Tell me how you got the first step on the housing ladder .

[Mollymarvelous70]

The pressure to get on the housing market has just been getting me down recently and I’m losing motivation.

DH and I have reasonable paying jobs but we just can’t seem to save enough to get on the housing ladder in the south east whilst living comfortably. In the past 2 years we’ve saved about 8k sat in Lisa’s but it just feels like such a slog to get anywhere near what we need. I did make the mistake of posting on Money Saving Expert a while ago for budgeting advice but got ripped apart for our level of earnings and lack of ability to save which made me feel a bit embarrassed tbh. Some people are really struggling and I realised that i didn’t want to penny pinch to the extremes and receive the critical judgement lots of people on their face But equally I do want to move forward.

We earn about 45k ish each but outgoings are high due to area mans student loans.

I wondered how many had to save for their deposit and how long it took them. Did you have any crafty or innovative ways you got the money together so you could just get going ?

Just interested to hear others experience really for some motivation.

Saved as much as we could, bought a house in our far from ideal but ok area that needed work, did the work ourselves then moved two years later to where we wanted to be. We compromised on a new build using help to buy to get the family house that we could stay in for years. We didn't have DD until we we moved here though, maternity leave on a building site and miles from family and friends wouldn't have worked for us so timing wise we were lucky.

We had holidays only on alternate years. Didn't eat out much (takeaway perhaps monthly, eat out every 3 months). Small wedding (though that suited us for many reasons) and when we did buy we did everything needed ourselves, eg new bathroom tiling, all painting etc.

it took us 18 months, however this was whilst saving for our wedding at the same time and we live up north so were able to use 10k as enough as we got lucky and were able to get a 95% ltv which is impossible at the moment (our household income was about 32k at the time and we were renting somewhere not too expensive) .

We both grew up in quite poor backgrounds so going without luxuries was probably easier for us than if you'd always been able to do those things, so going without a car and only non essentials when needed, but with careful planning we still went on our honeymoon in that time so didn't miss out on holidays.
you'll have to make some sort of sacrifices but it's worth it when you get those keys.

Worked our arses off pretty much constantly, overtime, any extra shifts going, saved every penny for about 3 years solid. Zero luxuries, no new clothes, no eating out, no takeaways, budget food shopping to £25 per week for the 2 of us.

We are both from very poor families so it was kind of normal life for us really.
And we had no help from anyone financially or otherwise, and never have.

@modargh okay yes the equity loan as well as using the 5%. Wonder if they also have any offers on now that stamp duty has been waived.. I think we dismissed it for various reasons last year but might need to check it out again . Thank you for sharing your experience . It’s such a big commitment with so many unknowns.

@JunoJigglewick thanks for sharing . Did you regret moving to a more affordable area ?

@Allthepinkunicorns thanks . I’ve got £5k but both our jobs are south east focused. And we are very happy here . It’s certainly an option worth considering if we are serious about it . Jobs do come up just less often. Our work is very secure too which makes the idea of moving difficult .

@Mirrorxx hmm approx £5k take home after student loans and pensions . 2.5k is on just rent , utilities and regular bills . About 700 on credit card And other repayments for both of us . 700 ish saving . Then about 400 quid each on living. Am I living in gaga land ?!

Thanks for the responses from thrift savers . You’ve done so well to focus on the goal and get there ! I need your inspiration. We are also from low income families who don't manage money well and we now realise the importance of financial education to make good decisions early.

@Mollymarvelous70 we didn't like where we were - had moved there for work 2 years before - and moved back "home" for jobs and to be closer to friends and family. We've moved somewhere nice but outgrowing the house now. We could have bought where we were had we stayed but it was affecting my mental health (job as well as location) and there weren't many jobs for DH.

Some people are really struggling and I realised that i didn’t want to penny pinch to the extremes

You're going to have to if you want to save enough to get a house. There's no way around it. The reward is worth the minor sacrifice
I would say it depends where you live.
Ds who is 23 and his gf have just bought a house for £120.000.
It is a large 3 bed semi with their own drive and garden. They needed a minimum of 10% deposit but put 20% down, 10% each. It didn't take them long to save. In fact Ds didnt need to he already had savings.
3 of my friend's children have bought a house on the same estate as each other. They are large 4 bedroom detached houses with decent gardens and garages. The prices range from £195,000 to £225,000. Between two full time wages, the government scheme that finished in March and some savings it was easily manageable.
However the main difference is we live in the North West. It sounds like young adults in the SE have a difficult time to get on the housing ladder.
It seems so unfair.

Lived in room in shared house, so had the incentive to save
Worked 3 jobs, 1FT, 2PT
Sundays off
Took a few years & saved 20 percent deposit+ all fees

It sounds like you should be saving more on your income

That seems a huge amount of rent to be paying. I’ve noticed that housing - both renting and to buy - can actually be more expensive in the commuter towns around London than in London itself. Would you consider moving somewhere on the outskirts of London where you could rent a house for less, around £1.2-1.5k? You’ve also got a huge amount of debt, but I can see why people were aghast you couldn’t save more on a £90k joint salary. I earn £45k and have managed to save £20k in about 6 years, but I’m single and lived in house shares so my outgoings were considerably smaller.

You and DH are both on amazing salaries! You must have been having lots of fun up till now? The fun had lead to debt etc?

My DH and I have never had any financial help...in fact at times we've both had to support other family members (parents and siblings)

How did we do it? Luck, timing, luck, sheer hard work, debt, hard work, sacrifice, penny pinching, penny pinching, make do and mend, buying second hand, frugal living, luck, interest only mortgage until 5 years ago (DD started school in 2015).

We live in an expensive are in Scotland. I earn far less than you, my DH on a par.

We're on the other side of childcare costs now but once upon a time our childcare costs were more than our mortgage.

You need to look at short term pain for long term gain now.

I wasted SO MUCH money before I had children. Also if I didn't have children we'd be so well off!

It varies massively from person to person and also different times and circumstances.

Moved back in with parents after uni for two years and spent very little. Not everyone has that option. I earned £20k at the time. Paid off overdraft, credit cards and then saved. But only had fees to pay as i got a 100% mortgage. Thats option doesnt exist anymore. Found a Really cute two bed in a near by, but much cheaper, town. So moved to a cheaper area. Didnt go on holiday at all from finishing uni to selling that first home. Not even in this country. Sold two years later, making Almost half the initial cost of the house again in profit. Also in the North West.

Dh was loaned his deposit From his parents and had to repay it on selling his first home.

@Mollymarvelous70 to me 400 each personal spending money sounds like a lot but it’s probably your large debt that makes the most difference. When we were saying for our first house in our early to mid twenties we saved more than one of our salaries and probably only had 300 between us for personal spending.

@dodgeballchamp yes you’re right we should have saved more and spent less . I’m getting that now and kicking myself. Although yes still paying above odds in rent With council tax etc on top it adds up. It’s been a lifesaver for our mental health during lock down and somewhere I’m happy to have baby and mat leave so I’m happy to stay for two years and do less..

We live in the SE and were first time buyers last year with 2 DC. We found the enormity of the amount required meant we had the wrong attitude. E.g. why not spend a tenner on a takeaway, what's a tenner when we need 30k? To overcome this we made a little chart in manageable chunks, ticking off £500 or whatever was realistic and gave a boost to encourage us to save more.

We still went on holidays but they were cheap newspaper promotions. I stayed up half the night to get cheap Eurocamp breaks in summer holidays and we self catered with the odd meal out.

Did all the usual tips of meal planning, using cashback for purchases, buying clothes and toys for the kids at NCT sales etc.

We also always had a spreadsheet of what we had coming in and going out and paid our savings in on payday so they didn't get swallowed up. We also allowed for "personal money" which we could spend on whatever so we didn't feel like we were missing out on everything. I'd often use mine on meals out with friends - used a bogof at a chain so very cheap but still felt like a treat.

I saved a lot by living in shared accommodation for a long time rather than renting alone.

I think there are still things you can do to save money while still enjoyinhmg the nicer things in life. If you still want holidays go for 4 days instead of a week, eat in restaurants but look for vouchers and special offers online and swap expensive drinks for cheaper alternatives and skip dessert, buy second hand rather than brand new or only buy new things in the sale, down grade the car or look at car sharing schemes.

We lived with family, then lived in a less-than desirable house in a less-than desirable area. Few holidays, cheap cars. Pre-kids. Spent all the hours sorting it out. Rinse and repeat. Had short maternity leaves. Now on our third house. Have spent approx 6 years of married life living on building sites, including with small children. Now we live in a lovely house in a lovely area, its not 'desirable' as such but we're comfortable, and near family, friends and good schools.

How much are your outstanding debts? Are they on 0% interest? That would be a priority - if they're not on 0% I'd use your savings to clear them and then just start again - you could then save £1500 per month easily - and more if you knocked your 'living' down to £50 per week each. That would only take 20 months to get to your 35K.
Don't spend too much on baby stuff - everything except a mattress and a car seat can be bought very inexpensively 2nd hand. I gave bags of clothes in the early sizes away for free.

110% mortgage with Northern Rock about 18 years ago,didn’t have to put a deposit down and had a couple of thousand left over to pay solicitors etc... bought a terrace house for £42k.

Absolutely impossible for people to do it these days, very sad.

I knew I would get no parental money, and assumed no partner help (long term single), so after uni I applied for and got jobs in a higher paying sector ( I often disliked my job but stuck it out and did training where I could to be more 'valuable'). I lived at parents (paying reduced board) till I paid off student debts and had money for rental deposit. Then I saved about 20 to 30%of my salary. My hobbies were very cheap (but fun) and I still paid for meals out and holidays but only when my salary grew higher and I could still save a good portion. After many years of renting I had a fair bit of savings. I met my now DH who had had a similar financial outlook and we got married and had kids and then bought a house in my 40s. Its been a long slog.

I'm old, so when I bought properties were affordable. But in case you're interested.....

We bought 23 years ago, and have remained in the same property since as we're quite happy with it, ta.

Before we moved in, we were in a council flat, and both working. As a combination of these factors (two incomes, affordable rent) we were able to save quite a bit. We got married and got money given as gifts (not just money, we didn't ask for it specifically) which got put towards the deposit.

In between gettign married and buying, my father sadly died. My mum gave us £3k towards deposit and solicitors fees saying my dad would have wanted it.

We bought via Shared Owership. At the time they did a deal called ''Do It Yourself Shared Ownership'' which basically meant you could find a property on the open market and approach the HA with the property and go into partnership with them to buy it.

At the time SO wasn't as prevelant as it was now, there were certain criteria, we met it as (a) we were both in nursing, so key workers and (b) we were moving from council accommodation.

Since then, we have both bought out the HA and cleared our mortgage.

Bought alone at 19 with 100% mortgage. Sold four years later and it had tripled in value.

We spent my wage & saved dh wage for 2 years. We were on substantially lower incomes than you at the time, we were 19 & 22. Feel very lucky that we made the decision to do this so young & slightly shocked at the same time 😂 I don't envy those starting from scratch nowadays! Good luck op!

I went to a presentation back in about 2014 on getting on the housing 'ladder'. I think the presenter was a mortgage broker. Her first advice - stop buying coffee from Starbucks etc every day. 2 cups a day (I think that's what I tended to drink at the time) during a work week adds up to about £1,000 a year. I guess by now I've saved myself £6,000 by doing that. Less the cost of a flask.....

We bought on 5% deposit many years ago so was affordable from regular savings. As soon as I started earning, I transferred a manageable amount to savings by standing order. This amount built up without me really noticing.

Also, on pay day, I transferred any money left over into savings so each month I started again. This soon gives you incentive to save more than you did last month or keep on track.