How Did you Do that: Buying a Home Edition.
HOW THE FLYING FLIP NUGGET DID YOU DO THAT?
Like, for real.
Going Out Socializing with Dear Friends
The Pups.
If they don't have halloween costumes, how will they look back and remember their youth? Halloween is an important experience in young child's life.
So homeowners.... How'd you do this?? Did you seriously not purchase booze or pup costumes or take trips or go visit with friends or go to concerts or go shopping or get you hair did? Like, at all? Or do you make six figures and I'm the only loser hanging out in 5 figure land? Help me out! Will I be a renter forever?
HOW THE FLYING FLIP NUGGET DID YOU DO THAT?
Like, for real.
I watch HGTV like it's my job, how do you have $50,000 saved up for a home? First time home buyers, $50,000 saved up. At that age, at my age. I'm 26 if you are new to the Venus party.
Hmmmm a Venus Trapped in Mars party. That sounds fun! We will get balloons and whiskey and champagne and a bunch of stuffed crust pizza and hire a DJ (maybe DJ Helene?) and a drag queen to throw glitter at you as you walk in the door?!
Oh wait, right, buying a house and saving money. Oops. Sidetracked.
I do pretty well for myself, I work hard and am employed with a few different freelance jobs in addition to a full time job. So I sat down yesterday and starting thinking about saving money and I came up with a list of things I could cut out of my life in order to start saving for a house.
Trips.
Isn't this the only time in my life I'll be able to travel cause I'll have kids lat----hahahahahhah. Ok, maybe I can stop traveling.
Shopping.
Do you expect me to post nude photos on the blog? This isn't THAT kind of blog. Shopping is necessary. Don't nobody wanna see that.
I do pretty well for myself, I work hard and am employed with a few different freelance jobs in addition to a full time job. So I sat down yesterday and starting thinking about saving money and I came up with a list of things I could cut out of my life in order to start saving for a house.
Booze.
Yeah, but then what would I blog about?
Food.
Hah. Funny. LOLz. Food is my jam.
Isn't this the only time in my life I'll be able to travel cause I'll have kids lat----hahahahahhah. Ok, maybe I can stop traveling.
Shopping.
Do you expect me to post nude photos on the blog? This isn't THAT kind of blog. Shopping is necessary. Don't nobody wanna see that.
Sometimes your girlfriends need you to listen to them vent and help get them through hard times. I'd be a bad friend if I abandoned them in their time of need.
Beauty Treatments
If I'm ever going to become a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, a strict beauty routine, including regular teeth whitening, is necessary.
Concerts
I need to show my appreciation to the artists somehow. Seeing as Spotify alleviates the need to purchase their music, this is my only way to give back and thank them for their hard work and lyrical genius. It is hard to be a musician these days.
If they don't have halloween costumes, how will they look back and remember their youth? Halloween is an important experience in young child's life.
I love the ones where they're in their early 20's and their parents have gifted them with a huge down payment... ughhh!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso? Why are you whitening your teeth on the toilet?
It's not about giving up ALL those things- it's just enjoying them in moderation! :) You would hate my post today- hahah! But seriously, just cutting back tiny amounts and putting that saved money in a savings account can add up faster than you realize!
ReplyDeleteI didn't do any of the above (although I don't have pups, get my hair cut once a year and go to bed by 9), but I bought one 2 years ago. Most first time home buyers don't need a down payment. I actually got almost $1000 back when I closed on my house!
ReplyDeleteOr you could just move to Atlanta. I saw a guy on House Hunters the other day with a $40k budget and he was looking at pretty decent condos....
I was curious about the toilet teeth whitening, as well!!!
ReplyDeleteI should be embarrassed to admit this but I am much older than you, and I don't have 50,000 to put down on a house :(
Thanks for the laughs as always!!!
Depending on what kind of loan you get, you wouldn't need a down payment. Although me and D are trying to save X amount of money (we're almost there!) before we get a loan, we won't be using it on a down payment, instead it will be for home projects, furniture, and closing costs (if necessary). To me, the best way to do it is to get pre-approved for a loan, so you know exactly what you can afford when home shopping. Buying a home at 26 is is totally doable!
ReplyDeleteCheck with your bank about getting a FHA loan, it requires a low down payment which a lot of twenty somethings take advantage of when purchasing their first house. I always wonder how those people on HGTV can afford a $500,000 house when they are 24. It makes me crazy!!!!
ReplyDeleteSoo...I was the hubs and I was gifted land..please don't tell Erin up above there..but thats how we were able to build our house being in our twenties.
ReplyDeletei'm 5 years older than you and I'm pretty sure I will be renting for eternity. I think a lot of it depends on where you live. Like I live in Los Angeles, and I will never own a home here unless I win the lottery (or choose a bad area). But if I moved to somewhere that isn't around a huge city (also not in a state that's broke), I could probably get there someday. Like if I moved to Montana or one of those states like that...
ReplyDeleteIf you move to a rural area you could get a USDA loan and put no money down and get a lower interest rate. But then you would be living in the middle of no where in Alabama or somewhere equivalent like me. Then you don't have to worry about your going out budget, as there is no where to go!
ReplyDeleteI kind of fall into the category of 'parents gifted the down payment'. My husband bought a condo before we were married with the help of his parents. We sold the condo and used that money to buy our house, but I think it's totally doable to save up the money on your own… it just takes a few sacrifices.
ReplyDeleteI'm a homeowner and bought my first home at 20 years old. I didn't have anywhere close to $50,000 saved up but I did have a little. I only had to put down 3 1/2% to buy my home so I got lucky. I think it all depends on the loan you are getting. By the way, the teeth whitening on the toilet is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteTeeth whitening on the toilet. This seems like something I need to do before I die.
ReplyDeleteHawkeye's food costs $25 for a 5lb bag, she gets groomed for $70 every six weeks, she gets fresh chicken treats daily and lezbihonest lots of taco bell, and let's not even start on the cost of flea meds for the dog who won't go outside or the price of chicago dog tags/registration for the dog who won't go to dog parks! DIVA. But she's worth it, guess I'll just be poor :)
ReplyDeleteDon't cut out traveling. Definitely not. Plane tickets are my favorite thing to buy and I would rather not go shopping for months in order to travel! I put "saving" in my budget like any other bill and it starts to add up. Even if it's only $100 a month. Sometimes at the end of the month I see what's left and can make a bigger deposit.
ReplyDeleteI bought my place 3 years ago and put down 20%. I was gifted part of the down payment from my sister (she really wanted me to live near them...part of her master plan) and I came up with the rest. I didn't have anything saved, but I did borrow against my 401k. Some people will say this is a bad idea, but honestly, for me, it was perfect. You are borrowing against yourself and paying yourself back...essentially. Next time, I will save up money instead of borrowing, but I am happy that I put 20% down. You don't have to pay PMI if you put 20% down.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine having 50k just sitting around. We totally saved enough to put $$$ down, have savings left, and immediately remodel a room. I made a goofy excel spreadsheet that has worked wonders and went on the cash diet. I get a set amount of cash money for groceries and fun. After htat, I have to wait. We make a decision at the start of the year to do one large vacation or a few smaller so that we don't feel deprived. I also convinced my girlfriends that skeezy bars with $2 all calls and $5 apps was the best place for happy hour,so that we could get white girl wasto and still have money left.
ReplyDeletehahaha. we watch those home buying shows in the lunchroom at work and we say the same thing. like we're eating microwavable $1.50 Walmart lunches and these twenty somethings are debating which washing machine to put in their new house. it's nuts.
ReplyDeleteGirl you don't need $50,000 to buy a house. It's nice since you don't pay the Mortgage tax (PMI) but it is not necessary. I also went through my State's New Homeowners course (1 day class) and got $8000 toward closing. ALWAYS make the seller pay closing costs!! It's possible.
ReplyDeleteWe cut eating out, and spending money. We each get the same amount in cash and that's all we've got. It covers any individual eating out we do, shopping, products, friends birthday presents. Also, it helps to move the money into savings when you get paid, NOT at the end of the month. It's too tempting to spend it if you can see it. :)
ReplyDeleteGirl, I don't know how people do it. My husband & I bought a house for our family last year and we are straight up living the strug life right now. We are super house poor and every time I see a new pair of boots I want all I can think is "man, that's half a light bill payment". Please keep going out, traveling and attending concert so I can live vicariously through your posts about your adventures :)
ReplyDeleteI just don't understand why people get so excited about owning houses... we have one and have been trying to get rid of it ASAP so we can rent forever! (This article sums up my thoughts on it very nicely http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/09/27/11-reasons-why-i-never-want-to-own-a-house-again/)
ReplyDeleteI always think the same thing when watching House Hunters - how can you afford a $500,000 house right out of college?!? I have a decent full-time job, and my husband works as well, but I still couldn't imagine buying a house right now. I would LOVE to....although we have had decent luck with our last couple of rentals, and can at least afford to rent a house instead of an apartment, I am anxious to have a place that is actually my own that I can paint however I want, knock out walls to make it bigger, and have my dream kitchen.
ReplyDeleteIn the mean time - I'm with ya, girl!
I am pretty sure they have no bills haha. Because I know the fact that I pay hundreds of dollars in student loans means I can't say those hundreds of dollars.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about this a lot but I actually prefer to be a renter forever. I don't want to worry about replacing a roof or hot water heater and I don't want to think about taxes and insurance. I'll just be a renter thanks.
ReplyDeleteyou can still do it all just not all the time :) i promose you can doooooo it.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up anything. Find a rich guy (preferrably a professional athlete) and make him fall in love with you. Then make him cough up the down payment on your new love nest. What??? It's totally doable.
ReplyDeleteI want to come to the Venus party with glitter!!
ReplyDeleteLook at all these geniuses above talking about loans and down payments and garbledy goop! Im impressed. But still clueless as to how people do it
ReplyDeleteYeah, I got nothing. Let's just throw a party. See ya there.
ReplyDeleteI came into marriage with a crap ton of student debt, so I had approximately zero dollars saved for a down payment. Luckily my husband had been saving and also didn't have a lot that he liked to spend money on, so he'd just been accumulating and had enough for a down payment on our house. But nothing like 50Gs, I think it was only like 10% of the house value. And $50k is almost what our house is worth haha. YAY Texas real estate.
ReplyDeletewhen you figure it out let me know, because i am over here renting until i am 76 at this rate.
ReplyDeleteMy number one HGTV pet peeve--"I'm 25 and I just finished grad school and I have my first job and I'm looking for a new house. I absolutely cannot spend more than $650,000". I'm like--excuse me? What kind of job do you have? I usually end up hating those people and have to turn the show off. But anyway, I digress. Depending on location, buying a house isn't really that hard. In lots of cases, a mortgage can be cheaper than renting! It all depends on the type of loan you get up front as to how much you have to put down. In most cases it's really not that much! A 50,000 down payment would buy you a LOT of house in most places.
ReplyDeleteDogs always need costumes! Yours are too cute!
ReplyDeleteKristin
Crumbs and Curls
I don't want to talk about buying a house because it gets me ragey, but I have to know about whitening your teeth while on a toilet.
ReplyDeleteI didn't cut out any of these necessities, especially buying my dogs ridiculously cute costumes & football jerseys, and we managed to buy our first home a couple of months ago. Thankfully (for us) the home buying market is still struggling, so we were able to get a ridiculously good deal on a house, negotiated so the seller paid all of our closing costs, and we put 5% down on the house. In the end, our mortgage is now a little less than $100 a month than we were paying to rent an apartment. I think it was a little luck of finding the right house at the right time and having a real estate agent who knew how to negotiate. I NEVER in a million years thought we would be homeowners at this point in our life.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so glad it isn't just me. I am SO not there yet. I have too many fun things to do, places to see and concerts to rock out at before the whole mortgage thing comes about. That has to count for something right?
ReplyDeleteKrista
kristiesbluejeans.blogspot.com
Someone that has $30,000+ saved for their first house probably has never paid a bill in their life, has never moved out of mom & dad's house & probably budgets like it's their job. I had a good chunk of money saved when I bought my first house, but it was no where near $50,000 these people on HGTV have as a down payment for a house. Good Lord thats a lot of money!!!
ReplyDeleteGirl I feel your pain!! What saddens me most about HGTV is that I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where $650,000 buys you a 1500 sq ft. fixer upper. And then I turn on the TV and they are buying a home in Georgia for 230,000 and it's 3000+ sq ft. I honestly had to chill on watching that channel for a bit because it's depressing!
ReplyDeleteIt is so true! I would have so much more money if I didn't like doing things! Travel, concerts, food all of my weaknesses :)
ReplyDeleteAll those reasons are why you don't have money! You can still do things just don't go all out or go cheap. I'm a homeowner and I don't make bank
ReplyDeleteI'm in my 30's (but don't tell anyone) and I don't have a house yet. I have had two that I lived in with my husbands, but since they bought the houses pre me I didn't end up with them. Yeah, now I feel like a loser.
ReplyDeleteAin't no body got time for giving up booze. Or white teeth. Or drunken escapades. With a house you have to mow grass. And NO body got time for that.
ReplyDeletexo fal • falfindshappiness.blogspot.com
You don't need to own a home to keep watching HGTV while drinking all the wine. So I'll just keep doing that while waiting for your party invitation.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I bought our home when we were 22. And I've been wanting to get out of it ever since ;) But no seriously, I've been trying to sell it for 4 months. Homeownership is a little crazy. I miss the days of just calling the landlord when something broke. Now when something breaks, I call my husband but I still pay the bill :/
ReplyDeleteAmanda - diaryofanangrpregnantlady.blogspot.com
If owning a home means giving up all those things, I'll be a content renter fo life! If I owned a home, I would probably want to move again in a year anyway.
ReplyDeleteI need to show this to my family - I think they get annoyed of me talking daily about this exact same thing. They don't seem to understand that it is absolutely necessary for me to go on at least one vacation a year even though I'm trying to save up a down payment. Traveling IS a necessity!
ReplyDeleteGo find yourself a sugar daddy and never stop traveling! No but really, I lived at home like a dork until I was 21 and we both saved saved saved separately and then bought a house together when we were 27.
ReplyDeleteWe lucked out, and didn't have to put a down payment on our house five years ago. That is no longer possible now, though. I'm not really sure how we would have done it.. to be honest. Now, we have owned our house for five years and it feels good to be able to say that... On the other hand; we haven't traveled anywhere (worth mentioning.).. we've gone to a few cool concerts, we drink- but don't really party hardy anymore, we do have clothes and we do shop more than we probably should. Somehow you manage, and you'll still get to do all of those fun things, just maybe not as much as you did before.
ReplyDeleteWhile I haven't bought a house yet, I did pay off my car 2.5 years early and I am saving the doll hairz to buy a house eventually. While I do have some money in the bank thanks to the 'rents and grands, I would prefer not to use 100% of it as my 20% down payment. First, check out Dave Ramsey. He will totally get you lined out when it comes to budgeting, which happens to be exactly HOW I am was able to pay off my jeep early and start saving so much for a house. I do live at home (lame at 24? possibly. Boyfriend is 27 and he lives with his parents too, but we both have awesome parents who let us live rent free while we save our monies so no complaints here) so I don't spend money on rent, but I do "pay myself rent," so that when I move out of my parents' house (likely before I buy a house), I'm already used to paying rent AND saving while still living on a budget. What I am "paying myself in rent" is about half my monthly paycheck and will be more than I spend on rent per month. I am a shopaholic (I tend to wake up at 4 a.m. bored and start online shopping frequently) so I know all about spending the monies. I drive a gas guzzling beast of jeep and fill up at least twice a week, I enjoy eating out with friends (gotta stop that for the diet!) and I spoil my pug with gourmet dog treats. BUT I do it all on a budget. Before I even get my paycheck, I know where it is being spent. Give, save, spend is my dad's motto. So, I have a line for giving, a line for saving (at least save $100 if you can, it goes a long way I promise!), and then I list all my bills/known monthly expenses. THEN I list the fun budget items - I give myself a shopping budget, an entertainment budget, a mani/pedi budget. Don't cut out the fun things entirely or you'll go crazy, but know you can only do them as much as your budget allows. Then, put the extra at the end of the month in savings and watch the savings snowball happen! Use cash as much as you can because it's a heck of a whole lot harder to to part with cash than it is magical unending doll hairz on the credit card. Pay off any debt you have ASAP so you can redirect those nasty payments and credit card fees to your savings account! Set mini goals - I want to save "X by Christmas." rather than "I want to buy a house!" I sound like an old timey old lady but I basically just summarized the entire Dave Ramsey plan (well, not really, but the very basics) and saved you money on the book too! Sorry I just wrote a novella comment but I really hope you read it all...being debt free and saving is something I actually GET even though it's the exact opposite of my personality. It's just so freeing to live on a budget, as crazy as that sounds, and I just wish everyone could get that! Haha. I'm more than willing to share my budget sheet if you have questions about it or Dave Ramsey!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think saving a little here and there. I opened a separate savings account just for the down payment and closing costs and saved all monetary gifts I received the 6 months before I bought. It was tough, because I am not a saver, but I was able to do it. If I was able to pull it off (I was 27), anyone can!
ReplyDeleteMy advice: be sure you are in a city you love in an area of town you love because it is really long term. There have been a few times that I wished I could pick up and move to a beach town, but I have my mortgage and can't imagine anyone caring for a rental the way I care for the property myself.
Good luck!
The only way I can afford to buy a house is if I use my VA loan which I don't plan to anytime soon. Living in Hollywood is expensive and I like to party like it's 1999.
ReplyDeleteisn't that the truuuuuuuuth!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehowever I can tell you how I did it.
I married a sugar daddy.
badda boom badda bing.
You mean it's possible to save $50,000 for a house? What alternate universe does that happen in?! I can't even manage to save $50 for goodness sakes. I need to learn their ways!
ReplyDeleteIf I had $50,000 I would not be spending it as a deposit on a house, I would use it to go on a holiday and buy a car and maybe get some clothes. I do not think I would use it to whiten my teeth because if it needs to be done with me sitting on a toilet I do not think it would impress me............
ReplyDeleteI can't give you any help with the whole house thing, I just really want to know why you are whitening your teeth on the toilet?! haha
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you. I have zero idea how those crazy HGTV people have all that money roaming around. I even sat down and set a budget. A week later, I NEEDED all these things. So, I went to Target. Budget blown. Guess we won't be buying a house in the near future!
ReplyDeleteI am 26 also and feeling the pressure to buy a house! It is much much harder to find an affordable house here in Australia tho. The cheapest houses I can find in our city are $300,000! :-(
ReplyDeleteNO!!!!!!!!!! i typed out this LONG ASS COMMENT and it's gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteugh, so mad right now i can't even deal so i will come back later to redo it :(
Girl.....they didn't even put the lid down for you??? WTH do you get your teeth done?
ReplyDeleteOK, let's try this again!
ReplyDeleteeven with a six figure salary, savings are *so important!*. saving money is a learned skill that has to be mastered and it's tough at first but once you find a system and tricks that work for you, you start to do it on auto-pilot.
1) make a 5yr plan as in outline your goals of where you want to be in the next 5yrs. having a tangible plan that you can see makes a huge difference and gives you something to work towards. this is what i did just before graduation - i sat down, drew up a 5yr plan and how i was going to accomplish each goal and by the time i was 24, i had crossed off everything off the list.
2) if you have any, getting rid of all of your debts/loans should be #1 on the list. student loans are the worst and eat up all of your money and sabotage any and all future savings efforts. so even if that means you go broke for the next year or so, put as much money as you can towards paying those bitches off until you are debt free (from loans that is).
3) create a budget and stick with it. figure out your monthly income vs expenses in order to see where you can start cutting expenses. eat at home/bring lunch to work (saves mega $$). if you must dine out, reserve that for a special occasion or once a week only. those coffees you grab on the go? make it at home and take it with you. buying snacks at work? buy in bulk and store them at work in your desk. not only does this cut down expenses but also on the calories since those snacks you buy at work are high calorie garbage so this is a double win!
4) now that you know what your income is, aim to put away at least 20% (after expenses are paid) into savings every pay check.
4) look for high-interest savings accounts and dump the majority of your money into it. banks give shit interest so because of #3, you know what your monthly expenses are so keep that amount only in your checking (with a 10% buffer for those just in case expenses) and put the rest in the high interest savings account. i like ING Direct. they also offer a tax-free savings account where you won't get taxed on the interest you get up to $5000/yr. max that out if you can. ING also takes some time to wire the money back into your checking account which gives you time to really think about your purchases/if you really want to spend that money so think of it as a fail safe!
5) set up monthly automatic withdrawals from your checking account into savings. even if it's $25 or $50/month, you'll wind up forgetting about that and when you go back to check your savings, you'll have more in savings and it's like christmas every time! :D
6) speaking of banks, look for banks that have low or zero service fees. i hate it that banks charge you ridiculous fees to keep your money in there. if you like your bank, then ask them for bundle service discounts/rebates. many banks will offer to credit you back the service fees if you have more than 2 services with them ie. your bank acct + their credit card or something like that. this isn't usually advertised but i would ask anyway. it's how i got my bank to give me back my goddamn $15 service fee every month!!
7) shop around for lower car insurance. many insurance companies will default to the highest package which means $1M liability and all kinds of shit that a regular gal like you or me would never need/use. look into your policy and reduce those payout amounts and increase your deductible so that your monthly premiums are lower.
8) PLAN AHEAD. planning is key to saving a big amount of money. if you know you're going on vacation next year, start saving NOW. even if this means putting away $50 every pay check until your vacation day, you'll have saved up more than half of your trip by the time your vacation rolls around without dipping into your savings.
hope this helps!!
-kathy
Vodka and Soda
Age 23 I bought a house. But I def didn't have 50,000 down payment nor a house that required that! I bought a cheap house. I worked 3-4 different jobs at a time during college so that I came out with no debt. My rockstar husband had college scholarships so he came out with no debt. Neither one of us would have been able to do it without each other. I have no kids or animals and it sounds like you have a lot more fun than me, but that is how I did it. :-)
ReplyDeletei seriously was just thinking about this exact same thing earlier today!
ReplyDeleteWe haven't bought a house yet, but we've saved up to buy one! For us, we used the envelope system- divided money up for bills/savings, and then the rest was our spending money. We just treat savings as a bill and then don't have to feel guilty about using our 'fun money' for everything else! We were super frugal for the first four years, but never felt deprived.
ReplyDeleteI'm 36 and I have no idea how they do it...
ReplyDeleteThere's no way that I am giving up any of that. I don't really shop at all or buy many "extras." I'm concentrating on eliminating all my credit card debt. My husband and I probably will buy a house in the next two years. Obviously, we are getting a loan but through the VA (he's military and can get really good rates). It's pretty impossible to save $50,000 right away. That would take years. This is coming from a girl that has a graduate degree!! I never watch the show, but I hate how people think, "I just graduated and I need that $500,000 house." Um no bitch, no one does.
ReplyDeleteI bought my house when I was 23. I was VERY lucky not to have student loans or any other debt to pay off, and I have been working since I was 15 so I did have money saved. I still shopped, but didn't travel much at the time and I didn't have dogs. I didn't have a $50k down payment. I had a 10% down payment, but the houses in my city aren't $500k houses like those people on HGTV! I think its all about planning, location, and timing. :-)
ReplyDelete-AJ
FitTravelerAJ.com
We bought a house this year and needed very little for a down payment. We decided what size mortgage we wanted first, then set how much we could afford down and then talked with a mortgage guy who filled in the missing number of what our max purchase price was. Made the process super easy!
ReplyDeleteHaha this was great. Never give up the trips! In fact, my post for tomorrow is all about how travel is worth saving money for. Way better than a house. ;)
ReplyDeleteDude, I am still in awe of people who manage to buy like... food. How anyone buys an actual thing that you can live in is totally beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI have just taken out my first personal loan and i must say i am extremely impressed as to how straightforward the services is. All i had to do was applied and filled out the application form and submit it! I was then told in about 10 minutes that i was accepted and that the funds has been approved and on the way to my bank after submitting the required information’s and i received a loan of $35,000 USD! Extremely impressive. Now i have my own car and also have my own business thanks to JENAS PEDRO LOAN FIRM. Apply for your loan today without any stress with JENAS PEDRO LOAN FIRM email them now on ( jp_loanfirm@hotmail.com ). Thanks.
ReplyDelete