How We Saved $165,000 to Buy Our First House!!

There are a few hacks that I'm sharing about how we achieved $165,000 saved for a down payment, plus the REAL accounts that I use to help me get there!
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[@callmeishmaelk767]

The lifesaver here is hubby makes a good living. 😂

[@thomaschew2191]

The main thing is getting out of debt, maintaining a budget that works, saving some money and living below your means. We have our mortgage paid off and have reduced our expenses almost to the bone. We have resisted selling off items we have that could get us some money but now I think we are ready and will sell off some stuff that will allow us to pay for one of our home improvement projects outside of our budget savings.

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Wow!! Are you guys working towards FIRE or already FIRE?

[@robertmorris2576]

That is a really Awesome Milestone! 🎉 it took me several years to save $40,000. Congratulations!!

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Thank you!

[@AshleySurvillion]

Congratulations!! This is a huge step for you and your family. We recently, last year, moved to Colorado Springs and purchased our first home. It was a huge accomplishment, but we did learn A LOT! Colorado is great for raising families, we live more towards the Briargate, northern Springs area. In hindsight, we wished we would have purchased a new home, and/or walked through our home ourselves. Being military, we had our realtor walk through for us via video. I do not advise. I don't want to clog your feed with unsolicited advice, but I am definitely open if you have any questions!! I am very excited for you guys :)

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

TYSM, Ashley! I've heard of Briargate. My besty used to live in Gleneagle and we really loved that area. I really want to make sure we are in a good school district for our daughter, too.

[@AshleySurvillion]

@@DebtFreeMillennials I completely understand, and it is great that Colorado follows the Public Schools of Choice law that allows residents to enroll in schools they are not zoned for, but with all that being said, we decided on private and made that financial sacrifice.

[@baboodjet7652]

Hey Justine 😊 Well, I live in France so it might be a little bit different but all in all we are following the same path as you saving as much as we can for a downpaiement; we started last august on a 45K€ goal (~ $50K) in 2 years with an annual household income of 65K€. In France you need a minimum of 10% of the price of the house as a down paiement and we are aiming for a 400K€ house maybe a bit more if possible! I agree it's taking a lot a work and rigor but it's sooo worth it and I can't wait to find the house of our dreams! We are currently sitting at 16K€ since August so for now we are doing well i think. I just hope we can keep it up for as long as we need to without any major hiccup on our way. I'm so excited for you to finally find your dream house and settle in a new countryside life 😊 thx for all your advice;even though we don't live in the same country most of the principles still apply! Xoxo

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Bonjour! I'm so glad you are doing a similar goal in France (btw, one of my favorite countries in the world!).

[@baboodjet7652]

@@DebtFreeMillennials you are welcome anytime 😊

[@strawmary580]

We’re in Colorado Springs (in the Stetson Hills area), moved here also from L.A., and were so lucky to purchase in 2017 before the prices rose. Our house is now worth over 1.5x the price at which we purchased. But your $ will go so much further here than in Southern California! Wishing you the best of luck in your future plans, and our town would be lucky to have you!

[@HeyitsMarioDiaz]

Thank you for sharing! Congrats on hitting this milestone! I’m saving too but as you pointed out in the video, inflation has bit into my ability to save even more. But it’s alright, I’m still hitting my own goals too! Thanks for the motivation!

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Yes!! I'm glad to hear you are working on your goals :)

[@Steve_Takes]

The Patience is more impressive than the total in todays instant gratification world. Saves for 6 years? Many people can't save for 6 months!

[@moreanimals6889]

Thank you for making this video. I have had so many things get in the way of trying to save for a home and just recently decided to put my entire wedding fund in a CD (but haven't yet) with the intention of rolling it over into another and another because I don't know what else to do. Also, SO SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!

[@user-ky2nd7qx7s]

Man you guys put up some serious cash! You just killed my analysis paralysis I was so doubting about investing my savings but the bonds is such a good idea $100k is the mountain of a goal

[@AaronHope_Sow]

Once each of our kids roll out of daycare and into Public school, we’re planning to save the equivalent of that daycare payment into high-yield savings account, brokerage accounts, and 529(s). In the meantime, direct deposit splits right into savings keeps things simple.

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

I'm looking forward to the pay raise we get once Quinn goes to kindergarten. That will be SO nice!

[@dusq123]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m also trying to save for our first house.

[@minas.831]

I love the name of your channel it’s refreshing to see millennials with a debt free slogan and it helps me stay on track saving money

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

thank you!

[@loveandjoy810]

Am I the only one who thinks $165,000 IS a house? A whole house mortgage free? 🤷🏽‍♀️😂

[@katlynh1999]

Yeah, that’s more than our house cost in 2020!

[@allisonmodaff5635]

In my area it could be!

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Totally realize we could outright buy a home with this amount.

[@moisesojeda1085]

not in California lol

[@wolverine9079]

You can’t get a bathroom for that in California

[@thomaschew2191]

You two are killing it!

[@fxdnny]

The vanguard settlement account is paying almost 5% right now

[@andrewnewton2752]

I appreciate you sharing your story

[@GroovyChic868]

Awesome work. I'm trying to do that as well.

[@dannyheroic]

Great video, two questions, what is both of your ages and how long have you been married?

[@mikealonsophoto]

Now that Treasury Bill rates are in the 5% - 5.5% apy range, have you considered using them? You can earn close to $9k in a year off that $165k. You can get them at all major brokerages. You live in CA, they exempt from state taxes.

[@violetagira8687]

I thought you had a Capital One 360 Performance Savings account as well. Am I mistaking?

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Yes, you're right! The 360 account is for my vacation fund.

[@callmeishmaelk767]

Existing binds crash as interest rates go up.

[@camcam3087]

What’s not talked about very much is when some of us are in position to buy a house is also the time we’re looking at having kids. You have to decide what’s priority for you and what works for your family. Having kids is time sensitive for women so that’s where the money might go first and then continue to save for the house.

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Yeah the baby vs. home purchase is a real thing for many. We chose to do baby first.

[@k4hdr5]

I love you videos. They are good for generation below and above millennial, and always wonder if you would expand by changing your name.

[@Mike-kg3hd]

PNB bank and some other banks if u search are paying 4.5% interest on savings accounts. Any comments.

[@hanwagu9967]

still don't understand why you've kept this money in a HYSA and bond index. Even your vanguard settlement account has had a higher yield than the Ally HYSA and bond index. Treasuries are not subject to state and local taxes, so that would have been hugely beneficial in CA, but also in CO compared to both bond index and HYSA.

[@ChicagoBudgets]

Lifestyle creep can definitely get you!

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Yeah, and I pay attention to my budget closely. Once I saw how I was spending between now and then it was eye-opening. Inflation def contributes but I know my shopping has increased in some ways. Working on it!

[@untouchable360x]

I quit my cocaine habit to save for my down payment. It only took a few months. After I bought the house, I started my habit back up again. I'll stop when I can no longer afford to make the payments.

[@camcam3087]

I wonder if you missed out on opportunity value that you missed out on equity if you bought a house a year ago. Even without having 20% down, you could have had a higher net value had you done so.

[@JC-wc1bs]

But Would it theoretically have been better to buy a house in 2020 with a 3ish % interest rate and lower price with much less of a down payment…? (I know we can’t predict the future and hindsight is 20/20 lol)

[@katerinaschenke819]

Not really since housing prices were higher. But yeah, better to buy with lower interest rate

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Long term having that low interest rate would have been steller. We actually did put an offer on a home in 2020 but were outbid. The home was already priced really high and we put in $50k over asking. We didn't even get a counteroffer.

[@JC-wc1bs]

@@DebtFreeMillennials I understand. We had about 2 years of consistent home shopping before we lucked into ours. I don’t remember how many offers we had done before… 10+

[@JC-wc1bs]

@@katerinaschenke819 I bought my house in December 2020 at 3% interest rate. Similar houses in my neighborhood now selling for 200-300k more and rates at 6%+. I thought a price was high then but my area has boomed

[@Mrsmetamorphosis2012]

Interest rates don’t matter when u pay off your house in a few years or buy cash🤷🏽‍♀️

[@callmeishmaelk767]

Buy a house outright for $165k and fix it up the interest and principal saves goes right towards your own retirement fund. Sounds like someone needs/desires too much house.

[@fortgrove3166]

Lol wow. What did you buy a million dollar house? I am a vet and used my VA loan to get a house for over 400k for just 5k down. 3.5 interest rate. And no property taxes due to vet disability status.

[@amycolucci6769]

New sub i love u

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

Love you too!! thanks for being here!

[@MrUpier]

while you saved that 165k for a home ... home prices went up 200k lets hope not but just seems like that is how things work

[@DebtFreeMillennials]

LOL

[@wakeyourazzup]

u gotta thank ur husband everyday for that progress

[@callmeishmaelk767]

Buy a house outright for $165,000 outright, and fix it up with your own hands, and the video about daycare is moot. You can stay home with the kid and live on one income. Start budgeting for a $50,000 emergency fund in case hubby gets laid off. You're talking about being debt free and then simultaneously talking about $165,000 as a down payment, so going back to not being debt free. You're saving $40,000 for a second car, how about getting a Toyota beater for $5,000?

[@Mr.Screwston]

This sounds like terrible advise

[@callmeishmaelk767]

@@Mr.Screwston 😂...yeah right

[@callmeishmaelk767]

Oh God, you have invested in bonds. You need to do more research on the monetary system before giving people advice on KZbin.