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If you’re renting an apartment or living with your parents to save for a house, time may seem to be ticking painfully slowly until you’re ready to take that first step of moving into your very own home. But there are lots of little steps along the way you can take to, hopefully, speed up the process.

1.  Determine how much money you need. This amount doesn’t just apply to the down payment. You also need to consider the closing costs and the new monthly costs you’re about to incur. You’ll likely have larger utility bills and extra expenses you didn’t have as a renter, like HOA fees and property insurance.

2.  Set up a monthly, or even weekly, automatic bank transfer into a dedicated savings account and don’t touch it!

3.  Get a second job. Although this can seem like an exhausting option, in reality it’s only temporary and can send your savings into hyper speed.

4.  Lower your expenses by honestly determining the difference between want and need. Maybe you can ease off the Starbucks or cut the cable cord and stream your TV channels.

5.  Skip one year’s vacation. Yes…you likely need it too…especially if you’re working two jobs with no daily lattes, but consider all that money, often thousands of dollars for a holiday, going toward your new house goal. Again, this is temporary, and Hawaii will always be there!

6.  Pay off any debt you have as soon as you can and don’t incur more. It’s hard to save a good monthly amount when you’re also paying towards a maxed credit card bill or high auto loan.

With some temporary lifestyle adjustments and financial discipline, you may be able to be in your first home in no time at all! Brandywine Homes has options that cover many different price ranges throughout Southern California. Visit our neighborhoods page to see which community could be perfect for you!