I’ve been busy house searching since May..I’ve decided I’m ready to be a homeowner. I’m really tired of paying rent when my money doesn’t go toward anything that I own. I think it will be tough at first, but I am pretty handy and thrifty.

The home I chose is in North Minneapolis.. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, almost 1,500 square feet with a finished (well, half finished) basement. Here’s a few photos:

(Kitchen) Cabinets are going to be refinished….if there’s a color I hate more than baby pink, it’s baby blue. The floors are real linoleum, and it reminds me of a 1950’s diner – it’s gray with red, blue and yellow streaks. It will eventually be replaced (within the next 5 years or so), but it works for now.

(other side of kitchen) There will be a high top table with 2 seats here.

(Livingroom) Going to take the door off and put on the hinges that lead to the upstairs (won’t be using upstairs unless guests come to stay…this will help conserve heat in the Wintertime).

(I call this the sunroom) Extra room looking out to the backyard. Just needs some paint. Could be a 3rd bedroom, but they used it as a dining room.

(Master bedroom) Will be painted. Windows are not egress windows (Yes, fireman will not be able to get into my bedroom if there were a fire). I like it because people can’t see inside my house.

(backyard) Small backyard, but enough for my Lola to run around in. It is asking for a deck to be built, which hopefully will happen next year.

Those are all the photos I have right now…I’m going to take a lot of before and after photos in the next few years. I’m so excited to own my own home!

Moving Home
Pros:
No rent [If I pay more on my loans]
Home cooked food
Being with family
More money saved for vacation, emergencies
Can help family out with bills
Can pay off Heidi’s debt
Can pay the full amount of car insurance that I can’t afford now
Cons:
Driving to Minneapolis everyday for work
Cigarette Smoke [Mom]
Aunt possibly still habitating in basement, which would mean I would have to share a basement with her.
Living with family constantly, no break.
Not being 100% independent [not paying rent...]
Getting scolded for having alcohol in the house

Living in Minneapolis
Pros:
Close to work
Being independent
Living alone
Close to city resources
Cons:
Not able to pay extra on student loans every month
Living on a strict budget
Can’t afford new car payment

Here it is: I am debating two things right now. I know that if I continue paying my student loans the way I am, I will be 47 before they are paid off. I am also realizing that my car will not last forever, and it is 10 years old. Also, I don’t feel super safe in my car since I got into my accident. I found a 2006 Jeep Liberty at a dealership for 10,260. It only had 17,000 miles on it, and I love driving my aunt’s Jeep, and have said in the past that if I were to get a new car, it would be a Liberty.

My dad told me that I could move home and not pay rent, and that he would give me the basement to live in, with a bedroom and the bar area for a livingroom area. They said that it would be a lot easier for them and for me, and welcomed me home.

There is another problem. My aunt is living in the basement and it is really causing problems with my parents. She has not paid rent, and only works 2 days a week, doesn’t show any interest in helping out with bills, but uses the phone daily and takes my mother’s laptop into her bedroom without even asking my mom.

I’m not sure what I want to do. It is stressing me out big time. I know that if I do move home, I would need a better car to drive to work everyday, especially in the winter time. The good thing about the Jeep is that it has 4 wheel drive so I won’t get stuck. I do miss my parents, but I do enjoy living independently.

There is another dilemma. Yesterday I decided that I would apply for a Chase auto loan just for the hell of it. Knowing that my debt to income ratio is crazy [more than $70k in debt, annual income of about $32 k] I knew I wouldn’t be approved…especially the way the economy is now…I couldn’t even get a private consolidation loan without a cosigner. Well, I got approved, and have a fairly good interest rate for applying by myself [6.8%], and a 5 year loan. Do I take it as a sign that I was approved for more than the car costs?

Other thing is that I only have a month to use the loan otherwise I have to apply again and have them check my credit again, and I may not be approved next time based on the economy [they said that the worst is yet to come]. My lease here expires in July, and I won’t have enough money for groceries for 5 months until I move home. I have saved quite a bit of money [well, for me...not for most], and I think that I could take out $100 a month for gas and groceries out of my savings and not have a problem. I also should be getting a pretty good check back for my taxes [I will know exactly how much this Friday], and also my renter’s credit come August [That's going to be about $1400].

Gah! What do I do? Such a dilemma. I figured out gas and mileage and such, and if gas stays around $2 per gallon, I should spend about $170 a month on gas just commuting to and from work. It is 88 miles per day, 440 per week. I checked out fueleconomy.gov, and it says that the average is 21 miles to the gallon with a 20.5 gallon gas tank, which equates to roughly $170 a month for gas expenses.

Tell me what you would do if you were in my situation. No dumb comments either. KTHX.