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How I Set My House Budget and Downpayment Goal
Now that I’ve officially come out about my plan to save money for a downpayment on a house, let’s talk about how much house I can afford, and how I came to my overall target of $45,000 – $50,000 for my...
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They Want Me to Borrow HOW Much?
Planning to buy a home is one of the most fun processes out there. It’s more fun than buying a car, and almost more fun than planning a vacation. Because the mortgage and real estate industry is such...
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Growing My House Down Payment Fund
Yesterday I woke up to a lovely surprise in my chequing account: my tax return. I was a little slow when getting my return filed this year, so I’m been impatiently waiting for this tax return to show...
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House Down Payment Goal: Reached
My dream of home ownership got a little bit closer. Every year after I file my taxes I dutifully apply for the New Brunswick Tuition Rebate. This rebate is in place for New Brunswick residents with...
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Choosing When, Where and What Home to Buy
I know I’m a few years away from homeownership, but I can’t help but muse about what kind of home my husband and I would like to buy. I may only have a down payment of $6,500 right now, but that hasn’t...
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Which Home Would You Choose?
Let’s play a game. It’s called which home would you choose? I’m going to list two homes that my husband and I have been able to agree on as potential candidates for a home purchase, and you’re going...
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What’s The Deal With My House Down Payment Fund?
I haven’t talked about my house down payment fund in awhile, and there have been some interesting developments, so it’s update time! The Super Secret Savings Goal is No More Remember the super secret...
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My Home Down Payment and Risk
When I started saving for my house down payment, I thought it would take between four and five years. This was before my husband got his new job and before we knew what we could realistically save per...
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Would You Pay $30,000 More For a Better Location?
Ok folks, time for another house comparison post! If you’re getting sick of these, feel free to let me know in the comments. Since the blog is called My Alternate Life, I write about the things going...
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What I Learned From Three Months of Open Houses
This Fall I decided to take a leaf out of Frugalwoods‘ book and start going to open houses. My husband and I won’t be ready to start house hunting in earnest for at least another two years, so we were...
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5 Reasons I’m Not Ready to Buy That House
The house in question. I’ve been saving for my home down payment since last March, almost one year. As of today, I’ve got $19,300 saved, and am projecting around $20,000 by the end of this month....
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House Down Payment Goal: Halfway There
I’ve saved $20,000 for my house down payment fund! Today I received my extra February paycheque (I get paid five times in February) and promptly deposited the bulk of it into my house down payment...
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Walkability is Worth $100,000
Last summer my husband and I started going to open houses. Even though we hadn’t reached our house down payment goal yet, we wanted to start going to open houses to desensitize ourselves to the house...
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Can I Afford a Home, Using Every Rule of Thumb I Know
As I continue on my epic journey of saving $40,000 for the house I eventually plan to buy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I often worry if I’m being realistic about the price point I set and whether or not...
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Why I’m Not Saving a 20% Down Payment
If you’ve been reading my blog over the past year or so, you’re no stranger to the fact that I’m currently saving $40,000 for a down payment on a home. My ideal goal is to buy a home worth around...
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Balancing Saving and Life
Or: Why I’m Tapping the Brakes on Saving for a Home Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve made some pretty serious progress on saving for a home in the past five months. I started out January 2016 with...
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Affording an Average Home in Halifax versus the GTA
If you read the Globe and Mail or CBC’s coverage of the Canadian housing market, you’d think this country was one of the most expensive places on earth to live. While that may be true for the two...
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That Time I Bought A House
July has been a busy month for me, and I haven’t been posting as often. My absence was influenced by many factors, but the major one was the fact that my husband and I bought a home, and we’ve been...
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How Much Are Closing Costs, Really?
When you consider how much it costs to purchase a home, the first thing you think of is the down payment. Down payments get all of the attention because they are big, flashy amounts of money. The down...
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Why I’m Not Saving a 20% Down Payment
If you’ve been reading my blog over the past year or so, you’re no stranger to the fact that I’m currently saving $40,000 for a down payment on a home. My ideal goal is to buy a home worth around...
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