New home, but is this living too close to the edge financially?

[massiopler]

I recently made the decision to buy alone (became single in February and have struggled to get my confidence back and control in my life). I am 28.

I have worked out that if I go ahead with this plan, for the first year, I will be left with about 110 pounds a month after paying out for everything - mortgage, food, bills, car, travel to work etc. After the first year, my salary is due to increase, meaning I should be left with around 350-400 a month. If I carry on renting between now and then, (ie to wait until the pay increase before I buy), I will be spending the same on rent, but will obviously not have the pressure of home-owning and having the liability for it. If I were to buy and then lose my job in the next year and not get the pay rise, I would take a job in the area and would be able to pay the mortgage which ironically is low (around 450 a month), even on a small salary.

I am just worried about the initial time frame where I will be left with very little month to month. Is this a silly thing to do, or do people do it to get on the ladder and then things settle down?

Thanks.

Go for it. I did pretty much the same. You sound like you have a sensible head on your shoulders. My first year was a bit tight, my advice would be not to buy anything until you need it. Try to save a few pennies . . . oh and learn to love porridge . . . I seem to live on the stuff. Seriously, you will be fine.

Good luck.

I would as you are right, you may not be able to afford the same property.

A friend of mine stretched to the limit rented out spare room and saved the extra to build up a rainy day fund. London so £500 per month at that time.

Roughly whereabouts in the country are you? people here might have an idea about long term investment, rentability etc.

Get a fixed rate mortgage then you know exactly how much you will be paying each month

Dont get a loan, you dont need one !, you say you will have spare money

Save some of your spare money for your emergency fund

Buy cheap furniture & furnishings or second hand, you can buy better when you have more money

Cut down on daily expenses look at other forums for tips
eg
Dont buy bottled water
Buy in bulk
Make packed lunch
etc

Work out what your budget will be when the fixed rate mortgage ends & you will need to start a new fixed rate

Go for it. As others have said letting a spare room is always an option.

I would go for it OP.

We have recently moved and have taken on a much bigger mortgage than before (we are now in our 'forever' home and don't intend to move again if we can help it). I felt exactly the same as you; even though we do have a savings buffer we were in the position of not being able to save each month for the first time ever and our finances were far tighter than I really felt comfortable with.

Thankfully it's been easier than we thought, I've saved money easily on the monthly shop and by meal planning (and we are eating more healthily as a result and wasting less food) and luckily both DH and I have landed promotions at work so we now have some spare cash again.

But even when we didn't have spare cash it was worth it; we really enjoy coming home each day to our lovely new house and it makes the hard slog at work worth it.

We have also bought a lot of 2nd hand and recycled furniture (we have had some brilliant bits from Ikea bargain corner which only needed minor repairs but which have saved us 50% of the cost). When people ask us what we want for Xmas and birthdays we ask for ikea vouchers or specific things we need (my DM bought us a mirror for the fireplace between me and DH for our last birthdays).

The house isn't perfect but we figure we have a lifetime to chip away at it and get it exactly how we want it.