I want a house....and babies

...and right now, I just can't.

When Jonny and I moved to Columbus in October 2008, we got an itty bitty apartment, with an itty bitty kitchen, an itty bitty bathroom, with an itty bitty lease (6 months). "It's temporary," we said.

6 months came. 6 months went. Still no job for the hubby. This situation has turned out to be not-so-temporary.

Since beginning FPU, we have learned that we need to trust the process and finish baby step 2 and 3 before we worry about getting a house. We has saved up almost $4,000 for a down payment. We used it to jump start our debt snowball.

I'll be honest. I come home to my apartment and look around and think, "I wish I had a house..." There are certain people out there who have been, to say the least, not very friendly about our journey. "Debt is normal" they say. You'll always have a (house, car, etc...) payment. No. We won't. As sad as I am that I dont have a house now, I'll appreciate it that much more when the time comes. NO, I don't want a starter home. NO, I don't care jack squat about building equity and using it to roll over to move again. I only want to move one more time in my life, and that is to our permanent home. (Yes, I realize things may change, but that is not the plan. We'll cross that bridge if and when we ever come to it...) I don't have the time or the patience to house hop to build equity and roll it over. I don't have the income and credit right now to get a house on a single income.

The good news is that this gives us time to really figure out what we want. We've considered building, but as time goes on, we hope that time will be on our side. We hope we'll be able to find a really good deal on a home that may not be perfect, but will have potential for remodeling as to become perfect.

I hate being 29 years old, in debt, with no house, and no babies. I've done stupid, and now I'm paying for it (no pun intended). However, as much as I complain, I'm glad I'm being forced to take things slow. We WILL save up a 20% down payment and apply for only a 15 year mortgage. How cool will it be to have our home completely paid for before the kids go off to college?! WOO!