A Disciplined Approach to Saving for a Home

Those who dream of eventually owning their own home need a starting point to focus their energies, and for most people that starting point is a house deposit. With house prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, having a reasonable deposit gives the prospective homeowner financial credibility when shopping around for a competitive housing loan.

Establish a Savings Plan

For a significant number of people, the story ends here because they either lack the discipline to establish a savings plan or they do not know how to do it. They may have the goal of home ownership clear in their minds but unless this becomes actions that see dollars accumulating in their bank account, they will continue to be tenants.

Let us see if we can help. Our sales staff here at Bunbury Real Estate are professionals with industry expertise and local knowledge. While they are also experienced negotiators, they are not financial advisors. However, they know from listening to clients that it is possible to save for a house deposit, and good financial discipline is the key.

Create a Purposeful Savings Account

Now, we have assumed that our savers have researched the real estate market, know what they can borrow based on their current income and have a dollar figure in mind that will become their deposit. The first thing to do is to set up an account just for this purpose, separate from the money used for living expenses. You should be aiming to never withdraw from this account unless it is for a home deposit.

Construct an Achievable Budget

The next step is to create an achievable budget that still leaves room for discretional spending. The internet is a great resource for showing you in detail how to do this and make it authentic. There is no secret formula. It is all about increasing your income and reducing your expenditure. On the income side, for example, you could get a second job or go through your possessions and sell unwanted items.

Set Spending Limits and Change Some Lifestyle Habits

On the expenditure side, you must be disciplined enough to set spending limits and stick to them. This usually requires a change of lifestyle where eating out becomes a once a month treat instead of a twice weekly occurrence. This is just one example. Others include bringing lunch to work from home instead of buying it and preparing home-cooked meals instead of ordering takeaways.

This becomes easier once you see these savings building up in your house deposit account. If you do this consistently and bank unexpected income like a tax refund, you will soon be asking our agents to find you a home.