Buying a home is a big investment and saving towards that new home is something most young Aussies try to work towards. But it can be harder than you think. With rising house prices, slow wage growth, and recurring lockdown, saving can be a struggle these days. Which is why we have put together these money saving tips to help you out!
Darren Walters has more than 20 years’ experience with property and lending policies and understands the struggles many renters go through trying to save a deposit for a home loan. On top of budget tips to save money, Darren also developed his specialised no or low deposit new home system to help renters get into their own home. Without needing the large deposit demanded by the big banks and traditional lenders.
So, keep reading to discover our top money saving tips, or fill in our pre-qualification form to discover why our no or low deposit house and land packages might be the right choice for you.
Make a Budget is No1 When it Comes to Top Money Saving Tips
It’s probably the most obvious money saving tip out there but make a budget! Creating a budget gives you a starting point and lets you plan how your money is going to be used.
At its core, a budget is simply your total expenditures against your total income. But you can go into a lot more detail than that. A budget allows you to truly understand your finances and set a saving plan accordingly.
So, your first step is to sit down and go over your expenditures. There are a few ways you can do this, but at No1 Property Guide, we recommend the tier method.
Tier 1: The Absolute Essentials
These are the bills that you can’t avoid. Things like your rent, electricity, gas, internet, car repayments, school fees, groceries etc. Bills that you’ll need to be paying regularly for a long time. Of course, there are ways you can cut these down, but you’ll want to make sure you include all of these and set aside a percentage of your income to ensure you cover the essentials.
Tier 2: The Nice to Have’s
Once you’ve worked out the bills you absolutely can’t go without, find the ones that you would really like to have, but realistically can give up. These are things like your Netflix and gym. While you might think you need to have them, take the time to really work out whether they are absolutely essential. If you think you can go without them, these are a good way to reduce your monthly expenditure.
Tier 3: The First to Go
Finally, any bills that don’t fall into either of the first 2 tiers will fall into this one. This is any bill or direct debit like a magazine subscription, transfer to an investment app or daily coffee money. These are the kind of bills and debts that you can easily drop (with some self-control) and start saving extra money.
There’s no hard or fast rule around where certain bills will fall, and it will change from person to person. However, going through and assessing your expenditure is the first step towards saving extra money, and will make it easier to budget your income properly.
Once you’ve got your expenditures organised and have budgeted your income, make sure you stick to it! This is probably the hardest part but it’s crucial you stick to your budget if you want to save in the long run.
Track Your Spending
Working hand-in-hand with your budget, tracking your spending is another big money saving tip that will help you build towards the deposit for your new home. Most banks will have apps that let you easily track your spending. There are also some 3rd-party apps that can help if you find your bank’s app doesn’t cut it.
By carefully tracking your spending, you’ll be able to see where you are excessively spending or what you’re putting money towards that is unnecessary. Combining this with your budget is one of the best ways to build your savings.
Pay Bills Regularly & On Time
It might seem obvious but paying your bills on time is important. And it’s a fantastic way to save money as well!
By paying your bills regularly and on time, you’ll avoid situations of large overdue bills lining up or incurring late fees. If you’re struggling to pay your bills on time, or find the large payments are too much to handle, ask your provider whether you can pay the bills in smaller advance instalments.
Paying your electricity bill weekly or fortnightly will mean no large bill every quarter, and will make it easier to budget your expenses over the year. Most companies will offer this kind of payment scheme, so contact your supplier to see what options they have for you.
Plan Food & Entertainment in Advance
One of the easiest ways to blow your budget and overspend is with food and entertainment. So, plan your food and entertainment costs in advance to help you keep your spending in check. Buy your groceries in bulk, and online if possible. This way you can plan and do meal prep so you can avoid random trips to the grocery store after work.
Of course, never shop on an empty stomach either!
The same goes for your entertainment expenses. Try and set aside what you are willing to spend on entertainment each week or fortnight and stick to it!
As a bonus tip, don’t try to cut your entertainment costs altogether. Everyone needs a way to unwind. Careful planning and management of your entertainment expenses is key.
Round Up to Save
A recent money saving tip that has become popular is the ‘round up’ method. This is a saving method where every time you pay for something via EFTPOS, it rounds up and put the difference into your savings account. So, if you spend $4.50 every morning on coffee, it will round up to $5 and put that 50c into your savings. That alone is $130 a year. Do this with enough small transactions and you can easily save hundreds even thousands every year.
And the best part is you will barely even notice the difference week to week.
You will need a 3rd party app or program to run this, so do some research to find one that you think suits you best. Or talk to your bank and see if they have any options like this that they can implement for you.
Happy Clients
“Would highly recommend No1 Property Guide to anyone looking to break the rental cycle. The guidance and expertise of Darren and the team, made the road to unconditional financial approval far less daunting. Their prompt return of emails and calls, for any and all queries we had, makes us really feel valued as customers.
Thank you to Darren, Clay and everyone at No1 Property Guide for helping to make our home building dreams a reality.”
Amy Elizabeth Atkinson
“Dreams Do Come True
Would love to give a BIG shout out to Darren Walters – No1 Property Guide and his amazing team, Leon, Caleb and Clay. Thanks to them they have literally made my dream come true. I have just been unconditionally approved to build our first home. Thank You. I never thought this would happen considering I am a single parent but with their support and guidance they made the entire process a delight. The whole team was professional, informative and efficient. I would especially like to thank Clay as he was just a joy to deal with and walked me through every step. I look forward to their continued support throughout the remainder of this process.
I highly recommend Darren Walters – No1 Property Guide and his amazing team”
Roisin Dowd
“My wife and I came to Qld 18 months ago assuming we would be forever renting , however after finding an ad and making one phone call we started the ball rolling on our final forever home. We cannot thank Darren Walters and his team, Caleb, Clayton and Leon for all their help and support throughout the process, without them this would not be happening for us. We are so happy making that one call.”
Nick Ridgway
Shop Around & Save Money on Bills
Finally, a simple saving method that many don’t consider is shopping around. Many Australians will stick to their insurance provider, phone company or internet service simply because they’ve been with them for so long.
Check with your providers and their competition every 12 months or so to see if they have any better deals or offers running. Many companies will offer you great deals to stick around as they understand it’s cheaper to retain a client than bring in new customers.
Doing this can help keep your regular bills down and reduce what you’re spending significantly.
Money Saving Tips Aren’t Necessary Thanks to Darren’s No or Low Deposit New Home System
Sometimes, even with our top money saving tips, saving that deposit just isn’t happening. Whether it’s struggling to put money aside after paying rent, or you’ve had some bad luck with your car and repairs have eaten into your savings. Putting aside money regularly can be a real issue.
That’s why No1 Property Guide specialises in no or low deposit house and land packages. Darren Walters created this system to help renters escape the rental nightmare without needing to try save the huge 20% deposit required by the big banks and traditional lenders.
Whether you’re buying your first home, have owned before, or are looking to invest, No1 Property Guide can help. Our simple pre-qualification system allows us to accurately assess your borrowing capacity and gives us the information we need to discover all your factual new home options.
To get started on your homeownership journey, fill in our pre-qualification form and one of our New Home Specialists will be in touch to discuss how we can help you.
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