Step 1: Set a budget.

Well hello, it feels like it has been FOREVER since I last blogged. Over a year. What the heck. So much to fill you in on, but I'd rather just jump to the most recent and most exiting stuff! The biggest thing being that we moved to TEXAS this summer and JUST BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! Holy cow. Can you say "Grown Ups"??

Anyways, what an adventure this was. And I really felt like I need to tell you all about it so future home buyers can get a taste of what to expect going into your first home purchase.

Step 1: Set a budget.

From even before Dan and I got married, we started creating budgets on excel spread sheets. We are big time planners and hate to waste money. We budget for EVERYTHING. When we first started talking about buying a house, we started a pretend spread sheet on how much everything was going to cost. I talked to my parents about what they spend each month.

Things to think about are:

• Mortgage payment
• property taxes
• mortgage insurance
• home owners insurance
• HOA
• Cable and Internet
• Cell phone
• Utilities
• Tolls
• Water
• Car note
• Insurance
• Car gas
• Food
• Dates
• Tithing
• Random expenses
• Health insurance
• Monthly allowance
• Savings
• Student loans
• Baby expenses/child expenses
• vacation fund

Start by listing things that you already spend money on, and then add in what expenses you will have when buying a house, ie) property taxes. I always over estimate what we might spend, and then that way, what is left over at the end of the month can go towards savings.

Once you have your budget created. Start plugging in numbers into a mortgage calculator to see what you are comfortable paying each month while sticking to your budget.