3 Weeks Married!

3 weeks married and we've already started the long process of getting our dream of a log cabin home that we can retire in, off the ground.

That's 25 years from now.

It feels so strangely odd and ghostly and unreal to talk about something and begin planning for something that wouldn't fully pay-off until I'm 65 years old.

It's very odd.

But here's the deal: I just spent the last 12 months converting our talks of a dream wedding into a reality, and the strongest impression that the entire honeymoon week left me with was this unwavering confidence that I *made* this happen and I deserve every good feeling that comes with it.

You ever been to some fancy restaurant and feel like an imposter 'cause you don't really live that fancy life? Well I've felt that way about nice, normal things like vacations and jewelry and Weddings! But this wonderful wedding was every bit deserved because we worked HARD for it nearly every week, for 12 straight months.


This has sparked a strong conviction in me...if I really put in the time and energy, a "dream" can definitely turn into "reality".

In this case, the Dream is a beautiful log-cabin nestled in several acres of tall pines and perhaps even off a lake or stream up in the Northwoods.

This is not impossible. And it doesn't require putting ourselves into unmanageable debt for the rest of our lives. Key word being "required". I've already had a next door neighbor (who's a real estate broker) inquire about whether we're looking for a home and wanting to show us a 2 br/2bath 2nd floor condo for sale for just $279,000.

First off - we don't have the $ for a down payment.
Secondly - if we did work hard and scramble for that down payment, we'd very likely have a mortgage of $1400 month PLUS condo assessments, all utilities, etc.,..
Thirdly - ArE YoU CrAzY?!?!? For $279,000 we could buy a MANSION right off Eagle Lake in Wisconsin!!! Hell, if you're gonna put yourself that much into financial strain, it might as well be in a place you totally love, and not just another 2nd floor place in a 3 story brownstone in the same gang-infested neighborhood as your current cheap 2nd floor apartment.


We're living in a 1 bedroom, with parking, for under 700 bucks. And its by this extremely cheap rent that we have been able to practice the discipline of building a savings...which is what made our dream wedding even possible.

But yes, there's upsides to owning a condo as well. Mostly being ownership. But that's in the "now". What about tomorrow?

Truth is, we both love our jobs and feel tremendously lucky to do what we love at work (even if we do bitch about it still). But we want to always have a place to escape to and get away from this concrete jungle. A place to recharge. And then, after putting in another 25 years of work, a permanent place to nestle ourselves.

Again, that's such a difficult time and place to imagine..retirement. Neither of my parents made any retirement planning, but they're doing okay and living alright, and are mostly happy with it.

And life has its way of making unexpected twists and turns. How can you plan so far ahead when there's so many unknowns between now-and-then?

Well, what's the other option? To plan just a year ahead? Just two years ahead?
Plus, for something like a log cabin, it involves several dozen, even hundreds, of mini-steps to get completed.

So we're gonna live through these mini-steps. That's our short-sightedness.

And in these three weeks, we've taken several mini-steps already:

* We've hooked up with a local Northwoods Wisconsin land/real estate broker and have a free online account & access to the properties on his docket. Jeremy McCone (McCone74@yahoo.com) And this fella seems to have the experience of land-ownership and home building that we're interested in. He's a good lead so far, and a good source of our initial questions and searches.


* I acquired a thorough copy of my credit report (all 3) and already sited a big error and negative report that is keeping my score "fair". I've called the creditors and straightened it out with them, which will take 60 days to clear on my reports. But it was so incredibly valuable to get all this information - and to have a plan already about getting our credit score # going up and up.

* We've talked extensively about our financial plan for paying-down-debt and acquiring a strong savings in the next 2, 3 years. For land buying there is no FHA eligibility, so you *have* to have the full deposit. And since you're buying land that doesn't yet have a piece of collateral sitting on it (i.e., a house) there is bigger risk on the part of the bank for giving out the loan, hence a 20% to 25% down payment is fairly standard.

* We've consolidated what little credit card debt we have and paid off the ones with the biggest interest rates. What debt was left on our cards was transferred over to our 0% APR card, with plans for paying it down in a year and/or transferring it to another 0% APR card if/when they start charging interest.

* I've begun a Land Buying Project 3-ring binder and began keeping records in there (credit report, our payment plans, a Realtor business card). With this, also, is a key, wonderful book for this whole process entitled "The Owner-Builder Book"


AND... I've started this blog.

Since this is such a daunting task, and sorta hard to get my head around, I think this blog will help tremendously. I'll probably post once-a-day, though Ray thinks once-a-week would suffice. But its here for whenever I need it, to write and process about this whole crazy thing and all the life that's going to happen between Now-And-Then!

Love!
Stephanie Vlcek