Best way to start saving money for a house in UK
Buying a house is basically a must-do for most of us. One factor that prevents most people from becoming homeowners is money. But you don’t have to be extra rich to become a homeowner in the UK. There are ways you can start saving money to achieve this goal.
A house is ordinarily a structure meant for shelter, but to many of us, it means more than that. It is a milestone and dream come true for many.
In the UK, over 27 million people are homeowners, 24.6% are in the process of acquiring one while 86% want to buy a house.
While house prices in the real estate market keep on rising, getting your dream home may not be as hard as you think. Here are the top six ways to start saving money for a house in the UK.
Start Saving
The mantra for anyone wanting to become a homeowner should be ‘save! Save! Save!’
While the median age of most people acquiring homes in the UK is 34 years, quite a number of people have started embracing the save early buy early mantra. This saves them quite a lot of trouble.
While most prefer to save when they are ‘financially stable enough’, saving early has been proven to be highly effective. Especially, in the acquisition of properties in the real estate market.
It does not matter the age or job, the best time to start saving is now.
I have a constructive article on how to start saving here and here.
Plan For It
If you do not plan, then you are writing an invitation to failure. Planning is a very important aspect of our everyday lives. You do not become a house owner by chance.
Buying a house requires even the most intricate of details. Any prospective homeowner should plan a detailed budget around the house he/she has in mind.
Details such as the price of the house should be indicated.
When you do this, you can then detail how this would be achieved.
The prospective homeowner should know what to forgo in his budget to maximize his savings.
Put Your Plan In Action.
Planning does not necessarily guarantee the actualization of your dream. Though it is the first step towards achieving this.
A lot of factors will determine how successful your plans are.
How well you stick to your budget is a necessary factor. After determining the ‘how’ part of your saving plan, putting that plan into action is one of the most important steps to take.
This however requires a high level of discipline. For instance, one could cut on the amount spent on fast food and opt for home cooking, reduce the amount spent on entertainment and subscriptions and more. That extra money should then be put into your house savings.
This calculator will help you calculate your monthly expenses.
Save Every Dime (Save Some More)
I am a minimalist. It is a habit that I picked up from my wife. But what I have found out about being a minimalist is that it makes it easier for me to save.
Sometimes being a minimalist mean I constantly overthink before I spend any money that I don’t have to.
A dime goes a long way and so does a shilling. It is crazy how much you can save when put certain money away. One plus one equals two after all. Spare change, loose change could add up over time when you think about it. Even though it is always very tempting to get rid of them.
So keep that loose change it could go a long way. It may look like nothing today, but it might be worth something tomorrow.
Get A Side Job
One plus one equals two and two jobs are sometimes better than one. Especially when they don’t have to clash.
Houses aren’t cheap to acquire and it takes commitment.
House prices are astronomically high at the moment and to save more, you might want to get a side hustle.
There are several side hustles you can choose to embark on. But most times, people tend to choose one they have prior knowledge about.
Your side hustle can either be online or offline.
For instance, one could try the freelancing market by selling services like writing, offering to teach English to non-natives, doing transcription jobs, doing odd jobs like babysitting, being a dog groomer or dog walker and much more.
If you are going for an online side job, you have several options to choose from.
Here are 101 side hustle ideas you can choose from.
Put Savings In A Fixed Deposit Account.
Money put in a fixed deposit account tend to earn a higher interest margin when compared to other accounts.
One could decide to lock their saving for a certain period, for instance, lock their house savings for either half a year, a year or more.
This will be highly advantageous as you will not be able to touch those saving at the same time earn huge amounts of interest.
Do A Garage Sale
We all have got stuff that we are not using but still occupy a huge amount of space in our wardrobes and garages.
Believe me when I tell you that you might have gold wasting away in your garage.
What I mean is that those junks that accumulate dust in your garage can be worth some money.
Doing a garage sale can generate some amount of income that could come in handy when wanting to save for that dream house.
There are several ways to sell these items but the two popular options are eBay and Amazon and Facebook marketplace.
Consider sharing an apartment
Rent prices are high and it might be one of the reasons why you can’t adequately save enough.
If you are considering purchasing a house soon, you should consider sharing an apartment to reduce the cost of renting.
Expenses such as food and entertainment can also be cut down by half if your apartment buddy will be sharing the costs.
Buy goods at the charity or thrift stores
Goods at the charity shop are ironically one of the cheapest, unique and high quality.
While you may prefer to do most of your shopping at the supermarket, during this period you might want to start visiting the charity store.
The one pound or two pounds saved at the charity could be a game-changer for you.
In Conclusion
Owning a home is practically everybody’s dream. Be it you are buying it as an asset or to get some privacy, or even to start your own family. Buying a house is definitely not an easy task but with these simple savings tips, you could be a homeowner in no time.
