Help me spend 15k!

Ollie's Gadgets · 19 Nov 2006 at 07:05

Help me spend 15 Grand!

I have managed to accumulate around 15k and am at I point that I feel I should spend some. I am 20 in first year at uni. I have come up with the following ideas. I am after a new car but I could possibly have enough to get onto the property ladder.

a. Buy ST170 £6.5k - insurance high but could afford to run
b. Buy BMW 330 £10k - high running costs + possible big bills
c. Evo/Sti £15k - in an attempt to bankrupt myself before killing myself.
d. House + banger -for second year of uni and rent to housemates

£15000
e. None of the above and keep accumulating?

So what would you guys do if you were in my position, live in the moment or plan for tommorow?

I suppose this is really looking at attitudes to money and whether you are natural savers or spenders. Do you spend all the money you have?

E.G If you earn't £30k and spend all of it every month and then went up to £40k would you just increase your spending to meet this?

Is there a point with you guys with fasts car that you think I don't really need any better than this? Or do you always want something faster/better?

Rotty · 19 Nov 2006 at 07:22

Ollie's Gadgets said:
I suppose this is really looking at attitudes to money and whether you are natural savers or spenders. Do you spend all the money you have?

E.G If you earn't £30k and spend all of it every month and then went up to £40k would you just increase your spending to meet this?

absolutely, I would imagine most other folks would too

Ollie's Gadgets said:
Is there a point with you guys with fasts car that you think I don't really need any better than this? Or do you always want something faster/better?

not got there yet and see no reason why this would ever happen

bitslice · 19 Nov 2006 at 07:24

d. House + banger - for second year of uni

but...
you are not a charity, I wouldn't rent to students - rent out the rooms to some normal people (eg. lesbian cheerleaders), as you'll have some peace and quiet when you need to study. They won't leave the sink looking like a kids toybox either.

I'd buy an old 206, looks OK as a student car.
.

Ollie's Gadgets · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:04

Rotty said:
absolutely, I would imagine most other folks would too

So therefore you don't believe or have any savings?

dirtydog · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:12

Rotty said:
absolutely, I would imagine most other folks would too

Quite possibly true, but does that mean it is the best thing to do?

Rotty · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:12

Ollie's Gadgets said:
So therefore you don't believe or have any savings?

other than property and pension, not a thing :eek:

Rotty · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:13

dirtydog said:
Quite possibly true, but does that mean it is the best thing to do?

I'm sure it isn't but then again when did common sense ever affect our decisions

dirtydog · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:14

Rotty said:
other than property and pensions, not a thing

If you had no property, would you spend five figures on a car though... a nice car isn't as important as a nice home.

dirtydog · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:15

Rotty said:
I'm sure it isn't but then again when did common sense ever affect our decisions

It didn't for me in my youth but it has done in recent years :eek:

and I wish I had saved more cash when I had it, in the past.

Rotty · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:16

dirtydog said:
If you had no property, would you spend five figures on a car though... a nice car isn't as important as a nice home.

probably not, got to have somewhere to live, though I don't put everything into either my car or house(s) , I would rather spend my money on a decent lifestyle ( going out,hols etc )

Pookie Bear · 19 Nov 2006 at 08:58

Ollie's Gadgets said:
So therefore you don't believe or have any savings?

I think it's fair to say that a lot of people in Britain are the same as Rotty. I got a 50% payrise about 18 months ago and I still have the exact same bank balance at the end of the month now that I did back then. A close friend went from being a waiter in a bar, to be an Operations Director of a very big, very successful company in the space of four years - and he's in the same position as me.

It's not so strange.

Apologies for the derail, OP.
I'd say get a banger and rent the flat out - but not to students - even hot ones - and just remember tht being a landlord isn't just a case of picking your cheques up at the end of the month. With great property comes great responsibility.

Ollie's Gadgets · 19 Nov 2006 at 09:12

Skidmark said:
I'd say get a banger and rent the flat out - but not to students - even hot ones - and just remember tht being a landlord isn't just a case of picking your cheques up at the end of the month. With great property comes great responsibility.

Its odd because by the sounds of things this is not how you wold act yourself.
You say you use up all the available money you have, yet you are advising me to invest my money in property. Practise what I preach not as I do....

Hopefuly renting will be easier as I would be living in the house with 3 other friends, so I know who I am renting to.

Haircut · 19 Nov 2006 at 09:37

Interesting thread, a few months ago I got a new job and my salary increased by just over £10K pa.

At the time I was considering splashing out on a new car, probably something like a £15K 330i.
In the end I decided against it as I couldn't really justify it.

Having been in the new job for around 4 months now I can say that my spending is pretty much identical to what it was previously - I seem to have reached a level at which I can live comfortably and don't spend any more that this!

Now, I'm presently saving to get on the property ladder so this may have influenced my decision a bit, but I'm the sort of guy who will only spend money if I need to.

I'm still reasonably junior in my job, so if I get my next promotion after I've got a house then I'll get back to you on whether I got the car or not

The_Dark_Side · 19 Nov 2006 at 09:46

Ollie's Gadgets said:
I have managed to accumulate around 15k and am at I point that I feel I should spend some. I am 20 in first year at uni. I have come up with the following ideas. I am after a new car but I could possibly have enough to get onto the property ladder.

if you're saying you have £15k cash available then i'd recommend you invest it.
use it wisely now and you can at least have a seat somewhere on the gravy train for the rest of your life.
spend it on a nice car at this point in your life and this time next year half of the money will have evaporated.

!bluetonic! · 19 Nov 2006 at 11:56

A sound investment would be a HUGE party for all the OCUK'ers including gift bags, funfair rides and randy lesbian cheerleaders.

Failing that, I read something recently about a Dominoes Pizza Boy who could have bought a car, but bought a Dominoes Franchise. Now he can afford two cars from the profit he's made.

Stick with the banger and property idea.

Dr Jack · 19 Nov 2006 at 12:05

If I was you, I'd spend it all on something stupid.

If I was giving you good advice on the other hand; I'd recommend you spend £3-£4k on a decent car with low insurance (e.g. a '03 Yaris or something like that) which is cheap to run but still reliable and with at least three or four years of trouble free motoring in it.

In fact, I don't think I'd even bother with a car as a student.

The_Dark_Side · 19 Nov 2006 at 12:12

!bluetonic! said:
Failing that, I read something recently about a Dominoes Pizza Boy who could have bought a car, but bought a Dominoes Franchise. Now he can afford two cars from the profit he's made.

ah, the old "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to catch fish and you feed him for life" thing eh?
as tempting as it would be to go buy a 16v turbo interwarmer 5 wheel drive nutter, a sensible move now would let you be much crazier in a few years time.

penski · 19 Nov 2006 at 12:15

Ollie's Gadgets said:
E.G If you earn't £30k and spend all of it every month and then went up to £40k would you just increase your spending to meet this?

I'm weird but no.

No matter how much I earn, I stay at roughly the same 'level' in my day-to-day life. The extra money just goes towards occasional toys or saving for something.

I'm currently throwing £1200/month at building a deposit for our first house. We're aiming to have at least £20k by jan 2008 which means that, instead of getting an average house in an average area, our first property will be an average house in a nice area.

I'm keeping £1,500 aside in a seperate account for *that car* to finally come up for grabs (waiting for it's owner to give up and sell me it)...I'll then budget about £300/month towards 'fettling' it until I feel it's 'right'...

As for spending £15k at uni?

I'd use it to make sure your accomodation is sorted for your time at uni, get a £500 car to smoke around in then when you've finished uni, you'll have money to spend on getting yourself settled and sorted...and something fun to drive

*n

panthro · 19 Nov 2006 at 12:26

You might not think it now, but saving that 15k for a house deposit will be the wisest thing you can do with the money.
Put it into a high interest savings account and pretend that its not there until you have finished uni.
Once you out of uni in a steady permanent job, then put it into a house deposit.
Cars a great, but not as great as owning your own home.

Meridian · 19 Nov 2006 at 12:28

Ollie's Gadgets said:
I am 20 in first year at uni.

.....

c. Evo/Sti £15k - in an attempt to bankrupt myself before killing myself.

D*mn, that would be a close-run thing....

M