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Zero To Done In 6 Months
Coming up with a down payment is no joke. It can be hard to scrape together a large chunk of money, especially if you are already spending just about as much as you earn. Assuming that you are going for an FHA loan with a purchase price of $200,000, you would need $7000. That is 3.5 percent.
Divide that up into a 6 month time period and you need almost 1200 dollars a month. A daunting task, but you can do it and we can help you find some areas to make some cuts. Your home is attainable, but some sacrifices must be made. Here are some areas that you can get some extra money.
Refinance Your Vehicle or Vehicles
It is not advisable to seek new credit when you are close to purchasing a home, so do this quick.
Refinancing your vehicle works in your favor in several ways.
First, you could lower your monthly payment. If your credit has improved, a lower interest rate can cut your payment by as much as $50 a month. In addition, stretching your payment out for a longer term can easily cut your payment another $50. That is $100 a month and assuming you are a couple with two vehicles, that is an even greater savings of $200 a month.
Another way that refinancing helps you save money is by allowing you to skip a payment. When you refinance your auto, you can push out that first payment by as much as 45 days. Once again, assuming you have two cars, that is around $1000 that you can save by skipping a payment on two vehicles.
Let’s add up these savings. $1000 in the first month and then up to $200 a month for an additional 5 months, adding up to 2000 dollars that you can put towards your home.
Cut Out Cable or Satellite
If you are still attached to cable, now is the time to cut the cord. The average cable and satellite bill in the US is $100 and for many, that number is much higher. Cancel the cable and switch to a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix. They will be free for the first month and then only around $10 a month afterwards.
If you really want to save every penny, you can also play these services against each other. For example, sign up for a Hulu trial and then cancel it after 30 days. Then sign up for a Netflix trial and cancel it after 30 days. By that time, Hulu will have sent you an offer to come back for another free month which you can then cancel after 30 days when you receive yet another offer from Netflix to come back for a free trial. It works, trust me.
Cutting the cord will save you $100 a month or $600 in just 6 months.
Altogether now, we are at $2600 saved for your house.
Stop Dining Out
1/3 of Americans eat fast food on a daily basis and most will dine out or have a meal delivered at least once a week. If you want to save for a home, this needs to change.
For starters, start taking your lunch to work every day. For about $2, you can have a more nutritious meal and replace a grease filled $8 one. That is a savings of $6 a day, $30 a week and $120 a month. For a couple, that is $240 a month or $1440 in 6 months time.
Next, you need to cut out that delivered meal or dining out. Yes, its a bummer but you can get back to it once you get your home. Cutting a meal out once a week can save an easy $30 a week, probably more. That is $120 a month or $720 in 6 months.
Adding it all up, that is $2160 saved in just 6 months by taking your lunch and skipping your weekly meal out.
Altogether now, we have saved $4760 and that gets us pretty darn close to the $7000 that we need for your house.
Give Up Caffeine
For many of us, caffeine is part of our daily regimen even though we know it is unhealthy. But how can cutting caffeine out of your diet get you into a house? Believe me, it will be a big help.
First, when you cut out soda and switch to water, you can easily save as much as $2 a day and that is just for the canned stuff you drink at home. For two people, that is $120 a month or $720 in six months.
Next, if you enjoy a daily cup of coffee from one of those chain stores, you are spending an easy $4 a day during the work week. That is $20 a week or $80 a month. For a couple, that is $160 a month or $960 in 6 months time. Almost 1000 dollars for cutting out caffeine!
Lets do the math and add up our savings to this point. Adding in the $1680 from dropping caffeine, we are now at $6440 towards the down payment you need to get a house. Very close at this point.
Get A Side Gig
If you want something, sometimes you have to work for it. Luckily, you are not going to have to work that hard. Part time jobs are easy to get these days and very flexible.
The cream of the crop when it comes to easy part time jobs is Uber. Make around $25 an hour shuttling people around in your spare time. That is $100 a week from working just 4 hours a week. That adds up to around $400 a month or $2400 in six months time.
If you do not want to go the driving route, check out Walmart. They are everywhere and pay $13 an hour to start. Pick up a 6 hour shift each week and that is almost $100 which also adds up to around $2400 in 6 months.
If you and your partner both get part time jobs, you are looking at around $4800 in 6 months. After taxes, that is around $3300.
Once again, adding things up, that is $9740 from refinancing your vehicles, cutting out cable, eating more from home, giving up caffeine and working a few extra hours a week. Since our goal in this case was just $7000, you are golden.
Wrapping Up Your House Savings
As you can see from the examples above, little changes can make a huge difference. You might be surprised at the little ways that we waste money without thinking about it.
Of course not all of the savings examples above may work for you but probably enough will that you can get that house down payment in a matter of 6 months. So put as many of them into use as you can and of course, check out digit.