A lot of people have been asking me how I put away enough money to buy a house. Well, it’s pretty simple: I saved up for a while, and when that wasn’t nearly enough, I paid for the house with my parents’ money.
But simple doesn’t mean easy! I had to make some tough lifestyle changes. For instance, I stopped buying coffee every day and started making it at home. This allowed me to pocket enough money to go ask my parents for a down payment.
One of the hardest sacrifices I made was suspending my Netflix subscription. (I love my shows!) But with those extra nine bucks a month, I was able to build up my savings, and then have my parents write me a check for ten percent above the asking price.
If you know me, you know I eat a lot of avocado toast. But that stuff is expensive! So I spent two months eating just plain toast. And after those two tasteless months? You guessed it: my parents wired me six hundred thousand dollars.
I even stopped using my phone! As soon as I found out how much a phone plan costs, I threw my phone in the trash can, and threw the trash can out the window. My neighbor happened to be out for a walk and the trash can hit him hard enough that it shattered his shoulder. He sued me and we settled out of court with my parents’ money. Then they bought me a house.
Don’t worry! These aren’t the only ways to buy a house. You could stop ordering takeout and cook at home to cut costs, and then buy a house with your rich aunt’s money. Or you could take on a second job to put away extra cash, and then buy a house with your inheritance. You could even do a GoFundMe and have your parents donate a house’s amount of money. There are a lot of options!
In the end, the most important thing to remember when saving up to buy a house is that someone else will be paying for it.
Read an interview with Eli Grober about his inspiration for writing this piece over on our Patreon page.