We sold our house a couple of months ago, but then couldn’t find anywhere to buy in our price range, so these tips for saving up for a house would have been very useful.
Are you saving up to buy your first property? Good for you! It’s an exciting time and if you’re able to be disciplined with your finances, you’ll be unlocking your very own front door in no time. But it’s a bit of a slog, isn’t it…? Saving money isn’t easy in this climate, so here are six ideas if you’re wondering how you can generate some extra cash for your deposit.
- Up your income
An obvious suggestion, perhaps, but increasing your income is a guaranteed way of generating more money for savings. If your performance review is approaching, use it as an opportunity to negotiate a higher salary, or see what extra duties you could take on to move yourself up a pay bracket. Alternatively, you could start seeking out another job: if you’re prepared to move to a new company and a new boss is willing to pay you more, it could be a savvy financial move for your future.
- Get a second job
Alternatively, why not get a second job? If you’re prepared to work a few extra hours at the weekend, or do a shift or two in a bar, you’ll bring in a little extra income that you can stash straight into your savings account. Waitressing and bar work is a good idea if you’re good at making tips, or a part time shift in a supermarket or local shop could prove a good use of your Sunday afternoons if you tend to just spend them lazing on the sofa!
- Freelance your skills
If you don’t have the time or energy to commit to regular part time work on top of your full-time job, why not freelance? We all have skills that are useful to someone else, such as photography, writing, web designing, gardening, cleaning or cooking. Decide on an hourly rate and find a client or two: you can fit the work in around your current job, and if you’re working on a project by project basis you’ll have control over the hours you work and the tasks you take on.
- Cut back on your unnecessary spending
If you simply don’t have enough hours in the day to work outside of your 9 – 5.30 (after all, with family, friends and other commitments it can be a real squeeze… and that’s not taking into account how tired you already are!), try to cut back on your spending instead. Take a look through your bank statements and see where your spare cash is going: are you going out for dinner a lot or spending your wages on clothes? Cut back a little and see how much money you have left knocking around in your current account at the end of the month… you might be surprised!
- Take out a Help to Buy ISA
Another way of making extra cash for your house deposit is to sign yourself up for a Help to Buy ISA. This ISA is a government-backed scheme where you pay in a maximum of £200 a month. The government will then award you a 25% bonus, absolutely free, provided you use the savings to buy a house. The maximum bonus payout is £4,000, which means you can earn a 25% bonus on £12,000 of savings, and benefit from the ISA’s high rate of annual interest rate too.
- Borrow money for a deposit
Finally, if you need to get your hands on money for your first home, you could borrow money. Look into taking out a personal loan to help you get your deposit together, or even a logbook loan with a provider like Car Cash Point. This could be a good idea if you know you’ll be comfortable paying it back (on top of your mortgage repayments, potentially), or if you know you’re about to get a pay rise. Alternatively, you could ask your family for a leg up: lots of parents and grandparents are helping to get first time buyers on the property ladder, so see if your loved ones are prepared to gift you a sum of money.
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