Money Tip

I don't remember if I talked about this or not, but Josh and I are wanting to buy a house. I know it's a little counter-productive in the whole saving money game, but stay with me here.

About six weeks ago we decided that our rent was too high and we wanted to be proud home owners. We knew NOTHING about home buying, so i made a phone call to my mom's realtor, and she pointed us in the directions of a first time home buyers class. The class cost 45 dollars, but folks it was worth every last penny! It was terrifying to be talking about mortgages, insurance, APR rates, the list goes on. It felt like a very adult topic, and one I wasn't hundred percent sure we would be ready financially for. I honestly thought that after our first class we would be told, "what are you doing here you stupid children, house buying is for grown ups". Luckily, the instructors didn't shame us back to childhood, and happily answered questions we had.

Today, we went for our first financial counseling to see what our credit scores are. No, I won't tell you what they were, btu I can tell you that I was TERRIFIED to hear mine. I thought that it was going to be rock bottom, and our dreams of home ownership were light years away.

The news was good, and the counselor talked about our next steps. At one point I laughed and had to mention this blog. She said "This may seem obvious, but keep saving money. It's not rocket science, just put money in the bank." This is were the blog was mentioned. Hehe. It does seem obvious, but she's right. Just put money away.

The other great tip is offered was keeping track of every penny. I simply created an Excel spreadsheet. I am color-coding the categories by; fuel, groceries, clothes, rent/bills ect... Hopefully, this gives me an idea for where my money is going and where I can cut back. I recommended it to all.