scheme just to avoid saving a larger deposit is probably not a good idea either.

Those are my thoughts anyway I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell me how misguided I am as seems to be a common theme on these forums regarding new builds and government schemes!

Jaybo10

lawlie wrote: »

All our friends seem to get deposit gifts from their parents - the luck of the both of us that we end up together and neither of us are lucky enough to be getting a single penny from our parents!

We too have not got any money from parents/wealthy benefactors/money fairy but we are nearly there.. looking back now I am amazed how quickly the past 2 years have gone.

Looking forward to pay day update next week!

CocoD

I recently found this thread and just wanted to say how inspiring it is. It is lovely to hear so many happy endings and has made me absorb a little more patience. It is also reassuring to see that I am not the only one who wants the whole process to hurry up though and that there are others out there who have spreadsheets and repeatedly check rightmove and the bank balance! Thanks and best of luck to you all. Coco

J_i_m

I too look at rightmove far too much, but luckily there's very little property local to me I'm interested in at the moment.

beckythemadcow

Even though I am on a temp contract (with a new job lined up for September), I thought it would be worth seeing if I'd be able to get an AIP.

Unfortunately hubby goes onto even more reduced money which is not guaranteed so only my salary can be counted. In theory this would be possible, but NOOOO... I'm on a 1 year probationary period. Apparently they can confirm my contract in March, meaning no house for us for at least another year

It feels ridiculous that we can easily afford the mortgage, and we have saved £60k in three years, I should never be out of a job but we can't have a house!

People who have only saved 5% and have a smaller income can get a house but not me. :eek:

(This is not a moan at people who have a 5% deposit - It's the computer says "No" attitude that winds me up!!)