I reached out to a real estate agent I worked with in 2022 (I was just trying to see what I could afford but the timing wasn’t right) to ask her opinion on the pre-approval offer I got from Jet Mortgage. Turns out, she’s no longer working as an agent (whomp whomp).
BUT she put me in touch with another agent that she thinks will be perfect for me. This new agent is going to put me in touch with ANOTHER mortgage lender (this makes five total) who can hopefully give me some more clarity regarding what I can afford and if it would be beneficial to rope my parents into cosigning.
Meanwhile, Jet Mortgage has been HOUNDING me with phone calls and emails, trying to get me to commit to their real estate agents and lenders. How do you break it to a mortgage lender that you’re not necessarily looking to be exclusive right now?! If you can’t tell, the only area I have less experience in than home buying is dating:)
So, now we wait to hear back from the fifth lender. In the meantime, my new agent sent me a link to some homes to look at. Thank goodness I have two days off to play around there!
Some news today! It’s not exactly the news I dreamed of hearing, but it’s a place to start.
After MONTHS of back-and-forth with two different mortgage lenders and four different mortgage agents, I have a real starting point for my house hunt. Let’s break down the information I gave to these folks and the numbers they gave back to me:
My numbers:
About $60,000 in my savings account
About $40,000 in investments
Adjusted Gross Income for 2023: $40,451
Adjusted Gross Income for 2022: $35,075
My income for 2024 is trickier. I haven’t done my taxes yet (and despite my relatively low income, I need to hire an accountant because I was on tour in 2024 and worked in multiple states and countries), but I know that I will have both W2 and 1099 income.
Mortgage lenders DO NOT LIKE THIS. In fact, the first agent I spoke with informed me that she could not help me unless I got a cosigner or a full-time job. Which, yeah I’d love a full-time job, but I’ve built my career in an industry that doesn’t have many of those!
Luckily, the second lender I spoke with was willing to work with me and go the extra mile to figure out a solution. That solution came in the form of classifying my income as “Union-Like Income.” I am not currently a member of a union (though I am *really* hoping to change that within the next year or so), but my income functions similarly to someone who is. The major difference is that I am not part of a governing body that can vouch for my ability to work consistently. That means that I will also need to be actively working on a gig when I close on a house. No pressure.
This classification also means that my mortgage lender can only use my W2 income from 2023 when calculating what I can afford, even though I also had 1099 income in 2023. This definitely doesn’t work in my favor, as I earned a decent amount of 1099 income last year. But until I file my taxes for the year (and I need to make sure I file on a schedule C, which is a whole other conversation), that’s all we have to work with.
Given all that, here is what my mortgage agent thinks I can afford:
$150k price limit
20% down payment ($30,000)
Max HOA/condo fee of $150/month
Possibility of more if a cosigner is involved
Woof. If you live in a larger US city and you’ve perused Zillow lately, you probably know that this is a tall order. In my neck of the woods, anything listed for $150k or less tends to have an astronomical HOA/condo fee. It also tends to be TINY. Like, 300-something square feet tiny.
I’ll make a separate, much more fun post about my wants and needs in a home, but I’m not afraid of living in a small space. What I am afraid of is buying a home I can’t afford. I’m afraid of not being able to go out to dinner with friends on occasion. I’m afraid of having to turn down networking opportunities because I’ve used up my budget for “extras” for the month.
In so many ways, I am extraordinarily fortunate. If the worst ever happened, my brother lives close to my desired area and would let me sleep on his couch for a while. My parents are moving a few hours away, but they will still be relatively close. I have wonderful friends who would help me in any way they could. But I would strongly prefer to make this happen on my own.
Sometimes, though, that’s not possible. I talked to my dad today and showed him the numbers I’ve just shown you. He immediately brought up being a cosigner for me, if we can get some more information about what that would look like. Having my parents cosign my home loan is certainly not what I anticipated when I imagined what my first home-buying process would look like. But sometimes, you do need to lean on your community for help.
Like I said, I’ll make a post soon detailing my wish list for my first house, but until then, always yours,
I’ve done it. I’ve taken the leap. Despite all odds, I’ve made an attempt to take stock of the money I spend each month. It’s not perfect, and I’m not sure it ever will be, but I now have a visual reference for where and when my money is coming and going.
And to my great surprise, it really wasn’t that hard. A quick Google search for budget templates and I was on my way! The version I came up with is below. Feel free to steal my template, there’s nothing more complicated here than addition, subtraction, and frozen cells.
Using my monthly income from the chart I put together here, I input the values to see how I might need to shift money around from month to month. I also haven’t bought a house yet, so I’m not spending anything on housing yet. And my dad buys *most* of my groceries, for which I am eternally grateful.
This chart, more than any other step I’ve taken so far in my financial journey, has hammered home just how rude of an awakening I’m about to have when it comes time for me to buy a house. The reality is that I may need to reduce how much I am currently putting aside into my investments every month. I may need to reduce my grocery budget and severely limit the number of times I allow myself to get food with friends.
But most of my money anxiety recently has to do with medical issues. Living in America as a late 20-something, health care is constantly on my mind. Currently I receive free health care through my state’s health care marketplace, but it is limited in its scope. As you can see above, I pay less than $20 a month for dental insurance, but this is the cheapest option and its coverage is also limited.
Meanwhile, I’m having issues with my vision (no insurance) and my gums (not covered by dental insurance). I would absolutely love to visit a dermatologist (my chin acne is out of control, thanks to the dry winter air), but I would need to get a referral from my Primary Care Physician to do so, and even then I’m not sure it would be covered. The ever-looming spectre of aging is beginning to creep up on me.
Gloomy, perhaps, but true. Getting older is expensive.
Which got me thinking this week. As much as owning a home has always been a dream of mine… am I ready for such a big step? I mean, let’s look at the worst case scenario. If I fall behind on rent or have to break a lease, is that going to be easier and cheaper to handle than foreclosing on a home? Maybe next time I will examine the benefits and drawbacks to owning vs. renting and share my findings with you.
On a lighter note, I’ve submitted all my paperwork to a mortgage lender and should have more information about what they think I can afford by early next week! Hopefully that will help lend some perspective to my worries.
So, you’re a freelancer! You’re living your dream (as much as we can dream of labor) as an artist! Or a tradesperson! Or you make your living in some other, “nontraditional” way!
But being a freelancer, especially when you’re starting out (or, like me, just beginning a journey of fiscal responsibility), can make it hard to plan your life. Will you have enough money to visit your loved ones for the holidays? Or if they get sick? Will you be able to sleep easy at night, knowing that the roof over your head is secure? If a friend invites you out to dinner, will you have gas or public transit money to get you there and back?
And unlike with a 9-5 job, budgeting this kind of life is tricky. You never know where and when your next chunk of change is coming from. If you’re anything like me, you might have jobs that pay hourly, weekly, biweekly, or as a flat fee. You may have jobs that last a day, two weeks, or nine months. Don’t even get me started on taxes (if you, like me, also have a mix of W2s and 1099s, my heart goes out to you. Let’s share accountant info).
So where to begin? On this journey of fiscal awareness?
I’ll be honest with you; for a very long time, I’ve avoided this question like the plague. It feels like a really, really big ask. Daunting. It’s funny, in real life, I love asking questions and figuring out solutions to problems. It’s a huge reason I work in the business I do.
But money has always been really intimidating to me. English and social studies and art were always my strong suits. Not that I flunked math or anything. My senior year Calculus teacher once said, “Frugal Girlie, it’s not that you’re bad at math, you just don’t want to do it.” An incredibly astute observation, Jon.
If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that I am now in need of housing for the first time in my life. My dream is to own my own house/condo, and that process has required me to share my entire financial life with a stranger working for a mortgage provider. (It has also granted me a new best friend: the “estimated payment” tool on Zillow, so not all bad!)
This got me thinking. How sad is it that some stranger at (fake mortgage company name incoming) Jet Mortgage knows more about my financial standing than I do? I’m an independent woman in my late 20’s, how have I let myself stay in the dark about my own money for so long?
Of course, shame doesn’t need to be the driving force behind getting your sh*t together, money-wise. I’m only just beginning my journey, but I already feel empowered by taking the baby steps I’ve toddled through so far. Speaking of…
First baby step: catalog the jobs I’m working and planning on working as far in advance as I can. For me, that’s about 6-7 months ahead of time, but your mileage may vary. Time to boot up Excel (or use a cute pen and your bullet journal, we are keeping it cutesy, after all) and just write. the. information. down. Knowing is better than ignorance, I promise.
Below is my own, very basic breakdown of each job and the approximate income I can expect for every month of 2025. I’ve left some blank because I haven’t secured work for those months yet (insert nail biting emoji).
No super-fancy Excel formulas here (also I’m using Google Sheets, just so I know I’ll always have access to it), beyond simple addition and subtraction. I’ve also added in a column with my “Desired” annual income (which, yeah, I’d love to make more than $40k this year, but that’s what I made last year and I’d be perfectly happy to just break even!) Keeping this in mind, and subtracting it from the income I’ve already secured, will definitely help me decide which jobs are worth taking in the second half of the year.
It also helps me decide which companies are worth maintaining relationships with in the future. For example, Company “H” is paying me a one-time flat fee of $1,000 for about three weeks of work. I don’t anticipate that the work will be especially difficult, and they’ve also promised to provide me with one meal a day, so I feel… okay about agreeing to this project.
Meanwhile, Company “P” is paying me $3,500 for about 2.5 weeks of work. But the commute is rough and I have to pay for my own parking. It’s very much give and take.
Within the same sheet, I also broke down my income for 2025 by job. This is mostly for tax reasons, so that I know how many W2s and 1099s to expect, but it’s also a handy reference for that odd job posting that asks for my previous job history and payment. (Which, side note, feels like an excuse to pay me less than what I’m worth? Like, how about you tell me what you’re offering and I’ll decide if it makes sense for me!)
Making these two sheets took me maybe 20 minutes, but I already feel like I’ve got a better handle on what 2025 is going to look like for me, money-wise. Now to figure out how to spend it…
Next time, I’ll go through my year and figure out the stuff I *need* to buy vs. the stuff I *want* to buy. In other words, I’m gonna start budgeting. Feel free to keep me in your prayers.
House hunting. Homeownership. Independence. It’s a huge part of the American dream, right? But as a young woman born and raised on the East Coast, it’s always felt a little out of reach. For me, this was for a few reasons, which are perhaps unique compared to other young American women my age. They include:
Working an apprenticeship in my hometown after graduating from college, which made living at home an attractive option
Beginning my career in my hometown
Having my career path shift significantly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Getting several jobs that required me to travel and live out of hotels for a number of years
Being able to live with my parents for all of my twenties has been an incredible gift in so many ways, but here I want to talk specifically about the financial ways in which I’ve had an incredible leg up.
Free rent & utilities (I do pay my own phone bill, which my mom has set up as a monthly auto-pay from my savings account)
Free groceries (I contribute where I can!)
Ready-made meals (my dad is retired, so he often makes dinner for me when I get home from work)
Free use of a car (I pay for my own gas, but the car is owned and the insurance paid for by my parents)
Free financial advice (my parents are smart and inherently frugal people, which has hugely shaped my own relationship with money)
But my parents are now ready to retire and move away from the high cost of living area that has been our home for nearly 30 years, which means I have to pay for my own housing for the first time in my life.
So let’s break down the facts of my situation:
My parents will be moving in the next six months, give or take.
I need to secure housing before then, or make plans to pay for a storage unit and live with friends and/or my brother, who has an apartment in my area.
I would strongly prefer to buy a house/condo/co-op share vs. renting.
I have a healthy down payment ready to use on a house.
My monthly income varies, so I want to keep my monthly expenses as low as possible.
Why am I so set on buying instead of renting? On the emotional side of things, I really do love the city I’ve grown up in. There’s tons to do, my family lives close, and I have lots of friends within a 30-mile radius. Putting down roots here is a dream of mine.
On the practical side, I’ve built my career in this city and the majority of my connections also work here. As a freelancer, this would be a hard thing to walk away from. There is also a robust public transportation system, which makes it possible (though not always easy) to exist without a car. Not owning a vehicle would significantly cut down on my expenses and be much better for the environment.
There is also a limited number of apartments available for rent within my monthly budget in my desired area that would allow me to live alone. Because let’s be clear: after living with my parents for my entire life (and my little brother, too, for most of it) I’m ready to have my own space.
Also I want to put shelves up whenever I feel like it, so there.
But where do I start? Well, I know my reasons for wanting to buy a home, but can I actually afford it? Sounds like it’s time for me to do one of my least favorite things: budgeting. Stay tuned to see how I try and turn this into an exercise that doesn’t make me want to scratch my eyes out!
My name is Casey and I am an arts professional living and working in a major city on the East Coast of the United States of America. While I love what I do, it’s not exactly the most financially lucrative or consistent career. I work freelance, meaning my jobs usually last anywhere from a day to 9 months, though in my line of work, it’s usually more like 2 weeks to 2 months. My gigs come to me through referrals, resume blasts, and near-constant networking. My income is also very inconsistent, month-to-month.
So, I started this blog as a way to track and rate money-making and -saving tips and tricks as I move towards my ultimate goal: home ownership before the age of 30!
But as an arts and humanities girlie, numbers are not my strongest suit. So I’m going to do my best to make these entries palatable for anyone who, like me, is intimidated by investing and budgeting. I also want to highlight money-conscious solutions that are sustainable for the long-term health of me and the planet.
As an example, above is a picture of me drinking a matcha beverage at the mall (delicious, but expensive and includes lots of plastic waste and processed sugars) and wearing press-on nails (cute, convenient, much cheaper than getting my nails done at a salon, but all that plastic doesn’t last as long as a professional job!)
As you can see, I’m working on recognizing how the money I spend affects me and the world around me. Which leads into my first actual post: Needs vs. Wants vs. Impact. Thanks for joining me on this journey, or even just part of it. Let’s learn together!
Oh, and there may also be a few “just for fun” entries, as well. I’m a HUGE fan of The Sims 2, as well as anything having to do with vampires. And Fargo. And Michael Sheen.
