Are you looking for tips on how to save for a house fast?
It’s no secret that saving for a house is a major undertaking. Whether you’re trying to save-up tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, it can take a seriously long time.
Therefore, it’s important to capitalize on every opportunity to save or earn a little extra money. Because even though, at times, it may not feel like you’re making a big impact, every extra dollar you can squeeze out of your budget will reduce your home savings timeline.
That’s why, for the rest of this post, I’m going to cover 21 of the best ways to save for a house fast!
Hopefully, by implementing a few of the following tips, you can accelerate your savings and achieve your goal of owning a home quicker than you ever thought possible.
Let’s get right to it!
1. Get A Better Savings Account
If you are saving for a home, you need to take advantage of every possible opportunity to earn extra money. And one of the best ways to do that is by putting your savings into an account that earns a decent amount of interest.
Now, to be clear, savings accounts aren’t going to make you rich. However, a good, high-yield savings account can add hundreds of dollars to your home savings each year.
Seriously, when my wife and I switched from our previous savings account, to our current high-yield savings account, we instantly went from earning a miniscule $20 per year, to over $250 per year. And as our savings has grown, that amount has continued to rise.
If you’re looking for a great savings account, we recommend an Axos High Yield Savings Account. This account has no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirements, and it only takes about 15 minutes to open an account online. To put it simply, this is a phenomenal place to keep your home savings. Click here to learn more about an Axos High Yield Savings Account.
2. Create A Well-Defined Plan
As with any goal worth trying to achieve, it is critical to have a well-defined plan of attack. And since saving for a home is one of the hardest, most demanding financial goals you can set for yourself, it is critical that you plan your path in great detail.
In other words, setting a goal like, “I’m going to save for a house” isn’t nearly detailed enough if you want to achieve it as fast as possible.
Instead, you should define an exact dollar amount you need to save, how long it will take you to save it, and how (exactly) you plan to do so.
Oh, and you should write everything down and put it in a prominent place, where you will be constantly reminded to stay on track.
The more detailed you are with your home savings plan, the more likely you will be to achieve it; and in record time I might add.
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3. Find Cheaper Car Insurance
I always say that one of the best ways to save more money every month is to reduce as many fixed expenses as you possibly can.
Why?
Because whenever you reduce a fixed, monthly expense, you don’t just experience a one-time savings boost. Rather, you improve your ongoing monthly financial margin, and therefore, increase your ability to save more money going forward.
And, by far, one of the best (and easiest) fixed expenses to reduce, is car insurance.
Think about it, if you can reduce your car insurance by even $25 – $50 per month, you just added $300 – $600 to your annual savings without having to change a single habit. I’d say that’s about as easy as it gets.
If you’re interested in shopping for new car insurance, here at Be The Budget, we recommend starting with a free quote from Liberty Mutual. Their online quote tool is quick and simple, and will give you a good starting point from which to compare the rates of other insurance providers. Click here to get a free car insurance quote from Liberty Mutual.
4. Split Rent With A Roommate
If you’re saving for a house while renting, one of the best things you can do is get a roommate. By cutting your rent in half, or even better, in thirds, you can seriously shorten your home savings timeline.
Sure, life with a roommate can be a little challenging at times, but if it enables you to put hundreds of dollars more toward your home savings each month, it is well worth it.
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5. Get Completely Out Of Debt (And Stay Out)
Put simply, debt is the arch enemy of any savings goal you might have. Whether you’re saving for a home, car, boat, or anything else, every monthly payment you make is money that can’t go toward your major financial goals; in this case, your future home.
Therefore, if you really want to save for a home as fast as possible, getting out of debt is one of the best things you can do.
In fact, I challenge you to consider the following question:
“If you didn’t have any debt, how much extra money would you be able to put toward your home savings each month?”
Seriously, do the math. Add up all your monthly debt payments (i.e. car loans, credit cards, student loans, personal loans, etc.) and see how much money you could instead be putting toward your future home.
Can you imagine how much faster you could buy a home if you didn’t have any of those payments?
Beyond that, how much relief would it bring you to be completely free debt?
Getting out of debt is one of the best ways to fuel your home savings. And honestly, speaking from experience, it is one of the best things you can do for your entire financial life.
6. Start A Side Business
Entrepreneurship is one of the things I am most passionate about in this world. So, if you have any desire to start a business and be your own boss, I will encourage you to do so all day long.
Beyond that, if you want to fuel your savings, starting a side business is one of the best ways to do it.
You see, when you start a business, you get to control your earning potential. No asking for raises, or hoping for annual bonuses. If you want to earn more money, all you have to do is go out and drum up more business.
Now, the one thing I will say about starting a business as a means to save for a home faster, is that you need to make sure to choose a side hustle that doesn’t require much money to start.
The good news is that in our digital age, there are all sorts of side businesses you can start without much or any startup costs.
For example:
- You could open an ecommerce store and start selling crafts and diy projects you create on the cheap.
- If you have a good understanding of digital marketing, you could offer your services to local businesses for a really nice fee.
- You could start a blog and build-up a big enough audience to earn advertising revenue, sponsorship dollars, and affiliate commissions. (This can be a long row to hoe, but the income potential is pretty incredible for bloggers that stick with it.)
- If you’re less digitally inclined, tutoring or teaching music lessons can be an awesome way to earn a solid amount of extra money.
Whatever you decide, just don’t overthink it, and definitely don’t spend a bunch of money to get started. Rather, just get out there and start drumming up some business. Who knows, what starts out as a simple side hustle, could turn into a thriving full-time gig!
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7. Get A Wholesale Club Membership
Signing up for a wholesale club membership was one of the best money-saving moves my wife and I have ever made. And the reason might surprise you.
You see, one of the lesser known benefits of a wholesale club membership, is the access to less expensive gas. And when I say less expensive, I’m talking about a significant difference than your average gas station.
In fact, between my wife and I filling up our tanks, our Sam’s Club membership pays for itself nearly six times over every single year. And when you’re saving for a house, that kind of money can make a huge impact.
If you’re interested in signing up for a Wholesale Club membership, I highly recommend signing up for Sam’s Club. My wife and I are members, and we can’t recommend it enough.
8. Get A Second Job
If the idea of starting a side business isn’t really up your alley, then don’t get discouraged. One of the best, and fastest, ways to add a little fuel to your home savings fire is to get a second job.
Seriously, there are so many part-time jobs out there offering good enough pay to earn an extra $1K – $2K per month. And depending on your skillset, some of them pay much more than that!
9. Get On A Zero-Based Budget
Zero-based budgeting is our jam around here at Be The Budget. In fact, despite all the different methods out there, it is the only budgeting technique we recommend.
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the process, zero-based budgeting is just a method of assigning a purpose for every dollar of income you make. As opposed to grouping your budget into large, general percentages, a zero-based budget is very specific, and forces you to plan out every single expense — down to the cent.
This is beneficial when you’re saving for a house, because it requires you to assess every single expense. Plus, it makes it incredibly easy to see when you’re getting off-track with your spending and saving habits.
If you’re interested in starting a zero-based budget, we suggest signing up for an EveryDollar account. It is completely free, and is our favorite budgeting tool out there!
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10. Use Cashback Apps For Everyday Purchases
If you want to squeeze every possible dollar out of your budget, then you should start using cashback apps for your everyday essentials that you would normally buy anyway.
I mean, if you are already going to spend the money, why wouldn’t you take advantage of an opportunity to get a little bit of that money back?
The one thing I will say about cashback apps, is that you shouldn’t use them as an excuse to buy more stuff and spend more money. After all, the goal of a cashback app is to save a little bit of extra money, not end up spending more money just because you can get a small percentage of cash back.
Here at Be The Budget, our favorite cashback app is Rakuten. With Rakuten, I’ve seen cashback opportunities ranging from 1% to as high as 15% (take that credit cards!). Plus, if you sign up using the link below, you will receive a $10 cashback bonus after making your first $25 of qualifying cash back purchases. Click Here To Sign up for Rakuten.
11. Find An Accountability Partner
Since saving for a house can be such a long process, it can be hard to maintain enough motivation to keep going. Beyond that, it can be difficult to continually make decisions that move you closer to your end goal.
That’s why we recommend finding yourself an accountability partner.
Whether it’s a friend, relative, or spouse, when you have someone walking alongside you, it is significantly easier to make positive financial choices.
12. Work Overtime
If you are working at a job that allows employees to work overtime, then you should take advantage of the extra pay whenever you possibly can.
Sure, it might mean working a few holidays, late nights, or weekends, but if working those extra hours can shorten the time between now and the day you close on your house, it will all be worth it!
13. Sell Your Stuff
If you haven’t noticed by now, one of the best ways to accelerate your home savings is to make extra money. And selling your stuff is one of the best and easiest ways to do that.
Take a look around you. How much stuff do you have in your house or apartment that you don’t really use or need? If you were to sell them, how much money could you realistically make?
Think about it like this, every item you are able to sell will do two things:
- It will allow you to throw a few extra bucks toward your home savings
- It will reduce the amount of stuff you will have to move when you do finally buy a house
I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a win-win to me.
14. Avoid Restaurants and Make All Your Meals
Of all the things you can do to save money each month, few things will benefit your ability to save more than planning and cooking all your meals.
Seriously, if you’re diligent about making all your meals and avoiding restaurants, you can increase our monthly savings by hundreds of dollars. (I speak from experience on this one.)
You see, dining out is a sneaky-big expense. Even just a few meals out to eat each week can add up to a substantial amount of money.
You’ll be surprised how much extra money you can put towards your home savings when you reduce, or even cut, restaurant spending from your budget. Oh, and if you really want to maximize your meals, be sure to cook a little extra for dinner and eat the leftovers the next day for lunch.
Related Post: How Much Should I Budget For Food?
15. Move To A Cheaper Area Of Town
As a renter, it can be difficult to balance the cost of rent, and the area you want to live. As with any area of real estate, the price of rent is heavily dependent on “location, location, location.”
And the more you have to pay for rent each month, the longer it will take you to save for a house.
Therefore, if you want to boost your ability to save, it may be in your best interest to move to a cheaper area of town. Now, I realize this might not be an ideal tactic if you really like where you live. And, if that’s the case, you’ll just have to decide whether renting in a more expensive area of town is worth the extra time it will take you to save for a house. If so, no big deal. But if buying a house is at the top of your priority list, then this could end up saving you hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars per month.
Even better, you could move to a cheaper area of town and split your lower rent with a couple of roommates.
Now that sounds like some serious savings!
16. Read About Personal Finance
For the longest time, I wasn’t a reader. I thought it was boring, and honestly, kind of a waste of valuable time that I could otherwise spend doing something productive. However, over the last few years, at the advice of many of my entrepreneurial role models, I have made reading a large part of my life.
And here’s the thing, it has had an incredible impact on my financial life, and my ability to save money.
Truth be told, it has become one of the most productive habits in my life.
I’m confident that if you take the time to read about personal finance, not only will you discover a new source of financial motivation, but you will become much better with your money.
17. Ask For A Raise
This one is pretty self-explanatory, but you would be surprised how few people have the guts to do it.
If you are really good at your job, and you can prove that you are worth more than your employer is currently paying you, then schedule a meeting with your boss and ask for a bump in pay.
As my dad always told me, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Seriously, what’s the worst thing they can say? No?
18. Stop Watching So Much TV
I read a stat the other day that blew my mind. According to a report put out by Nielsen, the average American watches nearly 4.5 hours of tv per day. That’s the equivalent of over 68 days watching television per year!
So, not only are people paying for cable and streaming services, but they are spending nearly 20% of their life staring at the TV! That’s a lot of time and money.
In other words, if you want to save a few extra bucks each month, and free-up a massive amount of time, you should replace the time you spend watching television, and fill it with something more productive.
Just think what you could do with all that extra time.
You could open a business, get a second job, learn a new language, learn a lucrative skill, read a ton of books, start and grow a successful blog, and so much more.
19. Unsubscribe From Tempting Email Lists
Saving money for a house is a difficult task in and of itself. Throw in a few daily emails from your favorite retail stores, and it gets significantly harder.
That’s why, if you want to save for a home as fast as possible, you should unsubscribe from the email lists that are most likely to tempt you into spending money.
You see, I’m a firm believer that one of the best ways to resist the temptation to spend money, is to reduce or eliminate your contact with the stores that tempt you the most. And unsubscribing from their email lists is one of the most efficient ways to accomplish that.
Trust me, your home savings will thank you for this one.
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20. Learn To Say ‘No’
For many people, the idea of saying ‘no’ to friends, co-workers and family is a frightening task. But, if you want to save for a home as fast as possible, this is an essential skill.
Now, I’m not saying that you have to say ‘no’ 100% of the time. However, for the more expensive activities, for instance, dinner and drinks with co-workers, your weekly round of golf, or a weekend shopping trip with your friends, you may be better off saying ‘no’ and putting that money toward your house savings.
21. Use The 30-Day Rule
The 30-day rule is a pretty simple and effective money-saving hack. If you’re unfamiliar with it, allow me to explain.
Whenever you want to buy something that you didn’t originally plan into your budget, you have to hold off on buying it for 30 days. This gap in time will allow the excitement and emotion of the purchase to wear off, which will help you assess, with a clear head, whether or not you truly want it.
Additionally, in most cases, if you still want to make the purchase after 30 days, you can just incorporate it into the following month’s budget. That way, you can figure out other areas of your budget to cut so that the purchase won’t have as big of an effect on your home savings goal.
In my personal opinion, the 30-day rule is one of the best financial tips out there. And when you’re saving for a house, it can make a really positive impact.
Summary
So there you have it, 21 practical tips to help you save for a house fast. I hope you found a few gems in here that will help you on your home savings journey. In the meantime, if you have any additional tips, be sure to leave them in the comments below.
Also, if you found this article helpful, and would like to receive future Be The Budget posts, updates, tips and tricks in your inbox, be sure to subscribe to our email lists. We look forward to having you join our community of savers, budgeters and side hustlers!
this is very helpful information
Thanks Maria!