24M I’ve always been future oriented and frugal with my money growing up but since getting a full time post college job in September 2024 I have done some reflecting and realized I am definitely spending more than I ever used to on hobbies/vices while my main goal has always been homeownership at a young age.
No I do not work a typical 9-5 schedule and instead work 12’s which I actually think I prefer with how many days off I get. I’m very happy with my job and blessed for the opportunities I have, I currently make $30.44/hr with guaranteed overtime every check(due to working 12’s), lots of opportunities for added overtime and holiday pay. Comes out to $71k for a full year with no added overtime, while in line to get a raise before end of this year and a yearly end of year raise.
I have done some reflecting and notice that with all my days off (7 days off in a 2 week period), I find myself going solo for my hobbies a lot more than ever, mainly golf, and eating out. I’m no pro or anything, and I do walk 90% of the time to save some but I look back on this summer and realize I’ve been going a solid 2x a week averaging $50-100 just in golf every week. In addition I like to use zyns and have noticed myself not caring about how many I use, call it $20 a week. I will occasionally go to a sporting event every couple weeks and likely end up going through $60-70 every 2 weeks so ~$35 a week. And lastly eating out I typically find myself at culvers and panda atleast once a week each or more for an average $30-40 a week. All together I would say it averages about $150-175/wk or $600-700 which definitely brings everything back to reality for me.
I don’t really go out much for drinks, I live with family and pay no rent while picking up groceries once or twice to help out, I drive an old manual civic and have never had a car payment. I understand I can afford all this and more but it hurts to see even this much leaving the account monthly for “wants” that are non essential. What advice would you give you a young man that really wants to hone all of his attention on future planning and building wealth?
If you made it this far thank you for reading and I appreciate any help or advice!
Where to cut back to maximize savings for a house
byu/jimhalpert8 inFrugal
Posted by jimhalpert8
5 Comments
You need a monthly budget. There’s no issue with spending your money on hobbies and things that bring you joy—but you need to plan for it instead of it just “happening” to you.
A budget is spending your income on paper before the month begins. You should look at your budget when deciding to purchase something, instead of looking at your bank account.
Does your work have a 401k? Max it out if they do. You should have a provision that you can withdrawal for a down payment on a house. Every company I’ve worked for had that provision.
This will give you not only your savings, the money will work for you instead.
If you purchase your lunch every day try bringing your lunch. That’s a $2,000 savings right there.
If you’re serious about wanting to save money look into the YNAB budgeting app.
Just put your money in a savings account with high yield. Figure out how much your house is gonna cost, then think about your down payment and how much you need. Then think about how long you can realistically save for that. Give yourself a time frame on when you’ll want to purchase by. Then you can use the monthly expenses you have now and factor in mortgage, property taxes, and insurance. You’ll need around 10-20k to move in for stuff you’ll need like appliances, furniture, and what not.
The point is to figure out the numbers and start saving now.
You need a budget, first thing – especially since you don’t have much in the way of monthly bills. Better to get used to it now because you will definitely need it as a homeowner.
Zero sum budgeting is my preferred way to budget, starting with the actual money you have on hand. Tracking your spending will teach you where you can cut back, if you need to.
To me, being frugal isn’t about denying myself every single pleasure that costs money. Golfing is a healthy activity, so I don’t see a reason to cut that out.
Unlike a lot of people, I’ve never been interested in homeownership. Our apartment is well below market rate in our HCOL area, so we’ve been able to put a considerable sum of money away and still live comfortably, plus my husband and I will have retirement pensions. We’re also a one car household, so that saves a ton of money as well.