Saving up for a house is a daunting task. With home prices and interest rates remaining high across the country, it can feel more challenging than ever to save enough money to buy a house. For many, however, the dream of homeownership is impossible to ignore. That’s why we’ve done the research and talked with experts to offer real, actionable tips for saving for a house and ideas to help you maximize your savings to buy a home. This isn’t new advice, but it’s a popular mantra throughout the personal finance community for a reason. Making a budget gives you a clear understanding of your incoming and outgoing funds each month, which creates an opportunity to make powerful adjustments to both your spending and savings habits. Apps like Mint and You Need a Budget are user-friendly, intuitive platforms that integrate with your banks, credit cards, and other financial accounts to give you a regular breakdown of your spending. While you could sit down with your bank statement and a highlighter each month to determine where your money is really going, a good budgeting app will categorize your purchases for you — think groceries, clothing, household, utilities, and so on. It sounds cliche, but budgeting is as much of a mindset challenge as it is a refresher in mathematics. When you fully understand what’s happening with your money, you’ll actually have more flexibility in how you use it. “Budget” is not a synonym for “restriction.”1. Make a budget
