First Time Homebuyers: Cut 6 Expenses To Save $855 a Month Toward Down Payment

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Saving up a down payment is one of the most challenging aspects of buying a house, even if you put down less than the 20% experts recommend. But chances are, your budget has room for improvement that could help you reach your goal faster.

Using the most recent (2023) income and expenditure data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources, GOBankingRates found $855 in common monthly expenses the average household can cut in favor of putting the money toward a home purchase.

Eating Out

• Savings: $302 per month

Households with incomes of $70,000 to $99,999 spend an average of $9,705 on food each year, and $3,624 of it goes toward food away from home (including restaurant and cafeteria food, as well as snacks purchased from a store or vending machine). Cutting out those purchases and shifting social gatherings away from restaurants could help you reach your down payment goals much faster.

Alcohol

• Savings: $43 per month

Recent studies from Gallup and IWSR from have shown a downward trend in alcohol consumption, so chances are you’re drinking less or have considered cutting back. Cutting out booze altogether is a good way to save the $512 per year on average that Americans spend on alcohol. 

Cell Phone Protection Plans

• Savings: $20 (for two covered phones)

Americans keep their cell phones for less than three years before trading up, according to Statista. During that time, many pay for cell phone protection that can cost $10 per month at the lower end. If two members of your household have phone protection plans on your nearly-new phones, you could save $240 per year by eliminating them. A good-quality screen protector and extra care when using your phone will help you avoid the most common damage — cracked and broken screens.

Tobacco 

• Savings: $243 per month

A 2024 Gallup poll found that about 11% of Americans had used tobacco in the past week. If you’re a pack-a-day smoker, you could be spending nearly $3,000 per year (assuming a cost of $8 per pack). Vapers spend less — about $82 per month, on average, per a study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research — but can still boost their annual savings by nearly $1,000 if they quit. 

Impulse Purchases

• Savings: $141 per month (per adult)

American adults spend an average of $3,381 on impulse purchases over the course of a year, per a 2024 Capital One Shopping analysis. Some of these purchases are things consumers might’ve needed anyway, so GOBankingRates assumed that half of impulse purchases are unnecessary, for an annual cost of $1,690 per adult.

Credit Card Interest

• Savings: $106 per month

Households with credit card debt paid an average interest charge of $106 per month in November 2023, based on an interest rate of 21%, according to the most recent Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis calculations. If you can’t eliminate the debt entirely and are a couple of years away from applying for a mortgage, consider consolidating credit card debt with a personal loan. Federal Reserve data shows that personal loan rates average about 45% less than the rates credit cards charge.

3 Steps for Saving Up Toward a Down Payment

A strategic approach to saving gives you a clear goal to work toward, and the ability to measure your progress:

1. Set a down payment amount as your long-term savings goal.
2. Track your spending, including cash purchases, for a month to find unnecessary expenses you can cut from your budget. Total those expenses.
3. Add the total to any other funds you have available for savings, and make the new total your monthly savings goal.

Bonus tip: Set up auto-transfers from your checking account into savings, or add your savings account to your direct deposit and designate a portion of your pay for savings.

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