You bought that dream home finally, but all you do is a struggle. Struggle to pay the bills, struggle to make repairs, struggle to be happy. Maybe there’s a lot of things you would do differently in retrospect. Your house can own you, never letting you get ahead and not letting you actually enjoy life. If you are worried about the cost of electric and water so you can make your mortgage payment, then you have probably bought above your head. There is no easy path from here, but there are things you can do to fix your life and stop your house from being the boss.
Refinance
Though not the easiest thing to do, there is a lot of precedent for this. You can refinance a bad mortgage to a better one sometimes. Or make a deal where the monthly payments are lower. Anything that helps you save a bit of money is a good thing.
Sell it
Ok, this is drastic, but if the house is killing you, you should look into selling it and buying one that is more in line with what you can afford. If it’s your dream house, you have to really decide if it’s worth everything you are doing for it. If your goal is to sell it later for a big profit, then ok, a little suffering can be endured, but overall, get yourself into a place that won’t bankrupt you.
Have a heart to heart
Have a heart to heart with yourself, or significant other. The reality of what you have and what you need to do needs to be put in black and white. You are here to live life, and if the house takes everything you have to just keep it going, then that’s not living. Find a new place, or do what needs to be done.
Forget the dream
If it’s your dream house, forget the dream for now. Find a place you can afford, and turn that one into a dream house with the money you save. You are in charge of your dreams and happiness, don’t let a house take it away from you. Take control of your life.
Expenses
Make a solid budget regardless of the house. Know what you can afford to spend and what you can do. Make the budget your bible. Never spend outside of it. We know someone that was struggling to pay their mortgage but still went out to eat 3 or 4 times a week to nice restaurants. Somehow they never connected the two together. Make a budget and stick to it. If you don’t have enough to go out to eat? Then find a way to move the money around so that you can. Money isn’t magic and doesn’t appear out of the air. You work hard for it to make it work hard for you.
A house is a home and it should be a joy in your life. It should not cause additional stress, you get enough of that anyway. If your house is giving you too many problems, don’t just accept it and think this is what life is. You are in control of your life, you can choose what you do. Think outside of the box a bit, and decide what would really make you happy. Don’t let your house stand in the way of your happiness. Either find a way to make it work or get rid of it and find a better one. This advice can be carried over into almost all aspects of your life. Take control and be happy.
