One of the most significant decisions you will ever take in your adult life includes moving out to a place of your own. Whether you are moving out of your parent’s house or just relocating, it is a decision that requires planning in detail. It is not an easy process and a decision that should not be rushed from budgeting to moving.
So, to help you make your big decision a little less daunting and a little more special, we have compiled a list of tips for saving for a new house or apartment.
- Planning
Strategize
The first and foremost step is to strategize your big decision. This includes asking yourself simple questions like where do you want to move? How long are you planning to stay at that particular place? What kind of a place are you looking for? What are your future goals? Your budget and how much you are willing to spend?
Once you have a clear blueprint of your decision, it becomes easier to follow through, save up and execute your strategy. This will help you decide what sort of a place suits your needs, how much space you wish to acquire, and allow you to introspect on your savings – ultimately creating a timeline in your head.
Crux: Plan and have a clear image of the kind of lifestyle and accommodation you plan to acquire. This will help you streamline your objectives.
Wants and needs
The next step is to draw a clear line between your wants and needs when saving for a new house or a new apartment. Essential utilities are a need. Luxurious furniture or condo at the top of a skyscraper is a want. A safe neighborhood or an efficient mode of transport is a need. That transport being a Ferrari is a want.
One of the most valuable tips on how to save money for a house includes knowing the difference between your assets and liabilities. Point being made, rationally separate your wants and needs coherent with your lifestyle, budget, and future planning. For example, if you are a bachelor, the nature of whose profession requires him to relocate every now and then, there is no point in saving up for a house. You should look at condos or apartments that are better suited to your needs.
Similarly, one of the many benefits of living in a condo includes easy maintenance, which is nothing short of a blessing for an adult. Concurrently, if you are relocating somewhere permanently and are planning to start a family as well, a small house will be better suited. It all comes down to perspective and future planning, and of course, your budget. You will need to compromise between your wants and needs. Just make sure you make rational compromises without hurting your pocket too much.
Crux: Your wants ought to be preferred highly than your needs since your needs are liabilities. There will always be a compromise between the two, so choose rationally and plan your future plans incoherence.
Setting Your Budget
Now comes the most critical task – setting up a budget. It is not easy to save up in this world of modernity where every kind of liability is available. Still, if you don’t start budgeting, you can say goodbye to your plans of buying your own house or apartment anytime soon. Saving up is imperative to financial freedom.
Putting in perspective the points mentioned above, you now have a clear blueprint of your big move ready and a line drawn between your wants and needs. Setting a budget should not be an ardent task. You now have a clear idea of your requirements, how much space you require, and whether your decision is long-term or a temporary one. This will help you narrow down your options and save up for the optimal place to suit your budget and requirements.
Crux: If you never create a budget, you will never be able to realize your dream of buying your own house or apartment. Set a budget according to the points mentioned above.
Saving up
Financial Discipline
To be honest, saving up when you have constantly marketed products twenty-four-seven, if not impossible, is quite tricky. One of the most essential tips on how to save money for a house is financial discipline. Knowing where to spend and when is pivotal if you wish to gain financial freedom, let alone buy a house or an apartment. For this purpose, it is important that you limit your needs, set some ground rules for yourself when budgeting, and start monitoring your spending. Thanks to technology, it has now become more accessible than ever to track where you spend your hard-earned money. Make the most out of those apps and discipline yourself financially.
Crux: Financial discipline is the key to financial freedom. Limit your spending and spend wisely.
Fixed Deposit
Saving up for a house or an apartment is a long process, a process that may take up to several years depending upon your saving discipline. If you happen to have some money saved up but are fearful that you may waste it away – one safety tip is to store your money in a fixed deposit account for some time as per the bank policy. With each passing year, you gain interest in your deposited amount. So, in a way, your money is secured, and you increase your savings as well. Suppose you manage to save some extra in addition to the fixed amount deposited. When the contract ends, you will have plenty saved up for your new apartment or house.
Crux: A fixed deposit is a safe way to ensure you don’t waste huge sums of money, besides extra returns and savings. Buying a new house will only be easier.
Cut off extra bills
Another essential tip in saving for a new house or an apartment includes maximizing your savings by minimizing your expenses and how best you can do so? By cutting off extra bills. Cut off subscriptions you don’t use, memberships you do not use to save up extra money. Another tip for minimizing your expenses is monitoring your use of utilities and spending your money regularly. Choosing alternatives can help you save up as well. Cutting down on costs may not sound like a huge difference but remember every penny saved brings you one step closer to your new house or an apartment.
Crux: Maximize your savings by minimizing your expenses.
A secondary source of income
It is pretty difficult to manage two jobs together, especially if you work a nine to five but picture this, taking on additional few hours of work and jumpstart your savings account. All of us have unique skills. Some can paint, some can write, some can code. If you can create a secondary source of income out of your passion, it can significantly affect the speed you are pacing towards your goal. It could be anything; maybe you can take a freelancing project suited to your skills and interests. Besides, working with passion is not working; it is growth. An opportunity for you to enhance your skills, increase your income, increase your savings and ultimately realize your goal of buying your own house or an apartment—a win-win situation, perhaps.
Crux: Create more sources of income to increase your savings.