Author: Bridget Carter

So you think it is impossible to get enough money together to convince the banks to offer you a mortgage on your first home? You are still renting and have given up getting your first foot on the property ladder?

It can be soul destroying for those trying to acquire their own piece of property, especially for those trying to go it alone with respect to buying a house. You can see how easy it can be for people to just give up.

Well, it actually does not need to be as difficult to buy a house as the headlines and statistics suggest. Ask yourself this question. Have I really, I mean really tried hard to save the money for the deposit on my first home?

Building up money reserves does not have to mean skipping a holiday or trying to go without any rewards. What it does require is making small daily changes to your everyday life then routinely putting an amount of money aside week after week.

You need to change your lifestyle – buying coffee for example can cost £15 a week and £720 a year. So do you really need it? And what about lunch? Do you buy your sandwiches each day or do you make your lunch? Health benefits aside, bringing your own lunch to work each day stops you spending more money or something that turns out to be of a higher cost than you thought. If you do the calculations in your head, by the time you have spent £2 on a coffee, perhaps up to £3 on a sandwich and a further £2 on snacks, you can see how easy it could be easy to spend £70 a week on daily food and more than £3000 a year.

Why don’t you get a credit card with zero interest? If you are in debt, you would end up spending the money on reducing the balance rather than paying the interest. Likewise, shop around for the best deal on a savings account. There are high interest saving accounts or you could try a tax-free Investment Savings Account. Cancel extra memberships and subscriptions that you just do not need.

Of course people become despondent with the house market with headlines like ‘House Prices Continue to Rise’ and ‘First Time Buyers Continue To Struggle’.

After all, ten years ago people only need to get together £4000 for a deposit on a house. These days you pay closer to £12,000, so naturally, the age of your average house buyer is now early to mid thirties.

But if you can work out how much you can commit to with respect to your mortgage you are half way there. You can then establish the amount of the deposit and the monthly payments. This can be done by simply having a look on the internet. Once you have a goal to work towards, the saving part is easy. It’s all about making small changes and getting into a saving routine – and sticking to it!

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