11 February 2011

So it really got me thinking that we spend oodles of time on the phone, email and texting with our friends talking, organising, planning, followed by the execution of the perfect night or day out.

With calculated precision a weekend party, night out or lunch date can be planned in advance. What you are going to wear, what you are going to eat, what new cocktails your going to try, or for a bloke what new guest ale.

We even talk about and plan where we are going to meet for drinks before we go out for drinks??? "Cheap and cheerful before the night starts".

All of this organisation, and for what. A hangover in the morning? A guilty Conscience?

We spend so much of our day thinking about our social calender that if we spent just some of that time thinking about our finances and future we might find that we are more aware and comfortable in later life.

When I bought my first property I didn't think about, council tax bills, electricity prices, fluctuating interest rates, negative equity, endowments, savings plans.

I left all of this to my financial advisor, I was just happy to be moving out of mum and dads and into my first home on my own.

What I did think about though was how close I was to a train station or bus stop for when I stagger home after a night out. Where my local watering holes are, and whether they had a good mix of Beers and alco pops. What colour to paint my flat so "The Ladies" were impressed, and where my mates would sleep at the weekend. "Should I get a proper bed or a Futon? Not once did I think about how long I was tied into a mortgage for or if when the time comes I would be able to sell my property .

These were not my major concerns.

It is just a bit scary that you can commit to the biggest purchase of your life and think of everything else that surrounds owning a home, and not the actual property purchase itself. I bought the sizzle not the sausage.

I do think this is how many First Time buyers can potentially get into trouble. Don't get me wrong not all are as irresponsible or indeed as shallow as I once was. But they are out there.

Now in my 30's I really understand the the importance of knowing what's going on in the world of property and finance.

Not so I can sound like Gordon Gecko at a dinner party, but so I can have more of a say and control over my future.

Look at me being so responsible. My mum would be so proud!