Everytime I revisit this issue I want to crash out mentally, so I need some form of constructive advice if any exists.
This is especially hard to deal with because I 32F did own a home with my now ex until 2022. We bought a new construction in 2019 for $159k. Unfortunately the split was sudden and not mutual (he was the one that left). I couldn’t afford to refinance the house to pay him his part of the equity and he flat out didn’t understand why he would owe me that, so we sold it for $250k. After commission to the realtors we walked with about $38k each, and after various expenses I had to pay off I’ve been sitting at $27k the last year now. $27k is nothing to be ungrateful for, very few people end up in that situation after owning a house for a mere 3 years but I knew owning again was going to be extremely difficult. It’s just hard mentally knowing I HAD a house with an insanely low mortgage, and I had no choice but to let it go.
Anyway time to put away the violin. At this point I make close to $50k a year gross (I sell insurance so I make a combo of base and commission, that’s why it’s a little bit of a guesstimate). This last raise in March is the only reason I have a little money left at the end of the month lately, however I anticipate my health insurance to go up by about $170 a month next year given that they do not expand the subsides set to expire in 2026. My lease renews in November so I’m not sure how much that will increase. The good news is I’ve opted to pull $150 more a month out of my checks for taxes so if I lose my subsides, I’ll just stop paying the extra to offset that.
I do put my money into CDs and am transitioning to high yield savings accounts – I don’t like the process of having to make a change within 10 days of maturity with the CDs and the renewal rate keeps sucking. I honestly cannot stomach investing the money into anything risky, because it just feels like a) I’ll never have this much money again and b) I’ll want to crawl in a hole and die if I lost the money to an investment.
That being said, what are some things you might be doing to try and buy in the future? I don’t believe I will try to buy until probably at least 2028 and see where things are by then. I have great credit that’s at 816 right now. My only debt is my car loan which will be paid off in July 2027 and I have interest of 2.9%, I bought it under MSRP brand new – a 2021 Honda civic, nothing wild. I actually made a $4k profit off my last civic due to the market and put that into this car, so my car payment is $331. Pretty low by today’s standard. No credit card debt, student loans, nothing. I do use credit cards regularly for the points but I spend what I’d spend with cash, so I’m not dipping into my debit and credit I guess you could say.
My only real option might be to just save as much as I can, keep it all in interest accounts and try to increase my income – which I get healthy raises. I have an insanely generous boss. In 4 years time I’ve been given around $18k in raises on my base and that’s pretty consistent every year, so I’m in a great position as far as that goes. But if there’s something I’m missing or not considering I’d love to hear it. Also I do have retirement I pay 3% into because of my 3% match with my employer. Owning a home quite frankly is the biggest goal I’ve ever had and it is integral to my retirement plan. I suppose worst case hopefully many years away I’ll end up with money from my parents’ estates but that’s not part of any plan. Thanks for any advice.
