Next

All through my teenage years and early 20s, I would daydream about the future.  I didn't fantasize about or romanticize going to college, or living on my own for the first time, or going to law school, or partying, or any of the other things your 20s are supposed to be about.  The part I wanted to jump to, the part I was looking forward to the most, was the part after all that.  I wanted to be settled and to have a home and a family, I wanted to get to the part after the foundation was built and I could start laying bricks and putting up walls.

At some point in the last two years, I took responsibility for getting us there faster and I've been willing and pushing us forward to check off the goal boxes in my mind.  First, New York.  Second, jobs.  Third, marriage.

I planned to take some time off to breathe and enjoy before the next step.  The last 6 months have been a whirlwind, and I could use a few weekends with nothing to do and I might actually enjoy getting to keep a few paychecks instead of immediately having to pay for wedding-related whatnot every time a check gets deposited. 

Except...apparently I've been on for so long that I'm not quite sure how to turn off.  Which means we've been married now for 8 days and I've already started working on Step Four.  A house. 

We met with a mortgage consultant last Friday.  Mostly for informational purposes.  I don't know anything about buying a house.  I needed to know what we should work on to meet this next goal, because I am a girl who needs to have a plan.  Like should we be saving as much as possible for a down payment?  Paying off debt?  Which will have a bigger impact on our bottom line so I know where to focus?  How will Joe and I impact each other now that we're married?  Do they look at the lowest credit score between us?  The highest?  Do they average them?  If Joe owned a co-op before are we still considered first-time homebuyers?  I was also curious what we would qualify for now and what we might be able to qualify for in 6 months if we get all our ducks lined up in a pretty little row. 

I do plan to use this time to breathe a little.  But we're so close to where I've always wanted to get to in life that it's hard to be patient.  I mean, I couldn't even wait 4 days after the wedding before scheduling an appointment to talk mortgages. 

So the goal we've agreed on is we'd like to own a home by Christmas 2013.  That gives us some breathing time, some saving time, some paying off debt time, some newlywed time.  If I can handle just being for a while.  It's not a strength of mine.  I'm gonna try.