Was 25 and super nervous, so when the realtor was like “oh yeah they just check for basic stuff, but I looked around and it looks great” I was like “Oh okay, this is so astronomically expensive every penny saved is good…”...
The simple, but annoying answer, was luck and fear.
I grew up in poverty on account of my father going to prison very young and my unprepared mom having to somehow take care of 3 kids and realizing he had made lots of money vanish and stolen lots of the money we did have that needed to be returned, and instead of inheriting money irresponsibly, I got a crippling fear of debt and spending money on non necessities.
But at the same time I was making around 70k a year at 25, because at 20 I got my associates in IT, then found a job paying above what I was asking for in under a month after graduating, and I still work at that job 10 years later as they’ve been very reasonable through everything. Getting that job SOO fast that worked out so well was just pure luck.
Also I couldn’t buy the house I’m in anymore, buying at 25 instead of 26 was pure luck. If I had been born a year later, buying at 25 wouldn’t have worked. The price of the house went up about 100k a few months later.
Also even in 2019, my home was considered a fantastic deal. A 2k square foot town home for 240k in a medium sized city (the one I grew up in), within walking distance of main street. It has an hoa, but it only has 9 other town homes in it, and we have a massive shared common area and pool. Having a pool I only have to share with a dozen other people is a luxury I never imagined. Hoa fee is 200$ and they’ve only ever asked me to pull weeds around my house when a neighbor was selling theirs and they wanted it to look pretty to help out a neighbor.
So I actually don’t have a car (too expensive) and I can walk/bike to grocery stores, doctors appointments, the like. To top it off it’s only about 3 miles from where my mom lives, and we just recently moved my grandma into a senior living center about a mile away so she’s close to me and my mom.
So, yeah. I just saved every penny to a stupid level, then got rather lucky. Saving every penny at my income wouldn’t have worked without the luck. Never being unemployed in my entire life was pure luck. Finding a home that met all my needs perfectly within my budget was crazy.
The cheapest home in this city are 200k 900 square feet town homes, but because of the interest rates the monthly payments are 50% higher than my beloved home.
But all that luck wouldn’t have meant a thing if I hadn’t saved like crazy. Sooo… yeah. For context, after much cajoling from counseling I have agreed to allow myself 100$ fun budget per month, and $400 a month for food so I buy more “nice” food. My only debts are a little bit of my college loans (I paid off all the high interest ones and the only ones left are like 3%. I had a tradition where every tax return I just put the entire thing towards the highest interest student loan) and my mortgage which is at 4.25%. I’m going to retire a millionaire and with a fully paid off home.
But it’s so sad, because people taking the EXACT same actions as me, but 2 years younger, won’t. They’ll have to rent their entire life, or buy a home out in the middle of nowhere away from family and services. Which means they’ll most likely need a car and have to pay other premiums.
And it was one of those things where it’s like I had X amount of money, and afterwards I was going to have not much money at all. So spending $300 more of that tiny remaining money was uncomfortable.
Thank you! I wish I could give advice that was relevant to the current time . If I was 24 and didn’t own a home I’d probably be having to do math on buying a 100k home in a super cheap area in a different state. But that would come with other hidden costs like having to own a car, not having access to good medical care, possibly higher crime rate, if I didn’t have a WFH job then finding a job will most likely be a pay cut and if I lost my WFH job I’d have to most likely take a lower paying job, then of course if I wanted to see my family ever I’d have to budget in that…
Ugh. IDK man, I feel awful for people just 5 years younger than me.
Well even the land itself is worth more than I paid, and 5 years of no problems is a great start. But will find a good inspector and see if I really did get that lucky!
I’d rather read that than another story of a child being handed a sword and killing grown men.
Give them a spear and have them focus on tricking people into charging! Anything besides a sword or bow, the two most difficult to learn weapons from the medieval ages!
Also it annoys me because swords and bows are THE most difficult weapons to learn from the medieval ages. We have legends about master bowmen and swordsmen because they were notoriously difficult to use.
You can look up videos of reenactors of people using spears vs. swords, and people who have never touched a spear in their life can beat people who have been using swords for reenactments for years.
To use longbows effectively was a life long commitment.
Crossbows didn’t have more power than longbows, they were popular because it took 20 minutes to teach a strong peasant how to fire, and a few weeks to get them firing at the proper cadence to be effective. Being effective with a bow took far longer.
Russia could seize assets and property of U.S. individuals held in Russia if Washington confiscates Russian sovereign assets, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, threatened on April 27.
Even if the categories are iffy, both people getting different results is probably enough to go “hey maybe we need to talk about what makes us feel loved”
4ish years ago when I bought a house I was convinced not to get a house inspection, would it be crazy to get one now just to make sure it's all good?
Was 25 and super nervous, so when the realtor was like “oh yeah they just check for basic stuff, but I looked around and it looks great” I was like “Oh okay, this is so astronomically expensive every penny saved is good…”...
What's your favorite budget "little treat"?
When I want a little sweet treat I make smoothies....
If you want a warrior main character, have them a squire or something! (lemmy.world)
Medvedev threatens Russia may seize private US assets if Washington seizes frozen Russian reserves (kyivindependent.com)
Russia could seize assets and property of U.S. individuals held in Russia if Washington confiscates Russian sovereign assets, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, threatened on April 27.
Is there a "personality test" you've done you found helpful?
Most are made up and silly....