The 'We're saving for a deposit' thread

BritOnABudget

emincosi wrote: »

Long time lurker folks! But, inspired by all of you, I'll be taking the plunge.

I plan on saving 100k in total within 5years (currently, at 22k), trying to prove/disprove the hypothesis of 'ditch the avocado toast to buy a house'. While that's the ultimate goal, if I decide to go ahead and purchase with a smaller deposit - so be it. But, I wanted to have a goal and budget to follow in order to see how this works out.

I'll be blogging in more detail about my experience on wordpress (let me know if you want to follow along), but will aim to update you all here every two weeks or so as well! Sharing is caring, yes? I have been getting email alerts on this thread for over a year now, and must say it's quite inspiring, so thank you for sharing your stories!!

I'm a singleton based out of London, renting on my own, I'm quite lucky in that I have a fairly well-paying job. So I'll be aiming to save 49-50% of my after-tax paycheck each month. It will mean cutting back quite a bit on expenses, however, it doesn't mean that I'll have to live extremely frugally.

I would love to read about your experience of saving for your deposit in more detail if you could direct me where to read this :beer:

tara747

emincosi wrote: »

Long time lurker folks! But, inspired by all of you, I'll be taking the plunge.

I plan on saving 100k in total within 5years (currently, at 22k), trying to prove/disprove the hypothesis of 'ditch the avocado toast to buy a house'. While that's the ultimate goal, if I decide to go ahead and purchase with a smaller deposit - so be it. But, I wanted to have a goal and budget to follow in order to see how this works out.

I'll be blogging in more detail about my experience on wordpress (let me know if you want to follow along), but will aim to update you all here every two weeks or so as well! Sharing is caring, yes? I have been getting email alerts on this thread for over a year now, and must say it's quite inspiring, so thank you for sharing your stories!!

I'm a singleton based out of London, renting on my own, I'm quite lucky in that I have a fairly well-paying job. So I'll be aiming to save 49-50% of my after-tax paycheck each month. It will mean cutting back quite a bit on expenses, however, it doesn't mean that I'll have to live extremely frugally.

Welcome to the thread, emincosi! I'm looking forward to more updates, it took me around 9 years to save £100K so I really hope you hit your target after 5

I don't live overly frugally either - I'm careful with money and don't fritter it, but I do love travelling and eating out. Sounds like you have a great attitude and I wish you good luck. Post a link to the blog so we can follow you on that too!

diggingdude

Hello, I hope it ok to join, I have never read this thread before as I have tended to stay away from long threads however just recently i have had the time (will explain in a minute) to read and I have it really inspiring.

Background - completed my PHD October 2015 and commenced employment with local authority. Initially I was hammering my nearly £8k credit card and maxing out the help to buy ISA (sadly couldn't put the full amount in month 1 as hadn't been paid and missed one month later on). Credit card is down to £250 on 0%.

Got a new job up north April 2017, initially stayed with parents whilst purchasing a place which fell through. Was putting £800 away each month then.....massive car accident in October. In hospital until December which screwed everything up and haven't been saving during this period. Cleared medically to start working again just waiting for work to be happy, i now have a physical disability which they are trying to address (no criticism of work here at all) with reduced mobility Good news is work want me back Have had to dip into savings for various things.

Anyway, time to address life as I am determined to buy my own place. Agreement to stay with parents for approx 1 year partially to save but also to get life back in order, will be paying them an agreed amount. I have transferred Help to Buy ISA over to Skipton LISA approx £6k (on a side note as the transfer is going through at the moment my H2B has closed but not yet showing in LISA, I know it will appear but a horrible feeling not being able to see it). Will top up the LISA with about £1800 before April tax cut off once I know exact amount to maximise bonus. Its a wise move I think and the bonus money for topping up the LISA will feel like I am managing to save again this month. £2200 in a regular saver account, think this will last another 5 months before interest rate 3% dissappears. The plan is to put the max £400 in regular saver each month and open another 1 or 2 if possible to place another £400. Anything else will be kept in current account until interest paying limits are reached unless i see somewhere better to put it. Ideally I would like to save another £10k by April 2019 not including any bonus due. I plan to place £4k of that in the Lisa March 2019 and another £4k late April 2019 to max the bonus payments.

Sorry a bit long winded. I am lucky I have moved to an area where you can buy a decent 2 bed semi for £125000. I really want to do this and feel like this thread will keep me motivated through what I think will be a difficult time

Current Savings - £8200
LISA Bonus - £1950
Target - £20000

It may be a month or two before there is anything to update. Wish me luck and good luck to everyone saving

Curls2208

Reassurance on your LISA. Halifax sent a Cheque to Skipton for me which took weeks to get through...it did appear eventually though.

diggingdude

Curls2208 wrote: »

Reassurance on your LISA. Halifax sent a Cheque to Skipton for me which took weeks to get through...it did appear eventually though.

Thanks, its mad, i take great joy out of looking at savings every few days as remember when i had none

SamJ35

New to this thread! Excited to be involved! Congrats to everyone on their work so far.

Bit of background - I'm 24 and me and my gf have been renting in London for 2 years. I have been at my current job in the city for 8 months and bringing in a decent amount of money. My gf studies/works part time.

We're paying £1400 a month not including bills. (I know, feel sick) - but we rent a very nice 2 bed in zone 2, garden etc. We've been drawn to the London lifestyle and not an option to move at the moment (with OH studying) and my commute is a great sub-30 mins (TFL status depending!), so I am not spending a long time travelling. That seems to be the trade off in and around the capital.

Trying to save as much as possible (but its difficult with the outgoings!). I've maxed out my LISA for this tax year (£4000) and stashing small amounts away every month into an easy access which currently sits around £600 since start of January.

Long term target is to get to 60k for a deposit. That's 15% of 400k and would potentially allow us to buy a flat in SE London (I would love to stay for a while!) - but also gives us plenty and a decent LTV/interest rate for the inevitability of moving further out! I have no idea how long this will take but maxing out LISAs for 6 years will get us there. I would love to be in well before 30 but I'll take that with a pinch of salt!

Short term - max out 2 LISAs over 2018/2019 tax year (£8000). That starts with opening one for the OH and seeing how much we can scrimp and get in there before April 5th!

Good luck to everyone.

gwyneth_valiant

BritOnABudget wrote: »

I would love to read about your experience of saving for your deposit in more detail if you could direct me where to read this :beer:

Thank you for the warm welcome BritOnABudget!:beer:

Here's the link: https://ditchingavocadotoast.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/the-journey-begins/

Beware, it's a millennial blog mainly aimed at family & friends! Although any tips/tricks as I move forward will be very welcome! (I shall try anything/everything!)

gwyneth_valiant

tara747 wrote: »

Welcome to the thread, emincosi! I'm looking forward to more updates, it took me around 9 years to save £100K so I really hope you hit your target after 5

I don't live overly frugally either - I'm careful with money and don't fritter it, but I do love travelling and eating out. Sounds like you have a great attitude and I wish you good luck. Post a link to the blog so we can follow you on that too!

Thanks tara747! Well done on getting there, and you are an inspiration!!:T

I'm currently on 22k, so really, it's 78k in 5 years. I plan on saving all my bonus' and the recent raise I got in addition to what I'm already saving, so it feels achievable! We will see...it's great to have an online support system here though! Any specific 'take-aways' from your journey you'd highlight or recommend? I'm all ears!!

The blog can be found here: https://ditchingavocadotoast.wordpress.com

gwyneth_valiant

diggingdude wrote: »

Hello, I hope it ok to join, I have never read this thread before as I have tended to stay away from long threads however just recently i have had the time (will explain in a minute) to read and I have it really inspiring.

Background - completed my PHD October 2015 and commenced employment with local authority. Initially I was hammering my nearly £8k credit card and maxing out the help to buy ISA (sadly couldn't put the full amount in month 1 as hadn't been paid and missed one month later on). Credit card is down to £250 on 0%.

Got a new job up north April 2017, initially stayed with parents whilst purchasing a place which fell through. Was putting £800 away each month then.....massive car accident in October. In hospital until December which screwed everything up and haven't been saving during this period. Cleared medically to start working again just waiting for work to be happy, i now have a physical disability which they are trying to address (no criticism of work here at all) with reduced mobility Good news is work want me back Have had to dip into savings for various things.

Anyway, time to address life as I am determined to buy my own place. Agreement to stay with parents for approx 1 year partially to save but also to get life back in order, will be paying them an agreed amount. I have transferred Help to Buy ISA over to Skipton LISA approx £6k (on a side note as the transfer is going through at the moment my H2B has closed but not yet showing in LISA, I know it will appear but a horrible feeling not being able to see it). Will top up the LISA with about £1800 before April tax cut off once I know exact amount to maximise bonus. Its a wise move I think and the bonus money for topping up the LISA will feel like I am managing to save again this month. £2200 in a regular saver account, think this will last another 5 months before interest rate 3% dissappears. The plan is to put the max £400 in regular saver each month and open another 1 or 2 if possible to place another £400. Anything else will be kept in current account until interest paying limits are reached unless i see somewhere better to put it. Ideally I would like to save another £10k by April 2019 not including any bonus due. I plan to place £4k of that in the Lisa March 2019 and another £4k late April 2019 to max the bonus payments.

Sorry a bit long winded. I am lucky I have moved to an area where you can buy a decent 2 bed semi for £125000. I really want to do this and feel like this thread will keep me motivated through what I think will be a difficult time

Current Savings - £8200
LISA Bonus - £1950
Target - £20000

It may be a month or two before there is anything to update. Wish me luck and good luck to everyone saving

Such terrible luck! I'm glad you are on the mends and that work is accommodating. The enthusiasm for deposit-saving is clearly felt and will certainly worth the sacrifices! I have a H2B ISA instead of a LISA (the potential 'penalty' for withdrawing ££ is putting me off) - it's truly a great scheme though if you can take advantage of it! Best of luck & look forward to following your journey.:T

diggingdude

emincosi wrote: »

Such terrible luck! I'm glad you are on the mends and that work is accommodating. The enthusiasm for deposit-saving is clearly felt and will certainly worth the sacrifices! I have a H2B ISA instead of a LISA (the potential 'penalty' for withdrawing ££ is putting me off) - it's truly a great scheme though if you can take advantage of it! Best of luck & look forward to following your journey.:T

Thanks, I like to think these things are sent to try us I just wish it would maybe try a little bit less I loved my Help to Buy ISA. Got the closing statement today and there was £50 interest I hadn't thought about that has been added....result. I wish I had put £1 in a year ago into a LISA like MSE suggested but never got around to it. Its not the worst for me but I reckon a fair few people are sadly regretting not doing it now