Couponing My Way Home: Sleepless nights and pre-approvals

It’s been a little bit since I have updated this series, but honestly it was because I didn’t have much to update. We had paid down a few of my husband’s credit cards, and we were waiting to see if we did enough homework to get his score high enough to qualify. Well the oustanding news, is we did at least get it up high enough to send to an underwriter. Yeah, woohoo! So right now we are waiting to hear if we can get pre-approved so we can make an offer on the house that we want. Let the sleepless nights begin

I am trying not to over think it, and just leave it up to the fates that be. We have done our homework on the credit part, nothing else can fix it but time, so no need to worry. If it will happen, it’s going to happen!

As a tip to make our situation as best as we can, our broker told us to start socking away money so we can cover costs, have savings, and maybe pay more items down. Being the financial enthusiast I am, I started pouring over how we can save money. The number one thing it made me realize is that if we chose to buckle down and save we really could save quite a bit. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable existance in history, but it would be manageable.

I guess that is just the point. A lot of us turn to being frugal minded, because we are tired of the rat race. We are tired of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Every now and then though it is really a good idea to check in with yourself. Have you let a few of your frugal habits slip? Are you forgetting to ask yourself if you really “need” something before making an impulse purchase? Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself every now and then. The problem lies when every now and then becomes the exception rather than the rule.

I find that I am more financially disciplined when I have a financial goal. Two months ago, my goal was to save up for a new set of tires before winter. Guess what? Without really trying I was able to get my new set of tires. Now, my goal is to save up enough money to get into my new house (thinking positively that we will get pre-approved), move out of my old house, and cover application fees and such. In the five minutes I sat in front of my computer to figure that out, I found a way to have $1500 in savings in less than 2 weeks. (Don’t let that statement make you think we are rolling in it, because that is SOOOO far from the truth)

Having short term financial goals, helps keep things in perspective. It also helps keep you motivated. Nothing, ok well almost nothing, feels better than challenging yourself to set a short term financial goal and seeing how fast you can reach it. At least that keeps me motivated. Maybe I am just a financial dork, but I happen to be proud of that because after spending many years living paycheck to paycheck I feel like I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully the light at the end of this short-term tunnel will be a pre-approval call at the end of the week!