Author Topic: Two incomes not enough (Read 655 times)

Matthew · « **on:** April 25, 2008, 11:22:23 AM »

Mark Wetherell: Struggling to buy first home
Accountant, 30, Denver, Colo.

I like the life my wife and I have started together. We have a beautiful 20-month-old daughter, Maya, and one more on the way. We are excited to give our daughter a sibling. We live in a 900-square-foot box and have been renting for the past four years in Denver.

I'm scared for our future living situation. We have already outgrown our apartment as it is and now we need to make room for one more in our two-bedroom place. We decided we can't afford to live in Denver and have planned to relocate to Augusta, Ga., or Columbia, S.C., where housing costs are considerably cheaper and to be near family.

My wife and I both work in the finance field and have a decent combined salary but it seems like it is not enough. We're confident we can find accounting jobs in our next location. Bottom line is we need a house in the next two years and we can't do it where we are at!!

Luckily we have saved well and live within our means and have also kept up contributing to our retirement saving programs. But life is tough and it's hard now for young couples to buy homes and get ahead in today's world.

Matthew · « **Reply #1 on:** April 25, 2008, 11:25:07 AM »

A few points:

1. He's leading a very good life on the natural level -- so far at least. In other words, he's doing what he's supposed to as far as having the kids God sends him. So he's not doing anything wrong in that department.

2. He's 30, has a professional job (probably a college degree) as does his wife. But they don't own a home yet! Of course, few people actually OWN their homes -- it's usually the bank that owns the home (if you still owe money on it, it's not yours).

3. Note how expensive some parts of the country are. Many parts of the south have much lower living expenses -- he could have easily added Texas to his list of great places to live.

Matthew