Can’t save won’t save: read our top tips
April 7, 2011 at 9:47 AM Lawrence Hall 3 comments
This is a legacy post from the findaproperty.com blog which is now maintained as an archive within the Zoopla blog. Links have been preserved.
All this talk about the Government’s austerity measures kicking in this week (it’s the start of the new financial year in case you didn’t notice) have got FindaProperty thinking about our hip pockets and how we’d like a bit more cash in them.
With that in mind, we were happy to receive a bunch of top tips from credit information group Experian about how we could make this happen. Here they are for anyone else who wants to make 2011 the year they successfully scrape together a deposit for a new home or a nest egg to fund those DIY jobs you’ve been planning.
Run a DIY budget: Go through your income and outgoings to find out where your money is going and where you might cut back. If you find it hard to save towards a deposit, set yourself a realistic spending limit, including a few treats.
Do your homework: Use price comparison sites to help your money go further.
Know your credit status: Checking your credit report. Lenders look at it before they make you an offer, so you need to know that everything is accurate and up to date.
Do an account audit: Close unused accounts, paying particular attention to any shared with an ex-partner, or your credit status could suffer if he or she has money troubles..
Save, save, save: It’s hard, but you need to get into the habit.
Register to vote at your current address: This shows lenders that you live where you say you do and may improve your credit rating. You can even do it online – go to http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk.
Stay on top of repayments: Missed and late payments stay on your credit report for at least three years, which can damage your credit prospects, so set up direct debits. If there is a legitimate reason for missing a repayment, such as illness, you can add a note of explanation to your credit report.
Don’t ignore problems: If your circumstances change or you’re struggling to make ends meet, talk to your lenders – they may be able to adjust your payment schedule to make it more affordable.
Think outside the box: If you’re losing hope of ever buying your own home, ask your parents if they can help out with a loan or by guaranteeing your mortgage. Buying with friends is also increasingly popular, as is joining a shared equity scheme, in which a commercial partner – usually a housing association or developer – retains a proportion of the property you buy.
Know your credit score: Every lender generates a score based on your application and what’s in your credit report – the higher, the better. Get an idea of your prospects by investigating yours.
Entry filed under: General. Tags: 2011 budget, bank of mum and dad, budget, deposit, Experian, first time buyers, saving.
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1.
Manchester letting agents | April 8, 2011 at 2:19 PM
…and use cashback websites – quidco.co.uk etc – they can make quite a big difference to most online purchases.
2.
Christina | August 8, 2011 at 12:00 PM
These are some great tips! Thanks for the article!
3.
Christina | August 8, 2011 at 12:06 PM
This is a really useful article. With the economic climate it is so important to pay attention to things like doing your research and budgets. Although, they seem like such simple steps they can have a huge benefit in the long run!