1. Owning is always better than renting, right?
Not so fast. M of Forty Twenty Four does a great breakdown of her overall budget now that they own a home, and at the end of her post lists some of the changes they’ve made now that they have a mortgage.
We won’t be buying a home until we can do it in cash. TH isn’t joking about that one, as he never caught the “American dream” bug that tells you your ultimate goal in life is to be a homeowner.
2. LDS Church Flickr Pool
If you’re on Flickr and you have Church related photos you can submit them and they might get used in a Church publication! Very cool. Here’s one that I submitted:
Does the steeple look straight to you? I don’t know why I have such a hard time with that.
3. Underground Supper Clubs
Chicago underground dining clubs. I want to go, bad. Of course I want to go to the invite only one the most. Not sure what they are? CNN talked about them here.
4. Chronicling the Journey as a New Photographer
I recently found the blogs of two new photographers who are doing a great job chronicling their journey as they grow. If you’re a new photographer yourself I suggest you follow along, you can learn from their good decisions… and their bad ones.
Kate Maxwell Photography. Kate actually lived on the same floor as me freshman year. She was getting paid to go to school, no joke. She’s brilliant and quirky and uber creative. Definitely someone to watch if you’re in the Pacific Northwest because I perdict her talents will grow at lightning speed! (Kelli, do you remember Katie from Rogers 96? That’s her. 
She already agreed to room with me at WPPI 2011, want to join in our party?)
Kari Campos Photography. Kari is doing exactly what I wish I would have done, posting about the little things she learns, as she learns them. My blog is too much of a hodge-podge for me to cover things as in-depth as she does, so if you wish I would have blogged my journey through the world of photography a bit more thoroughly I think Kari is the one you should be following.
5. Flossing
This week I endured 3 days of sitting in the dentist’s chair. Filling after filling after filling. Floss your teeth friends, don’t be an idiot like me and end up paying for it out of your retirement fund later on.
6. T1′s Passport Photos
I sat T1 down in a chair covered with a white blanket and attempted to get a suitable photo for his passport. Not sure why it’s matters since by the time he’s going to look like a completely different baby! Remember that crazy change from Month 1 to Month 3?
This is the one I chose for his photo.
7. That Husband is a Hottie
Happy to know some of you think so as well.
The end.
July 31st, 2010 on 9:02 am
That Husband is SUCH a hottie. I was afraid of making you uneasy by saying so before, but gurl you got yourself a hot one.
The biggest thing that sticks out to me as a bonus for home ownership is that, eventually, it is yours. You’re investing in something that you own, not that you’re paying to live in for only a month. My perspective could be different though because my parents paid less than $25,000 (about $35,000 in 2010 dollars) for their house and the cost of living in this area is so cheap.
As an example, my aunt could have paid, in cash, $5,000 for a trailer when she divorced. Instead, she rented a trailer. She still pays utilities as well as $450/month in rent. In a year, she will have nothing to show for that investment when she could live in a trailer for what would actually be much cheaper than her choice now.
That obviously doesn’t always pan out in such a way, but it certainly makes me think twice about the long-term investment.
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July 31st, 2010 on 9:38 am
I would like to point out that most of those changes are indeed because “for less than half of our current mortgage, we paid for rent”, etc. One does not have to spend that much in excess of rent, depending on where you’re buying.
Our mortgage payments only exceed our old rent (for a 2 bedroom apartment at least half the size of our 1 story 2000 square foot house) by about 200 dollars. Certainly we have some extra bills because we own a home. For one, we put in a good bit extra every month on our mortgage to try to reduce our payment schedule and thus our total interest. If we stay on this schedule, we’ll pay it off in under 15 years, instead of 30. There’s home improvement projects (with the bonus being that if we’re smart about it, we can recoup a good portion of these costs when we eventually sell). There’s the $400 or so we spend every year on HOA dues (for which we get hike and bike trails, 2 pools, a community center, tennis court, 3 playgrounds, 2 stocked ponds..). You certainly still have to pay utilities at an apartment or rented home, though an apartment will typically be less expensive since it is typically a lot less space to heat and cool.
My parents just paid off their home this year. No rent, no mortgage, freeeeeedom.
Here’s a realtor’s daughter checking in to say, “B-b-b-but! It’s an investment!”
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Jenna Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 10:06 am
I wasn’t trying to make an argument against everyone owing, but there are a large percentage of people who think you are wasting your money unless you buy. That isn’t always the case.
I’d rather be in your shoes instead of mine though
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tiffany Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 10:51 am
I agree. I think it depends on where you buy the house. because we only pay about 200 dollars more a month then what we were renting. and really are utilities aren’t even THAT much more either. SO I say it just depends on where you reside wheather buying or renting is the way to go. I love being out of an apartment and into my own space with my own yard and my own walls not being shared with anyone. and it will be nice to actually make money when we move from here and have to sell!!
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Hayley Marie Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 11:24 am
I think that is a good point. However, I think a lot of people in our generation see what their parents have now and want that right away. My parents have a really nice house but it is because they have worked hard, saved, and been smart with their money. I have to remember that from the time they were first married till now, they have gone from a rented apartment, owning a duplex, a nice home in town to the lovely house out in the country they have now. They have done a lot of the renovations themselves and I hope (someday) to follow in their footsteps. I think the danger is getting into A LOT of unnecessary debt early on to “keep up with the Joneses”…. or in this case, our parents. I think owning a home is a great investment, but when you bite off too much, too soon, it can create greater financial problems down the road.
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Katy Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Precisely what I was going to say. Home ownership has it’s wonderful advantages and I certainly understand why many want that for their life (we will someday when we’re out of the military), but some people have turned this into the mindset that somehow it’s a right - something that you deserve just for waking up and breathing.
Our parents & grandparents have worked, saved, and planned to get that what we younger generation want RIGHT NOW. We think that home ownership debt is inherently good because it’s for a home, but any debt - including home debt - that over extends us and pushes beyond what we can easily afford is still not “good” debt.
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Catherine Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi, this Catherine from Forty Twenty Four and think that Mary’s right depending on the type of of renting situation you are in. We only paid for electric and gas, nothing else. Now we have to pay for ALL utilities plus insurance, property tax (which is high here) and the weird sewer thing. We didn’t have to pay for any of those before. We also didn’t spend money on maintenance either.
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:09 am
Yes, your husband is adorable. I think I wrote that on the video post… and I think I erased it because it seemed creepy. But it’s TRUE.
And T1 is so cute. So freaking cute.
Love your thoughts on homeownership. Like others have pointed out, the best thing about buying is that you have an asset that you can borrow against and eventually own. But so many people go into home-buying with blinders on and end up house-poor. (If you ever watch HGTV, you’ll see many many couples who have a budget, fall in love with a house, and end up going over that budget. No wonder so many homes go into foreclosure!) (Gah that sounds really judgy. I know there are other reasons that happens, too. Unavoidable reasons like illness or job loss.)
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:30 am
When you say pay for the house is cash do you mean the whole house? Like no financing at all?
Up were my parents live in Virginia was hit really hard by the housing market crash, so many people were borrowing the loan AND the… rest of it. lol. So pretty much they took out loans to cover the whole thing - which is never safe, and with the adjustable rates that went up, and banks lending more money than they have. Big mess. since we’ll be living in Virginia soon though, it makes a lot more sense to buy than to rent - so that is something we are aiming for, but not something we are rushing into.
I don’t think I could wait that long. I’m so sick of having people living so close. I want to move out into some rural area.
Oh, sorry this is getting long, but I was wondering if you had considered renting a house? Where I live now we got more space for renting a house than we would’ve renting an apartment of the same price!
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Jenna Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 11:11 am
We’ll start renting a house when we have enough kids that it costs less to be in a house than it does to be in an apartment. Right now that’s not the case.
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Jessica @ One Shiny Star Reply:
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I completely understand. We’re renting a two bed/one bath house with a two car garage and a yard. It is smaller than most apartments, but it has a garage, yard, in our own washer and dryer. Since we have two dogs - the yard is definitely worth it to us. Plus it gave us space to plant a garden. I don’t think we would’ve rented a house otherwise, but our landlord is LDS, and we met him at church - so there is a little bit more trust there than renting from a stranger.
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:31 am
I think paying for a home with cash is A.MAZING. It is something I would like for our family but with a 145k (possibly more) in student loans for myself and my husband, I don’t know if we could ever do that.
Instead we have made it our goal to have 15k for a hefty down payment and possible renovations (minor ones) when we do find a home we love. We do plan on purchasing a home when we are relatively debt free (meaning our student loans would be in the low 20 thousands.
Now that I just typed that out, I’m having a huge party when our loans are paid off…You wanna come? lol
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:34 am
Oh..
Ps. Having husbands from different countries who can speak a different language makes them extremely hot (my husband is first generation Haitian. yay!)
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:36 am
As a dental hygienist, I appreciate the flossing PSA.
We’re going to buy eventually because we want to live in a more rural area but we aren’t doing it til we can absolutely afford to do so. Sometimes it sucks to wait.
T1 is way too cute (and like many others, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable before by saying TH is hot - but is he ever! I think we’re going to give him an ego now!)
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July 31st, 2010 on 11:50 am
Jenna where is Kate Maxwell photography located? You mentioned the NW; does that mean Portland, Seattle, Eugene…I couldn’t find that info. anywhere on her blog or website. She may want to include for those of us who stumble upon her and want that basic information! Thanks for introducing us to those two photographers though! I’m especially excited to read Kari’s journey and hopefully learn something.
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Jenna Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I’m pretty sure she is in Portland. I’ll tell her she needs to make that a bit clearer.
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July 31st, 2010 on 12:18 pm
I LOVE that second photo of T1. How stinkin cute is he!
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July 31st, 2010 on 12:33 pm
T1 is such a cutie!
As for no financing that is highly admirable. We could not do that here in NYC even with jobs that pay decently. I’m very impressed with people who can afford to bring a check for $1 million to closing
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Stephanie Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Same here. My husband and I would like to make a large down payment, but in Los Angeles most of the (decent and nicer) houses range from 800k-3mil
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July 31st, 2010 on 12:58 pm
I get paid to go to school too. It’s very common in grad school (PhD programs) to get paid to be there. In fact, I wouldn’t have gone to grad school had they not paid me to do it. It’s pretty much just like a job, albeit one that you work 80 hours a week at and get paid less than $5/hour.
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July 31st, 2010 on 1:47 pm
TH is so cute with T1 in that bottom picture. Total hottie.
T1 has such a sweet smile!
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July 31st, 2010 on 2:49 pm
not sure if you’re cropping that photo, but we were told that passport pictures can’t have any hands or arms in them. (it was a pain getting our 2 month old to keep her arms down for it.)
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Jackie Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 2:25 pm
I was going to ask the same thing - in Canada at least, you can’t have hands, just shoulders and head - actually we also had difficulty because my kid wouldn’t close his mouth!! But “luckily” he didn’t have any teeth at the time, they said that if he had teeth, then his mouth would have had to be closed!
Adorable pics though!!!!
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Jenna Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Yep, it was cropped to the 2X2 dimensions that are required, whatever they are. We still haven’t turned it in though so I’m not 100% sure I did it right.
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July 31st, 2010 on 3:36 pm
We own a block of land that we paid for in cash back in Sydney - but we aren’t going to build on it until a) we move home permanently and b) we have a little more savings first so we don’t go knee-debt into a massive debt. It frightens me more than I can say!
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July 31st, 2010 on 5:44 pm
I’ve been a homeowner for over three years now and it definitely has it’s ups and downs. We are fortunate enough to live in a place with lots of affordable housing. The home we bought is smaller and older than what we might have rented, but it’s worth it to own I think. There’s a lot to be said for cash payments though and I admire your choice.
I totally think you should have used that second photo. That little tongue!
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July 31st, 2010 on 7:26 pm
SOMEDAY we’ll buy a house - after the military life that is or unless we somehow decide sooner than later where we want to settle. Since neither of those things are applicable right now, we’re doing the base housing/renting route and I really don’t mind. The great things about home ownership also come with a price that we don’t yet have to pay. A price that many people that *think* they can afford a house forget about (insurance, repairs, taxes, etc).
We hope to put A LOT down as well - we could even take advantage of a special GI bill thingy that doesn’t require hardly any down to get a good moratage rate, but we’ll still put down as much as possible.
That temple picture is amazing, but gee whiz - Jenna took a good picture of something. What a shocker.
And how cute can your boy get? Seriously, is he going to get cuter - do we need to prepare ourselves? I’m not sure I can take it.
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July 31st, 2010 on 9:06 pm
The “invite-only” part of the Bonsoiree underground dinner in Chicago is a little misleading. Really all you have to do is subscribe to their email list. It’s a great restaurant though. My husband and I went a little over a year ago for their 10-course dinner and it was pretty fun. Super tiny place and very memorable dinner. Chicago has an amazing restaurant scene — hope you guys are able to take advantage of it.
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July 31st, 2010 on 10:41 pm
A huge aspect of the benefits of home ownership is lifestyle. If you want to be settled, if you have job stability where you plan to be there for a number of years, then yes, home ownership can be wonderful. But then again, with the economy the way it is, with as much career changing/moving as people do, it can tie you down.
For my partner and I, homeownership would prevent us from having the kind of lives we want. He is a computer programmer, and has many different options to work completely from home, technically anywhere in the world. I’m working towards a nomadic existence in sustainable development, perhaps a stint in the Peace Corps, and we both love traveling. Renting is literally paying for our freedom in our case. Even if/when kids come in to the picture, there is no guarantee we will settle down somewhere permanently.
I moved a lot growing up, and for me personally, home is wherever I’m safe and loved, wherever in the world that might be at the moment. I like having very little possessions, I like being able to pick up and move at the spur of the moment. Right now, we’re planning on leaving the country in May ’11, probably for about two years, to travel, volunteer, WOOF, teach English (me), do computer work (him) and just kind of see where the wind takes us.
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Jenna Reply:
July 31st, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes! For some reason the idea that owning a home could prevent you from doing other things in life seems to never be brought up. I hear so many people saying that they can’t find a job and they’ve been looking for months or years, but there are certainly jobs out there, you just have to be willing to go find them.
I’m grateful that for the time being we won’t have to stress about TH losing his job and being out of work for an extended period of time. If he ever does, we have absolutely no limitations on where we would look for work. North America, South America, Europe, Asia. It’s all open to us because we don’t have the roots to prevent us from being more mobile.
And what is WOOF?
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Sophia Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Jenna-
I think you’ll love the concept of WOOF since your Dad is an organic farmer! It stands for World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming. Basically, each participating country has a network of organic farms. If you are interested in volunteering, you pay about $30 for whatever country you’re interested in to access the list of approved organic farms. Most of the time, this amounts to being able to live for free, with free food, in any number of countries in the world in exchange for volunteer work on the farm. It’s totally legitimate, and lots of my acquaintances have done it and loved it.
Right now, Bobby and I are open to starting in Hawaii- they have opportunities to live on the most amazing farms, free room and board and usually loads of other goodies, in exchange for about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week of work- or, going the opposite way, starting in Europe and backpacking/WOOFING through Europe over the summer.
Here’s the main site- http://www.wwoof.org/
And here’s the Hawaii site: http://www.wwoofhawaii.org/
Also, lots of these farms love to have families, so I couldn’t help but think it would be a cool family vacation, with just the cost of getting over there and any spending money you’d want, since room and board would be free. It would also be a great way to get some language immersion!
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Cécy Reply:
August 5th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
That sounds like a great concept to travel. Kind of like couch surfing except that you give something in exchange. I’m bookmarking this.
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Rachael Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 7:30 am
I wanted to reply to this, but couldn’t find the exact words to use with the most efficiency. Sophia put the nail on the head for me. This is EXACTLY how my husband and I feel. When we’ve tried to mention this to new acquaintances, we mostly get odd looks (but who cares).
The way we describe it is that there’s always an opportunity cost for every decision you make. With a home, you are tied to its upkeep and maintenance. It prevents you from seeking work if you need to move. It prevents us from having the freedom to leave and an opportunity to go at almost a moment’s notice. And we wouldn’t trade it for the world.
It is SO refreshing to see that others have a similar point of view!
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Catherine Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 2:24 pm
I travel A LOT for work and I don’t think home ownership limits that. I was recently offered a job that would require us to move to Ghana for 2 years and our house was not one of the reasons I turned it down. I think you can make any situation work if you need it to.
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Sophia Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Catherine-
It sounds like you have a “home base”, from which you do most of your traveling for work, and I’m assuming you come back to that “homebase” in between your extensive travels- please correct me if I’m wrong. I’m more talking about having no desire, or need for such a homebase to come back to. Basically, wherever we are will be the homebase. Also, while I agree that technically we could buy a home and perhaps rent it out while we were gone, again, we truly have no intentions of ever settling in one place for any amount of time. If we purchased real estate, it would most likely be an investment which we would contract out to a company to be the official “landlord” of, but it’s probably not something we’d want to do.
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Rachael Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 5:20 pm
It can limit your options if you are underwater in your house and have no other funds or options. It’s just a philosophy thing. I have no interest in owning a home at present and perhaps long in to the future, but it’s a personal choice. Home ownership works for some and not for others.
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Sophia Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Rachael- no odd looks here!
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Rachael Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Cortney - I’ve been reading your blog and love your posts! I, too, like having my homebase wherever I am. It’s so liberating. Hubby and I have moved twice in the past year, taking our possessions in both of our cars and nothing else.
Noticed that you recently moved out to Colorado from Texas (where I’m originally from) - that’s awesome! We’re actually about to come out to Denver on vacation. We can’t wait to visit and explore! Perhaps I should leave you a comment…
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Sophia Reply:
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm
I’m glad you like it! I go through fits and spurts of blogging, mostly because I *despise* the way blogger makes you upload pics backwards and only 5 at a time
Colorado is like the stuff of my dreams when it comes to a great place to live in the U.S. We are thoroughly enjoying it and it is definitely on the “approved for return” list, lol
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August 1st, 2010 on 11:04 am
The underground dining scene in Chicago is great. My boss’s boyfriend is a chef, and they go to a lot of these get-togethers. Even if the food isn’t great, they meet new and (sometimes crazy) people. I keep meaning to check them out!
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August 1st, 2010 on 2:28 pm
Thanks for the shout out. I think home ownership is a cultural thing. I’ve been to a lot of countries where the concept seems crazy.
I just got hit with not flossing enough too. I had to have my first 2 fillings in 22 years. And because they could be seen when I smile, I had to get enamel which my insurance wouldn’t cover completely. That’s $600 I won’t see again.
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Evelyn Reply:
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Well, when you think about it… you’ll see that $600 every time you smile.
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August 2nd, 2010 on 11:25 am
Renting has been great for us. Partly because our house is over 50 years old and it has a ton of structural problems (builder’s daughter here), and partly because, with my husband’s job, we don’t know how long we’ll be in one place.
Obviously there are pros to both renting & buying, and it really depends on your situation, but I think there has been way too much emphasis placed on buying a home over the past couple decades. It’s like your life isn’t complete if you don’t have a mortgage.
Jenna, I do think it’s awesome that y’all want to pay cash for your house. I’d love to be able to, but we’ll probably have to settle for as big a down payment as we can afford and then paying as much as possible every month. Once we get to that point, anyway. Have you read any of Dave Ramsey’s books? I think you’d probably like what he has to say. TH certainly would agree with him, since he’s adamant about paying cash for a house.
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August 2nd, 2010 on 2:04 pm
I just have to chime in and say, since we’re currently in the process of buying (I hope) a house in Orange County, that a really really cheap house here is $400,000. That would be in a so-so neighborhood and a so-so house (or a decent condo). Let’s say your mortgage on that is $2,000 per month. Rent on this same property would be $1700. I think all of you ladies have covered the “pros and cons” of buying v renting, but I just wanted you all to feel really badly for me! haha jk. But isn’t that INCREDIBLY expensive!?
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August 5th, 2010 on 4:10 pm
On the home front I read the Dave Ramsey book right before we decided to buy a house. While the idea to buy cash seems great I knew that in our case between the debt and our paycheck it would be years for us to be able to buy.
Then the $8000 credit came up and we decided to jump on it. We were doing good, paying things off and all.
We’re now paying $300 per month than we did when renting, plus house and yard improvement which always ends up more than you think. But for us it’s the right decision, we are settle in this town, love it, he has a job he loves and well I’m more flexible job wise. Plus I always told him that I wanted to own a house before we have kids, I didn’t want to be at the mercy of a landlord raising prices and risking to kick you out.
Passeport pictures, it’s reminding me of my first National ID card picture, I’m almost a year old and sitting on mom’s lap. I loved it but we had to turn it in to get my new card when I was 11.
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August 9th, 2010 on 5:40 pm
My good friend Cat is a part of a supersecret Chicago supper club. She’s a big food-lover (who isn’t?!?) I’ve been trying to coerce her into scoring me an invite if they get an opening!
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