Saving for a deposit? Say NO to these 3 things

You’ve done it! You’ve made it through the month, paid all your bills and still have money to spare. 

But this isn’t exactly excess money you can go blow over a weekend spending spree if you’re saving for a deposit on your very own property. 

Once you’ve done the hard graft, it will all be worth it — just think about walking through the door into a place to really call home. In the meantime, here are 3 things to steer clear of.

That weekend away with your friends

Getting a call from a friend for a group weekend away is especially tough to say no to. Not only does it guarantee a good time, but it’s always good to catch up with your best pals.

However, it always ends up being much more expensive than it seems on paper. Not only do you have the transport costs, but going out for food and drink always results in a hefty bill.

Instead of bowing down to peer pressure, why not suggest having your friends around at your place for a get-together?

Ask them to chip in with the food shopping bill, or the takeaway order — and, of course, make it a BYOB event. This way you can spend an awesome evening with your mates but at a fraction of the cost.

That seasonal must-have item of clothing

We get it. You see that amazing handbag or coat online and you must have it! But if you’re saving for a deposit, this is just not the way to go about things. How many items of clothing have you ‘had to have’ but only worn once — or not at all?

Now, think if you hadn’t had bought all those clothes, how much money you would have saved? It’s probably quite a lot.

So, instead of giving into temptation, wait until the sales are on. Myer and David Jones are constantly trying to entice customers into their store with weekly sales, so pop down and bargain hunt – if you really need something.

ebay is also your friend in this situation. There you’ll find other people who have bought too many clothes and are trying to offload them as quickly as possible.

That new phone or pointless gadget

Cast your mind to the humble GoPro as an example of this. You buy it for that one weekend of kayaking, or beach holiday for snorkelling, you bring it home, watch the footage and learn you’re not the next Steven Spielberg, and never use it again. Money well spent?

There are hundreds of gadgets that fall under this category. They look fantastic on paper but ask yourself if you really need them in your life. All of them seemingly end up in a cupboard to rust away until you do a clear-out and realise the most you can get for them is $10 from a bargain hunter who doesn’t know any better.

Buying a new smartphone is also a massive temptation, especially if you watch Apple’s or Samsung’s sales pitch — which makes the devices seem like golden tickets to a perfect life. 

But the handset or a brand new, expensive contract is always a big hammer blow to the piggy bank. It’s a great feeling when you open the box and set it all up with contacts and pictures downloaded from the cloud. But within a couple of days, you start to realise — it’s pretty much the same as your old phone. 

Sure, the camera now does something clever you can show off to your friends that one time, and it’s about 0.01 seconds faster than the previous model, but it’s not something overly noticeable. 

Maybe do something else that makes you happy and doesn’t clutter your cupboards or costs an arm and a leg. If you want that new phone, hold out for a year until they bring out the next model and the old one you wanted is now a fraction of the price. 

It will all be worth it once you get your hands on that set of keys for your very own property. 

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