You know that time when you bought your first home....

I don't know about you,

but I always have these big dreams and ideas of how my life is going to go.

And then Life happens.

I either have to get mad and through a temper tantrum,

Or throw my arms up and go with the flow.

Usually I go with option A,

And it can get really ugly.

 

And then I starting house hunting.

If nothing else in life has shown me how little control I have,

House Hunting slapped me in the face with it.

HARD.

 

See, the Mr and I were dead set that we just HAD to have this house....

 

 

 

It was in the perfect location,

It had the acreage we wanted,

It only needed about $10,000+ in work done to it,

and the neighbors were that crazy...

It only had minor property line issues...

 

We put an offer in on it,

They Rejected.

We put another offer in on it,

They chose another offer.

We were really disappointed.

 

That offer fell through.

So we put another offer in on it,

They chose another offer.

*Insert Sovereignty of God ALLLL over that!*

 

So we went and look at some other houses.

There was the major fixer-upper,

kind of in the ghetto,

but was SUPER cheap.

I'm so thankful we didn't end up putting an offer in on it!!!

We were going to,

But it went to Auction before we could!

*Insert Sovereignty of God ALLLL over that!*

 

There was the HUGE crazy cat lady house,

Seriously.

There had to have been 20 cats in that house.

I loved it.

The Mr. hated it.

 

There was the quiet little country house.

It would have been perfect for now,

but 5 years down the road when Little N's arrive....

Not so much.

 

Then it happened.

We had been looking at house's over by where my Bestie's Dad lives,

and she text me saying that there was this really nice house for sale.

So me, being the google queen that I am,

instantly googled it,

Like it.

Text'd my amazing realtor,

Set up an appointment to go see it.

 

And then I found it.

 

 

It had literally just been posted AS I was scouring the listings.

We went to see it,

and put in an offer that night.

They countered,

We countered,

They accepted.

Everything has fallen into place perfectly.

This time next week you'll see me driving down the road with a trailer of boxes to unpack.

*Insert Sovereignty of God ALLLL over that!*

 

Thinking about Buying a house?

 

Here are some tips I learned!

 

1. Get a Good realtor. 

This is HUGE!  They will make your break your experience.

We found our realtor when we wanted to look at a house last fall.  I called the listing agent to go look at it.  He was bluntly honest with me and told me that the banks would never sell me that house because it needed SO much work.

But, me being the stubborn person I am still wanted to go see it.

And He let me.

And He was right.

And he told me to call him when we got ready to really start looking for a house.

Seriously this man is a great realtor.

He knows his stuff!

He knows all of the ins and outs,

He's as honest as honest can be.

He answered any and all questions I had,

whenever I needed answers.

I can not stress it enough,

Make sure your realtor is legit.

Ask how many houses they sell a year.

If they only sell about 10 a year,

you might want to look for another Realtor!

If you're looking at a short sale house,

make sure they know what they are doing!

If you realize you don't like your realtor,

FIRE THEM.

Get one that you like!

 And while we didn't have to worry about it,

When at all possible,

Don't have a dual agent!

You want someone who is going to be partial to you and only you!

If your realtor is selling the house you want to buy,

there is NO way they can have your best interests and the best interest of the seller at the same time.

It's just not a good idea,

You can't represent the best interests of both parties effectively!

 

2. Get your finances straight first.

This probably should have been number 1.

Have debt?

Get out of it.

Save up as much money as you can!

We were so blessed by being able to live rent free for our first year of marriage.

We got out of debt, lived frugally, and saved up our pennies.

We could have stayed were we were at for a while longer,

but we were beyond ready to have our own space in this world,

and interest rates are SO low right now that it seemed foolish to not look!

Buying a house costs several pennies up front.

You have your down payment.

You know you are going to want to paint.

We needed furniture!

You'll have inspections,

And there will be potential repairs you have to fix before the appraiser will sign off on it!

If you get a foreclosure like we did the bank isn't going to shell out a lot of money to fix it up!

 

3. How is your Credit?

Bad Credit? 

You might want to consider waiting and raising your credit score.

Bad Credit = higher interest rates.

High Interest Rates = More Pennies.

 

3. Know what your limit is & what you can really afford.

We had Zero debt.

We have NO kids.

We have GREAT credit.

We aren't rich by any stretch of the imagination.

We are just your typical middle class American.

And the bank approved us for almost DOUBLE what we were comfortable paying for!

Make yourself a budget up.

Know what you can afford for a mortgage.

Don't forget about Home Owners Insurance.

Don't forget about taxes.

Bigger house = more utilities!

You better have an emergency fund cushion for repairs!!!

Can you afford it on 1 income?

Just because the bank says you can doesn't mean you really can afford it!

 

4. Get a good banker.

This is right up there with getting a good realtor.
And you actually need to do this before you find a realtor.
We went with the bank that the Mr. has been with for years. 

We already had a relationship built.

I also used to work for that bank,

So I trusted them,

And I had already contacted or mortgage lender almost a year before we started looking to get tips on how to get all our ducks in a row before we started looking.

Our Lender has been just as instrumental as our realtor.

He was quick and very thorough in getting everything together for us.

He answered my e-mails, usually within 30 minutes of me hitting send.

He answered any questions I had,

and when I didn't understand he explained it again...and again until I understood them.

He has been phenomenal.

With the hours the Mr. and I work,

We were not in the position to drive to the bank and sign all the papers,

so we scanned and e-mailed everything back and forth.

With my job it's hard for me to be on the phone during work,

I have too much going on that makes it difficult to multi-task with a phone call.

He understood that,

and we e-mailed as much as possible, unless it was necessary for him to get me on the phone.

Then He e-mailed me and asked me to call when I get a free minute.

I never felt like a nuisance,

I never felt like I was bothering him,

I never felt like He didn't have time for us.

He made us feel like we were a priority to him,

and that He was delighted to help us.

 

On the other hand.....

 

When we were trying to get a different kind of loan, with a different lender, for the fixer-upper I mentioned,

I did not have a good experience.

The lender was  extremely short and border line rude with both the Mr. & I.

I was very quick in getting our application and any paperwork to him,

Time was of the essence.

And he was VERY slow in processing it.

I would leave a voicemail,

He wouldn't return my call.

I would e-mail,

He wouldn't respond.

It was Terrible.

We were not a priority to him.

He made us feel like a nuisance.

He made it known he didn't have time for us.

Maybe He was stressed out,

Maybe He was having a bad week.

He literally asked me,

"can you afford this house"?

(The house was 15% of what we had already been approved for, and 30% of the house that we are buying, just to show you how belittling he was to us.)

I don't know what his deal was.

But it was NOT ok.
We didn't end up pursuing the house that we needed the loan for,
But the whole process was SO frustrating!
It made me super thankful to go back to dealing with our Mortgage Lender!

 

5. Don't Settle

If you don't really like the house.

Don't you DARE settle.

This isn't buying a shirt that's on sale that you are just whatever about.

This is a HOUSE.

This is a HUGE investment.

You will probably be paying for this house for the next 30 years.

There are more houses.

This one isn't the last one.

Keep Looking.

 

6. Have Vision

While you shouldn't settle,

You need to have vision.

You need to see what the house will look like with YOUR touches.

Especially if it is currently being lived it!

Especially if you are buying a fixer-upper!

If you don't have vision,

Take someone with you who does!

 

The next few weeks are going to be slightly crazy in the N household!  On top of working 50+ hours a week, we are now packing, moving, unpacking & settling a house.

For the first time in my life I am excited about decorating a house!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures up as we progress!

 

 

 

 

 



{DIY} The Envelopeless Envelope System

I'm pretty much a money saving, budgeting freak of nature.

I've followed Dave Ramsey's Envelope System since I was a teenager.

Seriously, what teen has a budget.

That's right, I did.

 

But Real life, Real world, Purses & Envelopes don't work really well.

I can only imagine the purse disaster I would have if I tried carrying 6-10 envelopes around with me.

So I went to Wal*Mart a while back and bought a coupon organizer

 

 

I put all my little categories in it

 

(You can see it's been well used, the sticky is coming off the stickers!)

 

And it has worked very well,

Except for that I have to open up my "money wallet" to get the cash,

and then dig out my real wallet for change.

Not effiencent when the cashier is trying to get you out of the way.

It also took up extra room in my purse.

But I really don't like the Dave Ramsey Wallet,

It's just not for me.

 

So today while I was sitting at work,

I Devised a solution to my problem.

 

PAPERCLIPS!

PAPER!

TAPE!

 

I'm a flippin genious.

 

 

Now I can keep all my money,

seperated into catagories,

in my wallet!

 

The Mr. suggested I just get different colored paper clips,

but I can just see the following scenerio transpiring....

 

Me: I'm fairly certain that the RED paper clip is for Groceries,

and the BLUE paper clips is for eating out.

 

Mr.: No, I'm pretty sure you have that backwards.

 

Me: Ok, if you say so.  SWEET!  We have ALL this money to go out.

 

The next week:

 

Mr: Where's my lunch??

 

Me: Oh yea, we got the colors mixed up.  Sorry babe, we have no food until our next check, we used it all when we went out.

 

Ok so I'm probably exaggerating the problem just a little bit.  There is a fairly huge difference in our eating out money and our grocery money.  But you get the idea!

 

So Find a pretty colored paper that you like.

I just used this orange sticky note paper that we had in the office,

It was 1 cut instead of 4.

I'm all about easy people.

 

 

Write what ever category you want on it

 



 

I used tape to "laminate" it so it was more sturdy.

 

Then get your paper clip.  I used little paperclips for things that don't collect many bills, and large ones for categories that do.

 

Lay the paper clip down, so that the little loop is on the bottom.

With your finger nail, gently pull the little loop down,

but be careful not to bend it!

Take a piece of tape and slide it between the little loop and the big loop,

 with the stick side on the big loop side.

 

 

You don't want it too far up the paper clip,

because you won't be able get your label to stay.

Put your label on the tape, word side up.

 

Fold the tape over the bottom of your label to give it some extra support

Cut around the edges to your liking!

Voila!

 

 

 

So it might not be the cutest thing ever.

I think I actually just conviced myself to redo this with colored paper,

And cute cutout designs

and maybe get some real laminate,

but for right now it works great!

AND I have more room in my purse,

Mission Accomplished!





Budgets!

I'm not gonna lie.  I LOVE budgets.  I love figuring them out, I LOVE living by one.  It actually makes me a little giddy!  (The Mr also calls me a nerd).  I can thank my parents for this.  Ever since we were little my parents made us "budget" our earnings.  50% went into savings, 10% went to the church, and 40% went to whatever we wanted.  Then I took it to a whole different level.  I split my 40% up into an envelope system.  I was talking to my mom last night about our budget, and I made the comment that for me not being very detail oriented, by budget is very detail oriented.  She told me that I've always been detail oriented when it comes to my money.  HA!

I have FINALLY finished ours for 2013.  I used a general excel spreadsheet that one of my good friends gave me, that she got from a Dave Ramsey financial counsellor...and then I tweaked the format--a lot :)  I have it all worked out. Down. To. The. Penny.  Then I have it all color coordinated for bills that are Auto-Withdrawn from our checking account, Cash categories, Expenses that we don't have every month, but we still have to budget for (Dr appts, Contacts, Gifts, etc), and Savings!  Then I have my Savings categories linked to another sheet, where I have it formulated to add it all up for me! 

We were on a way different budget the past 8 months.  It was called "Getting out of Debt".  My Husband bought a 4-wheeler before we met, and he had no plans to get married.  I also had some school bills, and some credit card debt.  So we had our little emergency fund set aside, got our living expenses paid for, and everything else basically went towards debt.   

Credit cards....Oh how I have a love/hate relationship with them! It's so much fun to go out and swipe that card & buy that new outfit, complete with shoes, jewelry, lipstick, and a purse to match. Then the credit card statement comes in, and you only have to pay a minimum of $25.00....Then you max that credit card out...opps! Then the interest piles up, and folks, 20% interest adds up quick. Then you start playing the balance transfer game. You know, open another credit card with 0% APR on balance transfers for x amount of months...Yup, Been there. Done that. NEVER. AGAIN. My parents raised me to know better, but sometimes I just have to learn the hard way, and now we are paying for it!

We thankfully will be completely DEBT FREE by January 1, 2013!  YAY!  I have the most gracious in-laws, EVER.  They are letting us live in their "little house", rent free, until we can save up enough money to buy a house.  This has  allowed us to completely pay off our debt, and will allow us to put away a hefty amount into savings for a house!  I would LOVE to have my own house.  Some days I get REALLY impatient, (on those days were the dishes are piled up because we don't have a dishwasher... a dishwasher is a requirement in our future home!)  Those are the days that I pull out the website where you can create an amortization schedule.  You put in how much your Mortgage will be after your down payment, whether it's a 15 or 30 year mortgage, and after you scroll all they way down through all your payments, it shows you how much interest you will have paid at the end.  It gets me every time!  As much as I would love to not have a mortgage, I also realize that it probably won't happen that way, especially when the babies start to arrive!  But the longer we can hold out the less interest we will have to pay. 

I started off our budget with tithing.  Not gonna lie, that hurt a little bit!  But if we weren't giving enough that it hurts, then is it really giving sacrificially?  Then I added in all of our living expenses.  Gas, Groceries, Electric, Cell phone, etc. 

Then I got to figure in the rest.  I  have a budget fund for my husband's work boots.  When you are looking to spend $200-$250 on a pair of boots, 2 times a year, you better have a budget for it!  We have a new car fund.  Both of our vehicles are in good condition.  But eventually one of them will go out, might as well start saving ahead now!  You name it, I probably have a category for it: clothes, eating out, gifts, vacation, dog's, emergency fund.  What's an emergency fund you ask?  Well, according to Dave Ramsey, everyone needs an emergency fund.  At first you start off with it being $1000.00, this is when you are paying off debt.  Then you begin growing your emergency fund, up to 6 months living expenses.  This is for  those "rainy days".  The unexpected days.  The A/C goes out, the car gets totaled, you lose your job.  This way, you'll have something to fall back on instead of having to rely on a credit card.  Then, you work on building your rainy day fund back up again!  We have a spending category, for both my Husband and I.  He has an Old Ford pick up that He's trying to fix up.  I want a new camera & some better lenses.  If you don't budget in spending, the spending isn't going to stop, you just end up pulling it form somewhere else!  Then there is the miscellaneous.  Because Life happens.

When we have an excess in a category, like Electric.  In the winter our electric bill is lower, in the summer it's higher.  My "excess" goes into my alternate account, up to x amount of dollars.  So in the summer when it's higher, I can pull from my over-flow, and not wreak havoc on my budget!  When my surplus gets over a certain amount, then the extra goes into our house fund. 

When it got to the end, things got a little tricky.  I still had categories we needed to budget for, but I didn't want to give up spending money, or date night money to cover it!  Oh well!  I guess that is what being a grown up is all about!  I had to put less towards clothes so that we could have dental covered.  I made my spending money less so that we could have a little extra for date nights.  I figure that our relationship is more worth more than anything I want to buy!  If nothing else marriage & budgets have shown me how selfish I really am! 

Now here's the kicker.  I have to hand over the budget to the Mr.  A budget is never going to work unless he agrees with it!  Dave Ramsey says that when the "saver" makes the budget, they need to slide it across the table and let the "spender" make changes.  Then the compromise begins.  He's looked it over before, but I think he's scared to make any changes because He knows how hard I've worked on it!  I already know what he's going to say when he sees the Eniva fund...AKA our Vitamins :)  HA!  I just have to convince him that the money we spend in vitamins keeps us out of the Dr's office :)