How to put 20% down on our 1st home
How I did it: We were originally going to put 10% down and had that money saved already. Then we realized how much money we could save on PMI if we worked hard and got the 20% downpayment together before closing date. That was only 2-3 months away so we took a serious look at our budget and cut out all the items we could. We talked about turning off the cable but w/ only 2 months left to our goal, decided the dent was too small. We worked as much overtime as we could get (for him, about 10 hours; for me, about 60 hours), stopped eating out, took lunches to work, & didn't spend a penny that was unplanned and unnecessary. It was hard, we had to turn down a lot of invites from friends to go out but eventually our friends realized how serious we were and started cooking for us at their homes or we would have them over to ours. A lot of people didn't understand what we were doing and why we were working ourselves so hard. One person liked to parrot to us that "if you can't afford XXX (ie: going to Chipotle) now, then you shouldn't be buying a house." Clearly, he did not get it, but we knew what was important to us and what we could afford. In the end, we far exceeded our goal and even have enough now to replace all the carpeting, something we thought we'd have to put off until after the move.
Lessons & tips: Stay focused on why it is important. Have a plan/budget & stick to it. Get your friends on board - they can really help make all those boring nights at home more enjoyable.
