The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

EGGP1878

eviekins wrote: »

Hi EGGP1878, welcome to the thread!
Hope you don't mind me asking, but why do you want to pay off your student debt before applying for a mortgage?
Student debt doesn't go against you for mortgage applications, and its probably the cheapest loan you'll ever have. Martin always says its better not to pay the loan off with savings if you're saving for something else such as a house deposit.
I also have a small amount of student debt which I could easily pay off in full with my savings, but I'm far better off to keep the money so I have as big a deposit for a house as possible!
Not sure if you were aware of this?

Anyway, back to my saving progress!
In 2 weeks time I will have hit 60k - eeeek!
Very pleased with myself about that. Work hard, save hard!
Before I get too upbeat though, house prices in my area are dramatically rising! I was hoping to purchase a house up to 180k but can't really see this happening anymore and think it could be anything up to 230k instead now, especially by the time I eventually buy! (Sorry to end on a negative!)

Really enjoy reading all your saving journeys though!
Best of luck everyone! Keep up the hard work! X

That's actually quite an interesting point you make. I've never really thought about it, I just don't like having it hanging over my head.

What makes it more interesting is this, I never went to Uni I went to a private college, so it's not a conventional student loan, I had £20k worth of student debt all together.

£10k was a Co-op bank career development loan, I've paid that back.

The other £10k was actually loaned by parents, interest free, I still owe this.

However, they are in no rush for it back, so if it would actually be more beneficial in the long run to put that extra £10k towards the deposit, then that makes sense.

That's probably something worth asking on this forum actually.

ross1985

i have just seen this post and found it very interesting. i have just turned 28 and have been saving for about 2 years, i live with my partner in his house he has 2 already which makes me more determined to buy a place, my mum is always saying that i need to get on the property ladder, i have just made it to 16k now i wanted to get to 20k by Xmas but i think im going to be just short. my partner will lend me 15k which will bring my mortgage down a bit. I'm looking for a 1-2 bed flat or house which in my area i could get for 100k or less. i would not live in it, i would rent it out to hopefully cover the cost of the mortgage each month im not looking to make a profit but that would be a bonus. its been great reading all of your messages.

LisaJane

Hello,

I have been married for just over a year and have had a fantastic year swanning about, spending lots of money! We had a amazing wedding in August 2012 followed by a honeymoon in Italy. I then went to New York, another trip to Italy, a weekend in London, a weekend in Edinburgh, a music festival and a number of other wee treats! At the end of the summer there, my husband and I agreed that we were now going to start saying no to things and to start saving seriously for a house, car, baby etc.

Thankfully, he has around 7 grand saved already...mainly due to the fact he lived with his parents rent free for 5 months before our wedding and I was paying out bills for a 2 bed house on my own and also he did not go to New York (which cost me around 2000 in total including purchases!) He is generally very good at saving and has a direct debit set up to his ISA saving £375/month, so I know he will not be the weak link...I know it will be me!

I am now keen to start my own saving to add to OH's impressive start. I currently earn £1448 per month and put £724 (half of it) into a joint account which covers all bills/food/petrol and all joint purchases between OH and I, including nights out we go on together. I am the one who takes most to do with managing joint account and now that our "honeymoon credit card bill" is paid off, I am keen to syphen off some of that for house deposit savings also! I think that this month, we may have around £200 left to go into the pot as we have not been on any weekends away or dinner's out this month. I am very pleased with this as we had a £270 credit card bill from holiday spends in August to pay for! So I am hoping this might be even more next month!

The £724 left from my salary is mine to do what I please with...buy clothes/make up/nights out etc. So I am hoping to save as much of that as possible each month! At least £500...especially as we are planning to start trying for a baby in January!

I have set up a direct debit to an ISA of £100 per week. I am hoping to save more than that, but I thought that if I set up the direct debit, then I can at least ensure a minimum amount of savings each week.

I currently have £435 in my ISA and £761.79 in my current account with no bills left to pay for the month. I could be doing with a few new clothes for work...but probably some primark stuff would do...so hoping to end the month with about £1100 saved.

I would like to set a target for 23/09/14 to have £2200 saved from the joint account and £7000 saved from my own account. Will keep my signature updated with my progress!

shellstar

Hello, I’m new to this thread but I’ve often lurked on general the general MSE Forums. I’m 32 and I used to own a house with my Ex and we sold that last year. Once sold, I went on an amazing holiday (believe me, I deserved it) and bought a new (to me) car as my old one failed its MOT rather spectacularly. I now rent in a shared house and at the start of the year, got a promotion which gave me a £10K salary jump (HURRAH!). Since then, I’ve been saving most of the extra cash and now have £20,634.12 saved up. I can’t believe I have this much money in the bank!!! I grew up quite poor and my parents are so proud of me, I want to make them even prouder.

I decided back in May that I wanted the goal of saving for a deposit. I haven’t decided 100% that I will buy a house next year, but I’d like to be able to be in a position to do so (if I choose) by May 2014. I’ve spoken to a financial advisor, and I should be able to get a suitable 2 bed property for around £220k (South East). He almost fell over himself when I told him my savings and my salary. He thinks I’d be a very attractive customer for a lot of banks. As it’s only me, and there will be no help from relatives, windfalls or government, I’m aiming for a 10% deposit. Almost there now, and then I just need my fees. I already have a lot of the furniture etc. I need from having owned a 3 bed house before.

So with the help of my IFA, I’ve worked out I need to save a further £6065.88 over the next 8 months. I’m currently putting away a minimum of £550 per month (this month I managed £700 – woo hoo!). As I’m single, living in a great city and am really quite a catch (IMHO), I want to make sure I’ve got enough money spare to live a little (lots of dates to be going on, and I don’t think it’s fair to make chaps pay for ALL of them).

My biggest issue at the moment is that I know I have tons of stuff I could probably eBay and could do with a de-clutter, but I find the whole thing so tedious. Also, I haven’t eBayed in a few years and my ex would do a lot of it through his account, so I don’t have lots of feedback. Any tips on how to make it less dull? Do you think the fact I haven’t eBayed in ages will get me less money for my items?

Also, I’ve listed my savings below as you guys seem to be doing this. At the moment, as my ISA is full and I want access to some savings (like £1,000 – in case the car needs something for example) I’ve been shoving all the surplus into my instant access saver. Is there a better way to do this? I notice that you guys have more than one regular saver. I didn’t know that was allowed. Should I look into that?

Cash ISA (3.5% until Oct 2013): £11,521.81
1 year fixed Interest (2,2%): £4,110.40
Regular Saver (4%): £1,000 (£250 max per month, I put in the max)
Instant Access Savings: £4,001.91
Total: £20,634.12
I’ve also got some stock and shares, but they currently total around £1,200 and I’m keeping them out of my deposit pot as I’d rather not cash them for another few years.

So at the moment to reach my goal I’ll need to start seriously saving more than my minimum £550 or I won’t make the shortfall. I do get a company and personal bonus, but these aren’t guaranteed and I can’t do much to influence them, so I’m seeing these as added extras I can use on doing up my pad once I get it.

LisaJane

Hi shellstar,

As far as I am aware, there is no limit on how many savings accounts you can have...there is only a limit on ISA's, you can only open one ISA each financial year. ISA's are better than ordinary savings accounts because you are not taxed on the interest. So if you have not yet opened an ISA this financial year, you would be better to do that than open another savings account. Some ISA's allow you to transfer money from previous ISA's into them. The guide on this site is very helpful on it. Personally, I only use ISA's for savings, as so far I have never reached my limit as I have not saved enough (hopefully that will change soon!) I also always go instant access because I like to have access to my money at all times for emergencys.

As for ebaying, as far I'm aware, it is incredibly tedious...selling on Amazon is much easier, however you probably wouldn't be able to put all of your stuff on Amazon, so you may just have to perservere with it!!

pahicks

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to join this thread and say thank you for being such a huge inspiration to me over the past 6 years. I have mainly lurked in this thread, but have enjoyed all the numerous success stories which has made my saving habit almost a compulsion.

I first started saving back in 2007 for a house of my own and have managed to save a whopping £75,000 since then. Finally this year I became engaged (after dating a certain lovely lady for over 2 years) and have now found a property on a certain street that I have dreamed of living on but never thought it would ever be possible. The house is even bigger than I imagined, having gone from being a first time buyer I am now buying a four bedroom semi detached property! I feel very lucky indeed.

My offer was accepted a couple of weeks ago and is all progressing nicely and I hope to be in before Christmas :-). I would like to add to all other fellow lurker's, that it is definitely worth saving as hard as possible so that in the end you will end up with a property of your dreams :-).

Right I am off now to start lurking on the mortgage free wannabe forums :-). Thanks once again to everyone who has contributed to this forum post, it has been a huge inspiration to me and I am sure many others!

shellstar

Thanks LisaJane. I do have an ISA and it is already full for this year. Thanks for clarifying on the savings accounts. I think the Barclays regular saver offers the best rates whilst meeting my needs. I've got Friday off work so I'll pop in and open one.

My ISA rate is ok at 3.5% but the ends next month so this is another Friday job. I think I should transfer to another ISA once the rate drops but I've never done this before. I'll start by phoning the bank it is with and then go from there. I had a look on the MSE site and it looks like rates for transfer accounts are pretty rubbish, but I guess everyone on here understands that!

I suppose I could also give some thought to eBay on Friday but I suspect I won't. Are there any good days or time of day to list or have items ending?

LisaJane

shellstar, 3.5% is about as good as you'll get these days for an ISA interest rate I'm afraid. I just had a quick glance at best buys there and it is quite a sad looking state of affairs!! I opened a Tescobank one at the start of this tax year and will be shocked if I fill my allocation before April...so shouldn't have to worry about it again til then!

Just to let you know though, transfering is easy, your new provider should have a downloadable form and you just fill it in and send it off and they do all the work.

sufjanspirit

I suppose I should join this game!

24 year old Employed former student with no debts

Looking to buy my first property with 15% deposit, so max of £18750. Looking for properties <£125k (no stamp duty!) plus ive done quick checks and can only get mortgages of £135k most.

Money saved so far:

£5760 in ISA
£2500 in Nationwide
£1004.64 in FD saver
Also paying max into pension (myself 6% - employer 10%)
£50 long term regular saver

I can save £1000 a month out of my salary, as i still live at home (luckily!)

So £9264 in total so far. Want the deposit by 1st April 2014, hard ask but I get offshore trips through work with decent bonus so doable!

Anyone have any tips/tricks etc for me, or any other information I should give

Thanks

SS

tara747

shellstar wrote: »

Hello, I’m new to this thread but I’ve often lurked on general the general MSE Forums. I’m 32 and I used to own a house with my Ex and we sold that last year. Once sold, I went on an amazing holiday (believe me, I deserved it) and bought a new (to me) car as my old one failed its MOT rather spectacularly. I now rent in a shared house and at the start of the year, got a promotion which gave me a £10K salary jump (HURRAH!). Since then, I’ve been saving most of the extra cash and now have £20,634.12 saved up. I can’t believe I have this much money in the bank!!! I grew up quite poor and my parents are so proud of me, I want to make them even prouder.

I decided back in May that I wanted the goal of saving for a deposit. I haven’t decided 100% that I will buy a house next year, but I’d like to be able to be in a position to do so (if I choose) by May 2014. I’ve spoken to a financial advisor, and I should be able to get a suitable 2 bed property for around £220k (South East). He almost fell over himself when I told him my savings and my salary. He thinks I’d be a very attractive customer for a lot of banks. As it’s only me, and there will be no help from relatives, windfalls or government, I’m aiming for a 10% deposit. Almost there now, and then I just need my fees. I already have a lot of the furniture etc. I need from having owned a 3 bed house before.

So with the help of my IFA, I’ve worked out I need to save a further £6065.88 over the next 8 months. I’m currently putting away a minimum of £550 per month (this month I managed £700 – woo hoo!). As I’m single, living in a great city and am really quite a catch (IMHO), I want to make sure I’ve got enough money spare to live a little (lots of dates to be going on, and I don’t think it’s fair to make chaps pay for ALL of them).

My biggest issue at the moment is that I know I have tons of stuff I could probably eBay and could do with a de-clutter, but I find the whole thing so tedious. Also, I haven’t eBayed in a few years and my ex would do a lot of it through his account, so I don’t have lots of feedback. Any tips on how to make it less dull? Do you think the fact I haven’t eBayed in ages will get me less money for my items?

Also, I’ve listed my savings below as you guys seem to be doing this. At the moment, as my ISA is full and I want access to some savings (like £1,000 – in case the car needs something for example) I’ve been shoving all the surplus into my instant access saver. Is there a better way to do this? I notice that you guys have more than one regular saver. I didn’t know that was allowed. Should I look into that?

Cash ISA (3.5% until Oct 2013): £11,521.81
1 year fixed Interest (2,2%): £4,110.40
Regular Saver (4%): £1,000 (£250 max per month, I put in the max)
Instant Access Savings: £4,001.91
Total: £20,634.12
I’ve also got some stock and shares, but they currently total around £1,200 and I’m keeping them out of my deposit pot as I’d rather not cash them for another few years.

So at the moment to reach my goal I’ll need to start seriously saving more than my minimum £550 or I won’t make the shortfall. I do get a company and personal bonus, but these aren’t guaranteed and I can’t do much to influence them, so I’m seeing these as added extras I can use on doing up my pad once I get it.

Hi shellstar! I recently broke up with my ex too, so am getting used to paying all the bills on my own. I'm still able to save, but my targets are going to be harder to meet. But I'm determined to do it! I lke your attitude, and you should be very proud of your progress so far

I've sold a LOT of stuff on eBay, but yes, it is a faff - and now they're taking 10% of postage too, the greedy swines! I have a pile of stuff to sell, but sometimes I think that it's just too much hassle. I generally take a break during the summer, I have better things to do on warm evenings than list stuff on eBay!

I donate anything that's unlikely to sell for more than a couple of quid to the charity shop, as it's not worth the bother imho. But there's money to be made, that's for sure (see my sig!). Your lack of feedback shouldn't be a problem unless you're selling very high value items. So get decluttering! I will if you will.

Sunday evening is the best time to end a listing, I usually start a 10-day listing on a Thursday evening. Set aside a wet, dark evening when you have no plans - that way, it won't feel like such a pain. And good luck. :A

Re savings, I max out high interest current accounts as well, such as Santander 123, Halifax Reward, Lloyds Vantage etc. It only takes a few minutes to set up standing orders going from one to the other each month. I know that interest rates are crap at the minute, but some interest is better than none!