Saving for a deposit to buy your first home can feel like an enormous battle. Imagining all the things that you’ll have to say no to, and summoning the discipline required to reach your goal, can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Just like anything, saving for a deposit can be broken down into fun and simple things to do. And over time it’ll become a habit; completely effortless and harder to stop than continue.

Anyone can do it.

In this post I’ll share seven ways to make money for a deposit to buy your first home. I hope that it’ll make getting onto the property ladder easier and more enjoyable for you.

Seven fun ways you can make money for your mortgage deposit

The secret to saving is to approach it as an opportunity to be wildly creative, and have some fun! Nobody said this had to be serious and boring after all. Be a rebel and enjoy it with these seven tips.

1. Get a side hustle

Turn time you’d generally use spending money, into something that generates it by getting a side hustle. If you pick something that’s a hobby for you anyway then it’ll ensure that you enjoy the time you put into it. If you love animals, you could set up a little local dog walking business. If you love making things, you could start selling your arts and crafts on Etsy. If you’re a Loqbox customer you can take advantage of our Refer a Friend offer where we’ll give you £5 for every friend you introduce who signs up. This can add up really quickly. Find out more about inviting your friends here.

2. Sell the things you don’t use anymore

If you’re like most people, you probably have loads of clothes you don’t wear anymore taking up space in your drawers. Another way to make some extra money for a deposit to buy your first home is to sell these things on eBay. It’s also good for the environment to recycle all these things. Other things you may have lying around but no longer use like bikes, books, furniture, your old gadgets, also have value to other people. So if you’ve not used something for over a year, sell it! This article from MoneySavingExpert is full of top tips to help you get started.

3. Gifts

Birthdays, Christmas and other special occasions can cost us an absolute bomb when it comes to gifting our friends and family. A fun way to reduce the cost of gifts is to make something special instead of buying something. Here are 55+ creative diy gift ideas for everyone in your life. Or maybe you can challenge your friends, family or other half at Christmas by setting a spending limit and getting each other a gift or gifts up to that value from a charity shop. This kind of challenge is awesome because it also gives back to the community by supporting local charities. And is a greener alternative to buying new things.

4. Learn to cook

Learning to cook can save you a fortune in ready meals and takeaways. Plus it’s really fun. In fact, it’s one of my favourite hobbies. And one that just keeps giving. It means you have the power to feed yourself delicious meals whenever you like, and also treat friends and family when they come round for dinner. Don’t have any recipe books? No problem. There are millions of recipes available for free online. A good place to start is BBC Food. Once you get started you’ll be amazed at how easy cooking a nice meal is. And cheap.

5. Look for free activities

If you live in an urban area, there are likely lots and lots of free activities to get involved with in your spare time. These can be a great way to save money whilst doing something fun as they provide an alternative to more expensive nights and days out. You can discover free events on Google by searching for what’s going on in your local area. You can also look at the websites of council venues like community centres, parks and libraries. And you can look at events listed on Facebook. Lots of charities also throw events to raise money and awareness which you can get involved with. Don’t forget to invite your friends too! They’ll love that you’re coming up with all these fun suggestions for free things to do.

6. Clothes swap with your friends

If you love going shopping for new clothes, then saving money can feel particularly hard as it requires you to avoid one of your favourite hobbies! But there are alternatives that are just as fun. Why not clothes swap with your friends? You can make an evening of it. Everyone has tons of outfits in their wardrobe that they never wear, exchange it for something you will wear. Again this is also a much greener alternative to shopping.

7. Challenge your friends

One of the hardest things about saving is feeling that you’re completely alone and isolated in your mission. However, your friends also have financial goals, like buying a home. So why not make it a group activity and set yourselves a challenge. That way it makes it easier to agree to do cheap or free things when you hang out, as it’s not just you trying to save. A little bit of competitive spirit can also help to turbocharge your resolve and motivation. After all, you want to win right?

Hopefully that’s given you some fun ideas for how to save and make money for your mortgage deposit. If you’re currently working towards getting on the property ladder, we have lots of articles that can help you. Check them out here.

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