Since we got engaged and announced that we were buying a house, I have gotten a lot of comments, messages, and tweets and how we are saving/saved and how we were able to afford both.
I posted a video on my youtube channel yesterday explaining where our money came from and what we did to make it easier just starting out as a newly married couple.
You can watch the video here
or you can read these bullet points.
- My dad had put money into an account for me since I was little to help pay for these kinds of things (we used it to help with a down payment, caterer bill, and the tent)
- Stefan and I opened a joint bank account in advance to use on only wedding and future investments
- We both went to college and got Bachelor degrees and Stefan got a salaried job in his field prior to the wedding and buying a home
- We talked about what our wedding budget was and were we wanted to splurge
- We cut out unnecessary costs such as choosing less fancy plastic plates for the wedding
- We aren't living above our means
- We purchased used appliances that aren't top of the line but work just as well
- A lot of our furniture was handed down to us or we bought it second hand and made it our own
- Our parents are very supportive and helped out with the wedding and are helping us work on our home
- We received money and gifts from my shower and the wedding from friends and family who wanted to help us start our new life together
- We both lived at home until we got married and lived with his parents until our house was ready
- Once you start renting it will be harder to save for a down payment. Try to save enough for a down payment so that you don't end up pouring money into rent every month
- We both had good credit from paying off school/car loans and we also had a credit card that we rarely used and paid off regularly to help build our credit
I think that was all I had shared in the video and then some. Hope both of them give you some things to think about!
*Disclaimer. The five dollars in the picture above will not buy you a house or pay for your wedding. It was merely a prop for a silly thumbnail which is a popular thing to do on youtube.
*Serious disclaimer. I am not a budget professional nor do I claim to be. I'm simply sharing our experiences and opinions with you :)
The disclaimers though!!!! hahahah :)
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DeleteI don't want to be too personal but I was just wondering how you guys paid of your student loans! So did you pay them while you were in school too?
ReplyDeleteMy loans won't start until the end of this month and his doesn't either.. but he paid some of it off over the four years he was in school! Thankfully we get to set up how much we want to pay monthly based on our income!
DeleteOh well that's good!! I go to an OSU branch campus so it's not too pricey but it's still going to be a good chunk of money when I graduate. My boyfriend and I aren't engaged but we've been together for 5 years in January and there's been talk about it but I was concerned with how to pay for a wedding, house, bills, and student loans all at once! It just seems so overwhelming looking at it from the outside.
DeleteI wonder how far you live from me! There's an OSU branch not too far from here ;)
DeleteCongrats on five years! That's awesome. Stef and I will hit five years in a few days!! It can be very overwhelming thinking about everything that needs to be paid for. Lol! I can't tell you how many times I've had complete emotional breakdowns because of it.. but as long as you start saving and write down how much you have coming in versus what you need to pay for. That helped me a lot with feeling more secure with our money!! Plus changing spending habits always helps. lol! But I'm pretty sure your bills for school shouldn't start until six months after graduation which is really nice! :)
I'm about an hour south of Bowling Green! And Thank you so much! :) It's so exciting, it doesn't even feel like 5 years is that long of a time anymore! I feel like time is just flying by. He graduates this year so hopefully he can find a full-time job! He's going for middle childhood, and i'm early so we're the teaching couple LOL. :)
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