This is about to get serious, so prepare yourself or feel free to move on!
The hubby and I believe in living within our means. We are
by no means rolling in money, but we have planned our life to live comfortably
with the money we make. Just like anyone
else we have bills, a bit of student debt, a few savings accounts, and things
we like to do/purchase every month or year.
My husband has created a very specific budget with certain amounts
allocated to various categories. From what I know, this is the typical family
budget. It would be fabulous to spend whatever amount on anything, but
similarly to probably most people we just cannot do this.
When my husband was first looking into buying a home he
looked in a variety of different areas. He was very specific about what he
wanted and how much he wanted to spend. At the time when he started looking he
was living in an area that was rather affluent. He was renting a condo (within
his rent budget, of course), but the surrounding areas were very nice. Some may refer to those living in this
particular area as the “Joneses” (i.e. expensive cars, large homes, fancy
shopping centers, great schools etc.).
After looking at a few different homes in multiple cities
within the same region and even placing an offer on one (which he later
withdrew due to other circumstances) he found our current home. Our home isn't
necessarily in the best area of town. I grew up close by to where our home
currently is and the city is rather large and some parts are great whereas
others are not. The house was perfect. It was brand new (actually still being
built at the time of purchase), had all upgraded amenities, free HOA for a
year, all upgraded appliances included, and all closing costs covered. It was too good to be true and he felt great
about the whole process and knew this was the home for him. The actual
neighborhood is a cute little area of all the same type of townhouses with a
large grassy area in the center.
The areas around our home are definitely not the best. I
feel safe once I am in our actual neighborhood, but I would absolutely be
cautious when venturing out. Not in a
need to carry a gun kind of way, but just in the sense that I would be smart
and aware. As a woman, you really should be anyway regardless of where you are.
We absolutely love our home. It is perfect for us! It has
the right amount of space, plenty of storage, a garage, a great open living
room, large master bedroom etc. We
could even start a family here if we wanted (maybe more on that subject another
time).
The whole point of this post expressing our home and our way
of living is not to brag or show off what we do or do not have, but rather a
chance for me to express my frustration (i.e. get ready, vent session coming
up!).
We have gotten some negativity from our friends regarding where we
live. A few of our friends live in
better neighborhoods/cities-some of them own their homes, some of them do not. This
does not matter to me. I do not pick my friends based on their finances (SHOCKING, i know!). Frankly,
it is none of my business and to me character is what counts. Money does not define you. This is a
hard lesson to learn and some people never get it. Personally, it’s been a
struggle of mine. I used to spend my money on designer items hoping
it would attract friends. It did not. Once I started working on myself and
cutting people out of my life that I did not need that is when I found true,
genuine girlfriends.
It really bothers me that our friends would make comments
about where we live. They say things like “it’s not a good area” or “it’s shady” or
“the people who live in that area are
not good”. These are all hurtful to me. Yes, I am probably over sensitive.
My husband can laugh it off, but I am not that person. My home is close to my
heart and to have friends (yes, multiple, not one) say something derogatory
insults me to the core. I am the first person to say our home is maybe not in
the greatest area given our location, but our actual neighborhood is great and I
never feel unsafe. Plus I love our home and that to me is the most important.
I would much rather live comfortably in our home than to try
and be something we are not just by living in a particular zip code. I am not
saying this is what our friends do, but for me personally, I do not want
pressure of trying to keep up with the Joneses. I am actually relieved the first offer
Chris put in was withdrawn because living in that environment would bring me
right back to where I used to be of trying too hard to fit in. We do not have the advantage of living lavishly. One day maybe we will, but right now our life
works for us based on our current incomes. I can go to sleep every night
knowing our bills are paid and if one of us loses our job tomorrow we will be
okay for a few months until we get back on our feet. This brings more comfort
than I ever thought possible!! I do not
feel like there are things in life I am missing out on. Sure, it would be nice
to have a vacation home in different parts of the world or to be able to
purchase anything I want, but reality is most people cannot.
We have a nice home where we will get money back from our investment one day and this means so much to us and our future. I feel so blessed just to have a home in Southern California because I never thought this would be possible. So, shame on you for saying something negative about where we chose to make our home.
Cheers to your own home!
Just so you have a visual this is our home:
Obviously, I'm kidding this is Oprah's home.
