Window shopping new houses isn’t as crazy as you think when you’re in debt.
I have posted about renting versus owning before. In that, I listed some of the reasons that renting when you are trying to get your finances in order may actually be better than owning. Not that I’m saying you need to sell your house and start renting before seeking Financial Freedom, but hey, maybe? Anyway, you can read about that HERE.
My wife wants a house. I think it’s more a woman thing. They like to have a place to live that they can call their own. Decorate it, customize it, and paint it to match their needs, desires and personalities. I get it, but I’m a guy, and while I may feel the same way, it’s usually more about cars, trucks and motorcycles. Like the Financial Moron Mobile, which you can read about HERE.
I don’t feel the same way about houses but maybe I’m a bit biased since I’m the one that has to fix the house we own versus the house we rent. Just saying.
If you are in the market, I found a good article for you to READ.
Anywho, we went to look at some houses in a brand new development recently. It was actually my idea. My wife was against it, citing it as a bad idea. It could be a bad idea, but it all depends on what you do with what you learn.
Perspectives….
We pulled up to the curb in front of the model homes. Before getting out of the truck, we made a plan. The plan was to have our ducks in a row as to what we wanted, what we were going to say when asked why we were there, and to align our general thoughts and feelings about where we were in the grand scheme of home purchasing.
We were now ready to walk in.
Out of the truck and up the walkway we went. Once in the sales office we checked out the map and a few flyers while we waited for the sales person to finish with someone else. Once in conversation, our plan was working perfectly. We were on the same page and our conversation with the sales person went smoothly. You would never know that we worked everything out in the truck at the curb.
Walking inside the first model home, we were in awe. It was beautiful. All of the really cool amenities with big rooms and functional layouts.
It was perfect.
Then we moved on to the next model home. Wow. It was even nicer than the last. It had these cool sliding doors to the patio that opened around the corner and made the inside area flow seamlessly into the outside area. This one was more to our liking because most of the bedrooms were upstairs.
It was perfecter..
Then we went to the last house.
It kinda sucked….
So we went back to the first two houses.
We walked around in the second house the most and decided that it was our favorite by far. Upon leaving, we went back to the sales office and picked up some information about that house in particular and nailed down build dates and intentions. We thanked the sales staff for their time and jumped back in the truck and drove away.
Why would I put my wife through that kind of cruel female torture you ask? Because I believe that everyone needs to have something to fight for. For my wife, she REALLY wants her own house. So all of the work that we do to put an effective budget into play and pay off our debt just gets us that much closer to buying the dream house that she so desires, that she so deserves.
Besides, we had fun, and we did it together.
When a typical human being is faced with adversity, they have a basic need to evaluate the process and the potential outcome to justify the actions required. In more common speak, “This crap had better be worth it.” That is where your Dream Wall comes in.
Personally, I have a pretty good imagination. I don’t need to have a wall with a bunch of pictures on it to know what I want to do in the future. Admittedly, my dreams get clouded by other dreams and the whole mental pictures gets a little muddy, but the dreams are still there and quite honestly, even if I can no longer see the original dreams, it’s because they are covered up by new ones.
Other people are more visual.
They want to be able to see exactly what they are working for. Right down to the color. There is nothing wrong with that. The song remains the same. You have a goal and you are working toward it. Having the pictures on a wall, or even a refrigerator door, helps you remember why you are making these sacrifices. It keeps you focused and enables you to move forward even when you are getting tired.
It doesn’t have to be a house or even a major purchase. Your motivation can be a car or motorcycle, or a vacation, or maybe that Starbucks Frappachino that you have been denying yourself. Pretty much anything that you would really like to purchase but cannot justify in your current state of financial being. Did I mention that we want to visit some close friends in Australia for about a month! That trip will be before our trip to Italy, but only because we have put off the Aussie trip for so long now. Yes, these are on our Dream Wall.
What is your goal or goals in paying off your debt?
Have you given it any thought? I know you have, because you are just like me, and trust me, we are not unique in this aspect. Just keep in mind that while you may be trucking through that debt snowball right now without issue, there may come a day when you waiver. It’s that day that you may need to see that Dream Wall to get things back into perspective for you.
And if it isn’t there……
Cant say that I didn’t warn you.
Dave
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