Learn How to Manage Your Finances After Buying Your First Home
If you are young and buying your first home, it can be a very scary time in your life. However, it’s also very exciting to think that you are going to own your property for the first time ever. This is truly the American Dream at work! Chances are, your mortgage payment will be more expensive than whatever rent you were paying before you were a homeowner. You may be worried about how to budget after you close on the house, but you will catch on quicker than you think. If you couldn’t afford the house, the bank wouldn’t have given you the loan, so get ready to crunch some numbers and enjoy the first year living in your new abode.
Pay Attention to Your Lending Officer
Before your loan is even approved, your lending officer should sit down with you at the bank and give you a quick rundown of the numbers. If they don’t, you should ask them to do so, or find a lending officer that will; it’s totally OK to shop around for lenders, especially in this economy. When you meet with your lending officer, don’t be afraid to ask questions and/or take notes. When you lock in your interest rate, they will tell you exactly what your mortgage payment will be, and if you choose to keep your taxes and homeowner’s insurance in escrow, they will calculate that in, as well. Pay attention to that monthly number, and use that to set your new budget.
Set a New Budget
Hopefully, if you’ve bought a house, you have already set some sort of budget for your living expenses pre-homeownership. If you have, it should be relatively easy to set a new budget that accounts for your increased living expenses. Just plug-in the number from the bank for your monthly payments and make adjustments as necessary. You will have to cut some things out; that is almost inevitable. However, make sure it is something you can live with. Spend less money on clothes, for example, rather than cutting your grocery budget in half. You need to eat!
Communicate with Your Partner or Roommate
If you are buying this house with your spouse or partner, or if you are having someone move in and pay rent, be sure to communicate expectations and concerns openly. This can make or break a partnership when it comes time to pay all that money at closing. When you figure out what everyone owes, make sure you tell everyone upfront. If you are having a renter live with you, it’s not a bad idea to draw up a lease arrangement and have a lawyer look at it. That can save you a lot of trouble down the road.
Learn to Cook
Cooking your own food can be significantly less expensive than eating out every night. When you cook, you often have lots of leftovers, too, which you can eat the next night or for lunch the next day. It would be such a shame to waste your new, awesome kitchen in your new house, so if you don’t already know how to cook some simple meals, now is a great time to learn how.
Find Free Entertainment
Entertainment is what costs most people the most out of their budget. Once you learn how to cook, you can also find some free or inexpensive entertainment options. Staying in can be fun, too. You can go to the library and rent movies and music for free, or visit your local park and explore your new town.
