"I Need a House"

We have ourselves a goal. Just one really. Okay, so we do have a lot more goals in life and things we want to do, but there is one thing that we are really aiming for.

We want a house.

That's a reasonable thing for a newly-married couple who want to get out of an apartment and have a family and all those nice little things that are apart of the American Dream. Does that still exist?  Is it still the white picket fences, two-story house, 2.5 kids and a nice friendly dog? Is this where you tell me the American Dream is whatever we want it to be? But let's be honest, no matter if you're a dog person or prefer cats the dream is basically the same. And we are certainly no different. Call us conformist.

We have been working on our plan to save money and get our own American Dream, but man that American Dream is expensive! Anyone else wishing I would stop saying American Dream over and over? But it's a slow process. Selling a kidney is not an option at this point - but don't think I haven't considered it. Just kidding - mostly. : )

We have been saving and even started looking briefly before deciding we didn't want a structurally damaged house and we wanted to save up more and get some loans paid off first. Very responsible of us if I say so myself. And with that I can happily announce that two of our three loans are gone (with the wind) and we are working even harder towards our paying off our last loan and saving even more towards our future house.

American Dream here we come!

So when do we plan on moving into our house that will cost us an arm and a leg - that's Johnson County for ya? I'll never tell. Or at least I'm not telling right now. Why set up myself up to fail? I tell you a date or an approximate time and then we don't even come close it to then what? But on the other hand, I could tell you that same approximate date and then we are way ahead of schedule and you'll think that we're just that awesome. But really, how do you know I'm not lying about all of it. Really now? You think I would lie to my loyal blog readers? Never.

So what is our goal? This year. We would love to have a house by at least the end of this year. That's simple and vague - just the way I like it. I can for sure tell you that we are not buying a house in the next few months and we are definitely not in the process of buying a house currently. That I know for certain. But we hope it's in our not so distant future.

So in the meantime, we rearranged the apartment and it looks like a whole new apartment now (blog forthcoming). And we are busy little bees paying off loans which in my book is just awesome because that means it's just that much more a month back in our pockets. Hey, maybe this means one day I can go back to Kennebunkport and eat my expensive lobster - just as long as we save for it.

Oh a serious note though, something I have learned that I think is a good idea when it comes to money matters. When it comes to the big purchases and the things you really want, it takes a while and sometimes you have to do a lot more saving than spending and it's hard. It's just so much easier to just spend the money on little things because you see the result instantly. That's just the way our society works. So it's really hard when you are trying to save up for something big - like a car or a house or whatever it is that you really want. Something that we do is put a picture of whatever it is on our fridge. By having it there, we see it daily and it's a constant reminder what we are doing all this for. Every time you see it, you remember why you are eating in when you much whether eat out. You remember what it is all for, and that's important. If there's anything that you are really wanting, I recommend putting that picture somewhere where you will see it daily - on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, your pillow. Okay, so probably not your pillow but you get the point. It's hard to save the money and not spend it - we definitely know that.

So now, we continue our lives as recluses and we're okay with that because we have our end goal in sight. As does one special special lady. I saw this music video and my reaction was probably the same as yours is about to be if you make it through the video. (Hint: If you like it and think it's the best ever, that wasn't my reaction.) But this is a woman after my own heart...Enjoy!