Five Financial Tips When Saving For Your Dream Home

Photo credit: freshome.com

Buying a dream home is a very significant step for most people. It can seem impossible to come up with that all-important deposit, especially when you have to pay rent in the home you are currently living in, but with a good plan it is entirely doable. You will need to be proactive to achieve your goal, but it is very possible.

Building a new home can be a surprisingly inexpensive option. The advantage of building a new home is that you get to choose the design and colours you like. To get a good idea of prices and floor plans click here and check out what’s available.

With some good financial planning, including a solid and well thought out savings plan, you can turn your dream home into a reality.

Start Now

The sooner you begin saving for your dream home the sooner you will reach your goal. Don’t put off starting your savings plan until you get a better job with a higher income. Start where you are now and when your circumstances improve you will already have some savings in the bank.

Create a Dream Board

The best way to stay motivated to save is to have your dream in front of you. Spend time looking at different houses and choose something that you really love. Print out pictures of your dream home or make a life-like sketch of it and place them on a board. This becomes your dream board. It should be placed in a prominent place where you will see it daily. Your dream board will help keep you motivated to save.

Spending: Do You Really Need It?

Every time you go to make a purchase outside of your absolute needs, take a moment to think: do I really need this? This question will help stop you from making spare of the moment purchases that may thwart your savings plan. Clever marketing is designed to entice us into impulse buying. By stopping and asking if you really need or want something, you will save money.

Do a Course on Money Management

There are some excellent courses available on money management. Do some research and enrol in a course designed to teach you the skills to handle money well. There are experts out there who have tried and true strategies to help you in your quest to save money. Utilise their services.

Make a List of Your Spending

Make a note of everything you spend for a month. You will be amazed at what you spend money on. It’s often the little things that end up adding up to a lot of money, things like coffee and candy bars. These are not essential and you may decide to cut back on this spending once you see how much it is costing you.

Save First

Put a certain percentage of your pay in a savings account before you even see it. It may only be one or two per cent but it will add up and if you don’t see it, you won’t miss it.

Organizing My Dream Home Photos

I was organizing my pictures last weekend and was surprised to unearth plenty of photos I have taken in the internet for our dream home. Some were downloaded as far back as 2002! That only means that I have been thinking about our dream home for a long time now.

I am just happy to see the pictures of the styles I prefer, the landscaped gardens, the cozy patio and even patio water fountains to add in the yard.

The house designs I have downloaded were outdated. I mostly took Mediterranean style houses with loads of terra cotta roof and bricked yards. House designs have already evolved and caught with the times. So, my preference for a house design is leaning to zen/contemporary style.

I have more photos to sort in my old drives. It will take a while to organize them but while I am doing it, I can probably segregate the ones the appeal to me the most and chuck the ones that are old-fashioned.

House Construction

We are waiting for the proper segregation of the parcel of property my in-law's gave us in Quezon City before we decide on the next step which is scouting for a great architect who will render the vision of our dream home.

Te next step will surely involve a thorough discussion amongst my husband and I because this will involve money matters and it is going to be a big one. It's not a joke to go through a house construction project because all our savings will probably go to that project and then some. We may end up taking a loan with Pag-Ibig fund to finance the project otherwise, we have to wait for sometime until we are ready.

Other things we are considering is the scouting of reliable contractors who will use safe and high-quality materials. They should have materials that are at par with building safety codes and the public municipality. I had to check some internet sites like www.reidsupply.com and other known manufacturers of high-quality equipment and supplies to aid in the construction of our dream home.

This project is the culmination of our dreams and I take this seriously. I will not compromise the design, safety aspect and definitely the durability of the house we have dreamed of and saved for all these years.

Gel Fireplace

A better and more economical way to afford a fireplace for your house is to have a gel fireplace instead of the real deal.

I have been obsessing about various fireplace designs for our future house in the Philippines. I know it is hot and humid in our country and having a fireplace is not a wise decision but this is a thing I want incorporated in the design. I do not mind having a faux fireplace as long as there is a mantle there that I can deck with beautiful ornaments.

Now that the gel fireplace is becoming famous, I will reconsider the thought of having the gel fireplace instead of the conventional fireplace, faux or not. Gel fireplace is more environmental friendly because you are not cutting wood but lighting an alcohol-based gel fuel that has passed EPA and OHSA requirements.

So, this can be my new obsession - the gel fireplace. I am really not particular with the design or how big it will be as long as I have a fireplace at home.

Being Practical At Home Improvements

I have a very tight quarter in the house. Since we are not permanent residents of Dubai, my husband and I are quite adamant to spend on furniture and other fixtures at home. Our pragmatic approach to home and interior decoration is to buy only the essential and affordable. Oftentimes, this kind of principle overlooks aesthetic results. We just end up what ever is practical to put at home.

There are times when my husband and I would not agree on something like buying new metal cabinets to install in the balcony area. The cabinets will be used a portable storage of our trinkets and tools which we use occasionally but is mandatory to have at home. Instead of buying cabinets, we end up buying storage boxes which we can stack.

The sofa is another issue we have to tackle. I planned to purchase an L-shaped modular sitting furniture to update our living room last year. My husband was against the idea because it was not sensible since we still have a sofa. Few months later, we ended up buying a sofa-bed to accommodate visitors who want to spend the night. The beautification aspect of my desire to buy is always outweighed by the practicality of having to actually buy and replace something that is still useful at home.

Home improvement is something we have to sacrifice here in the Middle East because we are transient borders in this country. My husband is right in believing and enforcing his principle of spending our hard-earned money to our dream house than spending unnecessarily here where we will just end up selling them. To that, I definitely agree!

Fresh Start for 2012

I have been praying for good things to happen not just for myself and my family, but for everyone too. I am giving myself a chance to grow and one of doing that is to jump out of my comfort zone. I started with my career. I was not getting anywhere with my career in the place where I am in so I thought, the only way to go forward is to apply for a lateral move somewhere I can showcase my talent and skills. And God has been good to me. He knew what was best so he gave me the position I applied for. So, by end of February 2012, I will be reporting to a new department with new people to meet and new challenges to face.

My health is another aspect in my life that I want to give a new lease. I started walking again. It's still early to say if it's going to be regular but I am envisioning myself to do that. I just hope my determination to wean off my other medications will be a great impetus for me to carry on with the weight loss. Also, I am working towards making myself fit enough to carry another full term pregnancy. My daughter has been bugging me for a sibling and I am pushing 40 this March. I think it's not yet late for that.

The financial aspect of my life is getting better too. Although there are still plenty of bills to pay, I can finally scrimp enough to save some which will eventually go to our dream house project.

My personal life is rosy too! It's mostly rosy anyway but this year will be more of family solidarity and giving time to people who truly matters.

So, I welcome 2012 with open arms, new hope and a better perspective in life. I pray that God will have more compassion to humanity inspite of the negativity surrounding us. I know God is good and He will not forsake mankind. I just pray that 2012 will be great for everyone.

Best Gift Ever

I am very thankful to my husband for closing the deal on our first property during his recent vacation to Manila. We have been selling our townhouse for the past 2 years with no takers until last week. His cousin decided to purchase the property from us and the good news after the closing of the sale was that, we finally got the property next to my sis-in-law. It is actually my parents-in-law's property which they decided to give us so we can construct our dream home there.

My mind is actually not right here but back home where I am already dreaming of the kind of house we will build on the 115 sq.m. plot.

My husband deserves a nice treat from me for doing all these things for us. All those times, I thought he was just brushing my talks about the house I want to build for us and where and what kind. He actually listened to everything I told him and informed my in-laws about it.

By far, this is the best gift my husband has ever given me because this dream home will be the culmination of all our sweat and toil.

Building Swimming Pools

Swimming pools are often associated with summer activities because of the scorching heat of the season. The pools provide a respite to the harsh elements. They offer a refreshing, watery break to swimmers with cool waters and calming effect of the pools' ambience. However, the plan of building a swimming pool in your backyard will merit a considerable thought.

Building a swimming pool takes a lot of consideration like costs and budget, design, maintenance, fencing, contractors like swimming pool contractors tuscon, insurance costs, pool supplies and the availability of land you can spare to construct the swimming pool. You do not construct one out of a whim because the harsh humidity or the summer's heat drove you to the decision of having your own swimming pool. If money is not an issue and you still want to push through with your plans then go for it.

Many home owners in the hot areas of the US have swimming pools in their residences. If you are one of the homeowners who has the financial means, spare land to use and the desire to build a swimming pool then you can gather ideas by going through the internet and searching swimming pool designs tuscon or narrowing it down to swimming pool design tuscon. Either search will yield plenty of results which will give you ideas on the costs and designs you may consider before calling the shots.

Choosing the design that will best fit your lifestyle and budget is an inevitable task to face when you want to go through this swimming pool construction project. The design will be based on your land's availability as well.  There are various designs of beautiful swimming pools to choose from. Examples of pool designs are the free form, infinity or what we commonly call the infinity edge, geometric, narrow pools, spas and spillways and above-ground pools. The decision lies on you as the homeowner. It does not matter what design you choose. If the benefits of having a pool outweigh other factors then the project is worth it.

Our Future Home

We have already bought our third property out of our hard-earned money here. I am very happy to say that even if our bank accounts are as slim as the slim-fit pants you can find nowadays, we have three properties to be proud of.

Plans for purchasing a fourth property is in the pipeline but this time it will just be a vacant lot where we will build our future home. It has been a dream of mine even when I was still young to build my home according to my own preference. I have collected so many clippings of beautiful homes, bedrooms with white wardrobe, patios and garden photos over the years and have kept them for reference. I am already in the process of gathering photos of furniture I want to have in our future house too.

I love everything cozy, light and white or creamy and earth tones. So, you can sense that the furniture will be of light color. I just like the feel of seeing a pristine atmosphere at home with natural light seeping and clean and crisp-looking furniture to go with the ambiance.

My daughter has been bugging me too about what she likes to have in her own bedroom. Since we already have furniture here in Dubai which we can take home once we are done with our stay here, I have decided we can have painted bedroom furniture for her. It will save us money. Also, the ones we have here in Dubai are expensive and durable. I will have to ship all of them because I know they will look good in our future home considering the theme I want to carry out - light and natural and a bit minimalist too.

I am not rushing on this plan right now because my husband and I have to discuss money matters as well. The recession is still on and we want to make sure that if we go through our plan to buy a residential lot and later on build a house on it, we are financially capable and ready to release money due to the demands of building a home.

It is not a sheer joke to plan for this. However, I do not want this to be just a dream. I may have to work  5 more years at tops to finance this goal. It is not a long shot but with our determination, dream and tight-budgeting skills, our dream home will be ours.