# Saving for House Deposit



## Sesed (8 Mar 2012)

I'd appreciate some advice about  saving for a deposit.  At the moment we are putting money into a joint  account, minus bills, rent, food etc and transferring a portion of it  over to savings.  We have only started this method.  
Would we be better off setting aside a specific figure each month? How much should we aim for?

 Age: 26
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 27

Annual gross income from employment or profession: €38k (2250 a month approx)
Spouse’s/Partner's €44k (circa 2300 a month- minus a saving scheme, should be maybe 2600)

We put 1850 into account leaving about 400 each for personal spending clothes, mobile, going out etc

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?- *Saving
*
Our main monthly outgoings are:
Rent: €800
Bills: €100 approx
 Petrol: €80 approx
Groceries: 400-500

Loans/Credit Cards: None (Card is paid in full each month)

Savings and investments: About 10k in shares, circa 7k in savings accounts

Do you have a pension scheme? Yes (already factored into take home)

Ages of children: None 

The last couple of months we have put  aside 1400-1500 in to savings. Does this seem reasonable or could we do  better? I know our main expenses +  saving leaves about 750 more, but this needs to include all the other  stuff (doctor, dentist, weddings, car maintenance tax & insurance,  household items, miscellaneous)


----------



## niceoneted (8 Mar 2012)

Your income is 4,550k 
Your outgoings before the savings is 2,280k
Therefore a difference of 2,270k.

If you are serious about getting a decent deposit together which I believe you are, I think you could be saving the most of this each month. Say 2,000k at least. While saving that amount you can always if really necessary dip into it if need be rather than the other way around where you save what is less. 
You seem to be doing really well on you household bills. I wouls just say with the two of you you may be able to cut your grocery bill by about 150-200 euro. 
Once you see the money adding up you'll always try to better it. 
Remember the better deposit you have the better shape it will leave you. 
Just one question is the 300 from take home pay of second person included in the 1400-1500 a month amount?


----------



## Sesed (8 Mar 2012)

Yes but that is the basic outgoings as I said some extra money has to stay there for big ticket items, insurance weddings etc which we seem to have too many of!
No the 300 or whatever it is is not factored in, it is shares so can comes back in a lump later so for now I'll just ignore it (but it will be added to savings account when cashed in)


----------



## niceoneted (8 Mar 2012)

I think so the best thing you need to do for those expenses outside of the weekly/monthly ones ie Car Ins, Tax, TV Licence etc is to write down what these expenses cost you on an annual basis. Make provision for the weddings and round up the amount to the nearest hundred. Then have a seperate savings account for that amount. 
Also a spending diary might come in handy and you may become aware of unnecessary spending.


----------



## Sesed (9 Mar 2012)

Thanks for the advice.  We have a spending diary. I suppose I am not used to budgeting seriously and I hate logging everything.  That said, my personal spending money covers all the little random things (wine, a lunch out, a haircut) We have cut back a lot- gone for dinner once in 3 months when we used to go weekly, packed lunches etc. Smoking has to go, but it's a tough one! 

As a female, I feel I am not doing too badly! I am not making a sweeping generalization about women and their spending habits, but I always point out to the other half that a lot of girls I and he work with go to beauty salons for tan etc two or three weeks, buy lovely clothes frequently, drive new cars and take lots of mini breaks. 
 I rarely get my hair cut, only every 4-5 months, do my own colour, I haven't bought clothes since Christmas, and I paid for my own first little car in cash (with a little help from daddy  and I still have it.  I haven't saved a lot over the last few years working, but I did enjoy having my own money and a good time, but I also bought the car, paid colleges fees and never took out a credit card or a loan.

Maybe I'm just making excuses for myself but I feel like I am doing ok!!


----------



## niceoneted (9 Mar 2012)

Yes the smokes must go! Do you both smoke or just yourself. 
It is not that hard to give them up. I did it almost 8 yrs ago. I recently calculated how much I actually spent on cigarettes during the time I did smoke and it came to just over 20k. To me that is a lot of wasted money. If I had continued to smoke I would have spent a further 23k approx. 
You can use all the excuses you like to justify your spending but at the end of the day you can cut things very tight for a year or two to make the next 20 to 30 easier (in terms of mortgage payments and being able to by the better house). 
I have been in 3 holidays so far this year and I can do this by living a frugal life in between times when I have. one example is that I have not had any case on me since Tuesday midday. I have not been able to spend a penny but I had enough of everything I needed - including a healthy savings account! 
Don't worry about what other women are spending their money on. It's all about choice at teh end of the day. 
Good luck with the saving.


----------



## Sesed (12 Mar 2012)

Yes, we both smoke, but off them now a few days.  On nicotine tablets but it still works out cheaper. But the cigarettes are a total waste with no benefits so I'm hoping this helps.  I'll be a happy non-smoker in my lovely new house    I worked it out at 350 quid a month for the two of us- Ouch!


----------

