Navigating Home Ownership

First off, I have to say that I’m in love with our house. It’s everything and more we dreamed about during those long months of preparation. But man, does buying a home do a number on the finances. Since paying off my credit card debt and starting my method of using my rewards card for all my spending, I’ve loosened up on the day to day budgeting. It worked well for a while and was quite freeing. I felt I’d earned it. But now, with all the little things that come up both for myself and the house? I’m way off track. I have to come clean… Over the past few months both before and after the home purchase, I’ve been raiding my savings like there’s no tomorrow. It boils down to overspending – nothing huge, just inattention to the details, giving in to immediate gratification, and just plain impulse buying. It’s time to buckle down and pay attention!

Cute Man and I like to keep our finances separate. It’s not about trust, it’s about control. It’s just easier to keep track of one set of in and outflows and just negotiate the common expenses. This is what works for us. Now, with the house, we have had to realign who pays what and sorting out all that has really been a reality check. The bills! They’re killer! Savings, what’s that??? After the panic subsided, we came up with a plan that will keep us on track and allow us to continue saving a little bit, at least. As long as I keep a handle on my discretionary spending, I’ll be OK. I’m lucky as hell to still HAVE any discretionary spending money at all. It just has to remain a very finite amount if we’re to stay on track with our short and long term goals.

If I was able to keep up my debt repayment while working at the salon for peanuts per hour (with Cute Man’s major support!) I can do this. I have the incredible perk of being able to go home and enjoy the fruits of all this effort every single night. It is truly a wonderful thing to go home to our house every evening and spend time with Cute Man. It’s nice to have a tangible reminder of what we’re working toward – maintaining and building our happy life and future together.