Moneymakeover 24 year old couple saving for a mortgage in Dublin

[Premos]

think 80-100 a week is reasonable, the odd cup of coffee or drink with friends is essential IMO. You’re young and should be able to have holidays and nights out.

10k is 10 per cent of their budget. If it's only travelling and going out, it seems a lot if the goal is to save.
Our current budget for holidays as a family of 4 (3 adults) is 10 to 12 k a year and last year I was away for 8 weeks on that budget (during school holidays with 4 trips abroad). I could probably add 2 k for going out.

 

[misemoi]

I love to see such focus in someone so young.

If you are buying a sufficiently large house, consider using the rent a room scheme. You are both very young and with no children yet, can certainly live with a housemate for a while, especially if they are paying you tax free rent! If you do purchase a do-er upper, then you may need to wait until you have some work done before you could do this but bear it in mind - eg if you were able to renovate the master bedroom and bathroom if it is en suite and rent that out while living yourselves in an unrenovated but livable room.

And also please both of you ensure that you have an exit plan should your relationship not work out. This should be well documented, and you should keep track of who has contributed what. Not to be doom and gloom but you both have to protect yourself - think of this as insurance you hope you will never need but be glad you have it if you do.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

They have priorities right and are probably in a better financial position than 98% of their peers.

I wouldn’t sweat the small stuff.

 

[Peanuts20]

You're doing great is the first thing I'd say.

Secondly, make sure you have reviewed your tax position and have claimed for everything you can claim for.

Thirdly, does the house have to be Dublin, if you are a qualified electrician, you'd have no issue getting a job down the country where property and the cost of living will be cheaper.

 

[Annieindublin]

My 25 year old would spend a lot more than 80-100 a week on lunches, coffees and going out. To say nothing of his hair products and ink! You guys are doing well.

Attending weddings is another item that costs my kids a fortune. Plus the destination hens and stags… don’t make your budget so tight you've no life. I’d be budgeting 100 a week currently and stashing away any spare for the lean years when you are stuck between needing a new washing machine and wanting a holiday

 

[DannyBoyD]

cut off with the bank where you need more money to make it liveable

Functional kitchen, bathroom, roof etc makes a property mortgageable.

100% agree on the rent-a-room, 14k a year will knock a nice chunk off mortgage, but you need to buy the house first.

Whilst I agree to an extent on the 'you're young, enjoy yourself'; skipping the overseas trips etc for 12 months won't kill anyone.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

Is that the plan or what you are doing? With these expenses, the savings should amount to nearly 4k a month. However, you speak about saving 1 k each a month.

It’s the plan starting in January.this year is a bit messy with savings with a holiday weddings milestone birthdays and the likes. If we stick to our plan this year we will have 32k going into January 2026.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

Whilst I agree to an extent on the 'you're young, enjoy yourself'; skipping the overseas trips etc for 12 months won't kill anyone.

A lot of people around me think I’m mad saving now but I know for a fact I will be more relaxed when I have my own home and 100 percent believe it’s the right decision for me. The family home is crammed as it is and I can’t think of nothing worse if I was 30 and only starting to look at mortgages. Plus who knows how much they’ll cost in 5 years.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

Attending weddings is another item that costs my kids a fortune. Plus the destination hens and stags… don’t make your budget so tight you've no life. I’d be budgeting 100 a week currently and stashing away any spare for the lean years when you are stuck between needing a new washing machine and wanting a holiday

This year we are more relaxed with discretionary spending, we have no problem to have 400-500 between us for the 6-12 months.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

Thirdly, does the house have to be Dublin, if you are a qualified electrician, you'd have no issue getting a job down the country where property and the cost of living will be cheaper.

Not necessarily but I don’t want to be too far away from Dublin as it’s where all our family and friends are.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

I love to see such focus in someone so young.

If you are buying a sufficiently large house, consider using the rent a room scheme. You are both very young and with no children yet, can certainly live with a housemate for a while, especially if they are paying you tax free rent! If you do purchase a do-er upper, then you may need to wait until you have some work done before you could do this but bear it in mind - eg if you were able to renovate the master bedroom and bathroom if it is en suite and rent that out while living yourselves in an unrenovated but livable room.

And also please both of you ensure that you have an exit plan should your relationship not work out. This should be well documented, and you should keep track of who has contributed what. Not to be doom and gloom but you both have to protect yourself - think of this as insurance you hope you will never need but be glad you have it if you do.

Yes that is something I would look into when we get to that stage. And we do have an exit plan together nearly 7 years and we’re fairly open as you can truly never know what’ll happen. Thank you for the compliment!

 

[Sarah Ryan]

Do you need a 12k car? Could you sell it and buy a 2-3k car, with the 9k pay off the loan and put the balance in your savings, this will free up another €180 for savings too

Yes they do.

An older car is more costly in terms of tax / insurance and maintenance whether you want to agree to it or not.
I drive a 05 Audi A4, the maintenance on a newer Toyota is going to be significantly more cost effective.

A reliable modern car now, is going to see them through this savings period and the house purchase, the one time in our life you need reliability when it comes to your transport.

OP you are on the right course, major kudos for the getting the head down and planning instead, I wish you all the very best of luck but remember to allocate sufficient money for some fun, you are still young, come up for fresh air every now and then this is a tough slog.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

OP you are on the right course, major kudos for the getting the head down and planning instead, I wish you all the very best of luck but remember to allocate sufficient money for some fun, you are still young, come up for fresh air every now and then this is a tough slog.

Thank you Sarah. We still do more or less what we like with holidays and going out we just try and watch the spending sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t and we don’t get too angry with it.

 

[Annieindublin]

I’d agree with staying near family and friends. A bigger house or slightly lower mortgage is good but should not drive your lives entirely. Especially in the longer term if you've plans for a family together. The savings will be eaten up driving up and down and the assistance with kids is priceless. And I don’t just mean financial.

 

[misemoi]

Also at your ages and hopefully energy levels, I would see if I could get as much overtime/ side gigs as possible in the period leading up to the purchase - after that you will probably be focused on renovations. It will give you less time to spend money as well! But will allow you to have some fun money - as others have said it is great to have a goal but your twenties are for living too.

 

[ClubMan]

My worry is say the house is still 380k-400k is there a cut off with the bank where you need more money to make it liveable ?

In general, the Central Bank lending rules will apply although lenders have some leeway for making exceptions.

What are the Central Bank Mortgage Measures?

Our mortgage measures are designed to ensure that banks are other lenders lend money sensibly. Find out more.

www.centralbank.ie

 

[Premos]

You are doing well. However, based on your savings over the past 7 months, you are spending between 3500 and 4000 a month and you will continue until the end of the year as you have birthday, travels, wedding... These are part of life though. How realistic is it that your expenses will decrease to 2K on average next year? Are you paying rent, utility currently? I do understand that you are servicing your loan.

 

[C.R.E.A.M]

You are doing well. However, based on your savings over the past 7 months, you are spending between 3500 and 4000 a month and you will continue until the end of the year as you have birthday, travels, wedding... These are part of life though. How realistic is it that your expenses will decrease to 2K on average next year? Are you paying rent, utility currently? I do understand that you are servicing your loan.

Very likely we will decrease our spending. Paying rent and some utilities to family utilities back of the envelope maths we worked it out to be 3.2k saved to 3.6k with overtime. And my partner won’t be paying anything to her family for the 6 months I will still be giving money to my family for rent/utilities.

 

[Premos]

Make sure the back of envelop calculations are realistic as it doesn't align with your current spending. You need to know what you can realistically cut. I would suggest recording precisely what you are currently spending to see where you can limit your spending if it's what you want/need to do.

 

[Clamball]

I think you are doing great with a good plan for the future. So from Jan your income is €5760 minimum with planned outgoings of €1200 per month plus €870 pm personal spending (€200 a week) which means savings of €3.6K per month which is amazing. By Dec 2027 you will have over €120K saved and you will hit the 80K by Feb 2027, Whick means you should be able to stay ahead of any house price inflation. Your wages will also probably increase again in 2026 and 2027.

If you use the overtime for the weddings/hens/stags and other unplanned expenses you have the wriggle room to maintain that level of savings. I can easily see you in your new home in 2027 which is great for a couple in their mid 20’s.