Put Your Pennies to Work
My Daddy taught me the value of a penny very early in life! He used to say, "Nikki, when you see a penny pick it up." Now he wasn't talking about the rest of it, "...and all day long you'll have good luck!" When I used to ask him why, he would say, "because one penny leads to 100 pennies and one dollar leads to $100..." and so on!
To this day, I still look at the penny as a pathway to dollar, dollar bills y'all! In fact, I find myself telling my sons the very same thing. Saving money often seems like a daunting task, however, when you think of the value of just one little shiny penny, it becomes as easy as dropping a coin in the classic piggy bank.
As real estate agents we meet folks all the time who work really hard and the only thing between them and the home of their dreams is a healthy chunk of savings. With an FHA loan a down payment can be as low as 3.5% of the sales price but buyers need to factor in closing costs as well as a nice little cushion for what we like to call the "Welcome to Home Ownership Fund!"
My husband and I have been personally going through Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover and one thing he suggests is put purpose to your savings. In other words, create a savings account for every area of your life that you are saving for. Many of us have a checking account or two, a savings account, college savings plans for our kids and a 401k of sorts. What Dave suggests is if you want to buy a car create a car savings account. If you want to take the family to Disney create a Disney savings account. This is where we come in... if you want to buy a home create a home savings account.
Easier said than done, you may say right!?! Well think again! Follow these easy saving tips:
2. Repeat until your Home Savings Account is up to 3.5-20% of the sales price of the home of your dreams
Happy Saving Everyone!!!