10 Ways to Save Money to Buy a House If You Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

CareerBuilder.com reports that nearly 50% of us live paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet. You know you should be putting some money into savings to buy a house, but it’s hard to do when you’re struggling to pay for necessities. In fact, 25% of us don’t save at all. Of the people that do, over a third of them save less than $100 per month. And it’s not just lower paid workers who are struggling. A quarter of the people surveyed make more than $100,000 per year. Surely there is some room for cutting back in order to one day buy a house. Here are 15 ways to make sure you have money to save each month.

 

1) Make a budget and a pact. Put your savings goals in writing and then make a promise to yourself or your partner that you will put money into savings to buy a house, no matter what.

 

2) Adjust your withholding – If you got a tax refund this year, you may be taking too many deductions. Talk with your benefits coordinator to reduce your deductions and increase your take home pay. Then earmark that extra money you are not used to seeing for savings to buy a house.

 

3) Don’t spend this year’s extra paychecks – If you are paid every other week, you will get 3 paychecks a month twice this year. Put those extra week’s worth of pay in savings to buy a house.

 

4) Breakup with your cell phone company – If you can do it without too much penalty, break your contract and get pay as you go cell phones that are cheaper. If you can’t get out of your contract, check out Cellswapper.com or CellTradeUSA.com to see if they will buy your contract.

 

5) Adjust your utilities – Not only can you save money to buy a house by lowering (or raising) your thermostat a couple degrees and turning it off when you are not at home, if you’re in an area where there are competing utilities or aggregates, check out the options.

 

6) Cable/Internet – Cable television is not a necessity! Pay for basic cable. Check out movies for free at the library. Call your provider and see if you can get a better deal rather than cancel. Then bank that money you have been used to spending.

 

7) Swap your car – Find a car that meets your basic requirements to lower your car payments. Or look into leasing.

 

8) Break your addictions – Cigarettes are expensive. So is beer. Think of how much you could save if you put the money you normally spend on these items into savings to buy a house.

 

9) Stop eating out – The drive through coffee can easily be replaced by home brew and a stainless steel to go mug. Wait until you get home rather than stopping for a smoothie after gym. Pack your lunch. Eat leftovers.

 

10) Reduce your travel expenses – If you have options for public transportation, take them. Or see if you can work from home, even one day a week. And of course, there is always the carpooling option.

 

With just a few adjustments to your lifestyle, you can start to save money to buy a house.