How to save for a home?

[Lovumms333238]

What are some of the most effective ways to cut back in order to save for a house? It is DH, DD & . Plus our dog and cat. We already shop bulk for what we can and we dont do much but play outside for recreational activities. DH works from home so we dont really use a lot of gas... I'm stumped, how did you do it or how are you doing it?
Thanks!

[Delilah83]

I'm in the same boat, just me, my husband and our cat. We try to set aside between 300-600 a month towards the house fund. We also did a ton of research into housing in our area so we could see how much money we'd have to save to have roughly a 10% down payment + closing costs. (we're about 2/3s of the way there!)

As for saving grocery costs, I find that shopping in bulk isn't that great for just two people (especially for anything perishable). We do shop in bulk for cleaning supplies. My shopping goal is to spend under 300 for groceries a month which is well under the USDA recommends for a family of 2. There's lots of blogs of people who average 120 a month or something but I live in a high cost of living area.

For thrifty shopping I tend to cook meat-light and make something with meat maybe once or twice a week. I've cut out a lot of processed food from my diet and I avoid sodas and other bottled drinks when possible.

I keep an excel chart to document spending, it helps a lot just to be aware of how we are spending money. I found out my husband is addicted to wawa and honest tea that way.

[alicia622]

sometimes it isn't about cutting back but increasing your earnings. maybe a parttime job with all the money going towards a house fund.

[HeatherAtHome]

DH and I felt like we could never get ahead. We ended up leaving our apartment and getting rid of a bunch of stuff. We originally moved in with my parents but DH only lasted two months before leaving. Sort of complicated. He thought he was leaving his job so we moved away... but then he ended up staying at his job. Instead of doing long commute he got a little room for rent within walking distance of his work (I kept the car at my parents.) We both worked and I visited him on weekends. We had very little in the way of living expenses and were able to pay off a bunch of debt and save for our house. It took about 15 months. I can say it was worth it now because it ended happily ever after, but it was pretty hard when you're in the middle and wondering when it will end.

That's how we did it. It's not really an option for everyone.

[JamieCatheryn]

Meal plan and make sure you use up what you already have. Skip pricey treats.
Use the library for books and movies instead of buying and renting things.
Put new items for home, gifts, materials for hobbies on hold, choose what little you get carefully even if it's a good deal.
Have the money automatically taken out so you HAVE to do without it.
Increase the income in any way possible, nothing that takes investment and risk though as that may not work out.

[beansmama]

I kinda feel like I'd need to see your budget to tell you what else you could do. Usually there is always something you can do to cut back...you just have to prioritize.

Dh and I are currently working on saving at least $50,000 for a downpayment...it's slow and painful (and we make a lot of mistakes!) - but we just keep on working our plan and hopefully...in about 5 years...it'll pay off.

Good luck

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by JamieCatheryn

Have the money automatically taken out so you HAVE to do without it.

Very good advice.

[PrettyBird]

When we were saving up for our down payment, etc we lived in crappy small apartments to have the lowest rent we could. It was DH's last deployment (extra pays, tax free pay, etc) that gave us a huge boost, however. Although we already bought our home we are paying as much extra as we can to have it payed off in less than 12 years. We have the extra taken out at the beginning of every month. After we pay our bills and savings is taken out what we have is what we have.

[texmati]

idunno... I lived with my parents before marriage, I think that may have been where the bulk of our down payment comes from.

[brittneyscott]

I agree with the pp that if you feel comfortable posting your budget we might can help find ways to cut expenses more. In general though I agree with what's been posted.

-No entertainment costs. Use the library and free activities.
-Cut off any cable/dish. (see above)
-Lower phone bills to the lowest possible. Check into a straight talk phone if you aren't in the country. Its $45 a month unlimited talk, long distance, and text.
-Bulk shopping, cooking from scratch, no eating out.
-Line dry clothes.
-No disposable items (plates, diapers, etc)
-Homemade cleaning supplies are a lot cheaper. I'm looking now for homemade bath/body stuff to lower costs more.

A part time job might help. If we didn't have kids (ie child care) I'd be working a ton to save money but that's not an option for us. Right now I'm trying to lower expenses as much as possible and stick to a budget to save money for us to buy land and build a house.

[lunarlady]

What worked for us was figuring out a budget, then using cash to make sure we stuck to the budget. For us, it looks like this:
$240/month -- groceries
$40/month -- personal allowance (for each of us, so $80/month) to buy whatever we want, including meals at work, clothing, etc.
$40/month -- pets (we budgeted to save up for annual vet visits)
$40/month -- house (this includes cleaning supplies, light bulbs, storage bins, etc.)
$40/month -- fun money (date night!)

Everything is in even $20 amounts because that's how it comes out of the ATM.

Using cash made me very aware of how much I actually am spending on things. And guess what, if the grocery envelope is empty, we have to make do until the next month. This might mean scraping change out of the jar on the dresser to buy rice, beans and pasta, but it works. We used this method to help us pay off all our credit card debts, make a downpayment on a house, and start paying down our student loans.

So I say put the plastic in a drawer, and use cash. It will help you really see where the money goes.

[BMG580]

Originally Posted by brittneyscott

-Homemade cleaning supplies are a lot cheaper. I'm looking now for homemade bath/body stuff to lower costs more.

OT, but check out the book Vintage Remedies by Jessie Hawkins. There are several really good homemade bath/body recipes in the book!

[annethcz]

If you don't already have a budget, that is step #1.

I think that once you do that, step #2 is to pay yourself first. Either set up an automatic savings plan, or get into the habit of putting money into savings before paying other bills.

[phathui5]

Have you read any of Dave Ramsey's books?

www.daveramsey.com