I should have stayed home...

last night. I went out with a close girlfriend of mine. I spent $30 bucks to get into the venue and $7.95 on a drink **Sigh** Did I have fun? I had an OKay time. Knowing I should not have spent that money compounded with the fact I didn't have a GREAT time is beginning to make me doubt my spending willpower. **Sigh** I love to have a great time, but only recently have I begun to go out on a regular basis and party with the girls. It has begun at theee worse time considering I am house hunting.



Well, I went house hunting yesterday and found the greatest house ever!!! The asking price is $238K. I am going to put an offer in at $199,950. Yep, it's a lot less than the asking price but considering the market, what do I have to lose. It was suggested I put an offer in at 209,950. Nope, not gonna happen. Besides, I have time on my side (although my patience is getting the best of me).

Upon walking into the home, I instantly fell in love with it. It has 3br/2ba, a huge kitchen with an eating area, family room, nice deck with a non functional whirlpool, and a nice sized lot/backyard. I have beeen plugging numbers into mortgage calculators all day yesterday and early this morning trying to decide if I am making the right choice in terms of my budget. I have been doing tons of research and here's what I found on Oprah's website:

Moving. Is your housing sabotaging your ability to make ends meet? It is for
a lot of people. During the last decade or so, we were so afraid that if we
didn't buy right now we'd be priced out of the only neighborhood we wanted
to live in. It may be that selling your house is a solution you have to
consider. Yes, the conventional wisdom is that your house is the asset
you'll retire on (and often retire in)—the most valuable asset in your
portfolio. But unless you can afford to make the payments, it's also the one
that can be your Achilles heel. Perhaps you can trade down—swapping a larger
house for something more manageable and less expensive. You also may need to
consider renting for a while. As long as you can keep the cost of moving
reasonable (recruit your friends), renting will save you the cost of homeowner's insurance. (You'll need renters insurance, but it's much cheaper.) You'll save on yard care and—depending on where you relocate—may be able to cut your commuting costs as well.

Reading the above excerpt made me think long and hard. I also used the budget
calculator provided on Oprah's site to figure how much I should spend per
month. That tool really is great. Once you enter your info it calculates how
much you are in the negative or positive at the end of each month. Give it a go people!!!