Are you planning to buy a new home by the end of this year or maybe early next year? Saving up for the down payment is quite hard with all the expenses coming in. Did you know that there are easy ways to save up? By cutting a few things from your budget this year, you can speed up the progress toward having a down payment ready. Of course, you probably knew these were consuming much money from your income, but did you really know just how much? Let’s do the math!
Skip the Latte
This will save you at least $876 (plus taxes) in just a year. A medium latte at Starbucks costs $3.65. Imagine if you stop every day before work, it will really add up to that big amount. Save it up and think that you’ll have your own new kitchen where you can create your own coffee bar.
Quit Drinking
Cocktail drinks costs $10 per order. As an avid social drinker may not realize that it is adding up and cause trouble with your finances. If you are going out at least three times a week and ordering at least two cocktails plus the standard $1 per drink, that adds up to $66 a week, $264 a month and voila, a shocking $3,168 a year.
Cut the Gym Membership
This will save you at least $696 in just a year since the average monthly cost of a gym membership fee is $58 a month (assuming you’re already a member and no add-on fees as well). Sometimes we pay up for not even using their facilities because it’s the part of the monthly dues.
Of course, we’re not telling you to stop exercising. Just try some alternatives that don’t need to pay up such amount like running/jogging around the neighborhood or ride a bike to work (it will help lessen pollution too…) Enjoy the great outdoors! You’ll be surprised on how much money you can save up by the end of the year.
Cancel the Cable
Doing so will save you as much as $1,189 in just a year. According to Leichtman Research Group, in 2015, cable customers paid an average of $99.10 a month. You could drop the cable and subscribe with Netflix at $7.99 per month so you could save $91.11 per month – that’s an astounding $1,093.32 per year – you can even enjoy a commercial-free original shows. How fun is that?
While you’re at it, drop a streaming service
Annual savings for this is nearly $100. Streaming channel subscriptions can be dropped or put on hold anytime. You really don’t need to subscribe to them all at once. It will cost you roughly $25 a month for having Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Dropping Hulu and Netflix will save you $95.88 a year. And also, did you know that Hulu allows you to put your subscription on hold? So if you really don’t have time for binge-watching, suspend your Hulu account and save that dough for future use.
Lower your mega smartphone plan
Unlimited everything plans costs too much to maintain until you’ve realized that you really don’t need those extra services like unlimited calls and big data inclusions. Try switching to a lower plan or drop a couple of gigs of data, and you could save $10 to $25 a month.
Pack a lunch instead of buying it
Even if it’s old school, doing the math on how much you could save on your lunch costs will give you a happy face. According to Statista, the average daily cost for the American worker who bought lunch from a restaurant in 2015 was $11.14. When you add it all up to a week, it’s $56, or a crazy $2,674 a year. If you have time to prepare a sack lunch, you’d probably spend $4 a day, $20 a week, $80 a month, or a $960 a year which could give you an annual savings of about $1,714, plus it’s even healthier.
Go to the cleaners less often
Still taking most of your clothes to the cleaners? The cost for this service may vary a lot. A survey by Consumers’ Checkbook determined the average price of laundering a men’s dress shirt was $1.87, laundering men’s khaki slacks was $5.57, and dry-cleaning a two-piece suit was $11.13. If you take in two pairs of slacks ($11.14), five shirts ($9.35), and a suit every week, you’ll pay about $31.63 a week before taxes, which can add up to about $1,645 a year. Take these numbers in consideration if you really want to save up for a new home. If you wash your own clothes and reduce by half of having your suit dry cleaned, you could save up to $1,354 a year.
With these being said and done, you’d rack up a truckload of money in 12 short months. And if you really keep this up, you could save up to $9,400 by the end of the year. Fantastic! In your face, down payment!
Source: realtor.com, killthecablebill.com, sportyafros.com, healthview.gr, time.com, toledoblade.com, thetimes.co.uk, gizmodo.com.au
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
For your Anchorage Alaska home hunting, please check out our site.
Call or text us today!
And don’t forget to:
and
Anchorage Alaska Living 