Guest Post: My Family On A Budget

Today, I have a guest post featured on My Family On A Budget.  Below is a snippet, but please click on over to read my post on paying off debt.

 

My parents instilled in me from a young age that debt was detrimental and something to be avoided.  Growing up, I noticed my parents’ obsession with paying off their mortgages.  Each month, they would make extra payments in order to have the house paid off as soon as possible.  I didn’t quite understand why they would do this.  I figured if the bank was them the money, that they should spend their money elsewhere.  But, they believed that the less debt they had, the better they slept at night.

 

Buying My First Home

It wasn’t until I bought my own house that I fully understood what they were talking about.  I bought my first home in 2004.  I honestly thought that I would stay there for two years and then flip the house for something bigger and better.  Living in the house going on 13 years now, it is obvious that things did not go according to that plan.  

 

Affording the Home

When I originally bought the house, it was definitely more than I could afford by myself.  But, as you know, banks weren’t really concerned about that during this time.  I took on three other roommates to help defray the bills associated, but I was still paying over half my paycheck towards the house.  

 

At that point, I knew I needed to increase my pay.  I went back to school at night, at my local community college, in order to pick up accounting credits.  By doing so, I was able to qualify for higher-level jobs.  These night classes opened a door to an accounting job in the government, which also coincided with a pay raise.  

Click over to read the rest!