The down payment is often the largest hurdle first time home buyers face. Whether you’re going the FHA route and can put as low as 3.5% down, or you’re going the conventional loan route with 20% down, saving for a down payment can take some time. Here are 4 simple everyday ways to save for a down payment.
4 Simple Ways to Save for a Down Payment
Make a budget and stick with it
The number one way to save for a down payment is to create a budget. It’s hard to monitor your finances if you don’t know where you and your family stands. Take some time to review all your expenses every month and see the areas where you are over spending. For a lot of people, dining out can cost hundreds of dollars a week, whereas meal prepping at the grocery store could be a couple hundred dollars a month. Once you are aware of how much you spend in each area, make a budget and hold yourself accountable to sticking to it. Weekly checkpoints are a great way to keep yourself on track.
But first, coffee
Coffee is a huge part of how people function, so it’s hard to think about how coffee can actually cost you hundreds a month. If you pick up a coffee from your local coffee shop every morning, you could be spending $5 a day, for 30 days a month. This means you are allocating $150 a month just to coffee. And this doesn’t even include the days you go back for your afternoon pick me up. Think about buying coffee ground from the grocery store and making your own morning coffee. Also, a lot of workplaces offer coffee in the cafeteria for a subsidized cost or even free, so relying on that for afternoons can also help keep the cost low. Remember, saving doesn’t mean you have to get rid of things all together, it just challenges you to find different approaches.
Manage subscriptions
When you get to the point where you don’t even know what you’re subscribed to anymore, you’re likely spending too much on monthly subscriptions. Go through all your monthly and yearly subscriptions and get rid of services you don’t benefit from. For example, if you find yourself subscribed to multiple music streaming services, pick your favorite one and get rid of the other. These services can give you back $10-20 a month!
Sell items
Selling unwanted items can make you hundreds of dollars a month, while cleaning out your home! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, truly. So go through your basement and see what you can sell. A helpful tip is if you plan to sell seasonal items, do so about a month before the season/holiday. This catches folks who are looking for that exact item, instead of catching people after the holiday hits and it’s not the front of their mind.
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