Seven budget-friendly ways to keep doing your thing (while saving for a deposit)

Home truth: life as you know it doesn’t need to stop when you start saving for a deposit. It might change a little, but a little change doesn’t have to equal compromising on life’s fun stuff. All you need to do is be a little flexible, a tad wily, and you’ll strike that budget balance. But how? Make being thrifty fun. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can still have a blast while saving for your home.

Set that goal

Okay, okay, okay. This isn’t a trick as such. But it is an important step. Before you get started, you need to know what your target is. Every great achievement starts with a decision to try, and you need something to shoot for. After all, you can’t hit a target you can’t see, and without a goal to achieve you won’t get that good feeling when you get there. So, set a dollar amount for your deposit and a date you want to achieve it by, then go for it.

Gamify date night

For those coupled up and saving for a place together – and hey, even if you’re saving solo – think about gamifying going out. Consider turning a date or bestie catch-up into a game with the aim of having the best time for the least money. Take turns at being in charge of the night and score each other’s thriftiness. Whoever gets the highest total score at the lowest cost after, say, three months (or whatever works for you) wins. What’s the reward? Saving money towards your dream! And then, by allocating a small portion of the money you’ve saved towards something a little more extravagant, like a fancy night out without the thrift and grift, you’ll give yourselves more incentive. Don’t blow the bank, but do reward yourself.

Get competitive

Gamification boosts motivation – there’s even been a lot of scientific studies in this space. So in a similar spirit to gamifying date night, think about stoking the fires of friendly competition. With a good pal, your partner or anyone else you know who’s also saving their little heart out, make it a race. Regularly check in, maybe run a scoreboard tally, and make sure you share your savings wins with each other. After all, a rising tide lifts all boats and all that. When you both meet your goals (woo!) you can celebrate together, too.

Deals, deals, deals

As much as possible, see where you can get a cheaper price. Get hustling. If you’re not hitting up cheap nights at the pub, now is the time. What about good old cheap nights at the cinema? Get on it. Suss out Groupon for various deals. And if you’re looking for an easy way to compare grocery prices between supermarkets, Wiselist is the app for that. And last but not least, make sure you look at deals websites like ozbargain.com.au and catch.com.au. Be thrifty, but make it fun.

Use the power of words

Names like ‘long-term savings’, ‘spending’ or ’emergency’ might not be the most exciting or engaging titles for your savings accounts, even if they’re accurate. So, if you’re doing the multiple account thing and putting your savings in different accounts for different purposes, you could try ramping up your rhetoric. Go with what works for you, but here are a couple of our suggestions: ‘This is to get you through the month!’ for your everyday spending, or even ‘Spend only $20 of this per day, okay?’. Then there’s ‘DO NOT TOUCH’ or ‘Dream Home’. For an emergency account, what about ‘Wee-woo wee-woo’, just for the lols?

Think about savings as secret money

When you put your money out of sight into your savings, it can feel like it’s been spent. Remind yourself: it’s simply tucked away somewhere safe, ready for a triumphant return as the deposit that gets you your first home. One trick to keep on track could be to visualise your saving’s higher purpose: use your imagination to imagine your ideal home, terrazzo tiles and all. That’ll surely get you motivated. Visualising getting there makes you feel good, and the more something makes you feel good, the more you’ll want to do it.

Spreadsheets aren’t for everyone (and that’s okay!)

Whatever you do, do you. Don’t fake your love for spreadsheets if you find them clunky and disengaging. Instead, try sticking reminder notes in places you’ll see them regularly (hello, bathroom mirror), tracking your budget balance or downloading an app for savings and of course your ING app for managing, and naming, your multiple savings accounts. You could even scribble reminders on the back of your hand. Heck, get a stick-and-poke tattoo of $AVE CA$H across your knuckles, if that might work for you.

Do it your own way

Final tip: don’t worry too much about the how. Take these ideas as inspiration and pick and choose what works for you. You can get there any way you like – what’s important is that you do.

Saving

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