When embarking on a decluttering mission, I bet you often make excuses to keep things that deep down you know you should get rid of. No matter how often you reassure yourself that clutter “will come in useful one day”, in reality, the items you cling onto are probably more trouble than they’re worth. Not only can a cluttered home look unsightly, it can also cause unnecessary stress and anxiety while weakening our finances. Next time you decide to have a clear-out, ask yourself these 5 questions to help you decide what to keep and what to bin:
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I’m on a mission to declutter and simplify my life and over the last few weeks I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from The Minimalists aka Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus. These two really are the experts when it comes to living on the bare necessities and both claim their lives have improved since they started to focus experiences rather than stuff!
While reading their blog today I came across the concept of ‘The Packing Party‘. Basically, a Packing Party involves inviting all of your mates round and spending an evening packing all your belongings away into boxes.
Literally everything needs to be packed away, whether it’s a slow cooker from the kitchen worktop or a random knick-knack from your bedside cabinet. According to Ryan and Joshua, you should even pack away things that you use on a regular basis.
Keep the boxes as organised as possible and label them to give you an indication what’s in each box. For example you could have a box called ‘toiletries’, one called’ books’ and one called ‘kitchen utensils’.
You might also like this post: Ask Yourself These 5 Questions To Declutter Your Home
Once your Packing Party is over, each time you need to use something, you have to retrieve it from the box in question and replace it in its rightful place in your home (not back in the box).
The idea of this game is to highlight just how few of the items you own you’re likely to actually need and use. After a week or so, The Minimalists recommend you start to decide which unnecessary items to trash, donate or sell.
This whole Packing Party concept does sound pretty drastic. If I invited my friends round and asked them to help me to pack stuff away despite the fact I’m not moving out, they’d think I was crazy. However, I think this is a great exercise to determine exactly which items are ‘essential’ to our lives.
If you’ve already tried decluttering your home but you can’t bear to throw anything away in case you ‘need’ it in future, this could be the best option for you. You’ll realise that there’s no point hoarding things for the sake of it. If you’re not going to use something yourself, you may as well pass it onto someone who will use it. That’s right. Make your junk someone else’s problem ;).
This also could be a great task to complete if you really are due to move house soon. You could pack up all your stuff a few weeks before you move and use the removing-from-boxes process to highlight which items you shouldn’t bother lugging to your new place. Alternatively, you could pack up all your stuff like normal, move to your new place and only unpack gradually if and when you need stuff.
If the whole process sounds a little too drastic for your situation - or you’re not planning on moving anyway - then why not try a watered down version? Rather than removing things from cupboards and cabinets, and putting them into boxes, simply make sure things are put away. Put all loose toiletries in a box in your bathroom and take any loose ornaments and place them in a box in your living room. Basically - remove visible clutter. Pretend you’re a teenager again and your parents have ordered you to tidy your room. Remember kicking everything under your bed or throwing it in your wardrobe? Do that.
Just like the Packing Party - remove things if and when you need it and place it in a designated ‘safe space’ in your home. Once a week or two has passed by, inspect the items still packed away and start to question whether you really need these things.
What do you think of this whole concept? Have you ever tried something similar yourself? I’d love to hear your decluttering and minimalism tips in the comments below. Alternatively, don’t hesitate to tweet me @CantSwingACat or send an email to [email protected].
As first time buyers, we’re pretty new to the world of mortgages, estate agents, and surveys. Since we’ve never bought a house before, the whole process can be a little confusing, overwhelming and stressful. Thankfully, there are lots of people out there who can offer us advice and break down the property-buying lingo for us - from friends and family members to experts such as mortgage advisors. However, while it’s a good idea to ask for help, it’s also worth doing some homework yourself you know what to expect on your home-buying journey. If you want to buy a house but you’re unsure where to begin, here are just a few great resources:
The First Time Buyer
The home buying journey is likely to be full of ups and downs, so it makes sense to familiarise yourself with the key steps to buying a house.
The First Time Buyer is a great place to start. Whether you need help finding the house for you, or you’re struggling to get your head around the whole conveyancing malarkey, this is a brilliant one-stop-shop for all things property. It’s also ideal if you’re looking to compare conveyancing solicitors or mortgage rates.
The First Time Buyer also has a team of property experts to hand to answer your questions. So whether you’re keen to know how much of a deposit you need or you have a query about the first time buyer ISA, this is the place for you.
Every so often you may see a familiar face on The First Time Buyer, as I recently became a contributor and will be posting my own blog posts and guides from time to time.
Principality’s First Time Trier
Sometimes I feel silly calling myself a first time buyer because I’m not actually in a position to buy somewhere just yet. I guess technically I’m a ‘first time trier‘, a term coined by Principality Building Society to describe those who are trying really hard to save for a home of their own.
Principality’s website is packed full of useful information for first time buyers (and triers) such as the infographic below. If you’re looking for a website that offers no-nonsense tips and tricks without complex lingo, this is definitely worth a look.
I recently wrote an article for them myself, looking at how I saved £10,000 in a year towards a deposit.
Zoopla
As a prospective first time buyer, you’ll probably already spend a considerable amount of your time staring longingly at houses for sale on Zoopla. While you’re there, be sure to check out the advice section as there are some handy property guides for FTBs.
On The Market
On The Market has a really useful blog packed full of tips for first time buyers. If you’re considering buying a property with your friends, or you’re keen to wise-up to some of the most common home buying pitfalls, I’d definitely recommend paying them a visit.
What House?
With so many offers and deals available for first time buyers, when looking to buy a home of your own, it can be a good idea to keep up-to-date with property news. What House?’s news section is perfect for this, and it’s packed full of relevant news stories.
Ever since I started saving for a house deposit I’ve been convinced that I’d buy my first property in Salford, a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester. After all, many towns within the City of Salford have the following perks:
- You can find houses for less than £100,000
- These houses are often larger than those you’d get for a similar price elsewhere in the North West
- It’s handy for getting to both Manchester City Centre and Media City - ideal for getting to work
- It has great ‘transport links’ - oh I don’t half sound like an estate agent!
- House prices are predicted to rise over the next few years
- If I decide to get a lodger, it should be easy to find someone
Also, since I’m buying my first home alone, this seriously limits the amount of money I can borrow from a mortgage lender. I was convinced that Salford was my best option. I had it all planned out. I’d buy a house in Salford, Jake would move in, we’d live there for about 3 years and eventually buy a better house together. Recently I’ve found myself talking about my second house even though I haven’t found my first one yet!
Considering moving house can be a long winded process costing thousands of pounds, realistically I need to accept that I may well be living in my first house for 5 years or more. And in 5 years time I may not even be in a position to buy somewhere else! You never know how the future will pan out. As a result, it’s suddenly dawned on me that if I’m going to be spending £100k on a house, I need to be more than just ‘okay’ with it! Buying a property with an ‘it’ll do for now’ mentality just aint sensible. I need to find a house that is not only what I want physically, but also fits the bill logistically.
I’ve had a long hard think about the other things I want from my first home and, more importantly, the area it’s in:
- I want the house to be in an area with lots of trees, greenery and at least one park nearby
- I’d like there to be some nice bars, restaurants and shops in the vicinity. I’d also love the idea of having a nice local pub
- I want to feel safe walking home from work at night
- I want to be in an area that is relatively peaceful
Although I’m currently living in my home town of Sale, I’ve lived in Salford for 5 years in the past, and although the city does have its nicer parts, the more affordable areas don’t cater to many of my above demands. So I’ve decided to broaden my search. However, as much as I’d love to live in Didsbury, Chorlton or stay in Sale, these places just aren’t affordable. I need to find a town that is within my price range while still having a little bit of that leafy suburbian charm.
Over the weekend my parents took Jake and I on a mini road trip around Stockport. Stockport is a large town in Manchester with tons of shops, amenities and good transport links (there’s my inner estate agent again). It also has lots of mini towns and villages within it such as Heaton Moor, Heaton Chapel, Bredbury, and Edgeley. While we didn’t actually view the inside of any properties, we went for a drive around some of the above areas and sussed out where would be nice to live.
I have to say, I was really impressed by Stockport. I’ve always thought of it as a very city-like town and, perhaps ignorantly, never imagined it’d have so much greenery and quirky little bars and shops. I thought it was full of offices, factories and big ugly blocks of flats. Silly me.
We also spotted some really nice and relatively affordable properties. Unfortunately, I think I’m going to have to up my savings efforts and erm…salary a little further in order to buy somewhere nice in Stockport in the next year, but I’m remaining positive!
Over the next few months I’ll be looking around other parts of Manchester in an attempt to find my dream town or village, so if you’re a fellow Mancunian and have anywhere in mind, please do give me a shout and share your tips!
Photo Credits
Salford: Chris Jones
Sale: Ben Sutherland
Stockport: highlights6
When thinking about buying a house, the first thought that generally pops into a person’s head is the deposit. With a 5% deposit on a £150,000 property standing at a £7,500, saving this money is by no means an easy fete.
However, the deposit isn’t the only financial hurdle associated with buying a property. In fact, there are a number of costs many people forget to take into consideration when saving for a property. Once these people have their deposit saved, they get a nasty shock when they realise there are so many other expenses to budget for. Even though I’ve managed to save £10,000 over the last year towards my first home, I now need to start thinking about the other costs associated with getting a mortgage. It’s exhausting!
These so-called hidden mortgage costs can include anything from mortgage arrangement fees and broker fees to the cost of the valuation and stamp duty. Once the deal has been finalised you have to consider removal hire, furnishings and insurance. Depending on the price of the property you’re purchasing and the percentage you’re putting down, these extra costs could potentially double the amount you need altogether.
The table below shows the most common costs and how much, on average, they are likely to set potential home owners back.
What are these costs for?
Arrangement fees - These are paid to your lender to cover the expenses for administration.
Booking fees - Also paid to the lender in order to secure fixed rate or discounted mortgages.
Mortgage account fees - This is charged for the opening, maintenance and closing of the account.
Legal fees - Also called conveyance fees, these are paid to the solicitor for undertaking all the legal paperwork involved with buying a house.
Valuation fees- In many cases, a valuation must be conducted as proof to the bank that the property is worth the amount you are paying for it.
Mortgage broker fees- If a property buyer uses a mortgage broker in order to find the best mortgage for them, a fee will be required.
Stamp duty- Stamp duty is a tax that must be paid on each house with a value of over £125,000. The amount paid will vary on the property’s price, so a buyer purchasing a house for £130,000 will pay less stamp duty than someone buying a house for £230,000.
Surveys- Surveys are conducted as part of the moving process in order to assess any potential work that needs to be done to the house. The buyer can then try and get the cost of these repairs taken off the price of the house.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are plenty more charges that first time buyers have to cough up. These are just the most financially draining. It is vital to always be aware of these costs and advisable to have more money to hand than you think you need.
Who’s who in the mortgage process?
Another thing people are often unprepared for is the sheer number of professionals that need to be involved in the process.
Estate agents
If you want to find your dream home then you’re in need of an estate agent. These guys are known for their gift of the gab when it comes to haggling. They also deal with tons of paperwork so you don’t have to. Advertising and marketing is in their job description, so they’re always first to know when a great find pops up.
Lenders
Unless you’ve come into a significant amount of money, whether that’s following the passing of a rich relative or a lottery win, first time buyers are unlikely to get very far in the house buying process without the backing of a lender. These are the guys that give potential home buyers the funds to get the mortgage. They also access each individual request and calculate how much they are willing to lend. It is vital to shop around as each firm will have their own deals and rates.
Advisor
Mortgage advisors and mortgage brokers are experts when it comes to securing a mortgage and buying a property, whether you’re a first time buyer or an existing home owner. Their job is to guide buyers through the whole process and offer them realistic mortgage suggestions to find them the best deal. Some mortgage brokers charge a fee, but others don’t. As a result, it’s vital to shop around to find a service that will offer you value for money.
Solicitor
Solicitors handle all the legal stuff, such as the transferring of ownership, legal paperwork and even handling the funds.
Surveyor
The chartered surveyor is an important asset to all first time buyers. They’re responsible for assessing any work that may need doing to the building before you hand over the cash. If they spot a problem that will affect the property’s value or require you to pay for significant renovation works, you could ask the seller to remove the cost from the property’s price. There are a wide range of surveys to choose from and these can differ in cost. Although it may be tempting to choose the cheapest one, these won’t be as thorough as a more expensive survey.
It seems like a lot to take in at first glance, but once all these people are in place it becomes a lot easier and they are all there to help you get the best deal and property you can.
The most important advice you can follow is to ask tons of questions in order to ensure you’re fully informed at all stages of the process.
For more information about buying a property for the first time, take a look at this guide: First Time Buyers Guide to Getting a Mortgage by Voucher Codes Pro.
Photo credits: All images courtesy of Voucher Codes Pro