“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That’s a quote from the 1986 instant classic, Ferris Buller’s Day Off. While the film is light-hearted and basically involves skipping school to drive a red car, the quote about life moving fast has stuck with us. Why? Because in the decades since the movie graced our cinemas, life has found several new gears. The internet, smart phones, tablets … if you listen to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, we’re within a few years of a chip in our brains that can receive information straight from the modem.
With so much going on, taking the time to take stock of our finances – REAL stock of our finances – is nothing short of a horror show. It can be years between checks. Apparently, what was only two credit cards and a subscription to a TV streaming service has grown into three credit cards, two loans, a car payment, a sofa payment, monthly subscriptions to more services than you could ever have time to use, and a mind-boggling mid-month payment to something in capital letters (no list of outgoings is complete without a mystery payment!)
Not all credit is bad though. Obtaining credit through credit cards or personal loans can actually help improve your credit score. Just be mindful to keep up with repayments, and always pay on time to avoid it having a negative impact.
Let’s look at how you can gain control of your bank balance and start to save for your dream home.
Yes. It’s going to take five years. If it only took two months, we’d all be living in 17th century chateau renovations. You need to calculate how much money you can save over this period (find a budget calculator by clicking the link). Whatever that figure is, it should be viewed as a 20% down-payment/deposit. This means you can now start to look at homes in your price range. Don’t like what you see? You may need to address your income. If everything is fine, we can move on to saving tips.
This tip on saving begins with spending – on bills. Start with the bills that accrue the highest rates of interest. This is going to be boring, but getting those credit card balances back to zero and living within your means is the fastest way to free up your cash for saving.
Your new mortgage payment is likely to be higher than your current monthly mortgage or rental payment. This means that when you come to make the switch to paying the higher rate, you may discover that your disposable income suffers to a point that you find hard to live with. The solution? Pay your mortgage/rent as usual, and save the extra assumed difference between your future mortgage amount. This will prepare you for what is to come.
Costs to Consider when Buying a New Home – make sure you don’t forget these additional charges.
Government Help for First Time Buyers – affordable home ownership schemes.
Home Purchase Loan Options – different types of home loan and mortgage.
This is a collaborative post.
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