Everything seems like a rip off. Coupons are a joke. I don't know how "extreme couponers" do it. I shop by inserts that come in the mail to find out what's on sale, but the coupons are just ridiculous. One dollar off of TWO $3.50 boxes of cereal? Or 35 cents off of a $3 item? Seriously?
It doesn't help that most of the food I purchase isn't the kind of food that they mass produce coupons for. One dollar off of two packages of tofu? I've never seen it. I DID have a receipt print off for me a general $5 off coupon with purchase of over $10 worth of produce the other day. That's helpful, but doesn't happen often.
I don't know. I guess I am in this money worrying stage because I don't know how Brian and I are going to afford to live in this house. We're considering calling the whole thing off because after all the bills are paid, it leaves us only a few hundred to put into savings every month, and only a few hundred after that for everything else (kids clothing, furniture, any extra expenses we may incur such as braces for the kids, car parts/inspection). We're talking tight budget.
Then again, the house we are buying is a STEAL for the area we are in. Everybody keeps telling us we will never find a house like this again for what we're looking to spend. That just makes it worse, you know?
Right now Brian and I live in my parents house, or more accurately, we live in the in law suite which is a two bedroom, one bathroom with a kitchen. There are 4 of us living in here (Brian and I and our two children). Our bills are not bad, but add a mortgage to it and we could possibly be in over our heads. To add insult to injury, everybody is pushing us into this house now, and we are not even sure we want it. The idea of getting a mortgage in general turns my stomach. I know that's "the way" things are done here in America, but why? After a few years of saving, Brian and I could have $200,000 saved and BUY a house outright. No mortgage, no interest being paid to some bank....and in less than 30 years (because it certainly would not take that long for us to save $200,000) we would actually own a house, and not have paid over $100,000 in interest. The downside is that it's not like it would be anytime soon, and I am already almost 30 (2013)...
...I also can't shake my guilt. A big part of our bills is all my fault - because I was one of those kids who took out loan money "knowing" I'd have to pay it back, but not really understanding or comprehending or even respecting the money. So I feel like not only am I getting back what I deserve in spades, my family is suffering for it (sometimes our bad decisions effect the innocent). Now, I AM blessed enough to have a job that I can actually afford to be paying back my loans, but who needs this stress? I hope kids graduating high school can learn from those who had gone ahead and took money that now they have to pay back, and jobs are hard to come by. Go to a technical school and get a technical job. You will be much better off than kids with their masters degrees and a hundred thousand dollars worth of debt who cannot even find a job. Let's face it. It was a money game and the carpet was pulled out from under us. We just happened to be standing there.
It is all just exaggerated by having kids in the mix. When Brian and I were a single couple, we were making it happen. Now we have a whole lot more to worry about. Thank God we have decent health coverage, and I dare say are better off than many students with a lot of debt who don't have good jobs like we do...
All that to say - Is it WORTH it to add a house into the mix? Again, it IS a great house. It is very well built, it's in a great location...But it adds more debt, more debt. Swallowed by debt, mortgage, school loans...But if we don't buy this house, who knows what will happen? Interest rates will rise, housing prices will go up - but I'll still be paying my student loans...Oh yes. I will be paying those for a long time. ...and if all that happens, still will not have a house....
I fear that there isn't a "right" answer to this question. I feel damned if we do, damned if we don't. I am a wife and a mother for crying out loud - can you blame me for wanting to run a home of my own?
It doesn't help that most of the food I purchase isn't the kind of food that they mass produce coupons for. One dollar off of two packages of tofu? I've never seen it. I DID have a receipt print off for me a general $5 off coupon with purchase of over $10 worth of produce the other day. That's helpful, but doesn't happen often.
I don't know. I guess I am in this money worrying stage because I don't know how Brian and I are going to afford to live in this house. We're considering calling the whole thing off because after all the bills are paid, it leaves us only a few hundred to put into savings every month, and only a few hundred after that for everything else (kids clothing, furniture, any extra expenses we may incur such as braces for the kids, car parts/inspection). We're talking tight budget.
Then again, the house we are buying is a STEAL for the area we are in. Everybody keeps telling us we will never find a house like this again for what we're looking to spend. That just makes it worse, you know?
Right now Brian and I live in my parents house, or more accurately, we live in the in law suite which is a two bedroom, one bathroom with a kitchen. There are 4 of us living in here (Brian and I and our two children). Our bills are not bad, but add a mortgage to it and we could possibly be in over our heads. To add insult to injury, everybody is pushing us into this house now, and we are not even sure we want it. The idea of getting a mortgage in general turns my stomach. I know that's "the way" things are done here in America, but why? After a few years of saving, Brian and I could have $200,000 saved and BUY a house outright. No mortgage, no interest being paid to some bank....and in less than 30 years (because it certainly would not take that long for us to save $200,000) we would actually own a house, and not have paid over $100,000 in interest. The downside is that it's not like it would be anytime soon, and I am already almost 30 (2013)...
...I also can't shake my guilt. A big part of our bills is all my fault - because I was one of those kids who took out loan money "knowing" I'd have to pay it back, but not really understanding or comprehending or even respecting the money. So I feel like not only am I getting back what I deserve in spades, my family is suffering for it (sometimes our bad decisions effect the innocent). Now, I AM blessed enough to have a job that I can actually afford to be paying back my loans, but who needs this stress? I hope kids graduating high school can learn from those who had gone ahead and took money that now they have to pay back, and jobs are hard to come by. Go to a technical school and get a technical job. You will be much better off than kids with their masters degrees and a hundred thousand dollars worth of debt who cannot even find a job. Let's face it. It was a money game and the carpet was pulled out from under us. We just happened to be standing there.
It is all just exaggerated by having kids in the mix. When Brian and I were a single couple, we were making it happen. Now we have a whole lot more to worry about. Thank God we have decent health coverage, and I dare say are better off than many students with a lot of debt who don't have good jobs like we do...
All that to say - Is it WORTH it to add a house into the mix? Again, it IS a great house. It is very well built, it's in a great location...But it adds more debt, more debt. Swallowed by debt, mortgage, school loans...But if we don't buy this house, who knows what will happen? Interest rates will rise, housing prices will go up - but I'll still be paying my student loans...Oh yes. I will be paying those for a long time. ...and if all that happens, still will not have a house....
I fear that there isn't a "right" answer to this question. I feel damned if we do, damned if we don't. I am a wife and a mother for crying out loud - can you blame me for wanting to run a home of my own?
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