Thetownend.com

I've just started to realise how expensive living in this country is.  My flat is finished and the floor fitters are in.

Gonna cost the best part of £1,000 to floor the place!

Cream carpet in the bedrooms and laminate wood throughout the living room and hallway.

Thank god the bathroom and kitchen are already floored!!  :soapy tit wank:

Washing machine was on offer at £150 and my fridge freezer was £300

Gonna take alot of adjustment living alone and paying bills but the independance will be worth it!

Did anyone else struggle when starting out alone?

I havent even tried yet, fuck knows how I'm going to afford it!!

havent tried either yet but me and the girlfriend have bout £15,000 saved up so hopefully wont find it as a massive struggle

I've got all this to look forward to in the new year. Off to see my old man tonight to see if I can twist his arm into giving me a few grand.

Fuck me, are you a drug dealer or something?

no

My council tax is only £90 a month apparently which is a bonus.

There is so much to pay for!!

I've been stressing a little!

 No...the secret is to get a bird in sharpish, to pay for stuff, cook, clean and shag.  In that order.

cream carpets - semen stains - not a good mix Ralphy

its not that much is it £15,000?

The prices are the same as in Poland...but you're lucky because you live in England and have higher salary...
However some things are more expensive in England than in Poland - cigarettes for example , beers , vodka , food , houses...In the arena where I live for 20.000 Ł you would have a very big house with garden

wossat in english pounds Bartek?

I suppose not, but considering me and my missus (read as 'me') have managed to save only £5k it's quite a lot.

we have only been saving for a few months

Bartek, my 2 bedroom flat was £161,000

Oxford is an expensive area of England to live.

20k . I don't have a symbol of pounds on my keyboard so I wrote Ł as similar to it  :soapy tit wank:
one pound = 6 złotych

You've saved £15k in a few months? Fair play! You a Lawyer or something?

no run my own business, the missus has a decent job aswell

Thats impressive if you've only been saving for a few months.

Rented for a year, left me practically penniless, so i've moved back to my parents gaff. I'll think twice before doing that again :doh:

Having said that, i may have to rent while i'm at Uni in Poxford, but student accom prices are much more manageable, even if they aren't up to much of a standard

I was thinking of renting a few years ago but decided it was just dead money.

My mortgage is cheaper than my cousins rent on her flat.

 You moving to Scumsville Ralphy.... :shock:

How much for the rent of the flat ?
Quite small for one person...

renting is a waste of time like ralphy said, y pay someone elses mortgage off for them?

What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

i do mind

Still Chipping Norton Reg. Just said Oxford cos Bartek wouldn't have heard of Chipping Norton.

nah i run a plumbing business,

I'm not renting Bartek, i've bought it.

My mortgage is £430 a month.

Fair enough. I'd love to be self-employed but haven't got the balls to take the risk.

well i dont do plumbing myself, but employ them, and sub out other work on the jobs like tiling and plastering and make money on those trades aswell

almost 1.000.000 zlotych !!! Jesus !!! For such a money you would have here a house , garden , pool , super car and full of furniture

Your the pimp basically then!

i advertise and get the work coming in and price them

Self-employemnt ? I am thinking about it after graduating Uni...I have few ideas... 8)

Self-employment is knowing where to start though. I wouldn't have a clue.

£161,000 doesn't buy alot here Bartek.

A 5 bedroom house on the same estate as my flat is £520,000.

Yes that's half a million pounds.

the hardest thing is when u first start and not getting the work, u need money to live off for that time, i was only 20 when i started doing this, 22 in a month, its gone great for me so far

   That's a relief.....Chipping Norton is a solid sort of place.

its hard not knowing how much ur going to earn, like what i do it can vary from like £400 up to as much as £2500-£3000 per week

at least if you are a plumber I suppose there is a chance you can avoid paying some of the 'fuckwit tax' I incurred:

- bought a gas oven, turned down the 30quid fee for someone fitting it from comet, since I thought it would just be a case of screwing the bit of hose on the bayonet fitting and checking there weren't any nasty smells or hissing noise -  only to find that said oven didn't come with any fitting and that B&Q were a bit arsey about selling one to anyone that wasn't CORGI registered ("i left the certificate in the van" wasn't apparently acceptable, not that I knew what I was looking for anyway).  Call in engineer to fit it - 25 quid for part 100 quid to fit it (+VAT).  Oven cost 130 quid on its own...

- everyones boiler will stop working on the coldest saturday within the first few weeks of moving in. 220 quid if you wait till monday to get it fixed to avoid a weekend call out charge.

- plumbed in washing machine myself, which wasn't difficult - apart from the downpipe was completely blocked with rancid shite that then spread all over the kitchen floor after the first spin cycle.  Free to fix, but I would have happily paid someone to spend an hour up to their elbows in it sorting it out.

Sounds like you had a hard tim genf_stfc. I'm trying to budget for all eventualities because you just never know what might crop after after you've bought the house.

Its about time some of you dossers on here found out about the real world and how much its costs  :wink: Think yourself lucky if you are able to live at home with parents, and only worry about spending money on beer and football.

Wakey fucking wakey!

I don't want to worry you Ralphy, but have you also factored in your life insurance, home & contents insurance, gas, electricity, water bills. It all adds up.

I was lucky enough to buy my first home for under 50k 10 years ago. I now have a house valued around 200k (3 bed semi in St Neots, Cambs) which I'm currently letting as I'm working overseas for 3 years.

Its bloody hard to start out, probably more so now, so plan and budget very carefully. I told my parents I wanted to move out, so we agreed that I would live rent-free for two years and save double what I was paying them in rent every month to fund a deposit. Worked a treat for me, although I do regret not moving out sooner in some ways.

how the fuck you got a mortgage for that much on £161k?????

my mortgage on £130k is £650
my mortgage on my 1 bed flat for £60k was £380.

you must have put down one hell of a deposit Ralph

He's lying. He only paid £96,000. Low cost housing scheme. There's a thread about it somewhere.

was gonna say.

also shows the cost of living when in Stourbridge i can buy a lovely 3 double bed semi + garage + triple drive + landscapped garden for £132k.

for my house in Oxfordshire would cost another £100k easily

 It'd cost that much to dismantle it and rebuild it in O*frodshire that's for sure.   Not sure why you'd want to do it mind.

 Talking about house prices....... :boring:

Stourbridge is a nice part of teh greater Brum too, I might end up back in brum and was a bit worried about how much housing cost up there, but that's very reasonable.  Mr Roundabout how does that compare to more central (but not dangerous) parts of Birmingham?

If you share with a few people it isn't as bad. My loan only just covered my rent and that was without bills.

I live 10 mins from reading and my two-bed maisonette cost me 150 k. Been here 18 months and next dor just been sold for 185. I moved in with my lady friend, which helped. Spread the cost as well as her legs. 15 grand will just about paty for deposit, fees and stuff, perhaps a bit left to get you started. It's all about Ikea early doors!

I shared a house with 9 others, my first time around at Uni. Cheap as proverbial chips

£60 a week in Southampton  :(

I could have probably got a cheaper place but I'd have only saved myself £20 a month which would have been spent getting to places on the bus as the cheaper places are nearer the uni and there's fuck all going on up there

£45p/w 8) But it was Eastbourne :| And the heating didn't work :(  And our landlady was a bitch :x

Happy days :)

Were there cockroaches in the corner?

My second house was alright, really big but really old and could have used a lick of paint. But that said the heating worked and it was just shabby enough that the odd spill of wine or smell of a certain type of smoke didn't really get noticed.

Plus we had a shed that us lads used to get away from the girls. It had electrical supplies and everything. Also, there was a 'room' created at the end of the landing by some crazy previous occupant. It was literally 8 foot by 6 foot. Needless to say it became the hot box room.

Yep, we lived round the back of the local takeaway places. Which had obvious perks, but it meant we had a bit of a cockroach problem. It was a case of making sure you had shoes on when you went in the kitchen :|

'Hot Box'. Sounds kinky :D

currently paying £217 a month rent and £40 a month for bills in Manchester although should get some back from the bills at the end of the year.  Just 3 of us in a quality terranced house, no rodents at all which is nice :)

I live on my own and am in so much debt, but I wouldn't change it for the world. End of the day I'm on the property ladder.

never live north of the city. a fucking shit hole of the smelliest order.

Around stourbridge it is very reasonable. House prices are very affordable and what you get for your money is supurb.

I'm not too sure what other areas are like but i'd imagine pretty similar costs until you reach Harbourne, Edbaston, Mosley, Solihul etc.

Mate at work just paid £160k on a run down 2 bed house about 2 miles from Solihul.
it had no central heating, garage or drive and needed decorating top to bottom.


so for an extra £30k across the otherside of the city you lose a bedroom a garage and a drive + you have to decorate it.
madness if you ask me.

but thats what you get if you want the fancy Solihul Postcode

Nice one magic, I lived in SW Brum for 4 years, but Selly Oak Studentville is very overpriced.  True about the northside though, proper dump.

Think you've been diddled by your broker then magic...
I have one for £160K which is £630 and another for £300,000 which is £1300 (although this one pays off more than the other)

Its all about finding the best deals at the end of the day
(or having contacts in very good places at certain banks!!  :D )

Sounds like Ralphy may still be interest only anyway

if he is on interest only he must have a rate of 3.2%.

his broker must be very good sharky

I would imagine that a fair sum of the amount was still deposit but in fairness its still not a bad deal.

You can get as low as 2.99% but it depends on the amount your borrowing and again, the people you know!  :wink:

House costs me about 1600 a month then food and socialising on top, what a waste of money!

Ditto - depressing isn't it?

yeap, debating selling up to be honest and buyinga  one/two bed flat as I worked out I use under 30% of the room in my house, kind of wasteful.

Im the same but then I keep thinking "investment" but its crap because I never seem to have enough cash to do stuff I wanna do cos its all gone on the house  :roll:

My plan is to sell in march, get my cash out and then invest in a few buy to lets......

how much to fit an electric shower?and change the mixer taps over my bath?

ha, the net closes! arriba if you need a plaumber pm me and I will recommend a guy

I'll tell you how smart ass, the market value of my property is £161k, i bought it for £96,750.

I put down a deposit of £7,000

I'm not lying!

The market value is £161k !

It's a reduced market value scheme, i own 60% of the property.

you got conned Ralphy. unlucky

My mortgage is 2 year fixed rate i must add.

Um no i didn't.

60% of 161000 is 96600.

They overcharged you by £150.

Shared ownership??

Bummer. I'm so upset.

so your mortgage is for £89k approx??
not £161k as you were making out before.

plus you have to pay rent on top of the mortgage payments

good point

When i come to sell the property, i get 60% of what it's sold for. In 5 years i reckon it's value will increase to £180k maybe more.

It's an investment and a foot on the ladder. Single people can't afford 3 bedroom houses with gardens and other luxuries.

No i don't have to pay fucking rent! Do you honestly think i haven't looked through it all?  :-))(

lost the attitude Ralph.

it doesn't suit you

Stop being a twat.

I said the market value was £161k not my mortgage.

I know you have a problem with everything i buy, say or do but tough shit.

calm down.everyone else in that i know in shared ownership does.i apolgise for my incorrect assumption

Quite right Ralphus its a foot on the ladder etc.

The only way I could get "on the ladder" was to buy with my brother.

Why these lot are getting all uptight about how much you paid for your house/are paying for your mortgage is beyond me? Its like Sunday Lunch at the Conservative club in here bunch of pricks.

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

i could really throw my toys out of the pram like you did a while back when i said the same thing.

if you can't take people commenting on your investment then don't fucking say anything to people on an open forum.

and if you look back i haven't said anything bad about your flat.
all i did was comment on the difference in prices between oxford and stourbridge.

What, I see no fisting here!

I've been fucking lucky bought my first gaff 8 months or so back, made 32k and just fired a deposit on a new build due in 18months.

Bit like a virgins clacker valve, money is a tad tight at the moment as I'm paying two mortgages but by the time the new gaff is built I'll have sold my existing property,  be rolling around in my own filth and will have hopefully made some money too.

The new place was a hot tip from a property developer and it was ripped off the shelves in a week of being announced.  Estimated increase of 20% - 30% before it’s been built and I’m like a dog with a hard on.

Stop it or get a room  :wink:

To be fair Ralphy, I was going to ask the very same question magic did as the sums didn't work out. Now we know more info, everything is clear. Now calm down with a Horlicks or something.

Your a lying cunt ralphy fuck off  :D

I fully own the cup of tea I'm drinking, no mortgage.

well done Ben.

Is it a nice cuppa?

'tis indeed.

good. I'm glad for you.

i'm dreading the expense of living indipendently when i graduate, especially as i intend to move to London.

Your degree isn't in English, is it?

:D

Dont move to london, its too expensive if you havent got a serious deposit to buy a place!

Renting is like throwing your money down a drain that you also like to piss in sometimes!

look for a place to buy outside of London - my suggestions would be Uxbridge or High Wycombe if your not loaded, maybe try Ruislip but I dont know it very well myself.

Some areas of ascot near Windsor are also becoming available at good prices if you want to find a nice flat....

Anyway there's me trying to be helpful - enough of that!

I lived in chiswick for 6 months and rented a 2 bed for £1100 a month. Buying to rent out is ok until such time that the market falls away then you are fucked. I got caught out in the early eighties.

Millom

Well i've bought a 2 bedroom flat on a brand new estate in rural Oxfordshire. I'm only 25, single, i think it's a good investment.

It's not a part buy part rent deal, it's reduced market value.

I'm buying 60% of the property and the Housing company owns the other 40%.

It's good scheme West Oxfordshire Council have come up with to make housing more affordable for young people.

If it's worth £161k now, in 5 years when i come to sell it, it will be worth £180 to £190 k, i'm gonna make money on it regardless.

It is a good invesyment Ralph. What about that Scouse Girl you were seeing.

CRACK HOUSE WHORE DEN

 :D

simple question without spitting your dummy out.

does it mean you'll get 60% of any profit too???

I'm not spitting my dummy out Martin, just pisses me off how you pick holes in everything about me.

Yes i get 60% of any profit.

Don't listen to 'em Ralphy. I know they're not exactly picking on you really, but just ignore it.

The amount of smarmy gits that quaff because I can only afford a 5% deposit on my house is unbelievable, just fuck the cunts and do what you want.

example???

I'm sure ralphy knows what he's doing.

fucking hell spacy i thought i'd got rid of all that :evil:

Good work Spacey.

Your right though magic, he is a cunt!  :wink:

Sometimes renting can be good. For instance my uncle is a loner and so doesn't really need his own property (no-body to pass it on to etc). He managed to find himself a one bed flat 10 minute walk from work that suits him fine and the rent is cheaper than a mortgage would be. He sticks the money he saves in the bank and doesn't need to worry about about the house market crashing (if it ever does). A rare example, but an example none the less.

Renting is ace...honest

Would that be because you make money from it Ash?  :wink:

Take no notice ralphy.

Couldn't he pass it on to you??

dont know what your on about mate

nah, but i'm shit hot at english too. grammar watch?No way can I even consider buying with student debts to pay off and absolutely no capital. i've got to live in london, there's so much going on. anywhere within a 30ish min tube ride of zone 1 would be alright.

Renting is a bit crappy but all i'll be able to afford for a few years probably, i'm used to crappy student houses though so could cope with a run down place quite easily. As long as it has heating and a bed i'll be alright. The upsides of renting work in my favour though, no bills for repairs and i can leave whenever i want (contract permitting, of course).

It's all a bit scary to think about though.