Tips for Saving to Buy a Home
November 24, 2020
Interest rates have been at record lows, making now a perfect time to buy one of the Grayhawk Auburn homes. If you’ve been considering purchasing a new home, now is a great time to act. However, if you still need to save some money for the downpayment, here are some tips to help increase your savings and encourage you to stay on track to reach your goal.
While it’s important to know how much you’re earning, it’s equally important to know how much you’re spending each month. Write down a list of all of your debts or outgoing payments with the amount and how often you’re spending, whether it’s weekly, monthly, or annually. Check your statements to make sure you don’t miss anything, such as internet security payments, etc.
Once you know where your money is going, it’s easier to figure out where cuts can be made. Do you need all of those streaming services? Are you paying for a gym membership but not going regularly? While some recurring payments may not seem like much each month, they add up over the year. Set up your own home gym and make the most of free workouts online. Similarly, if you have audio subscriptions or similar monthly payments, start exploring free podcasts and don’t forget your local library. A $20 monthly fee adds up to $240 a year. If you’re paying multiple fees like this, you could easily save nearly $500 a year, just cutting out two of these fees. Cutting gym memberships and other programs, even just for a year, can get you much closer to your downpayment goal.
Another area to look at is your spending on food and drink. Daily coffee runs are particularly costly, especially if you’re adding in a pastry or some other food item. If you go five days a week, spending roughly $7, you’re spending roughly $1,800 a year, just on coffee and a snack. Even if you don’t go as often, do the math and see how much you’re spending on average each week and see how much it adds up to over a year. Making your own coffee and buying more affordable items from the grocery store to see you through the week will save a considerable amount of money that will get you into your new home sooner. Plus, if you’re regularly eating out, once again, add up how much you spend per week and see how quickly it adds up over a year. Preparing your own meals and doing some smart grocery shopping is not only better for your wallet, it’s also probably better for your health.
In general, you want to avoid building up any new debt and pay down existing debt. If you have multiple credit cards, pay off the one with the highest interest rate first and consider consolidating to lower interest cards, if possible. Be careful with your spending overall. Think twice about buying the latest upgrade and gadget. Scale back where possible and try to put as much into a separate savings account as possible each month to help you get a clear view of how much you have so far to go toward the downpayment and how much further you need to go.
Finally, if it’s an option, consider taking on a side job if you really want to be able to put a downpayment on one of the Auburn homes sooner rather than later. This isn’t always an option, but if there are any ways you can convert some skills into extra funds, it’s worth considering. By following each of these steps, and remembering that it doesn’t have to be permanent, you will start to see some significant savings that will get you closer to your goal of buying a new home that much faster.
Tags: homebuilder in auburn al, homes fro sale auburn alCategorised in: New Home Tips, Tips for Saving to Buy a Home
This post was written by Grayhawk Homes
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