It starts off with a dream. But purchasing your forever home can soon turn into a nightmare – and it usually comes down to one thing: money. From the spiraling costs of purchasing to unexpected fees and hidden repair bills, it can feel like a long road ahead before you can look forward to relaxing in your new home. One thing’s for certain, and that is that a healthy pot of savings can rescue you from a lot of heartache and stress. But with other financial commitments that can’t be put on hold, how do you save what’s needed? Here are some easy tips to get you on the right track:
Create a Budget
It’s amazing how many people start out with a big goal in mind, and don’t realize that it’s all about making the little steps happen. You can never hope to save a large amount without knowing exactly where all your money is going. So begin by sitting down and filling out a budget template or by hooking up a budgeting app that connects with your accounts and monitors exactly what you are spending out. Set an amount you want to save each month first, take away all your essential living costs such as rent, bills and travel to work, and then work out how much you have left over to spend on things such as entertainment and eating out. It may require some cutbacks, but these are much easier to make when you have a clear monthly savings goal in mind.
Match What You Spend
A quick and easy way to make some additional savings on top of a set monthly amount is to match with savings what you spend. So if you spend an amount on a meal out one week, then put the same amount straight into your savings. A few savings apps you can get also have ‘automatic round-ups’, where they will monitor your spending and round up your transactions, adding the difference to your savings. This is a great way to get the pennies adding up and enhance a monthly contribution. Make sure to bookmark your dream property website – a weekly peek at eaglesnestatbannerelk.com/ can really persuade you to keep contributing to your savings!
Snowball Your Debt
Paying off any credit card debt should be a part of your savings plan itself, because you’re never going to reach a savings goal fast if you’re spending your income repaying a card. Open one account with a zero APR term, usually for 18 months, then transfer all your other debts onto that card. Make sure you pay off the total debt in chunks while it’s still interest free. You could save hundreds in payment charges and interest, and once its gone, all that money can go into savings, as you’ll be used to doing without it each month.
Take A Short Term View
Saving for your home is a long term thing, and many of us struggle with something that seems so far away. So make sure that you have short term savings goals as well – such as to save a certain amount per week, and keep track of your progress with a habit-forming app. Reward yourself with small treats for meeting your milestones. It may seem small when you have a huge goal in sight, but look after the smaller victories and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your dream.
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