What would you give up for 1 year to buy your next home?

[krisim]

Dh and I have run the numbers and while we'll be able to afford a new home next year (June), ideally I'd like to save an extra $500-$1000 a month to make the purchase more affordable (mostly to ensure that we'll still have 3-4 months in our emergency funds).  We are currently saving about 50% of our take home pay for all of our savings goals combined--retirement, college, house down payment, etc...but we've been talking about what we might cut out of budget to increase our savings.

What would you be willing to cut down on or do without for 1 year to save some extra money to get into a home that you love?  

Update:  I did the math wrong--we will actually meet our savings goal so I won't have to cut our budget.  Though I am going to look at what we can spend a little less on.  There are very few categories because we don't travel, don't have time for hobbies and spend very little money on entertainment.  I think clothes and random Amazon/Target purchases will get a closer look.  

[moolarkey]

If we quit eating out we'd save a bundle.

[mpc]

we gave up our gym membership. lolol at the idea that it was ever worth the money.

[sfy]

I could do most things for just a year. Travel, I could cut altogether. I could cut most of my clothes shopping and eating out. I could cut some beauty appointments.

[shell403b]

Jul 30, 2015 13:09:26 GMT -5 moolarkey said:

If we quit eating out we'd save a bundle.

Yeah, this. X eleventy billion. Today, H ate out TWICE. From the SAME PLACE. omg. 

[mbcdefg]

I dunno. I feel like we don't splurge all that much as it is. When we eat out it's rarely over $50ish, I don't color my hair or get mani/pedis, we don't have a house cleaner. 

We usually take a weeklong domestic vacation every summer so I guess we could cut that and just stick with a few local overnight trips a few times a year, so we wouldn't go completely stir-crazy. 

Concert tickets, maybe? Again, not a big splurge for us.

I buy lunch way too often. I should cut that.  

[irene adler]

I want to say shopping online, but we are more likely to only purchase what we need on Amazon vs. buying extra crap at target.

Our budget has had so little wiggle room for splurges in the last year that I don't think I'd give anything up. I'd probably work more to bring in more $$

[steph96]

None of my ideas would save that much money. I would have to cut out all unnecessary spending plus cut back on food costs. Travel might be an option, but we fund it out of bonuses.

[gt7301b]

If I was already saving 50% of my take home pay I wouldn't be willing to cut back anymore just for a new home. Sure, there are plenty of places I could cut back, but I don't think I'd be willing to do it.

[kadams767]

Not feasible for everyone, but DH and I shared one car for a few years when we were saving for our DP. That saved a bundle between monthly payments, gas, insurance and maintenance.

[drloretta]

I'd make DH give up hobby related travel and purchases. And I'd stop buying yarn

[thejen626]

I sold my awesome, brand new, fully loaded suv. We made $8k cash, and I drove DH's leased Camry for 6 months.

[msmerymac]

If I got rid of my coworking space membership, it would save $100/month. We could probably cut down personal money by $100 each. Groceries by $100, cat grooming by $25 or so... I'm only at $425.

After those things my budget line items to cut would be much more draconian, like various savings categories, student loan in forbearance, etc.

Most of the rest would be tightening up splurge categories, like weekend mini-vacations, day trips, too many meals out, seasonal large format craft beer bottles for cellaring. $1000 would be tough to find in EXTRA money without an increase in income.

[jinkies]

I could happily live without cable, but there may be mutiny among everyone else in my house. Also, I wouldn't give up internet, and with package prices I'm not sure that cable+Internet is all that much more than just Internet.

I can't think of anything I could do that would yield an extra 500-1000 a month. Our budget is pretty spare compared to others here. IT would be easier to try to take on extra work for a year.

[aurora]

We cut back on travel and postponed purchase of our new mountain bikes. Then, when our truck needed a new $4k transmission we decided to get it fixed for that cost rather than buy a new one because of the house fund, so I guess that also means we pushed back a vehicle purchase.

[agnes]

We got rid of H's truck

[boiler717]

We cut down on dining out, fancy groceries, trips, and clothes.

[soso]

I stopped buying any new clothes for a year (with some exceptions like bras) just for the challenge/to cut consumption so... that? Maybe any non-family visit travel as I've traveled a lot/frequently in the past. Go from full-time daycare to pt (I only work a few hours a week - consultant).

[blondemoment123]

Jul 30, 2015 13:09:26 GMT -5 moolarkey said:

If we quit eating out we'd save a bundle.

So much this. H spends WAY too much on lunches.

[carfar]

cutting Clothes,and eating out would probably save us the most, although I'd have a hard time giving these up. I MAY be willing to cut the cleaners if I knew I was going to move out.. may as well trash the place, right?!