Mustard Seed Money

Mustard Seed Money

Guest Post: Making Sense Of Cents

Today, I have a guest post featured on Making Sense of Cents.  Below is a snippet, but please click on over to read the whole post.

 

I was one of those weird kids that couldn’t wait to graduate from college.  I’ve always had a long-term focus and viewed college as a stepping stone.  One day during my freshman year, I remember walking to class with a friend saying that I couldn’t wait to graduate and start making some money.  My friend turned to me with an incredulous look and confessed he planned to live it up while he could.

 

On a Mission

Needless to say, I probably didn’t enjoy college as much as others did.  I had too strong of a focus on life after college to ensure that I’d reach the life goals that I had set up for myself.  I wanted to obtain a good job, get married, buy a house and fill it up with some kiddos.  

 

Of course, what actually ended up happening did not follow the order that I had envisioned.  But, I can honestly say I love the way things turned out.  

 

I graduated from college in three years and right after the dotcom bubble burst.  As I’m sure you know, there weren’t a ton of jobs floating around at the time.  But I obtained one at an insurance company and was making a decent salary.  

 

My Gracious Parents

Fortunately, I was able to live at home with my parents.  Even better, they didn’t charge me rent.  I convinced them that if I lived at home that I could take the money that I would have paid towards rent and apply it towards the down payment for a house.  

 

They agreed that this was a good plan.  I started to save up money as quickly as possible.  Within two years, I was able to accumulate $80,000 for a down payment and started to look for houses in my price range.  

 

I quickly learned that the housing market had exploded since I went to college.  My parents’ house, which they had bought five years earlier, was now worth three times what they had paid.  There I thought I had a great, sizeable down payment to put into a luxury home, and then reality hit me.

Click over to read the rest!

Comments

  5. Thanks for sharing your story. Finding employment opportunities in the late 90’s was more difficult than today. My parents also gave me some help and guidance. Not having a mortgage frees up lots of money every month.
    Dave recently posted…London on a Budget: Part 2My Profile

    Reply

    • Thanks for sharing Dave!!! The job market has definitely had some bumps over the past couple of years. I can’t even imagine being able to find a dream job out of college like some people do today.

      Reply

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