LONDON MUMMA: #budget

Wednesday, 1 August 2018

How To Save Up For A Mortgage

Getting on to the property market can be hard, but teaming up with someone be it a partner, friend sibling, even getting your parents to help you to give you a leg up into the property world can help do the trick, plus having savings too, but at times that can even be hard to do with living costs hiking up year on year.

Whilst some feel it can be an impossible dream, especially when you are forking out an arm and a leg, throw in some blood sweat and tears to even out the scale, the older and younger generation can find themselves thinking, that yes, it is an impossible dream and that is all it will be and we will forever be paying off someone else's mortgage other than our own and facing ridiculously high rent increases year on year.

Location, location, location

You have to really think, sit down and weigh up your options whilst renting may be easier, is it really affordable in the long run, do you stay in a city where you know property prices surge or step outside of your city life and live somewhere more rural, where it will be cheaper to live and saving you some extra cash, that is where I am currently at, but then I weigh up travelling costs and thinking is it worth it to travel so far daily with a kid in tow, who is just about to start school! Whilst everyone's position is different, moving out of the most expensive areas in for a short period is never a bad idea.

Parents

If you don’t want to move back into your family home, maybe your parents can help you get on the market in other ways. Take a look at SunLife who have some great advice for parents wanting to help out their kids

Part buy

So many people have taken to this route where a vast deposit is not needed, whilst you may not own the property outright it is a starting point and a way to get your foot in the door, enabling you to save and chip away at the remaining percentage until you own it outright or have the vast majority.

Chill nights in

Saving not splurging can help you save, instead of opting for nights out, cut back on the weekly night out and opt for a night in with some popcorn a good movie and ditch the takeaway and whip up some homemade Chinese sweet sticky chicken wings to help save you a little extra dough towards that dream home of yours.

Make your dream a reality

Simple really, in order to vision what you want, go and see what you want, nothing wrong in booking a few viewings, look at the location, look at the homes available to get an idea of what you want and how much it is going to cost you, to get a real sense of your price range you really need to know what is on the market. In recent years first-time buyers have typically used a 20% deposit to buy a house, so factor that in when you are going on your viewings.

Have you been saving for a deposit? How did you do it, where did you start? I would love to hear your comments below....

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London Mumma

#budget

How To Manage A Monthly Budget

The end of the month can drag, literally drag especially if you are paid at the end of each month. You can find yourself living on the bare minimum and just about surviving until payday on a ration of variety flavoured noodles, all because you've overspent on that new shoes, coat's for the kids and yourself or after a long weekend of partying or finding that the pesky boiler has broken down and needed replacing, therefore, leaving you a bit strapped for cash and not budgeted properly for the month, don't worry it happens to the best of us.

We've all been there no matter how much we deny it openly, but admit it only to ourselves we didn't budget properly (quietly in one's mind). We need to take charge and sit down and go through and make a monthly plan as painstakingly hard as it can be to go through, it can be so rewarding at the same time.

Shop My Look

In order to take the first steps to budget properly, we need to understand where our money is going.

Envelopes

Ohh this is great, not gonna lie I love my little envelopes, once I've paid all my major bills, rent and nursery fees and calculated my monthly travel fees and topped up my oyster, I like to divide up a number of things envelopes and label them, with items that we will need for the month, food, entertainment, pet etc. It's a great way to not overspend and allows me to only use my card in an emergency.

BYO Lunch

Waste not, want not, a great way to save a bit of cash, is by bringing in your own lunch, use last nights leftovers to make a healthy salad or sandwich. Prep from the night before, to free yourself a bit of time in the morning, to get other things done, before you leave the house.

Free Work out

Pop the gym on hold, there are so many ways you can work out for free, be it a gym park, a brisk walk to get the kids to school, running home once you've dropped the kids home, to working out at home whilst watching free YouTube works outs.

Savings

Another great way to budget for the month, is having a little savings pot, great for seasonal changes when the boiler brakes down, but perfect for saving for that summer holiday, so we can get our swimming costume on and sip sangria's in the sun, to having some cash set aside for the kids parties and weekend activities.