What should we do financially? House babies savings

[weddingballs]

Am looking for some advice pls thank you

Dp and i have about 4000 in savings and small debts with interest which we try to clear each month (when we need to put something on the credit card short term) but a bit is usually left over

I have about 5000 on an interest free card.

We'd love to buy a flat or house but living in London a5% deposit and fees would be about 15000. Minimum. a two bed new build which we wud have to do for the government scheme would be deposit and fees of over 20000. I would feel very nervous getting a 95% mortgage but our friends and family say it would be better than renting. I don't know anyone who has managed to save while renting like this and it seems impossible right now

We would love to have children and I feel like I can't wait forever untill we start trying. But I would love a permanent home and enough savings to be able to take as long as possible on maternity leave.

If you were us what would you do? Would you right off owning a home? Or would you save for that first? Should we keep the savings or pay off my debt? Should a deposit come before saving for maternity leave? How much would you have in savings before having a baby?
what would you prioritise? Once we have children I know so much will go on childcare (nursery here is 1400 approx) and we won't have any money then

Save the nursery costs for a yr -18 months and you'll be we'll on your way to a deposit.

Stop using your credit cards and pay off your 0% as quickly as you can.

How much to have in savings for when baby arrives really varies. I didn't have any but we could pay our outgoings with sum spare on dps income.

Plough everything towards clearing your debt first of all as it will reduce the amount of mortgage you will be able to borrow. I'd then start saving the money that would be the monthly debt repayment...have you done a proper budget? I run my about 3 years in advance so know how things will be financially during that time. Have it show your savings as time passes, it can be a great motivator and helped be greatly during the final 6 months of my deposit push.

Is the monthly debt repayment the interest we would pay every month? We can't afford to save the equivalent of a whole mortgage repayment and pay rent.

I am working on a budget but am unsure as to how to set it out. Thanks for the tip about working further in advance

We do hope to earn more money which would help with childcare costs in the future

Have you thought of buying a property in another part of the country to let out for about year / 18 months that's what we did to get our deposit as there was no way we could have afforded to live in London and save for a deposit. I should say we did know the area we bought in.

It sounds like you need lower outgoings or higher incomings.

Could you move in with family to save a deposit? Could you rent in a cheaper area or a smaller place? Do you have to be in London or could you move somewhere cheaper altogether?

Coukd you take second jobs, do marketing surveys, anything to get your income up and put it straight into savings?

I would clear debts before anything (but I'm old fashioned). I woukdn't necessarily wait until you owned a property before having a family, but since kids and Childcare are expensive it may be a long time after kids before you manage to save a deposit.

Depends on so many things - including your ages, and how important it is for you to start a family sooner rather than later (ie, are you 22 or 42?), etc.,etc.,etc.
In principle, clear debts first, then start saving. Ideally buy first then start the family, but not many of us live in ideal situations.

First look if you can save money anyway..... move in with parents for a year? Cut spending on a hobby or going out or just daily spending?
Then look if you can raise income in another way - get few hours work each week over and above what you are already doing ? Sublet a room in your current flat ? etc.

Decide if it's worth the short term 'belt tightening' for the long term gain.

Oh - x-posted!

Thanks everyone. We are coming up to 32. No family to live with (and certainly not for free!), no room to rent out and we both do long unpredictable hours so a second job would be hard. Could look at selling things though. Sharing with a couple sounds awful! But perhaps worth bearing in mind, so thank you for the idea

Not personally keen on buying elsewhere and renting out - we have thought about it - because we just think we'd be contributing to the housing problem. An idealistic view perhaps!

Thank you for the other ideas too.

Am I right in understanding that together you have 4K savings but on your own you have 5K debt, so basically you are 1K in debt - does your DP have debt too? Sounds like either you are spending too much or earning too little (or both) to buy at the moment. What are your joint earnings and how much is your accommodation?

I think it would be hard to have children now, if you're already in debt overall as a couple, then I think things would only get worse with maternity leave and then nursery fees (especially if your first pregnancy turns out to be twins like mine did - a complete financial shocker!) so I would do everything I could for say a year to clear your debt and save. I can imagine the idea of living with another couple or family sounds hard if you've had your own space but it sounds like you have to do something if you're going to achieve the house and family you want. Good luck!

I'd suggest you 'dry-run' what life would be like financially if you had a child. You say you've no family so someone's long unpredictable hours would have to be shortened and made more predictable if you're to get child-care, which you'd budget for. Alternatively, one salary would disappear all together. Add back whatever you'd get in tax credits/child benefit/maternity pay. Then try to live on the realistic remainder for a few months. Pay any difference off the debts.