Published on 12, July, 2020
hi there, I've been avoiding debt like the plague because they whole system is tainted by greed and hate. I've managed to save a 50% deposit in the process but I'm starting to realise that I need a spending plan. I still currently live with my parents and was wondering how many of you have successfully achieved total independence by living on your own with a mortgage and a place of your own? Taking care of myself is hard work and admittedly I wash only once a week, rely heavily on convenience foods and rarely exercise. Would that all change if I had total control of my environment or is there a major flaw in that plan due to how the condition impacts living capacities?
I'd say each to their own... but the only time in my life when I was truly unhappy and felt like my life was out of my control was when I had a mortgage. I'm a good budgeter. I live, and always have lived, within my means. I have a pathological fear of debt, having grown up in circumstances where that fear was very real. I work now, in my 50s, as I have generally worked in life, too - on a low income. My take-home pay is less that £12k a year. But I have cheap rent, don't need to maintain an expensive social life, and don't have any other major outgoings - apart from electricity, and maintenance for the car. I only have a car because my work is hard to get to otherwise. Outside of work travel, I don't use it. If anything goes wrong with that arrangement - if I lose my job, say, or if I have a health issue (my Asperger's has led to some extended periods of sick leave in the past) - then I can get help. I never looked at my mortgage as 'investment in bricks and mortar' or 'a step on the road to self-betterment'. I looked at is as a huge debt hanging over me.
As I say, though - we are all different, and all see these things differently. I'm not against taking calculated risks - which a mortgage always is, though you can mitigate that to some degree with protection insurance. But in my station of life, I'm happy with what I have - meagre and austere though many would find it. I need to be able to manage my affairs properly, and know there are safeguards in place should I need them. There's a bit of a fetish about home-ownership in this country. You don't find it in some other countries - such as Germany, for instance, where even many of the better off rent. People say to me 'it's throwing money away, renting'. But that's not how I see it. I'd sooner have the other sense of security it brings, and the degree of control it gives me. Plus, if I want to move, I don't have the hassle of trying to sell. Again, that's just my way of looking at it. A few years back, I had a young friend in her 20s who had a really good job and a reasonable income. So she invested in a property. It had been drummed into her by her parents that it was the only way. Unfortunately, she became very ill - mental health problems - and became an alcohol addict. She lost her job, and it all became too much. She had a breakdown, tried to overdose, ended up getting Sectioned for a few weeks. She got into fearful mortgage debt - but she refused to sell up, as she wanted to 'keep my foot on the property ladder.' Unfortunately, she lost it in the end and had to declare for bankruptcy. That's an extreme case... but it's just an example of what can happen - especially if health affairs are uncertain. Which they are with everyone, anyway. Again, it's a calculated risk.
Depending on where you live, I'd say that if you've managed to save a 50% deposit on a property, that's probably quite a substantial amount of money. How about going half-way and buying something like a park home? I know several people who've done that. Even around here, in the affluent south-east, you can pick up really nice homes on quiet parks for around £50k. Then it's paid for, and you just need to find ground maintenance costs. Just a thought.