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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Getting There/Big News!

I am really proud of my little family and all that we have accomplished in the last year. Sometimes my husband makes the comment that we are just "rolling our wheels" and I have to remind him how much we have really accomplished. I just wanted to share a little bit of what we are doing, and how we are moving forward. I am really proud of where we are at.

In February 2012 we had our little boy, and he completely changed our world upside down. After a few months in Cedar City, we made the hard decision to move back to Heber to be closer to both of our families. The hardest part of this decision (besides leaving great friends) was knowing that I would be leaving without my Bachelors degree, even though I was one semester away. Sometimes I regret this decision, because regardless we will probably have to relocate in order for me to finish- or drive the canyon daily for several months.

That being said, we are in a much better financial position than we were in Cedar City. Granted, I work full time, and so does Colton, but things aren't so scary tight all the time, and we actually get to go out and enjoy ourselves.

In the past year we have paid off over $14,000 in credit card debt, student loans, vehicles and our two rings. This was on an income of $23,000. We have our car left to pay off, which we recently refinanced to be $50 less a month at a lower interest rate (yay for good credit!) and we have a student loan in Colton's name which should be gone by the time he starts SCHOOL!

 Colton and I have worked really really hard to pay off debt and to get our credit scores high and keep them that way. We recently found out about a program that will allow us to BUILD our own HOME in Heber, and we are beyond stoked. It finally has made all of our hard work to pay down debt, and be away from our little guy worth it. If all goes well, we will sign papers within the next few months, and begin building shortly after.

If you have low debt, good credit, but low income, this might be the perfect program for you, they base your payments off of your income, and you put in "sweat equity" (35 hours a week) to build your own home.  The website is selfhelphomes.org 

I'm sure a lot of people are thinking, there's no way, or that we are foolish for building a home before my husband is even done with school, but the fact is, our rent payment is the same, we will always be paying rent so we might as well put it towards something. Along with that, its a brand new house in the middle of the Heber Valley-one of the most desired and expensive real estate locations in the state. The yard will get completely finished, and it will be around 3000 square feet. The interest rate is 3.1 percent-lower than any bank can offer, and we feel like we would be foolish not to try. This home can be our entire future and the best investment we will ever make.

As of March 1st, we had passed all of the pre-qualification, and met all of the income guidelines. Then because Colton was working a job considered "Seasonal" we got held up because they won't count it as income. So our next step is starting him in another position with the same kind of job, and after 3 months we will be good to go. He has had 2 interviews already, and has another one today, so we are hoping good things will happen with those.

We are super excited about this opportunity, but things are still in the beginning stages, and we are trying to sort out or goals with school before we do anything else. 

Colton is looking at going back to school for the summer semester (he hasn't been back since 2010 when we went to Snow together) and finishing his Associates degree. After that, he wants to pursue a nursing degree. Colton is an extremely smart kid who has a real passion for helping people, and I know he can do this. A lot of people think he should just take up a trade, or hard labor, but I know that he can do this. School is hard, but he is entirely, 110 percent smart enough to do it.

As soon as he finishes his associates in Heber I will go back to school with him for a Semester and get my Bachelors. With a nursing degree, Colton can really work anywhere he wants, and we can decide from there our next move.

Good things are coming to us and we are so excited!

1 comment:

  1. Congrats and that is extremely impressive that you paid off that huge amount.

    ReplyDelete