How To Save For Your First Home & Still Go On Holiday

How To Save For Your First Home & Still Go On Holiday

So you’re saving up to buy your first house? Well, conventional wisdom says that you definitely can’t have any fun. Oh no! Lots people will tell you that you have to lock yourself up in your house and scrimp and save every penny until you finally have enough for a deposit. You definitely can’t do anything as extravagant as go on holiday, right?

Wrong! In our last blog post we discussed how the affordability of the Perth property market has created ideal conditions for first home buyers. This also means that if you’re smart about things, you can save up for a deposit AND manage to go on a fab overseas holiday at the same time.

We know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. Check out the following tips if you like the sound of sipping a cocktail by the pool and simultaneously being on track to achieve your home ownership dreams.

Develop A Plan & Stick To It

Just because house prices are low at the moment, it doesn’t mean you can book a holiday and expect everything to fall into place all by itself. You need to know exactly how much of a deposit you’ll need and how you’re going to go about saving it.

Even with the range of low deposit loans now available, you’re still going to have to be disciplined if you want to also afford that overseas trip.

• Figure out exactly where you want to build, what sort of home you can afford and what sort of deposit you’ll need.
• Work out your exact income levels and formulate a savings plan and timeframe for achieving it.
• Spend some time researching holiday locations & costs, choose something achievable (5 star hotels probably aren’t going to be on the cards!) and factor this into your savings plan.

Review & Adjust Your Expenses

Go through your bank statement with a fine tooth comb and work out exactly where your money is going. While smaller expenses might not seem a lot individually, they can really add up over the course of an entire month.

The only way to do this is to be brutally honest. Add up exactly how much you’re spending and ask yourself where you can cut back. Do you really need to be spending hundreds of dollars a months on UberEats, Netflix and online shopping, or would that money be better put towards your home deposit/holiday fund?

Reassess & Renegotiate

Once you’ve worked out exactly where all of your money is going, it’s time to reassess and renegotiate. Are you able to renegotiate your phone, internet, gas or electricity costs with your provider to save money? If not, are you able to downgrade or even cancel any plans or subscriptions to make some vital savings? Anything you can do will add up over time.

Set Up A Saving System

With your expenses reviewed and reorganised and a new and improved budget in place, the next important step is to set up a savings system to divert those newfound dollars into the right place. Open different savings accounts for your deposit and holiday funds and make sure that you set up some direct debit deposits that go into these accounts on payday. That way you won’t even have to think about it.

Having these accounts set up will also allow you to quickly and easily transfer any extra funds that come in.

Maximise Your Income

This might sound a bit obvious, but anything you can do to increase your income is going to go a long way helping you achieve your aims. We’re not saying that you should immediately rush out and get a second job (work/life balance is important for everyone after all), but if there’s any way you can pick up extra hours, earn overtime or work extra hard to achieve a sales bonus etc, then you should always take the opportunity to do so.

Any extra money that comes in should immediately be tucked away into your holiday and house and land packages deposit savings accounts.

Make The Most Of This Unique Opportunity

The affordability represented by the Perth housing market at the moment is pretty remarkable, so smart first home buyers around town will be doing everything they can to make the most of this fantastic opportunity. Most people in Melbourne and Sydney definitely aren’t in a position to think about going on holiday while they save for a house, so if you’re able to you should enjoy it as much as you possibly can.

At FHBD we specialise in providing affordable, high quality first homes to Perth buyers. If you’re looking for the ideal home to move into once you’re back from sunning yourself in some exotic overseas location, just get in touch with us today to find out more.

Posted by First Home Buyer Direct on 19 December 2018 | 0 comments

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