Our guide to saving for a house deposit

Our guide to saving for a house deposit

Thinking of saving for a house deposit but not sure where to start? There are many different ways to budget and save, and we know the adjustments can be challenging. Usually, your deposit needs to cover 5% of the property cost – so, we have put together a guide to saving for this, to help make the process as stress free as possible.

In this guide

1. Reduce your outgoing bills
2. Cut down on your spending
3. Assess your living situation
4. Step up your budgeting methods
5. Ditch your holiday plans
6. Make extra money

1. Reduce your outgoing bills

When saving for a deposit, every penny counts. Now is the time to shop around and look for better deals on your outgoing bills. Look for mobile phone and broadband deals using comparison websites, cancel any unused subscriptions and even shop around for cheaper energy bills if your landlord allows you to.

2. Cut down on your spending

Similarly, cut down on your general spending habits. You may not notice the extent of your daily spending, and while they may be harmless, this could be a good time to prioritise what you are buying.

Maybe your morning coffee trip could be swapped for an at home coffee, or your weekly takeaway could become fortnightly. Minor changes like this can make a huge difference to your savings and ultimately, they will be worth it.

3. Assess your living situation

This step could save you the most money. Assessing your living situation could mean considering moving back to your family home for a while (if possible). If you are renting, you might not be seeing drastic savings, but moving back home for a while could cut out some of the larger costs. If this isn’t a possibility for you, you can still assess your living situation depending on your finances.

If you are living alone, it could be beneficial to look into flat sharing, or simply re-evaluation the area you are planning on moving to and if it will suit your financial situation.

4. Step up your budgeting methods

If you struggle with saving, or want to be even more cautious, why not look at using a budgeting app?

With mobile phones being such a huge part of our lives, a budgeting app means you can constantly and easily monitor your spending wherever you are. Some apps can round your balance to the nearest pound and deposit the remaining balance into a savings account. Others use special algorithms to analyse your personal spending habits and budget your spending based on what you can afford.

These can be incredibly helpful when working towards a deposit and save you the stress of analysing your spending habits.

5. Ditch your holiday plans

This one might seem a little hard to do, with all the hard work saving and budgeting, a holiday seems like the well-deserved break you need. But saving this for a later date could save you a large sum of money and get you well on your way to the deposit.

But, this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself at all while saving for a deposit: why not take up a new hobby? Or find a free activity that you enjoy, such as walking, cycling, painting – anything to keep you entertained and occupied away from the stresses of saving.

6. Make extra money

Finally, you could begin making extra money from selling items you no longer use or even turn an existing hobby into a side business. Setting up an online shop or social media page to do so is often free and easy. Not only will it make you some extra cash, you will also feel good doing it.

If you’re looking for anything else or would like additional help and advice get in touch at customerservice@easyproperty.com

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