Saving for your first home and your wedding at the same time can be daunting. Consider these tips to help you start your life as a married couple, with your dream home.
Create a budget planner that shows your spending habits. Make a record of what you spend money on, how much you spend and the frequency of the spending. Also make sure to include once-off payments that may occur, so that you and your partner have an accurate record of where your money is being spent.
Estimate the costs for your wedding and your property purchase. Include a buffer onto these costs, as unexpected expenses are bound to occur. Remember to include all the property buying costs, as well as an extra amount for emergencies. Once you’ve figured out how much the wedding and property will cost you, you can work backwards to create a savings plan.
From the budget planner and the estimated costs, you can plan for how to save. Make note of what has been saved already, and what can be saved monthly, going forward. Create a timeline of small and long term goals of what you’d like to save and make every effort to stick to these goals.
Be disciplined – make sure your time frame is realistic and if need be, shift the wedding date or the property purchase date. Do your utmost to cut costs wherever possible, and to stick to the plan. Being disciplined in this regard will give you the best financial start to your new life. However, it’s still important to have fun so put some money aside for entertainment.
Move your savings into a higher interest account with your bank, to make it harder to access and thereby avoiding the temptation to spend it. A higher interest account means that your money earns more interest than it would in a normal account, which will add up in the long term.
Make sure your credit card is paid off every month and lower the limit on your card. This should help you stop spending money that you simply don’t have. Remember that credit cards generally have a high interest rate, so it’s a good idea to avoid getting into debt on your credit card.
Set a firm limit for wedding costs and stick to it. Extra costs often creep in, but creating a realistic budget with a hard limit for the total cost of the wedding is a good way to prevent overspending. This also makes sure that you won’t have to take money from your home savings, for the wedding.
Compromise – if you can’t afford a dream wedding and your dream home, communicate with your partner about which aspects are the most important to you and spend more money on these. For example: a honeymoon may not rank high on the list of priorities for you, therefore you could spend more on a deposit for your home.
Your wedding and your home are two of the most important and expensive things you’ll purchase in your life. So, it’s a good idea to be fully financially prepared for both. Use the above tips to avoid getting into debt and start your life on the right track.
