If you’re looking for ways to save money for your house down payment, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, I will discuss seven money-saving methods we used to increase our savings rate to save up a total of $20,000 for our first house down payment!
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Table of Contents
Our First Homebuying Experience
So my wife and I were in our early 20s and attending college when we started looking for our first home.
The first lesson from our story is you can start investing at any age, even in real estate!
We worked extremely hard to cut down on expenses and save up/make more money, but we’ll get more into that a little later…
Purchasing your first home or real estate property is such an exciting time! You are not only creating a safe and secure location for you and your loved ones, but you are also buying a property that appreciates in value!
How cool is that?
Going back to the year 2016
Shortly after my wife and I were engaged in December 2016, we discussed whether we should rent or buy a home after getting married.
My in-laws are landlords in China, so my wife has always possessed an amazing investing mentality. Even though people would tell us to rent since we were still in college, she felt we should buy a home.
My grandpa was a builder who owned investment properties, so I was very intrigued with the idea of buying a property that could be turned into an asset/rental property in the future.
My main concern was that it would be too expensive, but Shan reminded me that we don’t need the fanciest property on the block and could make it work.
Not to mention we would have the option to rent it out in the future instead of paying rent to a landlord.
I quickly jumped on the same page that our first property would not be a forever home but would be an excellent investment opportunity!
So we started comparing locations and properties to find the best deal and place for our future rental.
Shan found a townhome in a stellar location – the unit was close to two prominent colleges. We both felt it would be a fantastic investment property since it would be easy to rent out in the future.
That’s when we started seriously discussing how to cut back on spending and save up enough money to purchase it!
Later in 2018, we converted our townhome to a rental property. If interested, check out this article I wrote on How We Became Landlords At Age 22 As College Students.
Quick Life Lesson Moment
A lesson I learned back then was to think, “how can I make it happen” instead of going to the default of thinking, “I can’t do that,” or “that’s too difficult at my age.”
It wasn’t in my plans originally to become a landlord at such a young age, but I realized that anything is possible if you work hard at it – and have a partner who is on the same page financially.
Success is inevitable if you don’t give up and are willing to learn and improve.
So remember, the sky is the limit! Never put boundaries or limits on yourself when it comes to achieving your goals and building long-lasting wealth.
Now let’s jump into the seven money-saving methods we used to save our $20,000 down payment!
1. Move Into My Parents’ House to Save on Rent
After my wife graciously accepted my wedding proposal, we moved to my parent’s home. We were fortunate to have this option where we could save more money.
Everyone’s situation is different; we are so grateful my parents allowed us to live with them rent-free until we saved enough down payment for our first house.
Because they made our life easier, we want to make their life easier.
We would try to help with housework like doing dishes, mowing the lawn, etc.
2. Switching Phone Plans to Mint Mobile
We love Mint Mobile, and so do our wallets! haha
Mint Mobile has helped us save tons of money, especially during college! We all know how phone plans can get pricy with long, frustrating contracts.
Our friends told us about Mint Mobile many years ago. For many reasons, we are still using them today!
Mint Mobile offers amazing plans at incredible prices, with plans as low as only $15 a month! My wife and I pay only $15 monthly for our phone plans. Check out how you can save money with them today!
3. Having a Simple yet Elegant Wedding
We are also fortunate to help help with most of our wedding reception expenses from my parents, and my in-laws helped with my wife’s dress, honeymoon trip, and some other expenses.
My parents and in-laws had a certain amount they were willing to spend to help with wedding expenses. We kept things simple, so we did not go over budget and did not need to spend our own money.
The only thing we spent money on for our wedding were our rings, but we only spent $150. I was surprised but touched when Shan said she would rather put that money towards a downpayment.
My ring is $25 from Walmart, lol. My wife’s ring is a little over $100.
According to The Knot 2021 Jewelry and Engagement Study, the average cost of an engagement ring is currently $6,000. This study found that roughly one-third of all respondents spend between $1,000 to $4,000 on their engagement ring. Only 8% of ring shoppers are spending under $1,000.
So we saved a lot on our engagement/wedding rings!
We both aimed to put most of our money into saving a down payment for our first property.
We knew our wedding would be one moment, but our marriage would last forever. 🙂
4. Set Financial Goals as a Team
One of the best ways to help us save a $20,000 down payment for our first real estate property is to sit down together and make the same financial goals.
We both want to save up a down payment and purchase our first home, and in the future, we can buy another and rent our first one.
Because we have this mutual goal, we have been working so hard for this goal to make it happen.
Setting the same financial goals together will give both of you a direction of where you hope to end up in the future.
Once you and your spouse have the same financial goals, you will be on the same page and working as a team!
Goals also motivate us and give us a positive vision for the future. 🙂
When married couples have the same goals, it will also strengthen their marriage.
If your spouse is not on the same financial page as you, I highly recommend you check out our other blog post: How to Get on the Same Page Financially With Your Spouse (9 Tips).
5. Create a Budget and Exercise Financial Minimalism
Determine what expenses are essential and what can be cut back or eliminated.
Creating a budget and living frugally are essential steps that helped us save our 20K down payment.
Having a written budget and detailed plan will make you more likely to stick to your goals to save up your house down payment.
We would not eat out a lot but instead decided to cook at home. We would frequently make a lot of food, divvy it up into lunch boxes, then put it in the freezer.
Doing this was so convenient, especially when constantly on the go. You can warm it up in the microwave when needed. No matter at home, at school, or the workplace.
We also decided to buy a lot of things second-hand, don’t buy brand new!
6. Find Ways You Can Make More Money
To save our $20,000 down payment, I switched from working a part-time job to a full-time job while also attending school full-time.
This was a great boost to our combined income. Not long after, I was promoted to bilingual supervisor with an additional bump in pay.
Having full-time work + full-time school was no easy task (as many of you already know), but it was worth it!!
Shan was an international student and was only allowed to work on the school campus as a part-time employee, but there were other perks.
We both enjoyed discounts whenever we ate or shopped on campus. Doing so helped us cut down on eating costs.
In May 2017, Shan and I were happily married and had just finished our semester finals!
During that summer, I worked an additional job to save money for our down payment (one full-time + one part-time job).
7. Take Up Side Hustles
Another way to help us save our first house down payment is having side hustles.
I heard about donating plasma from my brother and started donating it.
You can probably make around $400 a month, sometimes even more, when a promotion is going on! Depending on the place, each donation will take around one hour in total, and you can donate up to twice in one week.
It was so easy; I just had to lie down there and could read a book or play on the phone.
I sometimes donate plasma when they have a good promotion, but now the money I get is my “freedom/fun money,” lol.
All in All
An accumulation of many small decisions saved us tons of money for our down payment!
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
By September 2017, we had saved enough down payment and closed on our first real estate property!
My wife was 21 years old, and I was 23. The underwriting process and everything took approximately one month to be completed.
Waiting for the underwriting and everything felt like forever since it was our first time going through the process. We were worried we might be denied the loan amount, but everything went smoothly, and we were approved.
Not only did we take a big investment step, but we also kickstarted our FIRE journey!
We have become very passionate about taking control of our finances, living below our means, and making our money work HARD for us.
I hope our experiences can give you some ideas to help you save on your house down payment!
Check out other articles in our blog, where we share our financial freedom stories with tips on personal finance & investing!
Disclaimer:
We hope the information in this article provides valuable insights to every reader but we, the Biesingers, are not financial advisors. When making your personal finance decisions, research multiple sources and/or receive advice from a licensed professional. As always, we wish you the best in your pursuit of financial independence!
