Often Cloudy

Almost two weeks ago I closed on my first house. It’s fun, exciting, and also the subject of a few other blog entries. But thats not all! Here I am just two weeks later, getting ready to close on a deal for a new car (new to me anyway). At this point most friends and family think I’m crazy. Here’s how I know that’s not the case.

I’ve been working in my career for just under a year now. As a software programmer, I do okay for the cost of living in my city. The difference is how myself and others reacted to getting a real job with real pay. Most of my friends in similar situations chose to give themselves luxuries immediately. For some it was a brand new sports car and for others maybe that 50″ plasma TV or PS3. Whatever it was, they spent money just as soon as it entered their hands. Sometimes they couldn’t even wait that long and began helping credit card companies make some money. That may be fine for them, more power for truly living “in the now”.

I took a different approach. I continued driving my junky decade-old Mercury Sable. I have forced myself to keep using my tiny 23″ television. I used hand-me down furniture. Basically - I continued living like I was in college. This isn’t to say I haven’t splurged a bit - a new bedroom set has helped me sleep soundly every night for the past year.

This whole time I have been saving money each month as part of a plan. It wasn’t really set in stone from the beginning; but as time continued, the picture became more clear. My plan ended up looking like this:

• Save money for down payment on house. Stop renting ASAP.
• Upgrade car with leftover from house savings or save for a few more months.
• Future steps include all those other material things I mentioned above. (eg. television, furniture, etc.)

Pretty simple, huh? I think the benefit of saving and following a plan allows for smart decisions and ultimately the satisfaction of not worrying about finances or debt. Due to my strict savings, I was able to afford a down payment on a house, a newer car, and still have emergency funding in place for life’s surprises.

So what now? The plan is of course to continue saving, but now that I’m no longer renting and I have both of my biggest purchases out of the way, I can be more forgiving from month to month. Another new priority is paying off the car loan as fast as possible.

For those of you out there in a similar place in life, which route did you take? Was it worth it?

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