OT- How do I figure out how much home I can afford?

[ducklite]

Absolutely! When we bought our current home we had 23 scared1: ) windows to cover. I went to JCPenney's and bought what I could afford. In the years since we have been slowly replacing the window coverings with made-to-order hardwood blinds at about $200/pc. It's a significant expense, but one that's worth while.

You sound much like me. We had 28 exterior windows, including two that are six foot wide by ten foot high. We've also got three sets of French doors insude that I wanted to put Roman shades on.

When we first moved in, the bedroom and garage windows were the priority. I bought cheapo mini-blinds for the pretty standard sized garage windows, a cut-to-fit blind for the one bedroom, and curtains/drapes for two others. Once I had the cash, I also added blinds on all of the bedroom windows.

Fortunately the bathroom windows were all glass block or frosted, so I was able to wait on those until I saved more money.

Those two big windows cost me a small fortune, I put "sillhouette" blinds on them, which give me the benefit of sheers and blinds in one piece.

It took almost two years before I finally got all the windows covered and decorated, and frankly the living room and dining room still aren't "finished" because the window treatments I'd like for them are just not in the budget right now--someday...

OP-- www.brylanehome.com is a great place to get inexpensive curtains. Also JC Penney's puts almost everything in their curtain/blind/drape department on sale twice a year--January and July IIR.

Anne

 

[tedhowe]

Good discussion by all.

I just want to say something - I don't think this is at all OT on the budget board. It is very relevant - and certainly moreso that a lot of threads that get started here.



Ted

 

[disneysteve]

I don't think this is at all OT on the budget board.

I agree, Ted. I didn't understand why it was titled OT either. I guess some people think if it isn't about Disney, it is OT.

 

[punkin]

Mortgage companies don't really take into consideration how many children, pets, etc. that you have or will have. You have to do that. When we purchased this, our third home, nine years ago--we were told we could qualify for far more house than we what were comfortable. The mortgage company was not aware of our church/charitable giving habits, the fact that we knew we wanted a large family, and...(sh-h-h) our Disney habit! For each child you have, you need to think about medical expenses, braces, sports, clothing, etc,. WDW tickets (for us--always having two hotel rooms and two rental cars) We had to think ahead ourselves and tell the mortgage company what we were comfortable spending. Five years ago we had a lay-off where we were given no severence pay and went 5 months w/out a paycheck. When DH landed a new job--it was about 1/3 less pay than the previous job. We were so thankful we had under bought our home at that point because we could STILL afford to live here.

Nor do they take private school into account, but it sure is an expense.