Smart Savings: Couple Stops Going Out For Dates, Saves Enough Money To Buy A House
Olivia Gill and Jack Eacott bought their first house - a two-bedroom house in July last year after they decided to save money during the COVID-19 pandemic by not going out on fancy dates.
Owning a home feels like a distant dream, doesn't it? The real estate market is so highly priced and with the current economy burning holes in our pockets, being a homeowner just does not seem like a possibility.
However, this young couple bought their own home when they were only 19 years old. How? They swapped expensive dates with park walks.
Mirror
20-something-old couple buys house
Olivia Gill and Jack Eacott bought their first house - a two-bedroom house in July last year after they decided to save money during the COVID-19 pandemic by not going out on fancy dates.
The couple decided to stick to their park walks even after the pubs and clubs reopened.
Olivia, now 20, told Caters, "Having our own house has taken some getting used to, but it's such a positive feeling to see how all the sacrifice was worth it. We opened a joint bank account which was a big motivator to help save as we were able to see the savings increase at a much quicker rate."
She said, "We had to make some sacrifices along the way, lockdown helped us to continue to save through walks and not having the option to go out was really good for our saving strategy."
They also used the government's Help to Buy scheme to help their budget. The scheme enables people who wish to become homeowners in England to buy a property with just a five per cent deposit, with the government offering an equity loan to first-time buyers. The government lends homeowners up to 20 per cent or 40% per cent of the property value in London, interest-free to lower the mortgage and increase affordability.
"We got the deposit through the government's help to buy 5% scheme, which helped us to secure the house which costs 232K. Through saving in our joint account we were able to secure the ?12,000 deposit," Olivia said.
Mirror
Young couple becomes the first from friend circle to become homeowners
Olivia added that none of their friends is even close to buying a house. She said, "Our friends and family have all been so supportive of us throughout the saving journey and now are just so happy that we have got what we have been working for."
"Staying on top of our finances has helped reach the first big stepping stone on the property ladder!" she said.
She continued, "To anyone with a similar goal to us, I would always say to be realistic with what you can save, it doesn't matter how long it takes you will reach your goal! Planning out your finances is such an important part of saving, now that we have moved into the house we use the joint account to focus on money for the bills and we have opened a new account which we solely use for food," Olivia said.
Mirror
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