https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 07 Apr 2026 02:18:30 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546741 Wed, 11 May 2016 20:07:45 +0000 Eko 2546741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ShootingStar: oh ok. Yeah I was like that would be nuts. Although my husband works in Danvers and worked with a guy that commuted from Pelham, NH. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546726 Wed, 11 May 2016 19:37:17 +0000 ShootingStar 2546726@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Eko: No, we work in Burlington. Commuting to downtown takes 1.5-2 hours, which is just way too much for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546725 Wed, 11 May 2016 19:35:50 +0000 Eko 2546725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bushelandapeck: nice! Reading is a really nice town. We were looking in that area when looking at homes.</p> <p>@ShootingStar: that is pretty close! You commute downtown from there? Renting in Somerville has become ridiculous... Unless you get roommates or something. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546702 Wed, 11 May 2016 18:52:41 +0000 ShootingStar 2546702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Eko: You're really close to us, we're in Tyngsboro. Or, you will be. And half the people I work with live in Somerville. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546701 Wed, 11 May 2016 18:52:30 +0000 bushelandapeck 2546701@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Eko: we are in Reading! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546649 Wed, 11 May 2016 17:21:07 +0000 Eko 2546649@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bushelandapeck: nice! Where?! We are currently renting in Somerville and are buying a home in Tewksbury. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546476 Wed, 11 May 2016 14:06:42 +0000 BabyBoecksMom 2546476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@math.nerd: Our real estate agent put us in contact with a really good loan officer, who helped us map out our finances. We didn't have much for a down payment, but we were able to find an option that worked for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546384 Wed, 11 May 2016 13:26:18 +0000 bushelandapeck 2546384@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Eko: we live north of Boston :) </p> <p>DH used to work in an industry where he received large annual bonuses, so we used those to put down a large down payment on our home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546375 Wed, 11 May 2016 13:21:20 +0000 BSB 2546375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for asking this question. We have been renting for a while with really no plan to buy a home in our area (since we are moving back east). I started looking at home prices in where we think we will end up and I'm regretting not saving more. We are doing well in our current area (could afford a house if we wanted), but never thought about how much we need to save up if moved. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546357 Wed, 11 May 2016 13:15:02 +0000 brownepiano 2546357@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had help buying our house from DH parents. But when we first started looking, we had saved 10,000 and looked at the lowest end of the market. We knew we couldn't afford much but we also knew we'd be throwing away money to rent anything bigger than our one bedroom apartment. We didn't know that DH parents would help us (and probably would have needed to wait another year). But that 10,000 we saved in a year and a half. We lived on DH income and saved mine (which was only PT self employed and we had a kid). We put very little into retirement, resurrect cars from the dead, and live with no frills. </p> <p>Now that we own a house, the constant costs are still scaring us a little! Even just the first year set up of tools and lawn stuff is making it really hard to build up our savings again. I'm glad that we learned to live really frugally because I'm not sure how we would survive owning a house otherwise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546218 Wed, 11 May 2016 11:40:53 +0000 Truth Bombs 2546218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We always lived below our means and saved the difference. We also got raises along the way, and didn't change our lifestyle, only increased our savings. We made about $30K in the two years we were in our starter home so that made it easier to put down 20% on our forever home. We save just as much if not more now than we did in our 20s because our increases in pay are greater than the additional costs of our kiddos. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546180 Wed, 11 May 2016 11:05:22 +0000 travellingbee 2546180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got married in our mid 30s and had lots of time living in small apartments to save up money. I got a small grant for my first condo, from a government program for teachers. It was a good investment that when sold, helped me roll that profit into our next down payment together. DH had plenty of money saved because he was well paid and single and frugal.</p> <p>Eta: there is no way we could save enough now with kids and daycare costs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546178 Wed, 11 May 2016 11:03:14 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2546178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One other thing to think about is home repairs. We were able to save for a home earlier on, but now we aren't saving like we should for home repairs and renovations. So in that sense I almost wish we were renting and not worried about when we will need a new roof or AC unit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546175 Wed, 11 May 2016 11:00:25 +0000 sunny 2546175@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I lived pretty much like a student for the first 3-4 years I was working. I saved a lot of money by having roommates. My one big splurge was a new car. I also didn't have student loans so I could devote a lot of money towards saving for a down payment. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546169 Wed, 11 May 2016 10:52:55 +0000 ElbieKay 2546169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work in an industry that pays bonuses. Generally speaking, I have always just saved my bonuses instead of spending them, so by the end of my 20s I had a decent amount of savings, some of which was invested in the market.</p> <p>I met my husband when I was 32. He moved into my apartment a year later, and we took the money he'd been paying as rent and saved it in a shared account. We used that account to pay for our wedding and, subsequently, to replace his 10yo car. Then it turned into our "shared savings". As we got raises, we increased our contributions to our shared savings.</p> <p>Our downpayment came from a combination of my savings and our shared savings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546150 Wed, 11 May 2016 10:36:12 +0000 winniebee 2546150@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband was in a serious car wreck and broke his back. We used the money from the settlement of his claim for the 15% downpayment on our first condo (it was Boston, so expensive, and 15% required). We had a little profit when we sold our condo and we saved that for our next home, which we put down 20% on - we wouldn't have been able to do this without profits from first condo and away everything extra over the course of a year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546146 Wed, 11 May 2016 10:32:31 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2546146@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We met as grad students and continued to live like grad students for the first three years of our marriage. We lived off of a quarter of our salaries and either saved the rest for a down payment or paid off my $120k student loan.<br /> We also bought a house needing a ton of work.<br /> We've been very fortunate in buying, our house has increased in value by over $200k in the time we've been here.<br /> A couple months after buying, we received a sizeable gift from FIL that paid down a bunch on our mortgage and helped with some of our reno costs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546043 Wed, 11 May 2016 09:08:31 +0000 petitenoisette 2546043@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JenGirl: Definitely agree that many people overlook whether it actually is financially beneficial to them because of emotions and feeling like it is what you are supposed to do (especially once you have a kid). Though your happiness is important too, even if it costs more to own so you have to consider all the factors. </p> <p>To answer OP's question, this is why so many people buy starter houses. You buy a starter house and don't put 20% down and hope the market will go up and that you will make enough money when you sell to put down 20% at the new place. That's what my husband and I are doing! Plus we lived with my parents for 8 months to save up money. It would have probably taken two more years to afford to buy a house if we hadn't done that.</p> <p>I also empathize feeling like it's really hard to save money bc even living rent free for that long we should have saved more money than we did (though we did pay off some CC debt too). What helps me save more is to have money automatically transferred to savings as I get paid; if the money is in my account I have a tendency to spend it. If it's in savings it seems as if it is already spent. I have also been working on developing a frugal mindset (reading frugal blogs has helped me with that) which has really cut down on unnecessary expenses (restaurants, clothing, convenience foods). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546025 Wed, 11 May 2016 08:52:02 +0000 kodybear 2546025@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We also put 3.5% down on our first house. We bought when the market was low. Within a couple years the value jumped so we were able to refi to get rid of pmi. Then we sold that house and was able to get the forever house with 20%down because of that equity. So we were lucky to make enough off our old house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546008 Wed, 11 May 2016 08:40:17 +0000 Mama Bird 2546008@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought a studio a few years after I started working. It was mostly thanks to my parents - they paid most of my college tuition, then I lived with them to put aside what I would have spent on rent.</p> <p>But I live in NYC and we're completely priced out of the market, even though we're two working adults with no major debt. It took us a few years to save up enough to consider buying anything bigger, but even when we sell the studio, money that would buy a small home in most other places will only get us a tiny one bedroom in a bad neighborhood. Unless we win the lottery, we're planning to rent for the next several years until we figure out a way to get out of NYC. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2546002 Wed, 11 May 2016 08:35:01 +0000 JenGirl 2546002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was going to post an article<br /> <a href="http://twocents.lifehacker.com/should-i-buy-a-home-or-just-keep-renting-1699277766" rel="nofollow">http://twocents.lifehacker.com/should-i-buy-a-home-or-just-keep-renting-1699277766</a><br /> Again, owning may very well be the best option for you to work towards. But don't feel bad about renting in the meantime. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545999 Wed, 11 May 2016 08:34:19 +0000 JenGirl 2545999@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Buying definitely has advantages over renting. But I think, sometimes, people just assume they're supposed to buy a house and never think about the benefits of renting. It's totally dependent on your individual situation and local renting/buying market. But your total costs renting (rent plus the loss of tax credit for a mortgage) are significantly lower than your total costs owning (mortgage, PMI, taxes, repairs, which are often underestimated) then you might be better off renting and investing the savings. This is especially true if there's any chance you would be moving in the next 5-10 years. </p> <p>I'm not saying that you would be better of renting, but there are situations out there where it is more fiscally prudent to rent. Sometimes I think home ownership can be a very emotional thing that people feel like they're "supposed" to do to be adults and American dream and all that. And I think that's not the best reason to buy. If owning is better for you, go for it. But there's nothing wrong with renting forever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545997 Wed, 11 May 2016 08:31:21 +0000 MOMTOLITTLEB 2545997@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We lived below our means for a long time, drove older cars, did not take on debt. When we bought our first home together we had no debt except the mortgage. We had two incomes and lived on one- it wasn't that hard. I do think it's smart to take your time with it though. We're responsible with money but we had some unexpected expenses right after buying the house and I'd say we didn't save anything for about 6 months after moving in. It was a tough time but we plan to be in our home long term so it's worth putting so much of our money into it. It's a decision we made, we don't take on large expenses elsewhere but we have a nice family home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545918 Wed, 11 May 2016 06:52:32 +0000 looch 2545918@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, we just put off buying a home for a very long time. I don't see rent as throwing money away and I never really had any desire to be a home owner. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545896 Wed, 11 May 2016 05:59:26 +0000 travelingnanny 2545896@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I definitely understand what you are saying. My boyfriend and I have just come to terms that we are going to have to rent long term. I have been aggressively paying off my student loans and will hopefully pay them off this year. After I pay them off I need to buy a vehicle and we're talking about having kids next year so I don't know how we will save for a downpayment. None of our relatives are able to loan us money which is fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545871 Wed, 11 May 2016 00:38:13 +0000 HLK208 2545871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had a FHA loan for first our house and really scraped up everything we had at the time to pay that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545870 Wed, 11 May 2016 00:18:11 +0000 birdofafeather 2545870@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were approved for a lot with only 10% down but we bought at lower than that and put down 20% with gifts from our parents. We were able to save our portion by living very frugally and also not having student loan debt and not taking on any additional debt. So we were very blessed by our parents saving earlier on basically and us not taking advantage of that savings. </p> <p>If we wanted to save that other 10% of cash (or didn't have the parental gifts), we had the option of PMI or buying it out by paying a higher interest rate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545839 Tue, 10 May 2016 21:44:21 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2545839@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We put about 10% down because we lived really cheap for a while after college with no kids and decent jobs. We kept about another 5% cash for house appliances and things we needed and used our wedding cash to install new hardwood floors after we got married. Oh and we bought when there was the first time home buyer $8k tax credit so that helped a ton. Also why we jumped at buying with just 10% and paid PMI </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545789 Tue, 10 May 2016 20:24:13 +0000 mediagirl 2545789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@math.nerd: I'm in a much different area than you. I bought my first house in 2005 for $150k. I just looked and I put 3% down. I knew it was a starter home, not a forever home. This was also back when you could get away with pretty much anything to get a mortgage. Buying a house is so hard. What do the experts in you area say, is it more affordable to rent or buy? We are in another hot market right now so that isn't helping. The best time to buy is during a recession when people just need to dump their homes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-on-earth-1/page/2#post-2545761 Tue, 10 May 2016 19:33:44 +0000 delight 2545761@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When we bought our first home, we were only able to put 5% down. We bought the roughest looking house on a great street. We were able to fix it up and receive government grants (Ontario, Canada) that helped pay for our renos. We held on to house for 5 years and then sold it for a great profit. That was how we were able to put 20% down on our forever home. We were lucky to do that before we had any kids though. </p>