OWNing a Home…

I recently watched the movies Sisters, in that there is a line where one of the characters states “a house is a building, home is a feeling.” When you buy your first house that is what you are trying to create; a “home” -that combined with too much HGTV well makes home ownership complicated.

Especially, for my generation! We typically had parents that made money on their houses, and then late in their life some lost money on their homes.  So as a result we are prone to unrealistic expectations from houses, or severely jaded. So when Mark and I went to buy a house, I did my research and decided to be as realistic as possible.

First things first, I think of a house that I plan to live in as an asset not an investment. What is the difference you might ask? An asset is something that can be owned that has value ideally with some positive economic return in the future. An investment is defined as the outlay of money for profit. At any given point I should be able to sell my house and cover my mortgage (ideally of course make money, but not with an expectation of that). Any updates done in my mind is done for us; the “value” it adds for us and making it a “home.” Another thing I made sure was to be realistic about what we could afford. M and I both have good credit, the bank told us we can afford a lot more than our house value, and they will do that. So be realistic about what you want to pay monthly and what that means for your lifestyle. Mark and I did not want to be “House Poor.” You don’t want to own a superb house and eat ramen daily. Finally, here is a motto from our home search that is super useful: “price, location, and size/layout” pick two! It is very unlikely that you get the size, price and location you want- you will need to compromise on something.

Once you have a house, and are happy with it your quest for a home begins. Making your house into a home is simple in some ways; make it comfortable for the people living there. And at the core that is all there is to it. But like I said earlier too much HGTV complicates this. Therefore, many homeowners have bigger dreams than pockets, this is us too! We want out home prettier, more modern etc. So here we are learning to DIY! One project at a time. Some small, some big and it has been an adventure.

What have we learned so far? Well we are typically not the best at DIYing, we always underestimate time. While it is a pain and we might not do A LOT of it, we do enjoy aspects of it, and there is a pride in it that is hard to explain.We are generally good at ideas; execution seems to be our problem. Sometimes it seems to man vs. house, and the house always wins. We will need a lot of help to make our home the way we want!

So then at the end of the day the question is whether home ownership is worth it? And the answer is yes, if you are realistic. You do build equity that you do not in a rental, you can make it a home in a way you often can’t a rental. That said I don’t home ownership if for everyone! And I do think we should stop insisting it is in America (I feel like there is a push for it that is not necessary and not accurate, may be it is just me). You can be as happy and financially stable renting. I was for years. 

So go ahead buy a home, if you want to and makes sense for you!

(I hope if you are reading this, you appreciate the pun in the title)

Blogging More (Again)

A month ago; I was reflecting on what I would like to do more this year. And, one month in I feel pretty good!

Mark and I are both healthier than we were a month ago.

Our house a little less chaotic and projects have decent progress made towards them.

We both have been reading like crazy. He is 10 books in, I am 7. 

One place I continue to stumble is this blog…

What I love about the blogs I read is they share things of my interest and create a community around it.  But I am not sure that is what my blog is now. And if that is the direction I want to go then I also open myself to more scrutiny from outsiders. Is that something I want to do? Or this just a blog for my thoughts and writing for myself?

I continue to be confused about this. But I am going to try to do more of it to figure it out. The goal going forward is one post a week? 

Thinking about a New Year...

We are a little more than half a month into the New Year, so I am reflecting on 2015 and New Year’s in general? 

2015….

Both Mark and I got new jobs towards the end of 2015 so that meant some lifestyle changes. What that looks like and how we manage it? Well we are still working on it, we are hoping to get a routine-ish figured out soon. 

We also want to have a little more productive lifestyles but we want to also devote some times to our hobbies. Much of 2015 was a rush, especially the summer, we neither were able to get tasks we wanted done nor did we take the time to enjoy our hobbies. We want to slow down in 2016. 

I became a little bit healthier in 2015. I decided I wanted to lose 30 lbs before I am thirty, and create a healthy lifestyle I could sustain. This has inspired Mark to figure out what his goals and what he wants, I hope he joins my efforts that will make life easier in the coming year. 

As I mentioned earlier we want to devote some more time to hobbies! The most important one being reading. In 2015 I did not really recreationally read as much as I wanted, and I am not sure why. May be time? I love reading and it makes me happy, so I am going to pick up the pace on reading again! Also I want to tackle some more organizing projects.

I also want to figure out is blogging a hobby I want to pursue? I think I meant to figure out if I wanted to continue blogging or not in 2015. I did not. I went a year without doing it because I felt like people who blog had more of a purpose in their words than I did?  But I did not figure out if I enjoy it or not, if this is something I want to do or not? The plan this year is to dedicate a little more time to the blog. I believe any hobby requires you spend time on it, and I have not done that with blogging. If I spend some time doing it, I will also figure out if I want to or not. 

As you can see I have taken sometime to think about changes I want to happen in 2016, although I don’t do traditional “resolutions.” I always use the New Year to celebrate life and reflect. New Year for me is about celebrating life; understanding it  and questioning it a little more. It is about reflecting, and sometimes changing yourself, relationships, and worldviews. And that’s what I do every new year! 

What does the New Year mean to you? What do you do with it? 

I love New Year. I am not even sure when it started. I assume back in India; our New Year celebrations were magical. We lived in what would be equivalent of condos in the US, and on the rooftop there would be a party. Starting late evening there would a show put on by the kids, dinner, games and evening ended at midnight with countdown, cake and fireworks. Then as I went to bed I would think about the good and bad of the year that had just passed, and what can be better this yea? My mom told me to  do it one year and I just continued…

I cannot say New Year has been as magical as I grew up. But nostalgia well it is powerful! So no matter if my New Year now involves a huge celebration or falling asleep before midnight, I start the New Year with a little reflection and a smile! 

My husband does not understand this love for New Year he says it is like any other day of the year. No one changes overnight into another person. He believes if you want to change something in your life you should not wait till the New Year. I understand what he says about not waiting till New Year to change things one needs to change (which is why I don’t do resolutions in the traditional sense?) but there is something refreshing about feeling like you have a chance at a new start! I embrace it wholeheartedly. Some people reflect and readjust on their birthday, but I prefer New Years. For me my birthday is about celebrating me, while New Year is more about reflecting on life. So Cheers to 2016!