my, advice is don’t buy a home with a boyfriend. do it on your own. it will be more rewarding. AND it is yours. trust me it matters. not everyone has the ability to save. if you do. use it. then don’t get set on being in one place. you might find a better home and job opportunities in another state.

people can tell you to invest and all that’s good. but all investments are a gamble. it’s about saving, not how to invest that is important. just keep saving and if the bank sees you can save they will give you a loan when you need it for that home.

you need to prove to the bank, you are an investment and they can depend on you. Then you can start building with a credit card. but I highly suggest staying away from those. they get a lot of people in financial trouble. Building your credit is important.

I recommend you going to a bank, and start building relationships. Let them know you, call them by their name. chat with the loan officers. talk to them about what to do financially. they will help you. then they will be more willing to help with the loan as well.

when you buy the house... NEVER buy as much as the realtor says you can... do not even let them show you the more expensive... you will want the more expensive every time!!! they are always nicer no MATTER the price range. it is universal. always go with a lot less than you can do!!! I promise you don’t want every dollar to go to rent. those realtors are caring about their pocket trying to get you to buy more! don’t fall for it. you tell the realtor your price range and as soon as they try and show you more expensive, telling you, you can afford it. FIRE THEM! they aren’t caring about you at all!!!

I’m sure you will want a family and be able to go on trips and buy a car and extras. the realtor always gets you to spend as much as you can where you have no money for food. it’s all in the rent. yes, you can afford it, but that’s ALL you can afford.

my advice is... get financial advice from a banker and build a relationship there. save your money. just don’t buy all the bull crap being forced on us. be stronger. saving is a great skill if you can do it. and don’t buy too much house. always go way less, fix it up. use your magic and make it feel like home. home is where we make it

any investment will have a risk.. patience is important. have patience. We act like we gotta have everything, now, in a hurry, make money fast, get our food fast, drive fast, hurry hurry hurry. Why not let time do its thing? and one you’re asking for the impossible.... make money without working. you are going to college accumulating so much debt you can buy 2 homes with what you are doing. trying to make going to college a career. do a trade instead of college. most people don’t even do what they went to college to do. it’s not easy getting a job.

my daughter wanted to be a teacher. was going to go into a lot of debt to do it. and she realized after the second year it wasn’t what she wanted.

she went to real estate school and got her license and instead of her career costing her over 100K she only spent $900 for the online class and was a realtor in a few days not years. She’s making money instead of going into debt even more.

I recommend finding a trade instead of a college. collage only creates debit, it does not help get jobs. having a trade gets jobs. not collage. that is a fact.

you can sell things on eBay, that’s what a lot of kids your age do for extra money sell product. make something and sell it. saving is the biggest key. cut coupons, stay out of stores and amazon. do everything you can to save. give up going out. no more sodas, all that adds up. sell things you no longer really use. minimize while you are saving. remember it’s for that home.

I have found it doesn’t usually work out well buying a house with someone else, even the one that will never leave.

good luck

Athena

1) When buying a home I’d think about timing; if you’re both still in school chances are you’re not going to be able to save so much, even cutting back on as much as you can. You’ll need to graduate, and get boosted, full time incomes, before you can really buckle down and squirrel away amounts that make a dent. If you’re currently renting, your mortgage payment shouldn’t be more than what you’d pay for rent; if you’re living with family stay in their good graces while you build a better nest egg.

2) When buying a home as a couple, you do NOT have to be married to be co-owners; however, should you ever split up, you’ll still both be liable for that home. You’ll have to decide to either buy out one person’s share or sell it and split it equally. Not a happy thought maybe but something to consider in the back of your mind (I bought my home with my partner before we got married, and I was scared of committment so planning out an exit strategy made me feel better). Side note, we’d lived together at least three years prior to this purchase - I’d highly suggest living together at least a year before making any big purchases together. Our first year living together was hell (this after nine blissful months of dating). If you can make it through a year, then you might be OK.

3) Depending where you live and the cost of housing, getting pre-approved for a home loan helps a lot and the downpayment may not need to be as much as you think, but should be as much as you can afford. Remember if you’re buying an older home that unforseen repairs can kick in pretty early, and if you’ve thrown all your savings into the house itself you may be stuck borrowing again to cover sudden issues.

4) My father’s one bit of wisdom was always “If you’re in debt, it means at least one person will always want you alive.” You write that you don’t want any loans, but again dumping all you have into one purchase can be risky, since it leaves you vulnerable to other big bills popping up. So long as interest rates are low and you can get a fixed rate mortgage (VERY important - always get fixed) it’s not so bad to take a home loan out, especially as some home loans will have much lower interest than credit cards or other lines of credit. Keeping some cash on hand to cover big surprise bills rather than relying on those higher interest options can be more beneficial than going broke on a home. Debt isn’t a bad thing, it’s just about managing it smartly.

Best of luck!

Grow your own food. Find clothing banks for everything from linens to dress slacks. Don't use a dryer to dry clothes. Make your own cleaning supplies (vinegar) works wonders. Get rid of all prepaid internet. Don't pay for Wi-Fi go public. Pack lunches quit eating out at all. Watch network TV you know an antenna. Ride a bike park your vehicle completely no gas no maintenance and no insurance. Put savings in a sure bet long term investment savings bonds ECT. Get a library card go there to find free entertainment. Be a dog walker house sitter provide a service hang Christmas decoration outside for people. Run errends for elderly or people that have disabilities

Oh my Gosh you should have a house all ready with all that haha

Use coupons, eat homecooked meals only, and exercise, read, and play board games or card games for entertainment. You can likely save money by not subscribing to internet service, instead using public computers or hot spots from local libraries or perhaps your university. However due to the pandemic, I can understand if you are wary of that.

Do not subscribe to t.v. service. Use a frugal phone plan that charges you according to your usage and limit phonecalls and texts to no more than one or two calls and texts apiece per week at most. I realize this advise is austere. But if you are needing to boost savings in hopes of buying a home without securing a loan while neither of you work very much, you need to be the two most frugal human beings on the planet. You can do it!!!