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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Choices to Make

Okay, I am going to rant for a minute. And if anyone ever reads this and gets offended I am sorry. But I don't get how so many people spend so much more than they have. I get that things happen- medical issues, job loss, something catastrophic that you just didn't plan for. But to have so many people so much in debt over things. Just things.
Husband and I do not lead the life of luxury. I don't say that to complain or so people feel bad for me. I love my life (98% of the time). But we don't have a lot of things. And that is okay. I have a home, a loving husband, two healthy rugrats, a decent neighborhood, two cars, a dog and a backyard. My bills are paid on time. I know I have more than some do and that makes me lucky. But what gets me is how many people want more.
Husband and I live in a city. We live in the suburbs of the city, but it is a city. And like some other cities the schools are not great. So someday we will have to move because a good education is important to us. For now, we have a decent house in a safe neighborhood so we stay.

Right now our biggest worry is that we would like to move sooner than originally planned. Our goal is to get out of the city before big rugrat hits 3rd grade (this is the magic number in my mind). However, we have a three bedroom house and would like more room before we have a third kid. Right now the rugrats share a room so that we can have an office/playroom. But if we have rugrat number three, we lose a spare room. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. (You can tell we didn't think that through when we purchased the house 5 years ago. But then again we were 23, planning our wedding, and kids weren't exactly in the front of our minds) Our house has no basement (bummer) so finishing it isn't an option. Our hope is to find a house in our price range that is bigger (read: fixer upper) that is move in ready. Not the easiest thing on a teacher's salary. Oh yeah, it needs to be in a nicer town as well.
Not impossible, but certainly not easy.
So what happens if we don't find something? We don't move. And that is okay. Because we have a backup plan! =) We will take our garage and turn it into another room. Right now it serves as storage. We don't park cars in it (I have a automatic start and husband doesn't keep the garage clean enough to park in) so it isn't a big loss. The hard part is that if we convert we lose a good selling point- attached garage. So now we have to figure out a way to budget the renovation and still make it so when we go to sell (years from now) the new owners could convert back into a garage fairly easily. Easier said than done.
We would also like a second bathroom but that is a wish and a dream.

Yup I rambled a little today, but I have been up with little rugrat since 5 am. Finally got him back to sleep at 7 and guess what happens? If you said big rugrat woke up you win the prize. Then little rugrat woke back up and the day progressed.

What does this have to do with budgeting and living on 1 and 1/4 incomes? It is possible to own a house, you just need a really good mortgage, and be willing to buy a fixer upper. It helps if you have a husband who can do a lot of the work himself. Lucky me. Because that cuts WAY down on cost.

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