Scrounging Funds: an Update

Okay, so I said earlier that I could get my hands on this much-needed deposit ... but it's still a bit of a process, trying to arrange the sale of my unit trusts and close a 32-day call account, apply for the actual bond.

So I've called my contact at Old Mutual (my uncle) and he gave me the unit trust call centre number. I am so impressed with their call centre, I managed to get updated values of my unit trusts so simply. I got the forms from their website and have made a note of the other documentation they require.

I've also opened a new Standard Bank savings account. Apparently they won't transfer the proceeds of my sale to a third party account (where my savings are currently) so I now need a new spot to store the deposit I'm slowly building up. Thankfully as an existing customer of Standard Bank's this was an easy internet transaction :)

I've put a notice to close on my FNB 32-day Million a Month account ... if I haven't won that million yet, I doubt it's gonna happen anytime soon. I'm gonna have to wait till end of November for that cash to be available, but I'm on it :)

Then I've chatted to my financial adviser. This was not an exciting part of my day ... she recommends against swapping a Unit Trust investment for a property one, apparently the growth is not as good in property. But, on this point I have to agree with Daddio. That money was saved for a reason, to give me the means when I needed it. What really is the point in having all these savings if you never have anything to show for it. Sure, I'm a huge fan of saving cash rather than frivolously letting it trickle away on the latest fad, but this is a house. Not just any house, one I actually plan on living in myself. It seems like a worthy expense.

I still plan on saving, don't get me wrong ... I have an annual holiday to take ;) But here's hoping my bonus will cover that because Varen & I have our eyes set on Peru for 2008.

So that's where things stand. I will apply for the pre-approved bond on Monday. It should take about 3 or 4 days. Once I know how much of a bond I can get, I can see if it's actually worth liquidating the unit trusts ... I mean if the bond plus the deposit is less than 500000, it doesn't really make the quest worth-while :( But we're being upbeat today ...