How not to buy a house

We did it. We probably did it all wrong, but we did it.

That's right ladies and gentlemen. Kim and I bought a house. We're still waiting for everything to close and finalize, but the house is under contract and it looks like a go.

It's been a long process. We're grateful to all of you who have prayed for us, sent us words of encouragement and who have just been uplifting voices to us on our journey.

It hasn't been easy. We've learned a lot and we learned it the hard way. Experience earned is experience wasted if it does not become experience shared.

So that's the plan. I am now an expert on buying a first home. Why? Because I've successfully done it. Ok, so maybe I'm not an expert, but if you've never bought a house, I'm more of an expert than you are. 

I wanted to share some of the "do's and don't's" that I've picked up along the way. If you have bought a house already and you fancy yourself more of an expert than I am, feel free to still read the post and enjoy the fact that you knew more than I did before you even bought your house. It's fine. I won't begrudge you the opportunity. When I fall down, it's terrible. When somebody else falls, it's hilarious. Those are the rules. I don't write 'em. Don't be mad at me.

We bought our first home!

I apologize for the recent lack of posts. We've been completely overwhelmed with the process of buying a new home. The good news is that we finally found a house that we loved and were able to get it under contract yesterday!

I will post more later, but I wanted to update everyone who has been thinking of and praying for us during this arduous process.

Look for a post coming soon (probably tomorrow) on all the mistakes we made. It will probably be called: "How not to buy a house."

Have a happy Tuesday! 

Should Christians who are in debt still give a tithe?

I apologize for the recent lack of original material. I hope you can be merciful, in light of the fact that Kim and I are still going through the ever-complicated process of buying a house for the time.

I decided to post an article that you may find interesting. Many Christians will say that is necessary to give ten percent of our income, as commanded by Biblical law.

This is something I've struggled with, from the perspective of a Christian who has been in debt. I'm still not sure I know exactly where I weigh in.

I don't pretend to have all the answers. I don't think any of us do. As Christians, we need to be willing to engage in dialogue with open minds. God gave us common sense. It's okay to use it.

Without further ado. Here is the article (props to Personal Finance By The Book):

I love gooooooooold!!!

No doubt you've heard the debate: To invest or not invest in gold?

It's our Earth's most precious commodity (allegedly). It will never go away. It's what we base our currency on. All sound logic...right?

It depends on who you ask. If you ask Dave Ramsey, he'd steer you in a different direction.

(article after the jump)

Lazy Thursday

It's been a long week. As I've been cataloging, Kim and I are in the middle of searching for our very first home. The stress has been unbelievable. So I'm taking the day off.

In the meantime, I recommend you visit the blog of my friend Rob Shepherd. He's a fairly entertaining fellow. You will like his stuff.

www.robshep.com

The Five Most Stressful Parts of Buying a Home

Kim and I are in the middle of buying our very first home. We're probably doing everything wrong. We're probably really bad first-time homebuyers. Maybe we're the worst. Hard to say, really. I'm not sure what unit of measurement would be used. Does it depend on the strength of the Yen?

If you've ever bought a home, are thinking of buying a home or are maybe even in the middle of buying a home, this article is for you. I'm stealing it from the nice people over at Sound Money Matters. Visit their site. Say hello. Tell 'em we sent ya.

(Article after the jump)

Have you ever been to a collection agency in person? I have.

The whole point of this blog is to share my personal lessons and stories with you, so that you can learn from my mistakes and also from my successes. Yesterday, I had a very surreal experience.

I visited a collection agency. In person.

Paying off debt vs. Investing

Have you ever weighed the options of paying off what you owe now against the choice to invest?

It's an interesting topic, particularly when it comes to student loan debt.

The following is a video featuring Morningstar's Christine Benz. Christine offers her opinions on the subject. Enjoy.

(Video after the jump)

Repairing Your Credit: Take a trip down the rabbit hole

I could spend hours talking about credit. I won't, but with this post, I'm aiming to begin the dialogue.

If you're an expert on all things credit-related, this article will probably not be for you. Then again, if you're a credit expert, you probably won't enjoy this site anyway.

I don't want to assume you know anything about credit. I didn't. I thought I did, but I didn't. I still have a lot to learn, but I've gleaned many a lesson the hard way. I'd like to share my experience.

Do you Auto Pay your bills?

Yahoo! Finance posted an interesting article the other day that discussed the topic of paying your bills online. Specifically, the article encourages consumers to not pay certain bills in an automatic cyclical fashion. Here's the article:

Collection Agencies 101: The down-low

"Collectors are your enemies!"

"Collectors will sue you at the drop of the hat!"

"Collectors will call you in the middle of the night and threaten to burn your house down if you don't pay them!"

These are things people say about collection agencies, in addition to a slew of other commentaries. Some of the things you here are true. Some of the things you hear are based on bias and bad experiences, but are not altogether accurate.

The Great Recovery

When I say the words: "The Great," what do you think of?

Maybe you think of The Great Depression, a dark time period in our nation's history full of economic hardship.

Perhaps you go the route of The Great Gatsby, a classic novel which you probably were forced to read in high school.

If you're super spiritual, maybe The Great Awakening comes to mind. (I'm not going to define that term. We agreed you were super spiritual. You already know.)

Dave Ramsey (yep, there I go mentioning him again!) is looking to begin the next Great thing. He's calling it: "The Great Recovery."

Here's an excerpt from his site, www.thegreatrecovery.com, explaining just what the purpose of this new movement is.

Monday Link Love

I'm on vacation until tomorrow. In the meantime, check out some links to articles I found interesting. If you enjoy any of them in particular, be sure to share them with a friend.

Man vs. Debt: Altering your life's direction

DaveRamsey.com: Personal success stories!

DebtGuru.com: How to eat well on a tight budget

The Happy Rock: Debt is the symptom, not the disease

Lifehack: How to LIVE on a tight budget

Miss me? Shoot me an email at: kevinrhaggerty@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear from you and get some feedback on the blog, or field any q's you may have!