We are always told how hard it is to get onto the property ladders for first-time buyers and whilst there are schemes to help it can be hard for people to save for their deposit. Also people want to save for a higher deposit so they can manage the monthly repayments easier. Some are still having to rely on their parents for any kind of success on the property ladder.
Deposits can be half of a person’s salary so it’s no surprise that they are trying to save up enough for their deposit. Maybe you’re at the start of your savings journey or you’ve been saving for a while, here’s some tips to help you;
Set up a standing order to a savings account/ISA
Saying that you will save money every month and actually doing it are very different things. You need to have another account set-up and then you can set-up a monthly standing order so that you don’t even need to think about it. Setting it up this way means you can easily add to it if you get extra funds and you can use a savings calculator to help plan.
Find a savings account or ISA that has the best rates and offers is also a good start. It is also a good time to check that you have an emergency fund too.
Change your spending
It is the easiest thing to tell you to watch your spending and look at what purchases you should stop. This can be quite limiting but if this fits in with you then do it. You can also look at any subscriptions that you have, sometimes they have different levels so you can perhaps keep them going but drop down a tier. You’re saving money and still keeping the things you enjoy. Budgeting your monthly expenses in advance will help you to plan your spending and work out how much you can put aside into savings too. If you have any debt then look at ways to get that down too.
Declutter and sell
A great way of finding extra funds is already within your current home. Decluttering may just feel like tidying at times but do you really use everything like you used to? Have you still kept all your old mobile phones? You can easily sell them and any old gadgets that you have. That’s before you’ve gone through your wardrobe too. It’s easy to sell online now and whilst you might not have a use for it, someone else will and they will pay too.
Discounts and planning meals
We are lucky to have a variety of supermarkets so you can cut down on your food shop spending. Let’s face it this is one of the obvious ways of cutting spending and one of the ways I use and notice a decrease in my food shop spend is by meal planning.
Planning out what meals you’re going to have and then buying the correct amount of food really helps lower your food bill and also reduces waste too. Sign up to discount schemes that will over you money off your bills and don’t dismiss own brand products as I’ve found them to work as well and sometimes better than the more well-known brands.
Where you live now
Can you downsize on where you currently live now, moving to a smaller flat or house will help reduce your rent and could reduce other bills by council tax and utility bills. You might be pushed to declutter now and get the money from your unwanted belongings than holding onto it and having to move with it.
If you have an extra bedroom, would your landlord allow another tenant so that you can reduce the rent? Always worth asking.
First home expectations
We all have high expectations and dreams about where we want to live. But for your first home, you may need to lower your expectations. Lowering the expectations doesn’t mean you’re ending dreams of ever owning that four-bed house but you’ll find that home more achievable if you lower them now.
We know that things are really tough right now for a lot of people and your hopes have maybe been put on hold but we hope these tips still can keep your first home dream alive.
Photos from https://pigly.com/