Jamie and Oscar Start Saving for a House

When Jamie and Oscar first started their budget, they had big dreams—big things they wanted to be able to afford someday. Now that they have a budget, they want to leave room for those big things they want, make sure they’re included in the plan, even if it takes a while to reach them.

The thing they wanted most of all at this point in time? A house.

It didn’t have to be fancy. It didn’t have to have a white picket fence (OK, but wouldn’t it be cute if it did?). Maybe just a little back yard to grow a tomato plant or two. Maybe it would have some old carpet that they’d pull back a corner and see beautiful hardwood underneath. And black-and-white checkerboard vinyl in the kitchen. It all just sounded so lovely.

But there had always been that big looming wall standing between them and their homeownership dreams: the down payment.

Readers, it’s no secret that their slim savings balance felt like a tiny little finger sandwich when they really needed a party sub for 24 people. Their tiny little finger sandwich just wasn’t going to feed the appetite of a down payment.

But now with this budget, it felt like they can start to assemble that party sub they needed. It might take some time—it could take years—but they have to start somewhere, right? And this felt like a great time to start.

So, they added a nice little category to their budget. Sure, they didn’t have much money to budget toward it, but they decided to be sassy and add $1. Progress is progress, and now their dream felt more real.

But that’s not all. With their savings plan all laid out, they took a workshop on how to save even more money. After some number crunching and a gameplan, they realized they might actually be able to scrape together a down payment within the next year or two if they really work at it.

What felt like a maybe-won’t-ever happen dream now felt like a not-so-distant reality.

They’re browsing Zillow already.