For anyone who knows me fairly well, I tend to be on the frugal side of the spectrum when it comes to money. I’m pretty anti-debt in general, having taken out loans only for school and nothing else so far, and having cut up all our credit cards over a year ago (I can explain that if you want). I had in my mind in previous years that I would simply wait to purchase a home until we could pay cash for it, however, we are currently changing our mind from that.

I still think debt is bad and given the option I think you should pay cash for everything you can possibly pay cash for. The only notable exceptions I can think of are education and, now, a home. However, this is how I plan on handling this home thing:

• We will buy something that we can pay off in 5 years or less, and we will pay it off in five years or less.
• I’m not going to the bank, seeing how much I qualify for and then getting a home in that range.
• We will not buy a ’starter home’ with the intention of upgrading as soon as we can afford the monthly payments.
• If I buy a fixer-upper, I do not intend to do major renovations, redo the kitchen, or any other ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ type remodeling.

There are a few reasons I see buying a house as a good idea.

• As soon as we pay it off we no longer have to pay rent or a mortgage (though I recognize there are taxes and home insurance, which they seem not to tell you when your considering houses).
• We will be able to make changes to it to make it more environmentally friendly.
• We will be able to have a garden in which to grow food to eat.
• We will have roots and vested interest in the community in which we are a part of.

I’m looking forward to all the opportunities that come with owning a house, but I’m still skeptical of the whole thing. There are definite benefits to renting as well, so I’m not trying to discourage anyone away from that.

I think the recent economic situation with houses, mortgages and interest is going to teach us something about the reality of taking more debt then we should.

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