As a young adult, living in a big city like Los Angeles, it’s very likely that you are renting. I know this because I did so for so many years. I remember the idea of purchasing a home seemed so unattainable. For years, renting felt like the only option for me.
Back in the summer of 2014, and recently married, my wife and I were struggling like most young couples do. We were living pay check to pay check, and barely scrapping by. Although we were in a tough spot financially, the idea of paying rent month after month hung over our heads, knowing it was simply covering our landlords mortgage. During all of this, we couldn’t ignore the fact that we were getting absolutely slaughtered when tax season came around so we weren’t able to save any money. What killed us even more was the idea that we weren’t investing in our future together! We were both W2 earners, spinning our wheels as renters, with no way to get ahead…yet. None if this made any sense. So, we decided the best thing to do was to change our lifestyle, save and buy a house to change our position once and for all.
We did it…
We started with a simple plan and decided to cut back on basic lifestyle expenses; coffees on the way to work, lunches out of the office, the weekend nights out on the town with friends. Abandoning these common pleasures to invest in our future felt like the right thing to do. We knew that we’d have to make the extra effort to get a bit more creative with how we spent our time together, but we did it and it was exciting. My wife and I both took side jobs where we could put a little cash away each month. We even made the daily commitment to meal planning, where we would prep each meal the day before to avoid spending money out. You’d be surprised, but these simple sacrifices really worked!
You can do it too!
For those of you that think it’s not possible, I am here to say that it is, and it doesn’t require that much money to do it. All it takes is a good plan of action and a little bit of sacrifice. My wife and I went from living in a converted 300 square foot office space to a 2 Bedroom/2 Bath beautiful single family home with a garage and a big backyard within 6 months. You can do it too! So…if any of our story resinates with you please send me an email so we can discuss what your options might be. I’d love to help you on your path!