Here's how one woman saved £22k for her first home deposit using the 50-30-20 method

Virgin Radio

28 Jun 2021, 13:57

Does the thought of owning your own home sound like a distant dream? It doesn't have to be. Take lead off first-time buyer Theresa Makombe who used the 50-30-20 savings method to help save for a deposit. She's now the owner of her own home in Leeds thanks to putting away £800 a month over two years.

The pharmacist told The Sun how she saved money while living at home. She said: "By the time I started house hunting in May, I already had £16,000 saved up.

"I also lived by the 50-30-20 savings method to help me meet my savings goal every month, which was to tuck away £800.

"So when I got my salary through every month, I would put 50% of it towards bills, 30% of it towards fun stuff like holidays, clothes and going out, and the remaining 20% towards my savings."

Credit: The Sun/Ben Lack

She said: "I took out a £124,000 25-year mortgage at a five-year fixed-rate, and my mortgage repayments are £650 a month. I used a spreadsheet to help me track my spending habits and meet my savings goal every month.

"So if I had overspent one month and only managed to save £700, I would make sure to make up this loss the month after by saving £900.

"I ramped up my savings even more in 2020 by setting myself a challenge not to buy any new clothes - not even pants or socks - for the whole year.

"I was spending a lot of money - probably around £250 to £300 a month - on clothes, picking up an outfit for an event or a night out or buying a coat I didn’t really need.

"I managed to save £3,000 over 12 months - it was amazing how much I was spending. Another saving I made was on fuel for my car."

Credit: The Sun/Ben Lack

The savvy homeowner explained: "I used to drive it in sports car mode, and fill up at the more expensive fuel stations.

"But when I knew I wanted to buy a house, I drove it in economy mode, and went to local petrol stations and supermarket pumps to fuel up instead. My bill therefore went from £50 a week to just £15 - and I saved £420 by the end of 2020.

"I made sure to put aside some of the money I had been saving up to put towards furnishing my house.

"Big bits of furniture, like my washing machine and mattress, were bought brand new - but to cut costs, I bought a lot of stuff second hand."

Time to start topping up the piggy bank?