Denied.

Debts to Pay	September 5, 2018
Credit Card	1237.42
F	2,752.71
B	0.00
A	3,517.61
C	4,501.79
C. Car Loan	6,502.80
P	5,606.69
P. Car Loan	7,670.00
E	8,329.98
G	8,794.84
Total	48,912.84

Amount Paid Off This Week: $-3439.05
*Current chart shows adjustments for interest, pay downs, and pay offs.*

This week…YIKES.  It was kind of a weird week for us as a family.  First off, I have been on vacation from work since the last week of August, so I’ve been resting and recharging for nearly two weeks.  It was good for my soul and I got to take two different trips during that time, which was even better!  Second, my husband started his new job, and because of this, we had to buy another vehicle.  I could practically hear our savings account groan, but it was a necessity.  Third, we were denied pre-approval for a mortgage loan.  Again, major ouch.  This is what I want to talk about today.

As I mentioned in previous posts and in the above paragraph, my husband started his new job this week.  He is super excited to be selling life insurance and has already done amazingly in his first few days!  But because of the type of work he is doing, he is now technically self-employed.  This has its perks, but in regards to qualifying for major loans (i.e. mortgage loan), we are pretty much marooned.  I’m not sure how it works in other states, but in ours, if you are self-employed, you must have two years’ worth of income in order for banks to even consider looking at giving you financing.  So although my husband will be making a steady income, and most likely more than he made at his previous job, he will not have a W-2 or a paystub to prove he is making this money.

After we found out we were denied for a mortgage loan, we panicked (actually it was just me because my husband never freaks out ever).  We were told that based on my income and our debt load, we would not qualify for anything at all.  Now if I made more money, or we had few debts, it would be a different story.  Mind you, we have plenty of cash in the bank and are able to pay a sizeable down payment.  But those aren’t the numbers that are considered unfortunately.  So we decided to take a hit to our savings and pay off some of our student loans.  We both paid off our loan groups with the highest percent of interest, totaling about $4200 between the two of us.  Huge.  OUCH.

While it made me sick to my stomach to spend that much money in a week, and on paper, it looks like we have nothing to show for it, I know that we will be thankful in the long run to have our student debt paid off faster.  We are exceedingly grateful to have found a wonderful car for my husband that we are able to afford easily.  So if we aren’t able to qualify for a mortgage just yet, at least we have my parents who are still letting us stay with them until we figure life out. 

Life has thrown a lot of curveballs at our little family in the last year and a half.  We’ve had to overcome a lot and grow up more than we could have imagined.  Sure, things are crazy stressful.  But maybe we don’t need a mortgage and other bills right now.  Maybe we just need to focus on saving our money, paying off our debts, and being a family.  And honestly, I’m not sure I would want it any other way right now.

--chloe.