Money! Money! Money!

Buying a home or building a home typically involves a huge amount of money. A huge amount of money that most people don't usually have laying around or stuffed under their mattresses. In fact, the majority of people will need to get a home loan in order to successful buy or build their homes.

Unfortunately, getting a home loan isn't the best option for me right now. First of all, my credit isn't perfect. It's not horrible, but it's not perfect. After pulling my credit report, I found out a few things. Although I do have a few accounts in good standing with the whole "Paid, Never late" comments, I do have a few negative accounts as well - mostly very old medical bills, but negative nonetheless. Once I pay these off, I'll probably be able to get a home loan after my credit score goes up.

However, I am also a self-employed freelance writer. Since I've only been at it for two years, I'm not exactly in the best situation for getting a home loan.

Which means that I need to look for more creative ways to pay for my timber framed dream. This includes the land, which will ideally be a few acres at least, and the cost of the initial building materials to make the house "livable".

So, here's my tentative "five year plan, otherwise known as the "I have to get oodles of money, so I can stop renting and build my own house, so I don't go insane" plan. Thankfully, it's quite simple, and only has a few main points...

1. Open Another Savings Account
   
   This is an absolute necessity. I need another savings account, plain and simple. Any money that I put aside for building a house will go into this savings account. This money will not be touched for any reason. Well, except maybe for extreme dire emergencies, such as...something - I don't really know. But something really bad, like building an emergency fallout shelter.
   
2. Contribute 10% of Income
   
   I've also made a promise to myself that I will contribute at least 10% of my income to my house building savings account. At times, I'll probably contribute more, but 10% is a good starting point. This money will be automatically transfered every time I get paid by a client.
   
   
3. Set Aside Half of My Tax Return Money
   If and when I get any money from a tax return, half of that money will also be going into my designated savings account. This most likely won't be a lot of money, but it's still money.
   
   
4. Piggy Bank It
   Don't laugh! Yes, I have a piggy bank! It's on my bookshelf, and it's a catchall for any spare change and bills that I find laying around - which seems to be a lot for some reason. Sometimes I think it rains pennies and dimes in here. Anyway, once a month or so, I'll be depositing my piggy bank money into my big person piggy bank at the big person bank.
   
   
5. Save By Serial Numbers
   
   Here's an old trick that I learned when I was a bartender. Every dollar bill has a serial number, and every serial number has a letter, usually at the beginning and end. I've picked the letters J and K, which are my children's initials, and I'm going to save every bill I get with either of those letters in the serial number. I will also be saving any bill with a star, or asterisk, in the serial number. It may sound odd, but it works. The money adds up quickly!

Well, there you have it. That's my plan for saving for a house. It may not be the best plan, but at least I have one!

Five years from now, by my 35th birthday, I expect to have well over $10,000, which will be enough to get the ball rolling. Actually, I'll probably have enough money before then, but I'm a pretty big pessimist most of the time, so I'm sticking with $10,000...

I'm also adding a goal thermometer widget, like so:



It's at zero now, but I still have to open my new Big Person Account and take a look at my funds. I'll then update the moneymeter at least once a month.

Okay, to work I go!

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Update Fundraiser Thermometer Here