I’ve saved $20,000 for my house down payment fund!
Today I received my extra February paycheque (I get paid five times in February) and promptly deposited the bulk of it into my house down payment fund. That deposit brought the total amount in my house down payment fund to $20,601. Getting to the $20,000 mark with this account brings me closer to accomplishing both a short term goal and a long term goal:
- Saving $35,000 for my house down payment fund in 2016, and
- Saving $40,000 for my house down payment fund overall.
2016 Goal of Saving $35,000: 59% Complete
This year I set a very ambitious goal of getting my house down payment fund to $35,000. I still have $14,399 left to save, but I’m pretty happy with my progress so far this year (I saved $3,700 since January 1st). It’s going to be a stretch to hit this goal before the end of the year, but I’m prepared to give it my all.
Overall Goal of Saving $40,000: 52% Complete
I want to save at least $40,000 before starting to search for a home. This would represent a solid 10% down plus closing costs. Ideally, I’ll save more, but I’ve wanted to be a homeowner since I graduated from university, and I’m not sure I can wait long enough to accumulate the full 20%.
Here’s a breakdown of how my house down payment fund has grown since I started contributing to it a year ago:
How I Saved $20,000 For My House Down Payment in 1 Year
You’ll notice two big jumps in my savings, one in May and one in October. The big increases are my tax return and New Brunswick Tuition Rebate in May and the end of my super secret savings goal in October.
Other than those two big lump-sum contributions last year, the rest of the $20,000 was saved little by little from budgeting and freelance. Last year I was saving between $500 and $600 per month from my family’s joint income (my husband and I have combined finances). Every time we found savings in our budget, we’d funnel that extra cash towards our house down payment. Right now we’re saving $618 per month from our joint budget. I also put all of my extra paycheques towards the house down payment fund.
Finally, I funnelled a lot of my freelance income towards my house down payment fund. I wasn’t keeping track specifically last year of how much freelance income was going into this account, but I started tracking it this year and I’ve contributed $1,902 since January 1st.
How I’ll Save Another $20,000 in 1 Year
When I started my journey to saving $40,000 for a house down payment, I projected that it would take me around four years to save this amount. Since I made that original prediction, a lot has changed:
- My income has increased thanks to my husband and me streamlining our benefits.
- My husband’s income has increased as he’s taken on more responsibility at work.
- My freelance business has also gone from occasional sporadic bonus income to a reliable source of cash flow.
We’ve also reduced our living expenses. Whether it’s a decrease in our car insurance payments, placing less of a priority on travel funding, or learning to save money by shopping at Costco, every dollar we save on expenses has gone towards boosting our house down payment fund.
As a result of these changes, my projections have also changed. According to my savings spreadsheet (which is a reworked and much more cheerful version of my debt repayment spreadsheet), it turns out that I might, just might reach my goal by March 2017. I’ll have to save an average of $1,600 per month to achieve this, but my spreadsheet says that could be possible.
If my car doesn’t die.
If my dog (or cats) don’t get sick.
If we both remain gainfully employed.
Maybe.
Fingers crossed.
Are you making progress on your financial goals for 2016? I want to know!