Justifying the cost?

2

Comments

  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Don't worry DDD, you'll have a mortgage the size of 30 years of your salary before long.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    I have a dispossable income, which I squander, that needs to change. However, Mrs DDD figured out how close I was to being completely debt free (12-18months). by completely I mean not even having or needing an overdraft let alone a credit card or loan. Her lips whetted a little at the thought and now nothing but achieving that is justified.

    :cry: :x but wierdly :D

    Why? isn't that the very nature of disposable income??

    buy what you can afford; if you want to to spend more on something more coveted then so be it.
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • Rada_Rada
    Rada_Rada Posts: 10
    I'm in a position a lot like CiB, I pay the mortgage and a couple of bills and the missus pays the bills, council tax etc...

    What I want to spend my money on after that is my business and what she wants to buy that's up to her too. I save money on petrol or public transport and I still look forward to riding to work (after a year or so).
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,365
    CiB wrote:
    We're all different Derdly-Der but our method is simple. I pay for the roof over our heads, over-payments on the mortgage and vital things like wine & other bills; the lovely other ½ pays for extravagances like food, school things & holidays. What's left is ours to do what we feel like doing, jointly or separately.

    Never understood this way of managing family finances.

    We have (since the kids came along) one joint account, all income goes into and all expenditure comes out of that one account. Any personal purchases need to be justified as ultimately all money is 'family' money.

    That said I've yet to speak to anyone of my generation who manages their money in this way. Maybe it's me?


    On topic...cycling gear can be expensive..you get what you pay for...some brands are overpriced...some are good value...I don't have to justify anything to you...I'll commute on carbon fibre if I want to...you're just a snob/ poseur...all the gear no idea...yadda yadda yadda...
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Don't worry DDD, you'll have a mortgage the size of 30 years of your salary before long.

    We're looking. I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting used to having enough money to justify a mortgage. I burn through at least 2-3 chip and pin cards a year...
    Clever Pun wrote:
    Why? isn't that the very nature of disposable income??

    buy what you can afford; if you want to to spend more on something more coveted then so be it.

    Indeed, but where is the cut off between:

    i). Can afford it but the money could go elsewhere.
    ii). True its about priorities but you only live once.... (cancerous logic of my generation).
    iii). Do you really need it (like that £100 Optimus prime toy I bought) or do you want it.

    Then there weighing up the cheaper option. Do I go for the 42inch or 48inch TV. The bigger one has the emotive lighting... (OK that wasn't mine, but I aspire....)
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    TailWindHome wrote:

    We have (since the kids came along) one joint account, all income goes into and all expenditure comes out of that one account. Any personal purchases need to be justified as ultimately all money is 'family' money.

    That said I've yet to speak to anyone of my generation who manages their money in this way. Maybe it's me?
    May I ask what generation.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,416
    TailWindHome wrote:
    CiB wrote:
    We're all different Derdly-Der but our method is simple. I pay for the roof over our heads, over-payments on the mortgage and vital things like wine & other bills; the lovely other ½ pays for extravagances like food, school things & holidays. What's left is ours to do what we feel like doing, jointly or separately.

    Never understood this way of managing family finances.

    We have (since the kids came along) one joint account, all income goes into and all expenditure comes out of that one account. Any personal purchases need to be justified as ultimately all money is 'family' money.

    That said I've yet to speak to anyone of my generation who manages their money in this way. Maybe it's me?


    On topic...cycling gear can be expensive..you get what you pay for...some brands are overpriced...some are good value...I don't have to justify anything to you...I'll commute on carbon fibre if I want to...you're just a snob/ poseur...all the gear no idea...yadda yadda yadda...

    Well, now you have. Well, not quite met, but kind of. Dunno if I'm 'your generation' either. Early- to mid-30s?
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,365
    I'm 35 (I use the term generation loosely, I probably should have said 'age group')

    Everyone I know has some combination of their own accounts & joint accounts or a convoluted method of dividing up the bills.

    Just seems strange to me. In my view you're either married or you're not. The idea of my money and your money just seems against the spirit of marriage

    YMMV
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • Aidy
    Aidy Posts: 2,015
    Not having to justify purchases to anybody but myself does have its' merits :)
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    The missus and I have a joint account for bills etc I pay more as I earn more this seems fair.

    The rest is mine to spend on us :lol: and things that I want etc She's only had a go once and that's when she was more worried about money at that time while I embarked on an expensive tattoo project.
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,416
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    We're looking. I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting used to having enough money to justify a mortgage. I burn through at least 2-3 chip and pin cards a year...

    Try not to get too used to it. It's easier that way. Time was, a mortgage was probably a bit less than the rent for an equivalent property, but I think those times are long gone [sigh]. Plus if you end up buying somewhere that needs work doing, you will find that buildings can swallow money to a level several orders of magnitude above that of a bike habit.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    rjsterry wrote:
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    We're looking. I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting used to having enough money to justify a mortgage. I burn through at least 2-3 chip and pin cards a year...

    Try not to get too used to it. It's easier that way. Time was, a mortgage was probably a bit less than the rent for an equivalent property, but I think those times are long gone [sigh]. Plus if you end up buying somewhere that needs work doing, you will find that buildings can swallow money to a level several orders of magnitude above that of a bike habit.

    :cry: +1

    buy buy disposable income
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Oh we have a joint account into which we pay bills.

    Mortgages are silly things at the moment. Just typing the deposit on paper makes me feel sick and not want to get one.

    Someone from Ireland said to me once that it was only this Country (England) that has a fixation of buying a home....

    I leave all that to Mrs DDD.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,416
    Clever Pun wrote:
    rjsterry wrote:
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    We're looking. I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting used to having enough money to justify a mortgage. I burn through at least 2-3 chip and pin cards a year...

    Try not to get too used to it. It's easier that way. Time was, a mortgage was probably a bit less than the rent for an equivalent property, but I think those times are long gone [sigh]. Plus if you end up buying somewhere that needs work doing, you will find that buildings can swallow money to a level several orders of magnitude above that of a bike habit.

    :cry: +1

    buy buy disposable income

    Like you wouldn't believe. Even a small thing like repairing a leaking roof, can cost you as much as quite a nice bike without even trying.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    CiB wrote:
    We're all different Derdly-Der but our method is simple. I pay for the roof over our heads, over-payments on the mortgage and vital things like wine & other bills; the lovely other ½ pays for extravagances like food, school things & holidays. What's left is ours to do what we feel like doing, jointly or separately.

    Not sure if things have changed in recent years but this might not be a good way of doing things for Mrs CiB. I recall that effectively it can mean that the person whose money goes into the capital can end up with more than their fair share of things if there is a split. For example, if you put the same amount of capital into a jointly owned house and one partner pays for the mortgage and the contents, the one who pays for food and utility bills can get a smaller share.

    This could be nonsense but worth bearing in mind.

    As for me - I have overpayed on my mortgage to the extent it is now peanuts so I have a relatively high disposable income for my salary. However, I still have an eye on potential pensions fiascos so my focus is always on saving. I would never, ever buy an item on credit if I couldn't afford it any other way. What I do spend is justified in terms of how much extra pleasure an extra spend would get me. As a result, my new bike is pretty expensive but not as expensive as some around here even if I can afford them!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • rf6
    rf6 Posts: 323
    I spend it on whatever I like. Simple as that really. Why justify spending your money!
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    edited April 2010
    Duplicate because iPhone are shit and 3g is a rip off
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    @holyB awwww that so romantic, do you hold hands whilst you balance the books?

    @D^3 true however look at it this way, you get a mortgage (which sucks) then when you depart this mortal coil you leave the house to your child/children they either live mortgage free or have a MASSHOOF fat deposit for an even bigger house.

    The flaw it that plan is TAX - you name it they tax it, time for the people to revolt or is it the people are revolting?

    Who's with me......
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • jimmypippa
    jimmypippa Posts: 1,712
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Don't worry DDD, you'll have a mortgage the size of 30 years of your salary before long.

    Ah, this post on another forum seems appropriate

    http://badscience.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15605&start=50#p330798

    Not me, but I do see him occasionally, and he lives near my commute, in a "stockbroker area".

    Later on he mentions taking a 10k salary cut in moving from London, and still having more disposable income as a result of the move.
    Ken McKenzie wrote:
    tom p wrote:
    mjrobbins wrote:
    tom p wrote:
    now I'm paying close to £1,700/month for my 30-year mortgage,

    That's crazy - I've been quoted about £650!
    Depends where you're buying, interest only vs full repayment and length of mortgage.
    £1700 is for interest + principal, so only about half of it is wasted money (interest), and is about the same as I would've been paying on my rent.

    £650/month for a full repayment mortgage suggests an incredibly cheap house (125k mortgage @ 3% would give >£700pcm repayment). Is property in windsor really that cheap (or are you looking at slough?)

    When people ask me 'Ken, why did you leave London?', I think I might print this post out.
    http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=6404
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    edited April 2010
    Rolf F wrote:
    CiB wrote:
    We're all different Derdly-Der but our method is simple. I pay for the roof over our heads, over-payments on the mortgage and vital things like wine & other bills; the lovely other ½ pays for extravagances like food, school things & holidays. What's left is ours to do what we feel like doing, jointly or separately.

    Not sure if things have changed in recent years but this might not be a good way of doing things for Mrs CiB. I recall that effectively it can mean that the person whose money goes into the capital can end up with more than their fair share of things if there is a split. For example, if you put the same amount of capital into a jointly owned house and one partner pays for the mortgage and the contents, the one who pays for food and utility bills can get a smaller share.

    This could be nonsense but worth bearing in mind. !

    Oh. And @ various others. We did have a joint a/c, but I was dumping a load of cash in every month and it wasn't being used so I stopped doing it.

    Clearly what works for some doesn't have to work for everyone tho.
  • metalmonkey
    metalmonkey Posts: 144
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    Oh we have a joint account into which we pay bills.

    Mortgages are silly things at the moment. Just typing the deposit on paper makes me feel sick and not want to get one.

    Someone from Ireland said to me once that it was only this Country (England) that has a fixation of buying a home....

    I leave all that to Mrs DDD.

    Yup mortages are expensive I looked a what I would be putting into buying somewhere, thats a lot of cash I could buy alot of stuff with that cash, but meh investment in the future. However they jus seen have got cheaper, I went to the bank and worked out my money would go further well its something.

    Having my bike saves me time, i'm getting fitter as well. Can't put a price on it, I actually end up spending a lot more than I save but hasn't put me off the idea of getting a road bike, on the cyclee2work well why not 2 bikes sounds good.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    I was, the other week, wandering out of the office with a few colleagues to the sandwich shop when, as is often the case when I'm about, the discussion moved onto cycling and one of the aforemention colleagues made a comment about how some people would spend as much as 3k on a bike. At this point I kept my mouth shut :lol:

    Thing is though, this year I have bought myself a new car (as per avatar) - a nice, 55,000 mile Saab Turbo from 1985. As reliable as any modern car (probably more so), good performance and plenty of space to lob a bike in the back. Cost = £2700 undepreciatable quid. Hopefully, shortly, I'll take delivery of a Look 585. Cost = slightly more than the car. Obviously, my colleague would think I was daft but, basically, I have got a top quality car and a top quality bike for less than the cost of 3 year old Golf which still has plenty of depreciation to come.

    I could have got a bike for rather less but then 95% of the population could also have got their transport for much more lessness.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • holybinch
    holybinch Posts: 417
    itboffin wrote:
    @holyB awwww that so romantic, do you hold hands whilst you balance the books?

    :lol: We actually don't have to balance the books more than a couple of times a year.

    When we moved in, we budgeted what we'd need.
    Since then, we don't have any money discussions, apart from long term projects.
    And it just works.
    Honestly, it's been a blessing...

    We'll see how it turns out in the future, but at least I don't resent that all my income is swallowed without me having a say in where it goes.
    As I mentioned, I've been there before, I'd rather be in control of my finances.
    FCN 4(?) (Commuter - Genesis Croix de Fer)
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  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    rjsterry wrote:
    Clever Pun wrote:
    rjsterry wrote:
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    We're looking. I don't think I'm ready. I'm still getting used to having enough money to justify a mortgage. I burn through at least 2-3 chip and pin cards a year...

    Try not to get too used to it. It's easier that way. Time was, a mortgage was probably a bit less than the rent for an equivalent property, but I think those times are long gone [sigh]. Plus if you end up buying somewhere that needs work doing, you will find that buildings can swallow money to a level several orders of magnitude above that of a bike habit.

    :cry: +1

    buy buy disposable income

    Like you wouldn't believe. Even a small thing like repairing a leaking roof, can cost you as much as quite a nice bike without even trying.

    I'm spending what could have been the start of an amazing bike on floor restoration...
    It'll be lovely but I certainly can't got riding around on it.. not without getting b0llocked :lol:
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    This is why I bought new build. Yeah you're not guaranteed to have a problem free existence, but with the NHBC you have some cover and shouldn't be hit by any nasty surprises. I don't get London's obsession with 'older' houses, I'd rather have a modern, well insulated place than a draughty old house... also I fecking hate builders/diy etc etc and the thought of 'doing somewhere up' fills me with dread. Hopefully there should be some profit to be realised upon eventual sale and move the countryside (the masterplan) which IMHO is better than chucking money into the black hole that is renting, I was lucky in that I could take advantage of the recession driven dip in London property prices last year. Just consider myself v lucky that a deposit & mortgage is just about doable!

    As for justifying anything, well it's my damn money and I'll spend it as I please for as long as there are no extra mouths to feed... my sprogged up colleagues all seem to miss those days... so I'm making hay.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Ahhh, the NHBC guarantee. Worth at least 3 times the amount of the paper it's written on. New build does have some advantages but, older houses can be made just as warm (not that mine is!) and they don't depreciate in the same way that new build does. Mind you, second hand new build can be a good deal but, ultimately, I'd rather have old, stable cracks than new ever widening ones!
    Faster than a tent.......
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Rolf F wrote:
    Ahhh, the NHBC guarantee. Worth at least 3 times the amount of the paper it's written on. New build does have some advantages but, older houses can be made just as warm (not that mine is!) and they don't depreciate in the same way that new build does. Mind you, second hand new build can be a good deal but, ultimately, I'd rather have old, stable cracks than new ever widening ones!

    Yeah 'can be made' I don't want to be faffing with this stuff.

    2nd hand new build was what I went for - no cracks so far and it's 5 years old. Fingers crossed!
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    Il Principe wrote:
    This is why I bought new build. Yeah you're not guaranteed to have a problem free existence, but with the NHBC you have some cover and shouldn't be hit by any nasty surprises. I don't get London's obsession with 'older' houses, I'd rather have a modern, well insulated place than a draughty old house... also I fecking hate builders/diy etc etc and the thought of 'doing somewhere up' fills me with dread. Hopefully there should be some profit to be realised upon eventual sale and move the countryside (the masterplan) which IMHO is better than chucking money into the black hole that is renting, I was lucky in that I could take advantage of the recession driven dip in London property prices last year. Just consider myself v lucky that a deposit & mortgage is just about doable!

    As for justifying anything, well it's my damn money and I'll spend it as I please for as long as there are no extra mouths to feed... my sprogged up colleagues all seem to miss those days... so I'm making hay.

    getting an older place that might need doing up means you generally have more space and get more for your money.. like having a separate kitchen and lounge and space for your bikes :wink:
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Il Principe wrote:
    Yeah 'can be made' I don't want to be faffing with this stuff.

    2nd hand new build was what I went for - no cracks so far and it's 5 years old. Fingers crossed!

    Ideally you get one where someone else did the faffing!

    5 years old sounds sensible. I once looked at a near complete newbuild - it was about 65k (a while ago!) - there were near identical 15 year old houses from an earlier phase of the same estate for sale for about 50k.

    Dangerously veering off topic - why do so many modern houses not have doors? I went to one and the only internal doors were to the bedrooms and bathroom.

    And as CP says, the space is an advantage. Currently my dining room has two road bikes (one undergoing refurb) and a mountain bike in it plus a repair stand and there is still plenty of space for the dining table and a sofa :lol:
    Faster than a tent.......
  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Mrs. Elephant and Myself have always had a joint account since we moved in together, we did try doing it with separate accounts but there was always one of us who was more skint at the end of the month (usually me) and it just got us arguing. Now she stays at home, looking after the mini-elephants and we still have a joint account.

    We're lucky in that we're able to choose this way of life, and trust each other enough not to get too arsey about money.
    Sun - Rain - Snow

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