Who am I? I am a mid-thirties woman in a common-law relationship, starting to get my act together and put down roots in small-town British Columbia. Actually, the small town is less than 5000 people, and I am in a bedroom community of about 500 on the outskirts. Currently, my love and I rent a tiny 450 square foot apartment. We have plans to save money now, which is a recent phenomenon, but first we have to reduce some of our debt
We are quite in debt. About $63,000 in debt. Thankfully, while I make minimum wage in retail work, he just switched to a position in the transportation industry, and the new income will allow us to pay off our debts faster than ever. In a couple of months, we'll be able to pay off a couple of our smaller debts, and be able to both pay down the next largest debt and start saving for a downpayment for a house.
Yes, I said it: house. Where we live there is a particular house in a good neighbourhood, on a decent sized lot, that happens to be quite small, and quite ugly. It's a 'handyman's special'. It would need a new roof for sure, and I would require a house inspection before it's bought to make sure anything wrong can be repaired. But the price is right: $69,000. A 5% downpayment would be only $3,450 and land transfer taxes would be waived because we're first-time homeowners.
Aside from the roof, as far as I can see, the house looks solid and it has a huge garage/shop that my love is starting to see might have potential. That's the point that brought him around to this idea of home ownership: indoor space of his own to tinker on projects, that he never really had before, even growing up. So, I think the ugliness is mostly cosmetic, and it will hopefully keep other buyers away until we're ready to buy. If it's gone before we're ready, there's bound to be something else for us then.
So, what will this blog be about? First, it will be about our journey of paying down debt and saving money, while still having what we consider a life. Later, it will be our story of first-time home ownership and the projects we work on to make a house a home. Who knows, we've talked about other projects too, we're still young.
I can't promise to post regularly, because honestly, we are kinda boring. I can't even promise that the posts won't veer off into unrelated fields of interest. All I know is I'm ready to commit to something, and I want a record. It may yet develop into a grand adventure of sorts, so follow me if you are inclined, it could be a lot of fun.
