As the grocery and utilities bills start to go up, saving for our next home’s deposit can seem harder than it already is. Besides the common ways to save, like cutting down on eating out or transferring your pay into a savings account, here are a few suggestions I’d like to share with you that I implemented while I was saving for my first home.

Take on a side hustle

With a side hustle, you can live off your primary income and save 100% of your second income. Use your current skills to its full advantage. If you’re a cleaner, you can offer to clean your neighbours’ homes; accountants can help others with their tax returns.
 

Try house-sitting

If you’re single or a couple without kids, consider giving up your rental property and take up house-sitting instead. There are local websites where homeowners put up their homes for application. You are also likely to get a small payment on top of free accommodation. The moving around is going to be inconvenient but focus on the bigger picture – this is only temporary.

Move back home

If your parents or in-laws welcome you to live with them, take advantage of their generosity. There is no quicker way to save up for a deposit than to skip paying rent.  $500/week rent saved equals to $26,000 in 12 months. What we must remember is the money that usually goes to our landlord, is now going to our savings account.

Have support

Tell your family and friends about your plan. While we start to see some extra money in our savings account, it can be tempting to want to spend it. Having people around you remind you from time to time and keeping ourselves accountable is really helpful.

Reward your efforts

Treat yourself along the way. Set yourself a target and treat yourself when your savings have reached your first milestone. Whether it is buying yourself a nice piece of steak, a bottle of red wine, a meal at the restaurant or a visit to the gallery. Emotions play a huge role in saving money. If you’re miserable you will splurge, if you are happy then you will continue to save.

Saving for a home deposit is a big ordeal that is time-consuming, stressful and requires sacrifice and persistence. Once in a while, we may get distracted and feel defeated but that is okay. What is important is we have the ability to remind ourselves of the end goal and get ourselves back on track.