If you are a frequent visitor of this site, you may know that we are in the process of building a house.   If this is your first time here, welcome, I’m so glad you came by to visit!  I want to share with you how to save money for a house, but specifically, how we saved for the down payment for our home in one year. That’s right, it took us one year to save enough money for the down payment for our dream house.

Before we started saving, we weren’t quite living paycheck to paycheck, but we didn’t have a lot left over at the end of the month to put in savings.  We occasionally would put a couple hundred dollars into our kids’ college fund, but nothing significant.

When we decided that our next move would be our forever home, we decided to get serious and implement a strategy to save money for a down payment of a house.  Our action-plan consisted of ten money-saving tactics.

1. Meal Planning

   We saved about $300 a week by meal planning.  Check out my post about how we meal plan and get a free printable to help you save money through planning your meals in advance.

    

2. Save First

   You may have heard of this strategy before.  Instead of saving whatever money is leftover at the end of the month, pay your savings first.  That way, it is out of your bank account and you can’t spend it on something you don’t really need.  Think of this as an investment.  You would pay your mortgage first, right? Well, same goes for saving for that down payment.

3. Pay Off High-Interest Credit Cards

   Start paying off any high-interest credit cards.  Make smaller payments on low or no interest cards while you work on paying off those cards that are racking up the interest.

4. Balance Transfers

   Take advantage of credit cards offering zero percent interest on balance transfers.  Transfer the balance of a high-interest card to the zero interest card.  Just make sure you make timely payments, those zero interest cards usually require payments to be made on time, or interest kicks in.

5. Save Extra Cash

   We saved every penny we received.  If we got cash for Christmas, we put it away for the down payment.  Money for birthdays, it went to the down payment.  We also let our parents know we were saving for a house, so they didn’t buy us “stuff” we didn’t really need for holidays and birthdays.

6. Open an Online Savings

   Check out online banks with high interest savings.   This is so easy.  You open the account and transfer money directly from your bank account.  The money in the online savings will accrue interest at a faster rate than in your traditional bank account.

7. Stop Spending Money

   Yup, this one seems pretty simple, but it is true.  Stop spending money and look for ways to save. If you have a gym membership, magazine subscriptions, wine of the month club- put a stop to them all.  Just remember, once you are in the house and if you have the extra money, you can pick these back up. Make a sacrifice and give up anything that is “extra”. We called our cable provider and our cell phone provider and negotiated lower rates as a way to stop spending so much money.  My husband played golf twice all year for the year we were saving and I didn’t attend any girls’ nights, jewelry parties or any kind of gathering where something was being sold.

8. Cash in Stocks and Bonds

   Maybe your grandparents bought you a few shares of a company back when you were born or maybe a government savings bond has matured?  Check to see if you have any stocks or bonds that you can cash in.  We had over $10k in stocks and bonds that we were able to cash.  Ten thousand going towards a down payment is better that a piece of paper sitting in a safety deposit box!

9. Ask For Help

   I’m not talking about asking family or friends to contribute to your down payment, but think about where some help would save you money?  For instance, if your kids are in after school care, could you ask a friend or family member to keep your kids after school for a couple of hours and save that money that you were paying a child care provider?  Think outside the box!

10. Sell Your Stuff

    You don’t have to sell all of your stuff, of course.  Do you have a nice piece of furniture that doesn’t quite fit your style that you’d want to sell?  Or how about some small kitchen appliances that you received as a wedding gift that you don’t actually use?  Look at private Facebook buy, sell, trade groups or Craigslist, or even an old fashion yard sale!  Unload extra clutter and make some money.  It’s a win-win!

By implementing these ten tips, you are sure to save some money.  Make sure you sit down and make a plan first.  Discuss your strategies, think outside the box and create a plan that works for you and your lifestyle.  If you are still struggling, consult a financial planner who can help you navigate your finances and options for saving.  Best of luck to you on this journey!

PIN IT⇓