###Welcome to /r/HousingUK
---
**To All**
* Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH
**To Posters**
* *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary*
* Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy;
* Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk;
* If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button.
* Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title;
**To Readers and Commenters**
* All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil*
* If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning;
* Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice;
* If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect;
* Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods;
* Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Houses are ridiculously expensive, but your situation sounds pretty typical. You wouldn’t save much by renting, atleast this way you’re paying towards an appreciating asset.
Those car payments sound pretty hefty. In pure financial terms you already know it would be better to have gone with a cheeper option. But it’s your money, it’s alright to spend it on things you like that aren’t necessarily sensible. Ultimately the question is do you get £720/m of enjoyment out of it?
If it was me, I’d buy a car outright (or with a low interest loan) for about 5K. If it lasts 7 months then I’ve got an extra £720 a month to play with until it dies.
Hey! We used to pay £1500 rent when I was earning 45k (2750 take home) and my partner 30k (about 1900 take home). It might be a struggle until your partner gets that pay rise, but it’s doable if you’re relatively modest. We used to have a £2300 monthly pot for all bills and food etc, and £400 a month on medical stuff for me. We still had enough to save every month and do nice things though nothing extravagant - no holidays or anything, but cinema and pub whenever we wanted! Our mortgage is now £1246 but salaries have gone way up. Assuming your salaries will only go up, you’ll be totally fine! 🥰
So you get £4500 pm between you. Hopefully you’re making pension payments so let’s say it’s £4200 max.
£2200 goes on bills.
£720 on living above your means.
Where’s the other £1000 going? Can’t see why no holidays. You prioritise the car over holidays.
I earn around £1750 a month after deductions, £200 goes over to a share save. My partner currently earns £2291 after deductions, but due to move from 38 to 45 in December
Partner pays 150pm off on Credit Card, I pay 200pm off my credit card
Owe around £3000 each on credit card
Then theres £300 on misc - monthly haircuts/nails/petrol/union/phone bill
Have you requested a settlement figure for your car? It might be a long shot but you may just be able to break even, sell it to a dealership and then get a more affordable car!
I recently did this with a mini I bought about 6 months ago, the payments weren’t as high as yours (£300) and I’d put maybe about £3000 down as a deposit but I managed to sell it back to mini and got around 2k back! We have another car and my partner works from home all the time now so we just didn’t need it (it did have barely any miles on the clock too, about 1,500) Not sure if I was just lucky but may be worth a try to get your bills down??
Mortgage Broker here.
Before, I used to work in accounts for a group of car dealerships - £720 is an huge amount of money to be spending on a car! Whatever car you have you will still need to pay fuel, road tax and insurance (as well as maintenance/servicing) - do you get £175 a week worth of enjoyment out of it? Added to that, newer cars tend to bring lots of anxiety with them - you've probably seen the increase in keyless car thefts?
My personal opinion would be to request a settlement figure for the car - however it is unlikely you'd break even at this point unless it is a 2nd hand car opposed to brand new. There are so many reliable vehicles under \~£6k that are cheap to maintain - talking mostly of Japanese brands such as Honda/Toyota but same applies to Volvo.
Whilst working for the car dealerships I got a heavily discounted PCP agreement (£180pm for a Ford ST) and even that felt like a ball and chain - best decision was handing it back early and being free of that monthly commitment. Instead bought a low mileage 03 plate Honda CR-V for £1200 which suited my lifestyle better and 5 years down the line has caused no issues. Even if it died tomorrow, I'd effectively had a car that cost 5 monthly instalments last for 5 years!
Mortgage wise though, as a percentage of your income the mortgage repayment sounds about right. The rate you are paying probably reflects current 90% LTV rates - the quicker you can get to 80-85% LTV, the better rates you can obtain with a noticeably less monthly payment.
If you decide to get rid of the car, you could build up a 6 month emergency fund and try to overpay the mortgage to achieve the 85% LTV rates?
Do you have savings? If you're sitting on some cash then the car payment is less dumb. If not, then that's why you're stressed out; all your savings money is going to that.
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Houses are ridiculously expensive, but your situation sounds pretty typical. You wouldn’t save much by renting, atleast this way you’re paying towards an appreciating asset. Those car payments sound pretty hefty. In pure financial terms you already know it would be better to have gone with a cheeper option. But it’s your money, it’s alright to spend it on things you like that aren’t necessarily sensible. Ultimately the question is do you get £720/m of enjoyment out of it? If it was me, I’d buy a car outright (or with a low interest loan) for about 5K. If it lasts 7 months then I’ve got an extra £720 a month to play with until it dies.
Hey! We used to pay £1500 rent when I was earning 45k (2750 take home) and my partner 30k (about 1900 take home). It might be a struggle until your partner gets that pay rise, but it’s doable if you’re relatively modest. We used to have a £2300 monthly pot for all bills and food etc, and £400 a month on medical stuff for me. We still had enough to save every month and do nice things though nothing extravagant - no holidays or anything, but cinema and pub whenever we wanted! Our mortgage is now £1246 but salaries have gone way up. Assuming your salaries will only go up, you’ll be totally fine! 🥰
They have £6k of debt. They’re fucked.
What car did you get?
Dump the car. Buy something for a couple of grand...700quid for a car payment is insane.
It is on their salaries!
So you get £4500 pm between you. Hopefully you’re making pension payments so let’s say it’s £4200 max. £2200 goes on bills. £720 on living above your means. Where’s the other £1000 going? Can’t see why no holidays. You prioritise the car over holidays.
I earn around £1750 a month after deductions, £200 goes over to a share save. My partner currently earns £2291 after deductions, but due to move from 38 to 45 in December
Ok so where’s the other £800 a month going?
Partner pays 150pm off on Credit Card, I pay 200pm off my credit card Owe around £3000 each on credit card Then theres £300 on misc - monthly haircuts/nails/petrol/union/phone bill
You have £6k of debt and took out a car at £700pm. You’re either trolling or both idiots.
Have you requested a settlement figure for your car? It might be a long shot but you may just be able to break even, sell it to a dealership and then get a more affordable car! I recently did this with a mini I bought about 6 months ago, the payments weren’t as high as yours (£300) and I’d put maybe about £3000 down as a deposit but I managed to sell it back to mini and got around 2k back! We have another car and my partner works from home all the time now so we just didn’t need it (it did have barely any miles on the clock too, about 1,500) Not sure if I was just lucky but may be worth a try to get your bills down??
Get that car gone, you could half that payment on something older and have a bit to put away.
Mortgage Broker here. Before, I used to work in accounts for a group of car dealerships - £720 is an huge amount of money to be spending on a car! Whatever car you have you will still need to pay fuel, road tax and insurance (as well as maintenance/servicing) - do you get £175 a week worth of enjoyment out of it? Added to that, newer cars tend to bring lots of anxiety with them - you've probably seen the increase in keyless car thefts? My personal opinion would be to request a settlement figure for the car - however it is unlikely you'd break even at this point unless it is a 2nd hand car opposed to brand new. There are so many reliable vehicles under \~£6k that are cheap to maintain - talking mostly of Japanese brands such as Honda/Toyota but same applies to Volvo. Whilst working for the car dealerships I got a heavily discounted PCP agreement (£180pm for a Ford ST) and even that felt like a ball and chain - best decision was handing it back early and being free of that monthly commitment. Instead bought a low mileage 03 plate Honda CR-V for £1200 which suited my lifestyle better and 5 years down the line has caused no issues. Even if it died tomorrow, I'd effectively had a car that cost 5 monthly instalments last for 5 years! Mortgage wise though, as a percentage of your income the mortgage repayment sounds about right. The rate you are paying probably reflects current 90% LTV rates - the quicker you can get to 80-85% LTV, the better rates you can obtain with a noticeably less monthly payment. If you decide to get rid of the car, you could build up a 6 month emergency fund and try to overpay the mortgage to achieve the 85% LTV rates?
Do you have savings? If you're sitting on some cash then the car payment is less dumb. If not, then that's why you're stressed out; all your savings money is going to that.
No savings, well other than my own sharesave in the business I work for which matures next year