IF you’re saving for a home, seeing your money drain away on bills can be disheartening.
But it didn’t stop Ashleigh Hoskin, 27, from putting away a whopping 80% of her monthly wage into her savings account to buy her £150,000 first home.
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Ashleigh, a health and wellbeing administrator, was paying out around £400 a month to cover her bills, and rent to her parents, and still managed to save up to £1,500 for her pay packet towards buying a place of her own.
Sacrificing her social life and holidays helped her to boost her savings.
When she first started saving for a house five years ago, she was earning working as an apprentice and earning £3.70 an hour.
Ashleigh still managed to put away 80% of her salary every month, by being really strict with her outgoings.
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As she got promotions and moved roles, she was able to put more cash away and watched her savings build.
This meant that Ashleigh was able to put down a whopping 28% deposit of £32,800 because she saved so much cash.
She also wanted to reduce the amount of money she was paying back on monthly mortgage repayments.
Ashleigh got the keys to her three-bedroom home in Suffolk in October.
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We sat down with Ashleigh to take a snoop around her home for The Sun’s My First Home series.
Tell me about your home
It’s a three-bedroom house in Suffolk.
The house is on a quiet cul-de-sac and there’s a real sense of community and people looking out for one another.
It has a closed floor plan, so I have a nice big living room, dining room and kitchen.
There is also a bathroom downstairs and you can gain access to the garden through the kitchen.
Upstairs is the master bedroom and two spare rooms.
I don’t have a driveway, but there is communal parking and it’s easy to grab a spot directly outside of your house.
How did you decide on location?
This is the first time that I have ever lived away from home, so it was important for me to be somewhere that I felt safe on my own.
The cul-de-sac is really quiet and that put my at ease straight away.
It was also important for me to find somewhere close to my parents; they’re just a ten minute drive away.
How much was it?
My house cost £150,000 and I put down a 28% deposit of £32,800.
I have taken out a mortgage of £117,200 over 40 years at a fixed rate of 6.5% for two years.
I chose a two-year, rather than a five-year fix because of how high interest rates are currently.
I’m hoping that by the time my fix ends, interest rates will have come down.
My monthly repayments are £700 a month.
How did you save for it?
I first started saving solely for a deposit around five years ago.
I’ve always been really good at saving money. I find it almost addictive to see my savings go up and up.
Even when I was a little kid I would always make sure that my birthday and Christmas money was stashed away.
Because of this, I started off with a nest egg of around £10,000.
To make sure I was constantly adding to my stash, I would put away between £1,000 and £1,500 into my savings account every month.
This would go into my savings account at the start of the month and was roughly 80% of my wage.
I started doing this when I got my first job as an apprentice estate agent and was earning around £3.70 an hour.
My outgoings were around £400 a month, which included £150 in rent to my parents, as well as my phone contract, gym membership and car insurance.
To be able to make sure I was putting away as much cash as possible, I had to make a lot of sacrifices.
I had to cut back completely on socialising, eating out and going on holiday.
I would go for walks or visit the beach, which were all free but were still fun things to do.
I did miss out on a lot, and there were times when I wondered if I should just treat myself, or splash out, but I’m so glad I didn’t.
How did you afford to furnish it?
I am buying everything in stages to spread out the cost of furnishing my home.
To afford this, I made sure that I saved beyond my deposit and my saving habits had put me in a good position to be able to do this.
Do you have any advice for other first-time buyers?
It sounds simple, but saving really is key and you can’t rely on anyone else to help you.
It was a struggle and I did have to sacrifice a lot to afford my home, but it was definitely worth it.
I think living within your means is the key, but of course it’s really tricky with the cost of living.
Just save as much as you possibly can and be sensible with spending.
Make sure to seek proper advice too from solicitors and mortgage advisers.
This can make you feel a lot more reassured and make the process seem a lot more manageable.
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Meanwhile, one couple bought their £453,000 dream first-home with a “lifeline” small deposit scheme.
Plus, another first-time buyer got a £45,000 discount on their first home while working part-time and claiming Universal Credit.
You can also join our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.
