Renting keeps you in a cycle of building wealth for your landlord and not for yourself and your family. There are several advantages to buying a home and I elaborated on them in this article : 8 Reasons to Buy a House Instead of Renting.

As a Realtor I have found that the one thing that seems to stop a lot of people from buying a house is the misconception that they need 10%, 20% or more to buy a home. While that can be true in some cases, it is not true in all cases. There are loan programs that provide for down payments as low as 3.5.%. On a $350K home, a 3.5% down payment would be $12,250, plus about the same amount in closing costs means $24,500 to get into a new home.

$24,000 I will admit is not peanuts, but with the right attitude and some creativity, it is possible to save that money to make the down payment on your first home. Below are 12 different ideas on how you can save for your first home :

12 Creative Ways to Save For a Down Payment on a Home

1. In your spare time, do a few gigs, like drive for Uber or Lyft, babysit your friends kids or whatever gig you can do to pull in some extra cash. Put all the money you make from these gigs in a savings.
2. In a nice way, like in a poem, on birthdays and and holidays convey to people that money toward a home would be the greatest gift of all.
3. Do more staycations instead of vacations.  Forfeit vacations just long enough to get your feet in the doors of your new home.
4. Eat out less, cook at home more.
5. Limit the amount of impulse buying and put what you would have spent in a piggy bank. My friend recently did a 30 day no-spend challenge except for true essentials and saved nearly $500. Over 12 months that is $6000 or 25% of the money you need for a down payment!
6. Downsize for a little, live with family or get a roommate to share living expenses.
7. Eliminate superfluous expenses like gym memberships, subscriptions, especially if you don’t use them.
8. Cancel cable get a Roku, Apple TV, or Firestick and enjoy TV for very little cost.
9. If you are a reader, borrow books, don’t buy them.
10. Learn how to use coupons. I once saved $90 on a $300 purchase just by doing some creative couponing.
11. Sell all the stuff you don’t use or need.
12. Throw all your spare change in a piggy bank – it adds up!

Take all the money that you make and that you save and put it in a savings account. Create milestones and celebrate, but remember to keep your eye on the prize. Savings takes time and sacrifice but the end result is homeownership, and what could be a better reward?

Do you have creative ideas about how to save for a down payment on a home? Share them with us in the comments section of this blog post.

Happy Saving!
Désirée Ávila. Realtor®

Désirée is a licensed Florida Realtor® and Real Estate Influencer committed to a high-level of professionalism and to helping others with their real estate endeavors through education. Désirée Ávila was an award winning teacher for 10 years and has a doctoral level education in Educational Technology.  Désirée is a lifetime local resident of South Florida and is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian.