Saving For a Deposit

Hello

Today I'm going to talk about how to save for a deposit. I'm sure this will be helpful to a lot of people as getting the deposit together is the hardest part of buying a property. Particularly at the moment with youth employment low, low wages, a high cost of living and an over inflated property market. It has never been harder to get on the property ladder than it is now. If you're reading this post hoping that I'm going to give you quick easy ways to save or make money, then you are going to be disappointed. It is NOT easy, unless you are in the fortunate position to have some inheritance or other big source of funds.

Before I get into the tips for saving I want to give you a bit of my back story, just to highlight that it is possible. It has always been my goal to own my own house. My parents own their own home and they have always encouraged me to be sensible with my money. To me I would rather be paying off a mortgage where at the end of it I will have a large sum of money contained within my house, than pay rent, making someone else richer, with nothing to show at the end of it. Renting now costs more per month than a mortgage (comparing like for like, depending on where you live) so if you can get on the property ladder you will benefit. Of course I am aware that this is not an achievable goal for everyone and I know I am incredibly lucky that I can get a mortgage. I also would not have been able to do it on my own, its only because I have a partner to halve everything with that it is possible. Achieving this goal is a lot about personal circumstances, but also about committing to that goal. You will have to go without a lot of luxuries for several years, but it is possible.

I have been saving up my deposit since I was about 16. I had my first job at 18 and since then I have never worked full time (not through choice) or earned much money. But what I have earned has been carefully saved. Again going back to circumstances, I have been lucky that my parents have never charged me rent, so that money I saved was put into a savings account. My parents appreciate how hard it is financially for young adults so helped me out in this sense. If I had been careless with my money then they might have started charging me rent. This has helped me greatly but I've also been smart with my money. I haven't had expensive holiday or a new car. I don't own loads of clothes or possessions and I try to save money wherever possible.

Ok, so on to the tips;

1. Make a packed lunch rather than eating out at lunchtime.

This might seem like an odd one but it is surprising how much you spend on lunches, drinks and snacks at work. My philosophy is that I have come to work to make money not spend it. Bringing a packed lunch will save you a lot of money as you can make the most of buying in bulk. E.g. A can of fizzy drink will cost you at least 80p in a shop singularly. If you buy a multipack of 8 they will cost you 44p each.

What led me to this was my own spending at work. In a typical week I would have a drink and cake at a coffee shop (£3.50) on a Monday, then on a Thursday I would have a McDonalds Meal (£3.99). So over the course of a month that amounts to £29.96. That may not sound like much, but over a year that is £359.52!!! On stuff that I didn't need to buy, and thats just two days of the week. If you get lunch and a coffee everyday then that figure will be a lot higher.

CHALLENGE- Work out how much you spend at work in a year on food and drink.

2. Choose your savings accounts carefully.

Shop around to find the accounts offering the best interest rates. At the moment the best you are going to get is about 3% as interests rates are at an all time low (0.5%). ISA's are a good option as they are tax free, but don't discount other types of account. Bonds are an excellent savings option as you lock away the money for a set amount of time (the longer the better) which means you get higher interest rates. They also have the added advantage that you can't access the money, which is good if you like to spend! I would estimate that over 5 years I earned £1000 just in interest and putting my money in the right accounts.

Once you have a decent amount saved I would suggest moving the bulk of it into a bond and tying it up in there for as long as you can. But keep £1000-2000 in an instant access savings account so that you've got some money for emergencies. This is also the account that you keep adding to. You can't add more funds to a Bond once it is set up.

CHALLENGE- Set up a savings account or bond

3. Keep your goal in sight.

Again this might seem like an odd tip, but as I've already mentioned you are in for a tough few years. There are times when it will make you miserable and you will want to splurge on something with your savings. When you feel like this you need to think about your ultimate goal. Look at houses online, look at interior design magazines or homeware shops and start planning in your mind your dream home. This will get you excited again and refocus your mind on whats really important.

4. The 52 Week Challenge.

Someone at work told me about this and I am currently doing it to save up for house things. The challenge is to save money every week for a year starting in week one with £1, week 2 save £2, week 3 save £3, etc until you get to week 52 where you save £52. I have changed this slightly as saving over £200 in the last month can be quite difficult. Instead I have written all the amounts out and I pick one each week and tick it off. So if I'm feeling flush I'll pick a high amount but if I'm feeling poor I can save a low amount. Over the course of a year, without interest, you will save £1,378.

CHALLENGE- Start the challenge with £1

5. Set up a monthly or weekly standing order into your savings account.

This is essential, particularly if you find saving difficult. If you set it to go out at the beginning of the month you won't get caught short at the end and can manage whats left over better. Its best to first of all do a budget of all your spending and find out whats left over. Then divide whats left after bills into two. One half is for spending on treats and the other half you set up as a standing order.

6. Make sure to change your accounts each year (or at the end of the ISA Term).

You may not be aware, but unless stated otherwise, the advertised interest rates on any account only last for the first year. After this year they go down to a much lower rate, unless you change your accounts. So each year I go into my bank and update my accounts to ensure I am getting the maximum interest.

CHALLENGE- Check your account interest rates and change them if you are on the low rate.

7. Downgrade your car.

This can be very painful to do, depending on how important your car is to you. I have downgraded from a 1.6L car to a 1.2L and it depresses me every single day that my car has no power. But I comfort myself with the knowledge that I am saving £150 a year on tax, at least £40 a month on fuel and a few hundred pounds on insurance. Depending on your current car the savings could be huge. At the end of the day a car is a mode of transport, I don't want to pay anymore for that than I have to. Cars are hugely expensive as it it.

8. Question Every Purchase.

Before you buy anything just take a moment to think do I really NEED this or do I simply WANT it. If the answer is you want it (maybe really really badly) consider walking away and putting that money you would have spent into your savings. This links with tip 3.

9. Treat yourself occasionally.

Despite what I have said above I do think it is important to occasionally treat yourself to a little something. We all work very hard for our money and we need to feel that it is for more than just bills. Having said that be sensible. Don't blow £500 on a pair of designer shoes or a handbag, maybe just £50 instead. A good treat is to buy something for your house e.g a case or a picture so that your end goal is still in sight.

10. Get into the mind set that "Every penny counts".

Some of my tips may seem incredibly particular, but as the saying goes "If you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves". Spending just £1 on unnecessary items each day amounts to £365 a year. Saving these small amount into a jar is a good way to demonstrate this.

CHALLENGE- Set up a change jar.

11. Be disciplined with your savings.

This is aimed particularly at spenders. If you are one of those people where money burns a hole in your pocket, then saving is incredibly difficult. If this is you then make sure that you have a savings account that you can't access. This will stop the temptation to spend it when you reach a few hundred pounds, as you simply won't be able to get to it. The tip of setting up a standing order will also help you.

12. Get savvy with coupons.

You can make some good saving by using coupons, but you need to make sure the coupons are for things you actually buy. After all companies offer these incentives to encourage you to buy things you wouldn't normally. In which case you are wasting money, not saving it.

I really hope these tips are useful to you. It's not going to be easy but I wish you all the best with reaching your goal. It will be worth it in the end. Remember, the more you save the lower your mortgage payments will be and the more disposable income you will have when you finally get in your home.

TTFN!

Dining Room Mood Board

Hello

Today I'm going to share with you another mood board I created. This one is for the dining room. We are currently halfway through decorating this room and it is coming together really nicely. This design centred around the gorgeous birdcage wallpaper which is from Next (currently still in stock along with some wall decals in slightly different colours) priced at £15 per roll. This paper has a white background, with blue, green, brown and cream birdcages. The outlines of the cages are silver and all the of them have a pearlised finish which catches the light beautifully. My only criticism of this paper is that is stains easily. Lucy has shaken water off after a walk and it has marked the paper (humph!).

If you have seen my furniture customisation post you will know that we chose the duck egg blue colour to pick out the woodwork and have painted the non-papered walls white. It looks very fresh and clean :) 

I really want to have the furniture half painted like the photo above, but instead of cream use the duck egg blue. We have decided to get some kind of wood flooring because of the pets with a couple of  green rugs to make it softer under foot. The ones pictured are, surprise surprise, from Next, as is everything else in the picture. I have already bought the books which have secret storage and they tie in well with the wallpaper. In terms of accessories I will get things in either the white, blue or green that is on the wallpaper. I'm also planning a piece of wall art with pictures of the pets in ornate silver frames, possible with some cutout birdcages from the wallpaper intermingled between them.

Once we have finished this room I will upload some photos of the finished look and you can see how closely I followed the mood board!

TTFN!

How to Make A Victorian Silhouette

Hello

Today I am going to talk you through how to make your own Victorian silhouette using a photo and some black paper. I decided to make one for each member of our household because I thought it would be cute and would be fitting for our Victorian house.

To make your own silhouettes you will need photos taken side on (in profile), black paper, white paper, glue, photo frames of your choice (mine were from here) and scissors or a craft knife.

The first step is to cut your backing paper to size. The easiest way to do this is by taking out the piece of paper that comes with the frame and cutting around that.

Next you need to make sure your photos will fit into the frame. The way to do this is to use photo editing software. Create a blank canvas and put in the measurements of the aperture of the frame, then import your photo and resize it to fit in this space. On photoshop elements go to file>new>blank file. This bring up a window that allows you to put in some dimensions. Change the measurement from pixels to either inches, centimetres or millimetres (which ever is easiest for you) and put in the dimensions of your frame. Then click ok. Open a new window with the chosen photo then click and drag it into the blank file. Use the free transform tool  (image>transform>free transform) to resize the photo. Then print it.

Stick the photo onto some black paper using paper adhesive e.g. Pritt Stick

Carefully cut the photo (that is now stuck to black paper) out using either scissors or a craft knife.

Put the white paper you cut out earlier into the frame (minus the protective glass that come with the frame). You can then make sure the black head you have cut out is perfectly positioned within the frame. Glue the back of the head and stick it into position. Then take the silhouette out and replace the glass.

Silhouette complete!

Introducing Lucy the Borador

Hello

Today I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Lucy the Borador puppy.

I have always wanted my own dog, but when I was living with my parents they wouldn't let me have one and usually you aren't allowed pets if you are in rented accommodation. So when we got the house the first thing I wanted to do was get a dog. Finances were tight and I wanted to see how much things would cost before committing to a dog, so I wasn't expecting to get a dog any time soon. However I happened to mention to my boyfriend how much I wanted a dog and out of the blue he said "Shall I get you one for Christmas?'. I didn't think he was serious, but it turns out he was! So in December I started looking for one. I wanted to get a puppy so that I could bring it up how I wanted and know that there weren't any behavioural issues, as can be the case with rescue animals. I have always liked Border Collies and Labradors and I wanted a dog that would be intelligent so that I could train it beyond the basics and possibly do dog agility with it. 

I found some Border Collie x Labrador puppies (Borador for short) nearby that were very reasonably priced, so we arranged a visit. Out of a litter of nine there were two girls left. One was very shy and the other ran up to us straight away wanting a fuss. I had read that you should pick a confident puppy so we chose the one that came up to us straight away.

We took this picture when we went to view her. She has grown so much since then!

On the 18th December we went to collect her. Within minutes it became clear that she was going to be a travel sick little puppy and the journey home was the longest hour of my life. Once we got her home she quickly recovered from the journey and was running about exploring her new home. We also have two cats which we introduced slowly and Lucy had no problem with (other than loving to chase them!). I was expecting the first night to be very difficult, but as is her way, Lucy was not phased at all by being away from her mum and litter mates.

Within a couple of weeks she had learnt sit and lay. Since then we have taught her crawl, roll over, paw, catch, fetch and spin. She waits at doors and gates until I tell her she can go through and she will come when called. I am also working on teaching her the names of her toys so she can bring a named toy back to me. She is so friendly and will happily roll over in the street for a tummy rub. The best thing is coming home and seeing how happy she is to see me.

Her worst habit by far is eating things she shouldn't. So far she has eaten cat poo, bird poo, a bone, wood, stones, a dead frog, a dead mouse and socks. As much as I try to stop her she is so fast. You think she is just sniffing something and by the time you realise she is actually eating it, its too late. This habit has already resulted in a very costly visit to the vets for a stomach infection. She also hates dogs coming up behind her and trying to sniff her. I don't know where this has come from as she hasn't to my knowledge had an experience that would make her scared.

In terms of the breed traits she has, I would say she has an equal mix of both pure breed's traits. She is very intelligent, athletic and energetic like a collie and very hungry and friendly towards people like a labrador. If she isn't given enough to do she will find her own entertainment, which usually means destroying something she shouldn't. If she gets plenty of exercise then she is very well behaved and entertains herself well with her toys.

Lucy often sits like this on things. Its very cute.

In general she has been a good puppy, but the first couple of months were extremely difficult trying to adjust to the new arrival. She couldn't be left on her own for a minute, unless she was in her pen, it was hard work constantly cleaning up accidents and getting up in the middle of the night to take her outside. There were moments during those months that I wished I hadn't got her. But once she started getting the hang of going to the toilet outside and she started begin able to go through the night without a visit outside it got much easier. Now I can't imagine her not being around and I love her so much. She makes me smile everyday and she is super intelligent. 

I will be doing update posts about Lucy's progress, tips and things I have learnt about raising a puppy and also recommendations for pet things e.g. insurance, food. So stayed tuned!

TTFN! (Woof! from Lucy)

Ombudsman Complaint Conclusion

Hello

In a previous post I talked about how we felt let down by a mortgage advisor we used at a very well known estate agents. So much so that we put a complaint in with the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO). I have yet to write what the outcome of this was. So here goes...

The response letter arrived the day we picked up the keys to the house, which was awful timing (also Friday 13th). We opened it before we left and quickly skimmed over it. The news was not good. The response was that they were siding with the estate agent. According to them 'as with any large purchase we would expect the consumer to do their own research'. I quite agree and we did do our own research, but it was a case of finding what we wanted to find and not feeling the need to research further than that. We had trust in the mortgage advisor that she would advise us on the best purchase for our needs. She had asked us about why we wanted to buy our own place and what we were looking for. To a lay person this would give the impression she was advising us on more than just the mortgage.

The news did put a dampener on our moving day, but I can honestly say I don't regret pulling out of purchasing the flat. Even though we lost over £1000 it was worth it to not end up in a property that within a few months we would have hated. As the saying goes 'you live and learn' and my goodness we learnt a lot. Over friendly mortgage advisors aren't always what they seem. If they are getting a hefty commission for signing you up they won't have your best interests at heart. I had so much more faith in our next advisor who was not charging us for his services. We have gone on to recommend him to 7 or 8 people. On the other hand we will forever slate the well known estate agents and tell others to avoid them at all costs. We have since found out from someone who was selling a house with them that they have some very small print that says they will take a percentage of the original listing price rather than the actual selling price. So they could put your house on the market for £220,000, but it sells for £200,000, they will get commission on £220,000. Says it all really!

We could have contested the FSO's decision, but with moving we forgot and missed the deadline. I don't really think it would have done any good anyway. At least now we are happy in our new home where we don't pay an extortionate service charge, we have a garden and stairs and we are allowed pets.

TTFN

Furniture Customisation

Hello

Today I thought I would write a post about how to customise wooden furniture. The techniques used would apply to any type of wooden furniture that you may want to customise. One of my new favourite hobbies is looking around second hand/antique furniture stores. Whilst doing this I kept seeing really cute wall mounted cupboards. I decided that I would really like one to go in the dining room to go with the traditional look we wanted to achieve. I found a really nice one in a local second hand furniture shop that had the perfect look. The price was £40 but I managed to haggle them down slightly to £36. This is what it looked like.

The first step is to fill in any holes or dents with some wood filler.

The second step is to sand down every surface you are going to paint and any areas that you have filled in with wood filler. This provides a good surface for painting. It should be done with a fine grade sandpaper so you don't get grooves in the wood. It also helps to keep the grain visible. 

Tip: Wrap the sandpaper around a small block of wood. This makes it quicker to do and easier to hold.

The third step is to wipe over where you have sanded with a damp cloth to remove any dust. If you don't do this the paint won't adhere to the wood properly and you won't get a smooth finish. Let the wood dry thoroughly before moving on to step 4.

The forth and final step is to paint it. The paint I have used is Homebase Home of Colour satin wood paint in the colour Duck Egg. This is the paint I have used on all the woodwork in the room so it will tie everything together nicely. Its best to use a wood paint, but if you want to match a wall colour you can use that emulsion paint, but you will need to apply a couple of layers of clear varnish afterwards to protect it.

You want to use smooth even strokes and keep an eye on any edges or joins for drops or build up of paint as you go. If you do this then you can correct them before the paint dries. I painted the whole cupboard with two coats and did a third on the outside surfaces. The number of coats you need will depend on the type of paint and what colour you are using or painting over. I didn't need to sand mine in between coats, but if you are a bit of a messy painter it may be worth doing a light sand between coats. But makes sure to wipe the surface as before, between layers.

 

And its complete!

Finishing Touches....

I added a couple of small hooks that I got from Homebase. The owls and heart are Christmas decorations from the local garden centre and the candle is a Yankee Small Jar in the fragrance Pineapple Cilantro. I got this purely because of the colour as it matches the green on the wallpaper. It does smell lovely too!

I'm really pleased with the results and its matches the other woodwork perfectly. Its a big improvement on the grubby cupboard I started with.

TTFN and good luck with your own furniture customisation projects!

An Unexpected Welcome Gift

Hello

A few weeks ago we got a very pleasant surprise from our mortgage company Nationwide. A large box of new home goodies arrived on our doorstep. We had no idea it was coming, but it contained some very useful items.

Inside there were cleaning products, toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, bin bags...

 ...Everything you need for a cup of tea...

...and some lovely Baylis and Harding hand washes.

It was such a lovely surprise and very thoughtful. So thank you very much Nationwide.

In the Pipeline

Hello

I haven't been able to blog much recently. Things have been non stop since we moved into our house and we have just got a new addition to our family (more on her later), who is proving more of a handful than I expected! I just wanted to do a quick post to tell you what posts I've got in the pipeline. They are as follows, but not necessarily in order;

1. Update on our complaint to the Financial Ombudsman about a certain well known estate agents.
2. How to make Victorian silhouettes wall art of your family.
3. Top tips for saving up a deposit.
4. Mood boards for my dining room, bathroom, kitchen.
5. Reviews for a couple of websites I have purchased house stuff from.
6. Before and after photos of our newly decorated living room.
7. The new member of our family.
8. How to customise wooden furniture to your colour scheme.

I wanted to let you know what I had planned so you know what content is coming up that might be useful or of interest to you. I've got some time off over the Christmas periods so I am hoping to get started on some of these posts.

TTFN!

The Cost of Buying a Property

Hello

Today I've decided to write a post about the costs associated with buying a property. When we were looking at buying a house I found it very difficult to find consolidated figures on how much it was likely to cost. It is such a monumental amount of money that you really need to know well in advance roughly how much it will cost. I remember thinking 'Oh good I think I've got enough money for a deposit now' only to realise that we would need an extra £2-3,000 on top of that amount! Most disheartening when its taken years to get the deposit. To make matters worse we paid out half of this for the flat purchase, which fell through. This is a massive thing to take into consideration too. Whilst it was, in this instance, our choice (to a point) you do always have the risk that the seller may pull out of the purchase. So some of the things you have paid out for will need to be paid for again e.g searches, depending how far along the process you were. Make sure your conveyancer offer a "no purchase, no fee" arrangement, just in case.

So here are the costs you will incur. I will divide them into those you pay upfront or before completion, those that you pay on completion and extras. Where possible I will give a likely price range.

Before Completion

• Mortgage Broker Fees- £0-399+

When purchasing the flat we went to a corporate estate agents (and oh how we regret it). The 'lifetime broker fee' was £399 (grr!) which was supposed to mean that you could use this company for all future purchases and sales without having to pay fees ever again. Sounds great until they mess you about and you lose faith. We will NEVER use them again, so they did well out of us there. Anyway I digress, when we found the house we used an independent estate agents and they charged us nothing for setting up the mortgage. The service was excellent and we could be sure the service we were getting was based on the commission the person would receive. I would definitely recommend an independent estate agents as their fees are likely to be lower than corporates or as in our case non existent.

• Mortgage Booking Fee approx £300

This is a lovely charge the mortgage company adds for giving you a mortgage. Isn't that nice of them. This is sometimes added to the mortgage amount, rather than being an upfront cost.

• Valuation Fee- approx £150-200

This is the cost incurred by the mortgage company to send someone to the property to value it. They do this to insure the property is worth the price you are paying, incase they have to repossess it.

• Structural Survey- approx £150-£450

These vary in price based on how extensive the survey is. It is recommended that you have a full structural survey done. However this is the most expensive option, so you do have to weigh it up. The bank won't lend on a house that looks like it is about to fall down, so their survey is useful. But they don't tend to go in the property. If you are buying a very old house for example there are potentially a lot of structural problems that should be looked at. What you need to consider is that if you don't have a full survey and there is a problem with the house once you move in, you will have to pay for it. If it is discovered before you buy it, you can make it a condition of sale that the seller rectifies it before they leave.

• Searches £350

These are the first things your conveyancer will do. I have explained more about them here.

Upon Completion

• Conveyancing Fees £700+ (less search cost)

This is what you pay the solicitor for the legal aspects of the purchase. For example changing the deeds, searches, boundary and access issues.

• Stamp Duty

This is the killer. Up until recently stamp duty wasn't applied on properties under £250,000. But our lovely government have reduced it right down to £125,000. So now anything other than a small flat qualifies for stamp duty.
- For houses £125,000-£250,00 stamp duty is 1%. So for a house worth £150,000 you will pay £1,500 in stamp duty

- For houses worth £250,000-£500,000 its 3%. So for a house worth £300,000 you will pay £9000.

- For houses worth £500,000-£1 million its 4%. So for a house worth £1 million you will pay £40,000. Ouch!

- For houses worth over £2 million its 7%. So for a house worth £2 million you will pay £100,000. 

And apparently we have a budget deficit!

Extras to Consider

• House and Contents Insurance £300+

Contents insurance isn't essential, but in my opinion you would be extremely foolish not to get it. House insurance is usually a condition of the mortgage and you will have to provide evidence that you have got it to your conveyancer.

• Will Writing- £200-300

It is recommend that you write a will when you purchase a house as it greatly increases your estate should you die. It is important that you have a legal document to say where you would like the estate to go should you die. It isn't an essential requirement, but something you should do soon after you move in, if possible.

• Life Cover, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection £30+ a month for all 3

These insurances have different names depending on the insurer. I found deciding on these very difficult as you have to think about your own mortality and the financial commitment you are making. If you are buying with someone else you have to think about how they will pay the mortgage without your income. Life Cover pays out a lump sum should you die before the mortgage term ends. You take out cover for the full mortgage amount. Critical illness pays a lump sum should you be diagnosed with a range of serious medical conditions. It can pay for private health care or pay the bills whilst you recover. Income protection pays a monthly amount for a maximum of two years should you be unable to work due to unemployment or illness. You don't have to have all three, it depends on your budget and circumstances. But it is something you should seriously consider.

I think that is everything! If I think of anything else I will update this post. In short our costs were about £2300 for a house worth £155,000 to give you a rough idea. But it will vary based on the companies you use, the price of the property and what type of survey you have.

TTFN!

Living Room Mood Board

Hello

Today I thought I'd share another mood board. I've already shared my bedroom moodboard. Today I thought I would share my living room mood board. We have nearly finished decorating this room now and it has changed a bit. As I explained in this post the red and the grey didn't really work, so it is now all red with white accents.

We really wanted this room to be warm and cosy. So we have gone for red and dark brown wood. Its the only room in the house that will be a strong, dark colour. We are having a wood burner fitted into the fireplace. Rather than having a surround we are having an oak beam mantle shelf. The fire place is brick and quite rustic looking so I think this will look better than a formal fireplace surround. I haven't got a complete product list for this as I did images searches to get the look rather than choosing specific products. Here's where you can find some of the products.

OWL CANDLE- The Range £2.99

TREE DECAL- Etsy has various designs

RUG- Next Red Bloom £70-250

CLOCK- Newgate Knightsbridge Clock £57

This room is nearly finished now, so I will do a blog post with photos when it is all done and you can see how well I stuck to my mood board!

TTFN!