Making Plans

On Tuesday my hubby had a full day/night off from work so we decided to make the most of it. For months we had been talking about taking a really first big step to talk with a banker about what steps we needed to start taking as far as buying a house. My husband and I are so ready to be home owners, but at the same time we still need to work on fixing/building our credit. We both thought that speaking with a professional and getting some initial questions tackled/answered would be a great foundation to starting this process. 

We went to our bank and spoke with a banker, he wasn't a mortgage lender, so wasn't able to help us to much but did point us to a ML at a nearby location. He also was very helpful as to what web sites we can go to, to check our credit and scores, which would help us start improving the grey areas. 

Immediately I went home and reviewed my report and jotted down what was there & what I needed to improve. It was the first time I have checked my report, it's embarrassing that I haven't before this. It just goes to show I am still growing up, still figuring this thing called adult hood out. 

My husband and I sat down and had ourselves a little pow wow. He is very adimate about replacing all of our old outdated equipment (TV, DVD PLAYER, GAMING SYSTEM = guy stuff) since our income has improved greatly. I on the other hand am hard core about paying debt, getting rid of some of the yuck on our reports BUT also know we need some more hard credit on our reports. 

Our plan is to bust out the really big bills first and get those taken care of. Once that stress is eliminated then we will work on our hard credit which would be financing a TV. 

We plan to put as much as we can into savings to come up with some sort of a down payment. Our goal is by next summer to have revamped our credit and then start the house buying process.

Another decision we have had to face is do we move from our shack? We both hate it here, bad. BUT rent is cheap, we are able to have our dog, and we have been here almost 5 years. My husband wants to get out, but said we would only do so if I were able to find a place around the same price range. My gut flips at the thought of putting up with this outdated place for another year but my heart rejoices at the image of (hopefully) our final year as renters.

I have been daydreaming for months on end of what kind of home I want to see myself in, where I want that home to be. My husbands 2 requests, out of the city and it HAS to have a garage. I would love to get out of the city myself. Raise my 2 kiddos on a little property is my ideal dream. I love what country life has to offer vs. city life. My aunt has property in woodland. Its a drive but not too bad and it is serene. Life slows down, the air is crisp, the only noise you hear is that of nature, AND the kids are free to roam and I don't freak out where they are headed. There is not a busy street close by, a HUGE drop in stranger danger, & they get to explore nature. I see us settling in the Woodland area. It a small town but close enough to the big city. 

I feel like the I am finding the pieces to this huge puzzle and very slowly a beautiful image is starting to appear. Its feels great to finally have a foundation starting, now we just have to build some woodwork :)