I mentioned in a previous post that I am currently living in my parents garage. It may sound crazy, but this is actually completely intentional. My life in my 20's was defined by debt and money problems which led to a lot of mental heal issues for me. When I made the decision that I would not let my 30's be the same as my 20's I had to make some very tough choices - one of those choices was moving.
One of the things I am most proud of in my life is buying a home. I remember being in college and scrolling on Zillow just dreaming of one day owning my own place. I had no idea when it would happen - like a lot of millennials I had no means of saving a significant amount of money for a down payment and didn't have a stable enough job at the time to get a loan. Shortly after I graduated college my grandpa passed away. He was always very adamant about leaving a legacy to his family and part of that was a life insurance policy that was to be paid out between me, my sister, and our two cousins. He wanted to give his grandkids a blessing to help them even though he was no longer with us - and what a blessing it was!
I received the money right as my apartment lease was about to end and I was transitioning into a full time office job. I knew immediately that I wanted to try to buy a house. I knew there would probably not be another time that everything lined up so perfectly for me to actually make this a possibility. I was able to get an FHA loan with only 6% down and found a house in my area that was within my budget. I remember thinking the entire time during the buying process that there was no way this was all going to work. Someone would realize that they were giving a loan to a new college graduate with barely any work history and decide to pull the plug or there would be some major issue that would come up in the home inspection - but nothing ever happened. At the end of the process I owned a home. At 23 years old I achieved my greatest dream in life thus far - I owned a home!
Although I am proud of myself for this accomplishment, I know it wasn't really me that made it happen. If my grandpa hadn't passed and left me money I don't know that I would have ever been able to save up for a down payment, even at six percent. His planning and his love of his family is what gave me the ability to achieve my dream. Beyond just a dream, this house was also the greatest financial blessing. The fact that I did not have to battle the rising rent prices for the last seven years and was able to keep my monthly payment stable all through covid and the current housing market was one of the few things keeping me going. Grandpa left me and his other grandkids this money in the hope that we would be able to use it to better our lives. I hope he knows how much of an impact that money made for me.
The End of a Dream
So how do I go from being a proud 23 year old just accomplishing her life dream of purchasing a house to a 30 year old living in her parents garage? Simple - debt.
Life was hard. Covid made it harder. I was getting by okay before Covid - I wasn't living lavishly by any means, but I had my house and bills paid each month with enough left over for food and gas. Unfortunately I, like many others, lost my job during Covid. I ended up back in a part time retail position that didn't really pay the bills. I was able to get enough together to keep making the house payments, but this required loans and credit cards that all ended up maxed out. As Covid subsided and things returned to normal I was able to get back into a good place with work finding a full time position that I love, but the rising cost of goods made it so that even with a good income I was never able to make ends meet while paying all the minimum payments on my loans and credit cards. At my worst I was about $30,000 in debt not including the mortgage. For the last five years my finances have just been a constant cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Take out a loan at one place to pay off the loan from another place, pay the minimum balance and nothing more, decide what food/necessity I could live without until next payday. My only objective in life was to get the number in my bank account high enough to pay the bills before the next due date. As soon as the bills were paid I started back at zero and spent the next month doing the same thing. My bank account balance was my life.
Unfortunately, I know a lot of people reading this will be able to understand where I am coming from. It is estimated that right now around 65% of Americans are currently living in this same manner paycheck-to-paycheck. I kept thinking that things would get better, that if I worked harder I would somehow be able to dig myself out of this hole. It just wasn't working though, prices kept going up and my paycheck didn't. I would deliver for InstaCart to help with the bills, but that was tearing up my car which was already on its last legs. No matter what I tried the money always went away the second I got it. Like so many people, I just felt trapped. I still had one last hope though - my home.
I unintentionally bought my house at a perfect time right before home prices soared. In the seven years that I owned my home the value almost doubled. I knew that I could probably sell my home and pay off not only my mortgage, but all of my debt and maybe even have a bit leftover. For a long time I never even considered this though. Selling my home would mean going back to a rental and (much like my house) the price of apartments has gone up significantly too. I was also scared that if I sold my home to get rid of the debt and wasn't able to find a place to rent within my budget I would end up back in the same trap I had just gotten out of, but this time without an asset to fall back on. Aside from that - I loved my home. It was my dream come true and I wasn't ready to say goodbye to that dream yet.
In 2023 I suffered a major loss. In the aftermath I took a long hard look at my life and decided I could not go on like this anymore. I knew I needed to make some serious changes if I was going to get out of the life I was trapped in, but I didn't really know what that change was going to be. The answer to my prayers came - once again - from a grandfather who loved his family. In addition to leaving his grandkids with money, my grandpa also left behind stuff for his two son's, my dad and my uncle. One of the things he left to them is what I consider to be the most valuable thing a person can ever own in this lifetime - fully paid off land. My dad and uncle were both half-owners of a few pieces of property. For a lot of years after my grandpa died they chose to care for the land together and split the rental income. About two years ago after my mom and dad retired they decided they wanted to move into my dad's childhood home that my grandparents built when he and my uncle were kids. They paid my uncle for his half of the value and now have full ownership of the house and the land it sits on, about 40 acres.
When I was trying to figure out how to fix my mess of a life, I stumbled upon a crazy idea. I could sell my house, use the money to pay off the mortgage and my other debts, and still have a little bit leftover. If I could use this little bit leftover to build an off-grid tiny house there was actually a reasonable chance I could live and exist with almost no monthly bills. I wouldn't have to worry about spiraling into debt again because it would not take very much money for me to survive! The only piece of this puzzle I was missing was a place to build my tiny house - I'm sure you can tell where this is going.
I have been blessed with parents who (like my grandfather) would do anything for their family. They love my sister and I more than anything in the universe. When I approached them with the idea of maybe building a tiny house on their land they were ecstatic! Part of the reason they wanted to take over my grandparents house to begin with was to be closer to me. Before they retired they were about a five hour drive from where I lived and after moving to my grandparents house they were only a one hour drive from where I lived. Now I had presented them with the opportunity to be within walking distance to me and they were all for it!
Moving On to My New Frontier
With a feasible plan in place and my parents on board to help me with my new goal there was only one thing left to do - move on.
Leaving my home - my greatest dream - and moving on was always going to be the hardest part for me. I am a very sentimental person. For so long that house had been my safety, my shelter, my dream, my stability, my life - and I was going to have to say goodbye to it.
The selling process itself actually went very smoothly. I was able to finder a buyer pretty quickly who made an offer that would give me what I hoped for money-wise from the house. No major unknown issues came up during the inspection. Appraisal came back at the amount needed. There was a little delay on the closing date, but nothing major. Overall it was probably the best selling process I could have asked for and I am extremely grateful.
On the other hand, selling that home was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I shed more tears in those last few days before closing than I thought possible. That house will always be a piece of me. Seven years of memories and love and life took place in that house. Some of my darkest times dealing with debt and depression took place there, but also some of my greatest joys (like bringing home my cat Hudson). There were a few moments where I even considered pulling out and not selling it, but I knew I couldn't back down. Although this home was my greatest dream at one time, it was no longer what I needed in life. In the words of Flynn Rider, "You get to go find a new dream.". I had achieved my greatest dream - and now I would get to go have another.
Finding My New Dream
The first thing I did once receiving the money from my house sale (after the mortgage was paid off) was pay off all my debt. It still blows my mind to say this, but as of this moment right now I am debt free. I don't owe a single cent to anyone. The rest of the money I got from my house sale is going to go towards my new dream - building my off-grid tiny home! I have lots of plans in place already, but now is not the time to get into that. I imagine you will get sick of me posting about the process of building my tiny home before I am done!
In the mean time, my parents were kind enough to let me live in their garage while I build my house. Let me make it clear - my parents are wonderful and they are not shoving me out in some dusty old garage. It is fully insulated, has windows, the walls are painted, and there is even a fridge. If it weren't for the giant door on one side you would probably never know it was a garage. Me and my cat are both very comfortable in here for the next few months while I build us our new home.
So that is it. That is why I am starting my thirties living in my parents garage. Certainly not the glamorous life I imagined myself living by this point when I was fresh out of college, but right now this feels absolutely perfect. I have my family, my cat, my health, and more hope in my heart than I have had in almost a decade. I am so excited to start building my house. This is my new dream - and I am ready to make it a reality!
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