patience
Patience has never been my strong suit.
Sunday night, I did my every-time-I-get-a-paycheck money distribution. I paid all my bills for the month, except for my cell phone bill which isn’t due for weeks. I also contributed 10% of my net pay (instead of my gross because my income isn’t solid) into my IRA. Everything that was left over was split between spending money (for gas, groceries, food-on-the-go) and the My Own Home savings account.
One hundred fifty-some-odd dollars into the savings account. Big whoop. Now I know that the paycheck from last week’s work can now go almost entirely into my house savings when I receive it, but I was disappointed to only see my savings go up by $150 this week. Even though it wasn’t too long ago that I opened the account with $25 because that’s really all I had to spare. Talk about a change in perspective! I’ve gotten so used to making leaps and bounds in my progress that inching along is disappointing. I’m not looking forward to the end of the project I’m working on because it means I’ll have to go back to being stagnant on my saving efforts.
I’ve had my eyes on getting my own home for about ten years now, but I was a student, so I couldn’t act on my desire. About four years ago, I decided that I’d get myself a house within the next two calendar years. Those two years have come and gone, and another two have come since then…
I want my house. I want out of this apartment. Now.
My credit union says that I can qualify for a loan to get a house with 5% of a home’s price. Boy, did I not need to read that today. I have that much saved up already.
I’m not crazy, though. I won’t do anything rash. I want to put down at least 10% and still have extra savings to spare for other expenses and emergencies. I also want to be working directly for an employer instead of contracting myself out through agencies for projects, so that I can demonstrate a steady income - not just to my lender but to myself.
But if I’m going to do the right thing, I’m going to need to take it easy. Odds are that I will be able to get the money together and find a home by the end of this year, in line with the goal I’ve set up for myself. And, I’m going to have to be cool when I can only put more modest amounts into my savings. It’s adding up. And the times when I can dump the majority of my paycheck into the account more than make up for the times I can only put in a smaller fraction - both monetarily and emotionally. If I can just be patient long enough, I’ll make it before my head explodes.
