Your First Home: Saving For a Deposit

Buying your first home is one of those big chapters in your life that can often feel like a big of a hurdle to overcome. It’s not an easy process, and the first part is having to find the funds in order to afford it. So here are some tips to help save for your first home.

Start With A Strict Budget

A budget is essential. Creating a budget means you’ll know exactly what is going in and what is coming out. Then you can look at your remaining income to see how much you can set aside for saving.

Cut your bills. When was the last time you checked to see how much you were paying for gas, electricity, broadband and groceries? If you haven’t switched energy provider for 2 years or more you really should consider switching to a provider like Octopus, they’ll even pay you £50 for switching and cover any cancellation fees!

Look into a savings account. When I decided to save for a house I opened a an ISA to stash all my savings into.

Ask Family For Support

Family is there to support you in times of need, and you need that deposit before you see how much you could borrow on a mortgage. Asking your family for a financial loan might be worth doing because some parents do keep savings for their children and for them to use when the time comes. Don’t just ask them point blank as you might want to treat them to dinner first before you ask the question.

They might not have savings but are willing to help you where they can in order to provide for their children and give them a helping hand on the property ladder. Again, it might not be much, but it will all be worth it in the end when you finally have enough to pay for a deposit on a property.

Stop Renting And Return Home

Renting can cost so much money, and when you’re living in a big city, that will be eating into your finances. It’s worth looking into the possibility of not moving back home. Sometimes that might not be possible, but if your parents live reasonably close and the commute isn’t that bad, then it’s worth factoring in.

If you have friends that have a spare room to let, it is worth looking at living with them. Moving into a shared house is usually cheaper than renting alone, giving you the chance to save up for a place of your own.

Open a Lifetime ISA

Anyone aged 18 to 39 can open a LISA. The Lifetime ISA (LISA) lets you save up to £4,000 every tax year towards a first home with the government adding a 25% (up to £1000!).

The LISA is intended to help you buy your first home, so you’re not supposed to rent it out. To get the bonus you’ll just need to buy a property that costs £450,000 or less. That includes Right to Buy, shared ownership, self-builds, and Help to Buy loans.

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Buy Part Of The Property

Even though you might not be able to afford a deposit for a whole property or for a mortgage on the dream house you were hoping for, there are other options available. Shared ownership is something that’s offered and might be a way to get yourself partly onto the property ladder.

Once you’ve managed to get somewhere with the mortgage payments, you can always sell up and then get a full property with the profits you make. Nothing is fully out of reach, so it’s important to explore all your options first.

BOOST YOUR INCOME

The most productive way to move towards buying your own place is to increase your income! Not only will this help with your deposit but it will also show mortgage providers that you can afford to buy a property, Is it time to request a pay raise? Could you ask for extra hours? Is there a side hustle you could manage alongside your job?

There are tons of ways to earn more money to put towards your first home including part-time work, survey sites, task apps, mystery shopping, reselling, and even blogging! Find out which side hustles are right for you by visiting my side hustle page.

Make Your Home Energy-Efficient

Bills can pile up enormously, especially with uncontrolled usage. One effective way to save money is to make your home energy-efficient. One way of doing this is to have your HVAC system checked regularly to ensure they’re in good working condition. A malfunctioning air conditioning unit works double-time and spends twice as much power as a good one. Replacing old and worn-out HVAC systems can save you thousands of dollars in energy bills every year.

Also, you can check cheap light companies to save money. Get to know your energy plan options that suit your budget and needs. You might want to replace old electrical wiring to avoid fire hazards and costly repair expenses for short appliances, too.

Wise Shopping

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everybody learned the art and science of shopping online. While online shopping is very convenient, it also paves way for impulsive buying. You probably have experienced adding so many items to your cart. But do you need all of them?

Before proceeding to checkout, let an hour or two to pass by so you can really decide if the items in your shopping cart are worth buying. It’s better to just buy the important things you need, such as household supplies. Also, make use of couponsand vouchers to get discounted purchases.