Tips for being less crap with money?

[Benbay001]

Jon39 said:

Benbay001 said:

How are there people here suggesting they needed a £40k deposit for their first home?

There are 5% mortgages out there, so you're either a very very high earner or you are trying to buy far too much property.

Its a first home ... its not meant to be glamorous.

It is because you are perhaps lucky not to live in the Weybridge area. Take a look at first home prices.

I imagine the average person living in Weybridge is on substantially more money than me per month, so the point is kind of moot.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50522931...

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51858860...

£170k, so £17k deposit. Hardly Outside of the realms of possibility. Put away £600 per month for 2.5 years and you have your deposit.

Edited by Benbay001 on Wednesday 18th December 19:35

[Jiebo]

Benbay001 said:

I imagine the average person living in Weybridge is on substantially more money than me per month, so the point is kind of moot.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50522931...

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51858860...

£170k, so £17k deposit. Hardly Outside of the realms of possibility. Put away £600 per month for 2.5 years and you have your deposit.

Edited by Benbay001 on Wednesday 18th December 19:35

That second flat is 340 sq ft. Thats not even a legal size for a 1 bedroom flat. At £500 sq ft it's fairly cheap for London, but it's zone 6 and it would be a horrible existence. I would rather leave London or rent than buy that piece of ste.

[95JO]

Jiebo said:

Benbay001 said:

I imagine the average person living in Weybridge is on substantially more money than me per month, so the point is kind of moot.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50522931...

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51858860...

£170k, so £17k deposit. Hardly Outside of the realms of possibility. Put away £600 per month for 2.5 years and you have your deposit.

Edited by Benbay001 on Wednesday 18th December 19:35

That second flat is 340 sq ft. Thats not even a legal size for a 1 bedroom flat. At £500 sq ft it's fairly cheap for London, but it's zone 6 and it would be a horrible existence. I would rather leave London or rent than buy that piece of ste.

Wow - You can get a nice 3/4 bed semi with ample parking/garage where I live for that. Commutable to Liverpool and Manchester in under 45 mins too... I'm just not under the London or just "city living" in general illusion.

[Jon39]

designforlife said:

Ads basically, the paid service eliminates them.
Also on mobile devices on the paid version you get unlimited song skips.
That's about it tbh.

alock said:

How did earlier generations cope without an always available online streaming service? We created our own playlists, either on a cassette or as a folder of MP3s. Some of us even listened to the radio!

Subscription saving clue - adverts do not download.
Copy the files to your phone memory, if that is the device you want your playlist to be on.
Skips unlimited.

[Jon39]

Benbay001 said:

Jon39 said:

Benbay001 said:

How are there people here suggesting they needed a £40k deposit for their first home?

There are 5% mortgages out there, so you're either a very very high earner or you are trying to buy far too much property.

Its a first home ... its not meant to be glamorous.

It is because you are perhaps lucky not to live in the Weybridge area. Take a look at first home prices.

I imagine the average person living in Weybridge is on substantially more money than me per month, so the point is kind of moot.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50522931...

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51858860...

£170k, so £17k deposit. Hardly Outside of the realms of possibility. Put away £600 per month for 2.5 years and you have your deposit.

Edited by Benbay001 on Wednesday 18th December 19:35

Your examples Ben, are in Feltham.
The arithmetic gets worse for the majority of starter homes in Weybridge.
The traditional ratio between average local earnings, and average first time property values, seems now to be very high.
Possibly that has partly occurred, because the present historically record low interest rates, will have encouraged more borrowing.
Hope interest rates do not return to normal levels too quickly.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/53724210...

[Benbay001]

Jon39 said:

Your examples Ben, are in Feltham.
The arithmetic gets worse for the majority of starter homes in Weybridge.
The traditional ratio between average local earnings, and average first time property values, seems now to be very high.
Possibly that has partly occurred, because the present historically record low interest rates, will have encouraged more borrowing.
Hope interest rates do not return to normal levels too quickly.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/53724210...

I set my search within 5 miles. I think that's fair.

Still, the example you gave £350k, so £35k deposit.
If you are living in this area I assume you are earning at least £50k to compensate for the high living costs. Can you really not set aside £1k a month to save for a deposit? That leave you £2100 to live on. Let not get into how affordable it is for a couple.

If you are not earning £50k then there is no reason to live there - move.

Edited by Benbay001 on Thursday 19th December 10:32

Edited by Benbay001 on Thursday 19th December 10:33

[Moulder]

Benbay001 said:

I set my search within 5 miles. I think that's fair.

Whitechapel is only 5 miles from Park Lane.

Whilst Weybridge and Feltham are not quite on this level it is unlikely anyone who had chosen Weybridge to live would be interested in living in Feltham.

[romeogolf]

Benbay001 said:

I imagine the average person living in Weybridge is on substantially more money than me per month, so the point is kind of moot.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/50522931...

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51858860...

£170k, so £17k deposit. Hardly Outside of the realms of possibility. Put away £600 per month for 2.5 years and you have your deposit.

Edited by Benbay001 on Wednesday 18th December 19:35

£600/month savings?! Are you on the same planet as the rest of us? We do fairly well but even we struggle to put more than about half that figure aside on a regular basis without dipping into it for exceptional costs.

[95JO]

romeogolf said:

£600/month savings?! Are you on the same planet as the rest of us? We do fairly well but even we struggle to put more than about half that figure aside on a regular basis without dipping into it for exceptional costs.

Obviously it depends on wages/area massively but I agree, £600pm doesn't sound impossible. If it is, then I'd be questioning the area you're living in culling any unnecessary outgoings.

[Benbay001]

romeogolf said:

£600/month savings?! Are you on the same planet as the rest of us? We do fairly well but even we struggle to put more than about half that figure aside on a regular basis without dipping into it for exceptional costs.

Yes I am. In fact im confident you could save even more.

An average income for mid 20s is £25k, correct?
£1700 per month.

Leaving you with £1100 after you have saved the £600

(Annual bills split into monthly)

£130 on food.
£20 on a phone.
£500 on an all bills included room in a shared house.
£80 on Petrol
£13 on road tax
£40 on car maintenance and mot
£42 on car insurance
£10 on Amazon / Spotify / Netflix sub of your choice

Leave you with £265 to spend on whatever else you want, such as going out, medical bills etc.

If that's not possible for you then id either question whether buying a house is really a priority, or look at where your money is really going. If its not your priority, im really not criticising, that's your choice, but at the same time you cant go around saying mortgage deposits are unaffordable if you aren't really trying.

Im sure you could trim it even further if you were really committed.

ETA - When I stated the £600 it was referring to the properties in Weybridge anyway. I doubt you will be living there earning £25k per year, so the amount you could save would be even higher (increased cost in shared house aside) - My breakdown above shows £600 isn't unrealistic for people outside of Weybridge.

Edited by Benbay001 on Thursday 19th December 12:57

Edited by Benbay001 on Thursday 19th December 12:59

[Bussolini]

50k is twice the national average. Plenty of people on average salaries live in expensive parts of the UK for various reasons.

[Jon39]

This is a motoring forum, so I think one significant expense you might have missed out, is car depreciation / PCP payments / or saving for the replacement car.
The motor industry only want people to think about fuel consumption, to take their minds off the major cost of using a car. Of course most cars are now worth almost nothing, when 10 years old.

Your suggestion for the first time buyer in Weybridge on a salary of £50,000 gross, was to have a mortgage of £315,000.

Hope interest rates don't return to historic levels, because the monthly mortgage payments might be beyond their ability to pay.
The present low interest rates are probably seen as the norm by many first-time house buyers. Most will be too young to know that the rates used to be well over 10%. It obviously makes a tremendous difference to the monthly payments.

[Benbay001]

Bussolini said:

50k is twice the national average. Plenty of people on average salaries live in expensive parts of the UK for various reasons.

But we aren't talking about the National average. We are talking about Weybridge, which I have no idea where it is. I can only assume its in some super desirably place in London. If you want to move to one specific parts of one specific town, then clearly that area either offers incredible opportunity/ you are incredibly wealthy/ you are incredibly stupid.

My point is that I don't believe there is a single part of the UK where a person on an average salary cannot afford to save to buy for a property within a reasonable commuting distance.

Jon39 said:

This is a motoring forum, so I think one significant expense you might have missed out, is car depreciation / PCP payments / or saving for the replacement car.

In which case saving to buy a house is clearly not a priority. There are plenty of reliable fun cars that can be had for not much money. I had my £1500 mk3 mr2 whilst saving my deposit.

[Benbay001]

[redacted]

[Benbay001]

[redacted]

[Jon39]

Benbay001 said:

My daily car was bought with reliability first and foremost, ive had it 1 year 3 months and all ive done is regas the aircon, front tyres (£110) and a service. I expect it will do another 2 years without needing any work either.

Oh dear Mr. Ben. My illusion has been shattered.

I was gaining the impression that you must be a champion of thrift, and a foremost advocate about how to save for a first home deposit.
' I've had it 1 year 3 months .....I expect it will do another 2 years ... '
You must be just a mere beginner, judging by your motoring thrift.

I bought a Mercedes coupe when it was 3 years old. Am sure you know, that is the perfect age of car which thrifties buy, because they are then half the new price, but some can still be found in 'as new' condition. Have used it now for 17 years, and certainly expect it to do far more than just another 2 years.

Anyway, you must not be too scrooge like at this festive time. Your wife has been very kind helping with your grade 2 (whatever that is), so perhaps a special treat for both of you would be perfect at Christmas. Maybe limit it to a fiver.

[pb8g09]

Windows getting cleaned and petrol for the mower is ridiculous.

If you’re spending money regularly each month on this, then you’re not in the right thread and you really aren’t keen on saving money. Buy a cheaper electric mower or flymo (you only cut the bloody grass 6 months a year- also why are you cutting the grass on a house share?!). Why are you getting the windows cleaned if you’re in a house share?

You either want to save money to buy a house or you don’t. I live off £1000 a month piss about money after bills and able to put £500 away each month. My missus and I combined earn less than £80k combined. Oh and I bought a new appliance this week and I don’t have to get Dorris to cut my own hair. It’s not hard, just stop paying for dumb things.

[95JO]

Both me and my girlfriend are fortunate in that we both earn a good wage, at a young age. However, even when we were both on half of our current salaries, we still managed to save thousands when our friends didn't. We never went without, we still bought nice things and went on arguably better holidays. It's always baffled me how people on a good wage are constantly skint... I don't think my peers live within their means, everyone wants everything now (and they can, because credit cards/finance).

One thing I've noticed that my friends waste a lot of money on is nights out and the drugs that go with it and they don't even enjoy it half of the time yet insist on doing so 1-3 times per week... That's easily £80-£200 per week, wasted. Not to mention the absolute requirement to buy coffees/snacks/lunches during the working day, the latest iPhone as soon as it lands for £50-£75 per month! Also, paying for EVERYTHING they possibly can monthly. Most of our friends pay for their car insurance, tax, phones, furniture and holidays monthly. Not only are you paying more for that, it gets people in the mindset of living month to month, never saving...

And don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely not getting my haircut by my girlfriend and driving a shed. I've got an iPhone 11, for £35pm... I've got some car finance on my car, but it's less than 5% of my net income. I'll always pay things in full (minus phone because it's actually cheaper on contract and car because why not, it's PH after all) and I've always lived within my means, comfortably putting away 50% of my net income when I lived at home, to now 30% after mortgage/bills/frivolity (granted my salary has doubled since)... But generally just keeping tack on my finances and planning for the future, no spreadsheets or IFA's...

I just can't get my head around people who work 40+ hours per week, in a job they hate and have nothing to show for it just for a short-term buzz of buying something "cool" that's outdated in a couple of months... Never putting in place a tangible path to owning their own home, retiring (early) or being able to sleep at night without worrying about unexpected bills.

Don't get me started on the ignorance to pensions, the amount of young people I've worked with who were disgusted that they had to pay into a pension. I even worked with a guy in the Civil Service who had worked there 12 years and never enrolled into the Civil Service Pension Scheme as he had a student loan? The mind boggles.

The thing that made it click for me, was a quote from "How to Own the World" (paraphrased) "If you invest as much time into researching finances as you do into researching a new car, you'll in the top 10% of financial knowledge" something like that, and it's true.

There's my 2p, I've refrained for long enough on this thread.

[pb8g09]

95JO said:

Both me and my girlfriend are fortunate in that we both earn a good wage, at a young age. However, even when we were both on half of our current salaries, we still managed to save thousands when our friends didn't. We never went without, we still bought nice things and went on arguably better holidays. It's always baffled me how people on a good wage are constantly skint... I don't think my peers live within their means, everyone wants everything now (and they can, because credit cards/finance).

One thing I've noticed that my friends waste a lot of money on is nights out and the drugs that go with it and they don't even enjoy it half of the time yet insist on doing so 1-3 times per week... That's easily £80-£200 per week, wasted. Not to mention the absolute requirement to buy coffees/snacks/lunches during the working day, the latest iPhone as soon as it lands for £50-£75 per month! Also, paying for EVERYTHING they possibly can monthly. Most of our friends pay for their car insurance, tax, phones, furniture and holidays monthly. Not only are you paying more for that, it gets people in the mindset of living month to month, never saving...

And don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely not getting my haircut by my girlfriend and driving a shed. I've got an iPhone 11, for £35pm... I've got some car finance on my car, but it's less than 5% of my net income. I'll always pay things in full (minus phone because it's actually cheaper on contract and car because why not, it's PH after all) and I've always lived within my means, comfortably putting away 50% of my net income when I lived at home, to now 30% after mortgage/bills/frivolity (granted my salary has doubled since)... But generally just keeping tack on my finances and planning for the future, no spreadsheets or IFA's...

I just can't get my head around people who work 40+ hours per week, in a job they hate and have nothing to show for it just for a short-term buzz of buying something "cool" that's outdated in a couple of months... Never putting in place a tangible path to owning their own home, retiring (early) or being able to sleep at night without worrying about unexpected bills.

Don't get me started on the ignorance to pensions, the amount of young people I've worked with who were disgusted that they had to pay into a pension. I even worked with a guy in the Civil Service who had worked there 12 years and never enrolled into the Civil Service Pension Scheme as he had a student loan? The mind boggles.

The thing that made it click for me, was a quote from "How to Own the World" (paraphrased) "If you invest as much time into researching finances as you do into researching a new car, you'll in the top 10% of financial knowledge" something like that, and it's true.

There's my 2p, I've refrained for long enough on this thread.

+1

Though the thought of saving money now (pension) for a future that may never arrive is probably the most depressing thought when I see it siphoned off each month.

I’d rather be banging that onto a second mortgage on a little property in the Med to retire to when I’m 50 if I’m honest...

[Jon39]

95JO said:

It's always baffled me how people on a good wage are constantly skint... I don't think my peers live within their means, everyone wants everything now (and they can, because credit cards/finance).

And don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely not getting my haircut by my girlfriend and driving a shed. I've got an iPhone 11, for £35pm... I've got some car finance on my car, but it's less than 5% of my net income. I'll always pay things in full (minus phone because it's actually cheaper on contract and car because why not, it's PH after all)

Well done 95JO, I guess your parents taught you well to use your money wisely.

I spot some warning signs though, that you might be slipping just a little from the old fashioned (but proven) rule, that the only debt should be a mortgage (borrowing against a hopefully increasing asset and home). Do you think you might have been caught by the modern marketing world of 'pay us monthly, throw away, then replace with the latest'. Motor industry PCP schemes have been wonderful for selling many more cars, and also higher value cars. Mercedes UK have doubled their sales as a result of PCP. The out of reach balloon payment was a masterstroke in encouraging earlier car replacement.

You must really be the centre of attention with an iPhone 11. What happens when the iPhone 12, 13 and 14 arrive? Does that mean someone else becomes top dog? I have to scrape by in life with just an Aston Martin and a Nokia 8310. Am told however, that the tiny old Nokia now has good security and anonymity, as long as I continue to top up using a disguise and cash.