Increasing affordability

[raisinglettuce]

I’m not quite sure why I’m writing this but any advice would be greatly received.
me and my husband have 3 primary school age children together we both work full time and live near the coast in wales. I was born on a farm untill this became to much for my grandparent to manage and sold the farm when I was 15 - I’ve cried since! It’s our dream to buy a farm/small holding and be self sufficient and take in rescue animals we don’t even mind renovations aslong as my children have a dry safe space.

I just feel this dream is so hard to reach we both have fairly good jobs, my husband runs a small business on the side. We own our home we’re in now with a mortgage that we’ve been trying to overpay and renovate to sell, yet the budget we have is no where near the asking prices of properties.
we have very few luxuries we spend on, we budget meal shop around £70-£100 a week for family of 5 and 2x rescue cats we both have cars as work different directions at different times and very little public transport in our area both cars 15+ years old. If we go for days out its budget friendly packed lunch, free activities ect no unnessasary subscriptions/contracts sim only old phones, no designer clothes (we love a charity shop or vinted) we save everything we can but it seems less and less lately. I guess what I’m trying to ask is why is it so unaffordable to us?
Don’t get me wrong I’m so greatful and have really struggled and worked serveral jobs each for what we have now but the dream seems so far away 😔

We are in a similar position but with no children. It seems crazy that you need to be rich to live a simple life. We work 3 jobs between us and spend very little and it still feels a lifetime away. Like we have to wait for an inheritance before we can have what we want. Its awful!

What is your combined gross income?

Can you talk us through what you mean by affordability?
are you talking about a total mortgage value, or monthly cost?
what is your mortgage amount/budget vs what you want to buy? I.e. what’s the gap?

It’s our dream to buy a farm/small holding and be self sufficient and take in rescue animals we don’t even mind renovations aslong as my children have a dry safe space.
When you say be self sufficient....do you mean that neither of you would have paid jobs outside the smallholding? Surely that is a huge ask if rescue animals are involved. Perhaps I've misunderstood you, sorry!

We try and grow alot where we are but we would love to grow a lot more produce, I’d like to rescue ducks and chickens for a free range life and if they produce eggs a bonus - eventually my husband would run the small holding/farm and his business that’s in the second year so a new business

We earn around 28k a year each

I’m sorry but £56k a year is not an awful lot of money.

We make double that and still don’t spend freely.

Yes to be blunt this is the issue. All the scrimping and saving in the world won’t solve the fundamental issue which is you simply aren’t earning enough.

Can you find an allotment nearby or ask if anyone has a large garden they are unable to manage in exchange for vegetables ? We did this and it worked well.You will need to look at property in areas that are cheaper than where you live now which often is not the nicest so less popular which can have its down size as we found out.Yes we had the rural cottage and the 1 acre which was plenty for pigs,goats and chickens.We grew a lot and bartered but you will never make a living it is a hobby.We sold up for many reasons.Can you earn more by training as your income is low with 3 children.Finish your home you are in and hope in time you will be able to find your dream.You are doing well to be buying your home.Good luck.

I guess what I’m trying to ask is why is it so unaffordable to us

Because its likely the cost of your essentials has risen way faster than your income which means a disproportionate reduction in your disposable income, which is where you really notice it.

If you had £500 pm spare but your mortgage went up £200, food up £100, utilities up £50, council tax up £50, but your pay only went up £100, that means your monthly disposable income has more than halved (made up numbers but hopefully illustrates my point).

I’m not sure how you would even cover the vet bills in your plans on that income. It’s lovely to have a dream though. Maybe try for a place with a bigger garden.

It’s hard we’re on good jobs for our area. I haven’t included my husbands business earnings as it’s only within the first 2 years

We have a household income of a lot more than you, and still can't afford to spend freely (although I suspect our housing costs of £2k mortgage are significantly higher than yours). We also dream of having a small holding, but recognise that it is a longer term goal. We aim to do it in 5 years time, when DH gets a small lump sum at retirement and we are able to downsize and move areas.

Farms and small holdings have always been expensive and the vast majority of the population has never been able to afford them

a large garden or allotment is what ordinary people do

Stoozing can bring in more savings interest/ premium bond winnings.

Use all the supermarket apps / freebies & discounts available- on both your phones.

Do either of your employers offer a discount scheme for vouchers/ gift cards etc?

We 'bank' everything we make & save from the above - it really does add up 🙏

You have to move abroad.

Only look for solutions not obstacles.