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Saving up for your first home can be an exciting, yet frustrating time – you can’t wait to get your house keys and enjoy your beautiful new Rowland home, but you need to save up a deposit first.
Well do not despair! We have put together some handy saving tips to help you get your deposit together in no time, so you can be well on your way to choosing your new home!
This one seems like a no-brainer, but opening a savings account is a great way to keep track of your money and keep it secure until you have enough for your house deposit. If you saved into a Help to Buy: ISA, the Government will boost your savings by 25% - so for every £200 you save, the Government will give you a £50 bonus! The maximum bonus you can receive is £3,000. Click here to discover more.
Have you noticed that your money seems to leave your account as quickly as it goes in? Maybe it’s time to take stock of what you are spending and whether you actually need to!
A great tip is to make a list of all your current outgoings (bills, contracts, direct debits, etc) and go through each one to see whether a) it’s something you actually need to have and b) if you are able to get a better deal.
Once you’re aware of your main outgoings, find out when your renewal dates are so you can prepare to shop around for a better deal beforehand or cancel anything you no longer need without penalty. Using comparison sites is a great way to find the best offers quickly and easily – it’s surprising how much money you can save by negotiating or switching providers.
If your current living situation is one of your main expenses, then there are a few different options you could consider, helping you to save up faster. If you are open to making some changes and potentially sacrificing your own space for 6-12 months, you may be able to make your dream home a reality much sooner than you thought.
If possible – moving back into your family home could help you to reduce the costs of renting your own place, allowing you to put away larger amounts into your savings. However, if this is not something you want to do, you could always look for a smaller place to live, somewhere with cheaper rent or a room in a shared house.
If you don’t want to leave your current accommodation – why not think about getting a lodger? This would be a great way to utilise the space you have and subsidise the cost of your rent, allowing you to save more towards your deposit.
We are all guilty of holding onto things we don’t need for longer than we should! But, if you were to part ways with some of these items, you’d be better off financially and you’d have less clutter to move into your beautiful new home – win-win!
A simple tip if you struggle to throw anything away, is to think about when you last used the item – if it was over 6 months ago, and it’s not something you really need – then why not sell it on an online auction site or marketplace? You can apply this rule to anything, and it will help you to de-clutter your space and increase your savings quickly!
If you like to grab a takeout coffee on your way into work or a quick bite to eat from a café at lunchtime, then you’re probably spending lots of your potential savings money without even realising it!
Why not make your coffee at home and take it with you in a thermal mug? You could also make your own lunches to take with you for a fraction of the cost. It may not seem like much at the time, but even if you ‘only’ spend £3 a day, this mounts up to £780 over the year!
Planning your meals for the week in advance is another great way to save money on your outgoings. You can reduce food waste and the need for expensive convenience food and last-minute takeaways.
If you feel that you may need a helping hand with your deposit, or you simply cannot wait to buy your first home – you may want to look into using the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.
If you are over 18 and planning to buy your own home on a repayment basis, you could get an equity loan to put towards buying your new build home. You would need to have saved 5% of the purchase price as your deposit, and then the Government would cover up to 20% of the purchase price, with a mortgage required for the remaining 75%.
You can find more information on the Help to Buy scheme here.
Good luck with your savings and we hope you find your perfect Rowland home!