To think I could possibly save £15k in a year?

[newyorklover1]

I'm posting here for traffic.

So basically We rent a house and it's prefect for my family. We've rented lots over the years and this is definitely the best one for us.

Landlord told us recently that he may be looking to sell next year when the current mortgage deal expires and asked if we would be interested. We have been hap hazardly saving (thinking that he wouldn't be selling for another 2 years) and haven't really made much headway with the saving up to now.

We have about £1000 spare income each month.

I get a yearly net bonus of £1500

Is it possible to save that kind cash in a year? I.e no treats or eating out/days out etc?

We either move and rent again which I really don't want to do or bust a gut trying to find the money?! Aibu to think we can manage this?

You absolutely can.

For a start, you don't need a constant stream of new clothes (nobody does), and probably not much else of what you spend money on.

If you drink alcohol, go tee total. Save eating out for once a month, cinema trips ditto.

You definitely don't have to do 'economy brand everything' but work out what you truly enjoy (for us it's nice coffee and bread), keep it, and compromise on the rest.

If you're not vegetarian, make a list of a few veggie meals you and the children could enjoy and put them into rotation. Meat is expensive.

You need to replace shopping as a leisure activity with something you can do as a family at weekends. Geocaching/hiking/cycling trips? Or do you have a circle of friends you could do things with/go and visit? "Going into town" is what we do as a lazy option and it is SOOO expensive every time :( and not much good for us physically.

I sound like a right pollyanna but we were brassic for quite a number of years and needed to do things like this. It will be amazing for you to save up the deposit, I am sure based on what you say that you can save more that a grand a month.

When you start saving, make sure you do the switching bonuses for new bank accounts. I've made about £500 through switching to and from various places.

Speak to a broker now, send copies of your credit files over and they’ll tell you likelihood of getting 95% mortgage - then there’s less to save

We paid £500 to ours but he made everything so much easier for us, and we didn’t have perfect credit ratings and we have unsecured debt but we got a 95% mortgage with NatWest

Yes you can! We put £1200 plus any extra we had into a savings account each month for 2 years before we bought our house. We did live pretty frugally over that time, but it was worth it :)

Read Michelle McGagh The No Spend Year. She does this & saves a five figure sum. Literally just spending on food (basic vegetarian) and essential bills. She cycled everywhere, even did a cycling holiday around the Suffolk coast (from London ). The main bit of the book is a diary of her year, with lots of money saving tips thrown in like making your own cleaning products from bicarb & value vinegar. Then at the back there's an excellent section on financial advice like loans/mortgages/ savings accounts etc. She's a financial journalist so she knows her stuff. (Borrow it from your library )

Also look at the blogs/forums at Mr Money Moustache & Early Retirement Extreme for hard-core money saving. UK based MSE forum... there's an Old Style board for saving money around the home, Up Your Income board for earning extra, and a "make £10 per day" thread on the debt board.

1. Find out if you can get the loan ir 95% mortgage - you may not need 10% deposit but also may have the credit history problem even with the relative guaranteeing it all (very brave relative!)
2. yes you can cut back but it can be a personality thing. I don't eat out, love wearing clothes that might be 10 years old, not keen on spending money, a nice trip is a walk that costs nothing etc. Most people are not like I am and it can be hard for them not to spend a lot. Our parents used to take us to places where there was nothing you could buy - - parks, a beach without any shop etc etc.
3. Consider if you could sell things eg as someone said above on Ebay.
4. Consider additional jobs - we both worked full time but often took on extra jobs at weekends of various kinds to get extra money in; hard but doable if you do childcare shifts with your other half at weekends.

All good advice - the only thing I would avoid doing if your credit rating isn’t good is switching bank accounts a few times to make money - each application will leave a trail on your credit score and it decreases your rating each time a footprint is left. Try to build your credit rating instead, eg make sure all direct debits are paid on time, if you have any credit card debts pay a bit more than the minimum payment, avoid credit checks where they aren’t a must.

A lot of companies will allow you a 5% deposit anyway, and those that only offer that to first time buyers, class a FTB as one that hasn’t held a mortgage in the last 3 years (for the majority anyway) so that could be an option depending on how long ago you was a homeowner.

When we was saving for our deposit we shopped around every supermarket close to us for the best deals, it meant the food shop took longer, but saved a lot of money. Homemade soups are so easy to make and so cheap too.

We walked as much as possible to save on fuel.