I’m proud to say that Josh and I bought a home completely on our own.

We both worked very hard and saved our money for a long time. 

It’s not sexy.

There weren’t any shortcuts, but there were a few key things that truly helped me save. I lived in San Francisco for the past 7 years, which is one of the most expensive cities in the country (and the world). I knew I was going to have to be strategic. To clarify: I had countless unforgettable experiences while living in SF and had the opportunity to eat at many amazing restaurants. I also traveled to countries like Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Egypt, Vietnam, and Japan during that time. My goal was to travel — but also save money — at the same time if at all possible. 

I tried to be thoughtful about how I spent and saved my money. I didn’t spend money on things I didn’t really enjoy — except for things like bills and necessities.

These are the things that helped us save for a downpayment on a house. Don’t worry: I’m not going to tell you to cut back on lattes. Can we wind down that sort of advice already? 

Living in the Bay Area and building our entire lives there naturally led to a feeling that we would buy a house there. Unfortunately, we were many years away from being able to make that purchase due to the extreme expense of Bay Area homeownership. 

However, instead of being discouraged, we knew we needed to start saving right away. 

(Well, actually, my saving goals started when I was 11 years old and my mom told me I needed to save my babysitting money if I wanted to buy a car when I was 16. As soon as I started working a full-time job I was able to set some money aside. I’m so glad I did!) 

Jumping back to early 2020 San Francisco: in a crazy twist of events (and we are all familiar with what happened the last 2 years), the world completely changed.

Something unexpected happened. We realized that because of remote work, we were conceivably able to move to a much more affordable city and buy a house MUCH sooner. We were so glad that we had saved because when the opportunity presented itself we could jump on it. 

The first time we saw the orchard!

These are some of the things that helped us set money aside. 

1. Ask for a raise – this might be one of the single most important things you can do for yourself in your career. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS negotiate for a raise — especially when you start a new job. That is going to be your very best opportunity to put yourself in a higher pay bracket. Doing this will help you save WAY MORE money than cutting out barista creations ever could. This is especially critical for women since we are typically paid less than men. When I started at my job in SF I negotiated a 28% pay raise. I took  that additional income and immediately put it into my house fund. That’s a huge jump! At the very least you should be negotiating a pay raise at your current job, or looking for a new one that can help dramatically boost your salary and thus your savings. 

2. This one is especially unsexy. One of my guiding life principles is to upgrade your life as slowly as possible. Once you upgrade your lifestyle it’s really hard to downgrade, let me repeat that…. Try to upgrade your lifestyle as slowly as possible.  This might be unpopular advice but If your goal is to buy a home one day then would it really make sense to rent the most expensive apartment in the building or area? If you can be patient now, you’ll be in a much better position later. Trust me, later comes much sooner than you can ever expect. 

For example, I lived in a closet (well closet-sized room in San Francisco) for a year to save money. 

I lived in a great neighborhood in the city and was able to thoughtfully save money and travel at the same time.

What are your biggest expenses? Is there a way to reduce them? Even for a short time? What are your recurring costs? These are monthly, yearly, and weekly expenses that add up over time. No need to cut Netflix but it’s helpful to understand where you are spending money each month so that if it’s not something you’re using you can remove it.

3. Automate your savings habit – We used Betterment, a platform that helps you automatically save money. I love using betterment because it gamifies saving money — at least for me. I told myself that the money we set aside in Betterment was specifically for buying a home and that no matter what we couldn’t take money out for anything except that goal. That really forced me to plan ahead. 

It really helped to separate money for specific goals from our bank account into Betterment.

I know we would NOT have been able to save the same way if we had not used it. I started using it in 2015 when I first moved to SF and by 2021 we had enough money saved and reached the goal of saving towards a downpayment on a house. 

Originally we had planned to buy a home in the Bay Area and in that case, we would likely still be saving for a house now. But because we had been saving for over seven years we were ready when the opportunity presented itself to buy something sooner. 

Some of the reasons I recommend Betterment 

• You can easily transfer money from your bank to your Betterment account. This helped us put the money in an entirely different account and not be tempted to use it for something else. 
• The UX (user experience) made the process of saving money fun. I was able to see how much we had saved each month and see how much closer we were to our goal.
• Since buying a house was a longer-term goal for us we had Betterment tied to the stock market. When the market went up and down that was reflected in the account, however, if we had just “saved” money in a traditional bank account it wouldn’t have made any interest and in the end, it made thousands of dollars that we were able to put towards the goal of buying a home. 
• It forced us to hold ourselves accountable. You can set an amount you want to reach by a certain date and the app will let you know if you’re on track to meet your goal or behind. 

I would use Betterment even if they didn’t provide a referral code but if you use my code you’ll get $5,000 worth of free money management.

4. Pay yourself first each month. I set up an automatic transfer made from our bank to Betterment. The idea here is to take money from your paycheck each month before you pay your other bills (paying yourself first). I added this to Betterment each month, which forces you to save first and not at the end of the month after you’ve already spent the majority of your paycheck.

I actually looked forward to making that deposit to Betterment each month because I could clearly see that we were making progress on our goals. That was worth way more to me than a shopping trip to the mall. The other great thing about paying yourself first is that you can spend without feeling guilty because you already set your “goal money” aside. 

5. Ditch expensive hobbies and find inexpensive ones 

Find hobbies, interests, and activities that don’t involve spending a lot of money or that are recurring expenses. My frequent activities weren’t expensive or costly. If you love rollerskating, it’s a one-time expense to buy the skates then you can use them anytime. If you compare that with scuba diving, there are many more expenses involved i.e. getting certified, buying and maintaining equipment, or renting it, traveling to a destination etc.  One question to ask yourself is…are required to spend money every time you want to participate in this hobby?  Rule of thumb if you are spending money on it regularly make sure it’s something you really enjoy doing! Or find a less expensive way to participate in it. 

A few of our new hobbies!

When I lived in San Francisco I started doing aerial arts — specifically, Lyra. My gym started offering the class and I fell in love with it. It was included with my gym membership, which was great because taking those types of classes at a studio can add up. Eventually, I did take some classes at a different studio every once in a while but only if I wasn’t able to make the aerial class at my gym. 

6. Spend time with people who encourage good habits and behaviors

Everyone has that one friend who, when you spend time with them, you end up investing much more of yourself than you originally imagined. Expensive meals, nights out, trips to places you didn’t even really care to go…

Maybe you feel like you have to spend money on certain physical things such as nicer clothes or jewelry when you’re around them. 

I had such a friend, and every time we hung out I would somehow end up spending a lot of money. 

Every time we spent time together we would inevitably go shopping for jewelry or clothes, even though I had no intention of swiping my card. Regrettably, I always ended up splurging and buying things that I later (instantly) regretted. 

Friendship should be about enjoying the other person’s company and not just going out and spending money because that’s what you think you’re supposed to do with friends. I challenge you to reveal how you spend time with your friends. Better yet: why not make friends with individuals who encourage you and push you toward your goals. 

One recommendation for the above is to take initiative and plan fun activities that anyone can enjoy without breaking the bank.

It’s one thing if you really enjoy doing these things, so try not to unreasonably deprive yourself, BUT don’t don’t perpetuate them while following your friend’s bad habits.

Check your own habits and behaviors. Are you spending money on the things that actually matter? 

Are you buying something because it brings you joy and enhances your life in some small or large way?

How much of your time do you have to commit to pay for it? 

Go through your credit card statement and do an evaluation to answer these questions. 

The day we got the keys we popped open some bubbly to celebrate!

7. Set up a monthly money date and add it to the calendar. If you’re in a relationship, plan a monthly money date with your partner to help get you both on the same page. Josh and I like to open up a bottle of wine or craft a tasty beverage before we sit down and review our finances. 

We typically review our credit cards and confirm any recurring expenses, remove any unnecessary ones, pay our bills, and most importantly talk about our goals. 

What are you saving for and how much do you want to save each month? 

It’s a lot easier to save for your goals when you hold yourself accountable and each other accountable. 

We followed these steps consistently and ultimately it allowed us to reach our goal of buying our first home. 

---

Hi there, my name is Roya — that means dream in Farsi– I am a creator, marketer, adventurer, dreamer, curator of experiences, and plant-based lover of food on the search for the best plant-based restaurants in the world. 

My husband Josh and I own several acres in San Diego. We’re obsessed with oranges and love finding new ways to use them since we have an entire orchard full of them! Come along on our journey with us