Money Saving Hacks To Help You Buy Your First Home

May 25, 2023 By 0 Comments

Are you struggling to save money for your first home? We get it. Saving money is hard! So in this week’s episode we will cover the tips we provide to our clients to help them buy their first home faster. Check out the full episode and if you have questions about how to get started with Homeowner Prep, be sure to reach out to us or drop your question in the comments. 

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

  • The true cost of a dollar
  • How to know where your money is going
  • How to live like Warren Buffett
  • And much more!

Watch The Full Episode On Our YouTube Channel

Highlights:

00:00 We Know Saving Money Is Hard…
00:11 Intro
00:33 Welcome To The Homeowner Prep Podcast
01:09 The True Cost Of A Dollar
02:14 Where Is Your Money Going?
02:40 Live Like Warren Buffett
03:47 Saving With A Down Payment Assistance Program
04:29 The Sacrifice Leads To Success
05:38 Getting Started With Homeowner Prep
06:07 Connect With Us On Social Media
06:36 Outro

“So you’re spending more than a dollar, even though it’s worth less than a dollar.”

Eric Hellon

Full Episode Transcript:


 We know money is tight, it’s hard to save, and it’s hard to pay down debt. So on today’s episode, we’re gonna provide some money saving hacks that we tell our clients to help them save for their first home.

Welcome to the Homeowner Prep Podcast, where every week we educate and encourage inspiring homeowners to help them buy their first home faster.

If you aspire to own a home, you’re in the right place. So enjoy. Do us a favor and leave a review, a rating, and be sure to subscribe. Now, let’s get to this week’s episode.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Homeowner Prep Podcast. I’m your host, Eric Hellon, and on today’s episode, we’re gonna be talking about some money saving hacks to help you save for your first home.

We meet with a lot of clients who are struggling to pay the bills. We know it’s tight. We know that it’s tough enough to just take care of the obligations and responsibilities that you have, nevermind saving or paying down debt. But on today’s episode, I really want to just kind of go over a few of the tips and things that we talk about on our meetings with our clients in hopes that it can help you save some money too.

The very first thing that we talk about is the true cost of a dollar. Most people think that when they spend a dollar, they’re only spending a dollar. But the truth of the matter is, first of all, you don’t even have a dollar. With inflation being where it is and it fluctuating day by day, that dollar may be worth 95 cents one day, 96 cents another day, or maybe even 90 cents a month from now.

So you don’t really have a dollar. You may have less than a dollar. On top of that, you can miss out on the future value of that dollar. So let’s say if I take that same dollar and I invested in a stock that earns 8% a year, what I’m truly missing out on is a 1.08 and that compounding interest every year.

So I’m spending more than a dollar, even though it’s worth less than a dollar. I hope this makes sense. This is some basic information on how our economy works, but in truly helping you understand that every dollar in your wallet is not truly a dollar. So before you go out and spend that dollar, you need to know… where’s your money going.

And in order to do that, you really have to establish a budget. Call it a “spending plan” if you don’t like that word, but you should have a detailed plan of where your money is going. You should be telling your money where to go, not having your money tell you where you’re gonna spend it. And of course, the first thing that we always advocate is that you set aside some money in savings first and foremost. Warren Buffet always said you set your percentage for saving and you spend the rest, but most people don’t live that way. Most people will spend their money on bills and obligations, pay down whatever they have to pay, and then whatever’s left over, they look at, well, I don’t have any money to save.

The truth of the matter is you have to pay yourself first. It doesn’t matter how much it is. Start out with maybe $20 a month. Start out with a percentage of the money. Say 1% of all money that you earn, you’re gonna put it away for savings. Just set some rules and tell your money where to go, and that way you know where your money is going every month.

Having a budget or a spending plan is key and vital to truly saving money for your first home. It’s very difficult for you to plan to own a home and plan to pay a mortgage for 30 years when you don’t have a budget established, and you don’t know where your money is going, so, all of our clients go through this process.

We would never put somebody into a home that they could not afford. And so it’s very important that we know how much money is coming in, how much is going out and where it’s going. Even if you take advantage of a down payment assistance program or a grant, to pay for your down payment and closing costs.

There will be some costs that you will incur. For instance, you will have inspections when you’re buying your first home. You may have to pay off certain debts in order to qualify for that home. So you need to be saving money as you’re going through the process of getting qualified to buy. If you’re actively saving money and planning to buy a home and you’re putting money aside, and yet you use a down payment assistance or you get closing costs paid for, it’s nice to have that money in the bank just in case anything comes up for moving expenses or repairs on your home.

You can never go wrong with saving money to buy your first home. When it comes to savings you may not see the rewards right away. You may be thinking on putting this money aside and putting it aside, and I’m struggling to pay the bills and you know, you’re having things come up that are just part of life, but the sacrifice will lead to the success. The obligation of paying yourself first and the habit that you form will help you when your income grows.

So if you set aside 1% for 2023 of all income that you earn, and then in 2024 you say, I’m gonna go to 2%, and you keep going up by 1%. You will see that savings account accelerate, and you’ll be able to buy your first home faster. Of course, if you can save more, save more, but don’t set yourself up for failure.

Start with baby steps, start to put some money away, and that first step is really setting aside a thousand dollars in a savings account just in case emergencies come up. So yes, saving money is a delayed gratification habit, but you’ll be surprised at how fast you can save and how good you’ll feel knowing that you put aside the money needed in order to buy your first home.

If you need help in setting up a savings plan or budget, a spending plan, or just getting ready to buy your first home, That’s what we’re here for, so feel free to reach out. You can reach us by texting the word START to (619) 848-3700 or visit us on our website at homeownerprep.com/start. There you can get started with us, set up a free consultation, and we’ll help you put a plan together to buy your first home.

If you just have a general question about a unique situation or a scenario that you have, feel free to reach out to us on any of the social media platforms. We tend to get the majority of our questions on Instagram @HomeownerPrep.

I hope you got some great value from today as far as saving money and setting it aside in order to make sure that you’re truly prepared to buy your first home. I look forward to providing you with some more great information on the next episode, and until then, be blessed.

If you’ve enjoyed this show and got some great value from it, please be sure to rate and review and if you’re checking it out on YouTube, please be sure to subscribe. That really does help us to continue the show and bring in some great guests to help you on your home buying journey.

Connect with Homeowner Prep:


Want to buy a house, but not sure how to get started? Visit our Start Page and we can help you, no matter where you’re at on your homeownership journey. If you enjoyed this episode of The Homeowner Prep Podcast, be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. It means so much to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!