Many of us start our post high school, college, or military lives by renting an apartment, condominium, or house. The home ownership rate in the United States has declined somewhat recently compared to other countries in the developed world. However, it’s still a big dream for many Americans to eventually stop renting and buy a house as soon as possible.
“Despite home buying being a long and often exhausting process, and homeownership being a time-consuming and frankly expensive venture, 75 percent of Americans say it’s a priority,” according to NerdWallet’s 2018 Home Buyer Report. NerdWallet expert Tim Manni says, “If recessions, high prices, and stress can’t kill the American dream, I’m not sure anything will. The American desire to own a home is incredibly resilient.”
There are many reasons why owning a home is a great idea, and, of course, reasons why it may not be so great. (Just look at today’s interest rates.) We won’t get into both sides of the fence in this series, but we will talk about a few facets of home ownership and how to relieve the mental labor with each.
Managing your finances is not just tied to home ownership. For example, when my sons were still in high school, they worked part-time jobs. We taught them how to create and monitor a monthly budget and how their checking and savings accounts work. Both Jonathon and Jacob saved up to buy their first cars. They paid for oil changes, car insurance, and fuel. And they took care of their own entertainment and some of their clothing expenses. Even today, things aren’t too complicated for them.
I know all of that will change later when they become completely independent young adults renting their first place. Their future will include, at a minimum, rent, phone, and some utility payments in addition to their vehicle expenses. We were able to avoid student loans thanks to both boys working part-time throughout their college career and taking advantage of scholarship opportunities.
Creating a system for handling finances even before you own a home will help prevent what can be a crushing mental load in life. Not only does it make bill paying easier, but it also helps you manage your finances intelligently so you can build wealth.
How I wish I could go back in time and tell all of this to my “post college self!” I had to learn things the hard way later in life – and I’m still learning. But I’m doing better.
Let’s first look at some ways you can learn to be wise with your money. Trust me, if you don’t have this skill, your overall mental load will be twice as bad – and I am talking from experience here! If you already have this wisdom and have done a great job managing and building your wealth, feel free to skip to next week. If you don’t have this knowledge and need some assistance, I know of some fantastic resources to help you.
My favorite expert on this topic is Dave Ramsey, an American personal finance guru, businessman, and author. Mr. Ramsey has helped millions of people turn their financial lives around. What I like about him is that he made mistakes, learned from them, and eventually built his wealth the smart way. He even went through the pain of bankruptcy before turning his life around.
Mr. Ramsey offers numerous resources on his website, daveramsey.com. They range from free downloads, apps, guides, calculators, forms, and books to his Financial Peace University course offered at hundreds of locations across the United States or online.
The books and course are quite reasonable.
Amy Shankland is a writer and fundraising professional living in Noblesville with her husband John, two sons, two dogs and a cat. You can reach her via email at amys@greenavenue.info.