Let's do the math for Kirsty regarding an affordable home

[kirstyalslap]

I'm sure everyone has heard that kirsty Allsopp has came out saying that people can afford homes if they only cut out netflix, the gym and takeaway coffees.

I just worked out a meal deal costs £3 a day. X that by 5 days a week 52 weeks a year is £720. Netflix is £8 for 2 screens (?) so times that by 12 months is £96 a year.
Let's add a £20 takeaway every 2 weeks for good measure. £520. Gym costs £14 a month so £168 a year.

So in one year of cutting back on netflix, lunch for work and takeaways I can save £1504
Wow
Now I need 14000 for a deposit so I'm only 10 years away (probably a little but more actually including fees.)

Right now let's think about increase in property value.
My parents bought their house 8 years ago for £90 thousand. A massive 2 reception with 4 bed and 2 huge gardens with a drive.
Bad condition.
Last year the neighbours sold for £230k
This year the other neighbours has been valued at £280k. My parents are thinking of selling for approx £290k.
So in 8 years their house has increased by £200k
(this hurts me as I started saving 8 years ago, nearly 9 and was looking at saving for a smaller house for about 80k needed 4k at the time and had a 5 year plan to get there. No family helping with deposit)

£90k now would get you nothing at all.
Also you need a 10% deposit.
Also rents back then was £500pcm for 2 bed flat. Now they are £700+pcm for same flat.

So how can we do it? How? Please tell me!

Oh also, everyone I know saving for a house has already cut out take away, meal deals, gym (first to go come on!) and much much more.
Batch cooking, shopping around for deals, having friends round rather than going out.
Every thing is rising in price now, I don't know how my children will afford to live away from us, it is scary because as much as we are okay now, we won't be able to have 3 grown adults living in one bedroom until they are in their 30s! Or will it be 40s or 50s by then?

[quote SamphiretheStickerist]I just worked out a meal deal costs £3 a day. X that by 5 days a week 52 weeks a year is £720. Netflix is £8 for 2 screens (?) so times that by 12 months is £96 a year.
Let's add a £20 takeaway every 2 weeks for good measure. £520. Gym costs £14 a month so £168 a year.

Yet I also know people who have multiple Sky screen thingies at about £60 a pop
Who chose to buy a family MacDonalds for Sunday breakfast
Have takeaway every Friday
Would be at the pub if it was open
Have multiple phone contracts with the newest phones and a huge amount of data

Which gets closer to £4-500 / month. And they aren't unusual round here. DHs work coleagues don't undertsand why he doesn't have the same and many of my customers are in a similar position.

I suspect that there is a bit of 'worst case scenario'ing going on on all sides of this debate. But one thing is indisutable, the 'necessary' accoutrements of modern life are far more in number and cost than they were a few decades ago!

This seems to be the most recent data, which would show that Kirtsles is over egging the pudding, but that you @kirstyalslap might be underestimating - I love your username, please keep it

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/articles/familyspendingexplorer/2020-03-26[/quote]
To be fair I am going off My own life for numbers. I can only do that as I'm sure Kirsty is going off hers.

But I started this thread because she is PooPooing nextflix and we got rid of sky for nextflix and saved £30 moving to an Internet only deal paired with netflix (we switch between nextflix prime and Disney) That hurt because as you say, sky is extortionate!

I agree with you on principle op , but that’s one cheap gym membership

I was lucky enough to get on the property ladder before the astronomical rises and again lucky enough to trade up from a one bed flat to a small and character free house before having kids. I and everyone else I know, are now "trapped" and can't move up a level. So yes we were lucky enough to be born early enough to get on the market, but even so, the steps are too big to ever move up again.

Yes, I could move somewhere cheaper. But my job pays the amount it does, because I live in a more expensive area, so cheaper areas have lower pay jobs. I live near family, so receive a lot of free childcare. This would all need to be paid for or involve days off work if I moved. I still consider myself very lucky, but at the same time would prefer prices to be lower. I would have less assets on paper, but the opportunity to look forward to more than one loo in the house one day!

Those are substantial deposits they've managed to save by a very young age - plus the cost of furnishing both houses
They are. I've explained how they've done it.
With regard to furnishing they have taken their old ( double( beds. My house looks bare. We have bought them white goods and they used fb market place for some stuff. Basic kitchen things are cheap in Asda and IKEA.

I did notice my towel collection shrink!!!

In London it is nigh on impossible for first time buyers without bank of mum and dad to buy. I bought my fist house in Walthamstow for £23,500 in 1980, with an 18k mortgage, I earned £12k at the time so only 1.5 x income. That house sold a couple of years back for £550k.
DS1 is 30, and earns just short of £70k, he could not afford to buy my old house, or any other. He has been saving for a deposit since he was 16 - working Saturday and Sunday in a supermarket and hopefully he will be able to get a flat somewhere very south of the river this year. DS1 is very partial to the odd avocado, but i don't think giving them up w;ould help much!

All the "move to a cheaper area" thing doesn't take into account that house prices tend to reflect the availability of jobs and the salaries available there.

Loads of nice houses west of the A49 in Shropshire and in rural but not touristy areas, but commuting costs money, and more in "unpaid" nursery time.

Plus moving away from family tends to limit flexibility around working outside "conventional" hours.

We managed to buy somewhere "cheaper" with a combination of parental assistance and DH's job fitting into cheaper more rural areas at the cost of heavily restricting my own options (my career is more city based).

We've since moved again (more expensive so more parental help) to 6+ hours away from family to increase our income by giving me more employment options...

@kirstyalslap this is London/SE centric but with petrol costs going up, it may apply to the north/midlands.

Comparing a 2 bed flat in East Finchley London z3 vs a 2 bed house in High Wycombe (commuter belt)- Flat in London is 100k more than the house in High Wycombe so an extra £426 a month.

However, the monthly cost of commuting from High Wycombe to London is £371 compared to zone 3 to zone 1 in London, £170. So the cost of staying in High wycombe and the cost of staying in London is roughly the same; high wycombe is also one of the cheaper commuter towns! My boss who commutes from a buckinghamshire commuter town also says that commuting 3 X a week is the same cost as commuting 5 X a week; and DH and i have been told we are expected in the office at least 3 X a week. I have been attending interviews and potential employers have told me the same.

And actually the cost of staying in High Wycombe is more than London because a travel card in london would cover all buses as well and we are used to living without a car in London. we would probably get a car in High wycombe so overall, the running costs of living outside London with a London job is higher... This is why we bought in London and were able to take out an extra 100k in mortgage, but if we were unable to, we would not be able to afford high wycombe either, despite the ticket price being much cheaper!

So basically moving further out is not necessarily cheaper! as shown from my example, it is the same cost or more expensive!

House prices vs salaries are nowhere near as aligned as they were even 15 years ago.

When looking at affordability your Netflix/coffee isn’t counted as a committed expenditure. If you are in a gym contract that will be as you can’t cancel with immediate effect.

We’re finding a lot of the FTBs, while on a decent salary have for high committed expenditures (car pcp/hp, credit cards). The monthly payments for these reduce the amount you can borrow.

So while cutting out your Netflix and coffee may give you a few extra quid over a year, the more important thing is to reduce your fixed outgoings.

We find people who have moved back in with the parents then think ‘ooh I can now get a new car and still save’ yes you can but that say £300 per month adds up to £3600 per year, which is potentially £14,400 less you can borrow on your mortgage.

@Singlebutmarried why do they have a committed expenditure for credit cards? I spend everything on a credit card but pay it off in full every month on pay day.

@notacooldad

Those are substantial deposits they've managed to save by a very young age - plus the cost of furnishing both houses They are. I've explained how they've done it. With regard to furnishing they have taken their old ( double( beds. My house looks bare. We have bought them white goods and they used fb market place for some stuff. Basic kitchen things are cheap in Asda and IKEA.

I did notice my towel collection shrink!!!

Yes - an inheritance and living at home rent free while they work and save. It's what our DC did/are currently doing and they are under no illusions, they know (and we know) they're very lucky to have these options when so many of their friends don't and never will, and so their chances of getting onto the property ladder are slim.

I read Kristie's -lecture- advice about how to get on the property ladder which also included the small fact that she got help with her first property purchase. Unbelievable arrogance and entitlement in believing that she has anything to say to those trying to purchase their first property today. 'Tighten your belts and save' .... erm thanks Kirstie, but how are we going to get that big slice of family £££s that really made the difference to you?

[quote onlychildhamster]@Singlebutmarried why do they have a committed expenditure for credit cards? I spend everything on a credit card but pay it off in full every month on pay day.[/quote]
If paid off in full then it’s ok, but there’s a huge amount who just pay the minimum off.

Kirsty Allsop, has no ffing idea, about living in the real world.

Yanbu. We are returning to the type of economy Britain had pre-war, where wealth is inherited, social class is fixed for life, and you’re either born into a landowning family or a family of tenants and that’s how you’ll stay.

Just another great legacy of the Conservatives 👏👏🙄😭

Have you cut out shop bought wreaths in exchange for a homemade one made from musty old tights, that could be the tipping point?

I can't help but get the point she is making....
If you want something bad enough you will make the sacrifice to get it?

I know there are people in positions who are not able to save a thing. But a lot of people focus on creating the image they have this wonderful lifestyle, with new cars, holidays, new phones rather then do the hard work and save.

We were "lucky" in that we were buying at the time when 100% mortgages were available. But my god the mortgage payments were huge.... nearly £1000 a month for a 2 bed flat. So that meant for about 4 years we had no social life, packed lunches at work. Cheap phones. No car finance. We worked in London so people were always having "lunches" and going for drinks after work and we just had to say no.

@Elsiebear90

Isn’t she privately educated and the daughter of a baron? I don’t really think anyone from such a privileged background should be lecturing the general public on how they can afford to buy a house.

Yes, daughter of Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip

@FourTeaFallOut

Have you cut out shop bought wreaths in exchange for a homemade one made from musty old tights, that could be the tipping point?

@ExConstance DH earns less than that and bought a flat in zone 3 north london with me! Your DS needs a wife! A wife who is willing to live with MIL! It is common in my culture so I didn't see anything wrong with it.

My MIL earned below minimum wage all her life but she did own a house in London and allowed us to live rent free for 3 years. We bought a flat for 392k in 2019. I think the fact that DH is from a poor family means they are used to cramped conditions- DMIL had 3 children in a 1 bed flat in the 1990s, and then 4 children in a 3 bed victorian terrace. So i guess she thought 1 more person did not hurt...She was even planning for another daughter to move in with her husband (they were going to live in the reception?).

Kirstie Allsop is the epitome of clueless posho.

Yes - an inheritance and living at home rent free while they work and save
I know I mentioned an inheritance for my kids but it was only £2.5k so small ( from a distant aunt they had never met. But pennies make pounds and it all helps!
Ds2 was rent free. I know it causes controversy and " they need to understand the value of money" on many threads but a lot of young people end up having a lot of outgoings and learn quickly how to manage money ( car insurance in my town starts at £2.5 for someone who just passed their test and has a black box!

I gave up and moved abroad!

But really, I lived in a shared house with 6 people, didn’t own a car and cycled everywhere, lunch and breakfast was included at work, gym cost £20 a month, I don’t eat takeaways or drink coffee, and I shopped exclusively in Aldi. I still could never have afforded anything in Cambridge. And I was earning a pretty good salary. What could I do? I already had a good job, which I’d have lost if I had to move, I couldn’t live with my parents, and I don’t stand to inherit.

Here, in one year of saving I can buy a home ten minutes from the center of the capital city. And it’s in Scandinavia. Good riddance U.K. housing bubble. It’s not normal for people to cut themselves to the bone in the vague hope of one day affording a property!

If I'd have lived at home for my first job I'd have paid out more in commuting costs than I paid in rent for a shared flat. Plus I'd have struggled with a 1hr 20 door to door commute ...

I'm not doing the maths for Kirsty.
I'm not doing anything for her - she can pay a minion to do it.

Her folks helped her buy her first home, helped her get an internship at Christie's (daddy was chairman), & she is currently worth I dunno but it's well over £10m.

The patronising codswallop she spouts shows the depths of her unawareness. Privilege is invisible to the privileged - but I have to wonder if her advantages have cushioned her to the extent that nobody's picking up on the fact that she must be a bit thick.