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Save More Money
Tips on how to save more money for a down payment
Saving up for a down payment for a new home is without a doubt the most difficult part for most home buyers. Life is increasingly expensive, especially here on the coast of California. Every percentage more you are able to put down on your home purchase will save you a ton of money in interest and PMI (private mortgage insurance). It’s absolutely worth it to start stashing cash and finding new ways to save more money and work towards that big goal of a new home!
1. Don’t Waste Food & Toss Out Money
Meal plan and eat everything you purchase at the grocery store
Think about how much food you toss out every week or so? Is it quite a bit? Very little? Good for you if you already meal plan and try to waste as little as possible already! If this is an area where you could improve, a great new motivator could be how much money you could be saving and putting towards something you really want – like that house with the yard and the extra bedroom! Meal planning is key here: make a list and try not to stray. Then the trick is to eat what you purchase, especially the perishables. My family has mastered this by including an “everything goes in” meal we make every week or 2. A casserole, a quiche, a curry, even spaghetti – whatever veggies are getting close to end of life we chop them up and include them into this “everything” meal. We’ve come up with a lot of unlikely, but yummy combinations too!
2. Pay Yourself First
Save a set amount of money from every paycheck or every week, set this up so it’s automatic! If it’s not in your checking account, odds are you won’t spend it.
This is an oldie, but goodie. I have a few strategies for this tip. The first is to save a set percentage from every paycheck, I do this as soon as my paycheck hits my checking account. Taking the money immediately out of your checking account to your savings is the best way I’ve found to forget about the money all together! (But it’s there when I need it and that’s the best part.) The second is to set up a reoccurring savings transfer. I have my saving accounts set up for a bimonthly transfer of money, it’s not a large sum of money, but enough to add up over time. Watch your saving accounts grow over the years, it’s both surprising and exciting!
3. Unsubscribe From Retail Emails
Those ads are just tempting you to buy more stuff you don’t need.
How many daily temptations do we see everyday to purchase “stuff”? Ads on TV, coupons in the mail, ads in your email, ads on social media, ads in the paper… they are everywhere! You probably do not really need anything being marketed to you either, especially not at the rate they are popping up distracting us from our ultimate goal of a larger savings account. Ads can be very difficult to ignore so take back some control and unsubscribe from most, if not all, of those emails. You’ll thank yourself for it later.
4. Cancel Subscriptions & Apps You Don’t Use/Need Anymore
These tend to get forgotten over time.
These are so easy to forget about and they can seriously add up! Apps and subscriptions to things such as magazines, streaming services, mail order clothing/food often go unnoticed after awhile since they are set up on auto-pay. Take a moment and take inventory of these types of subscriptions and apps you pay for. Are there any you don’t use anymore? Cancel them and find freedom in unburdening yourself from that bill and saving that extra money every month!
5. Pay Off Loans With The Heaviest Interest Rates First
Student loans? Credit cards? Carrying debt with high interest rates is costing you a lot of money.
These “heavy-hitters” are bogging you down and costing you a ton of money every month/year. This was a major lesson I learned several years ago. I had some money earning a very small amount of interest in a savings account. I also had about the same amount of student loan debt, which had interest rates of 6.5%-12%. Once I became aware of the fact that I was paying far more in interest on those loans than my savings account generated – therefore costing me money, I took all of my savings and paid off all of my student debt! It was freeing and such a great decision for the long haul. Figure out what is costing you the most money in interest and pay those debts off as soon as you can. These are generally student loans and credit cards. Try to avoid carrying this type of debt altogether.
Enjoy all the extra money you find! Please share any additional money saving tips you use.
