Working On A Quirky Graph

The snow has finally started to abate. Warmer weather has swooped in and melted several of the drifts that were plaguing our walks. Normally, I wouldn’t be worried, however my sister’s dog is a little more delicate than my old man, and I found that I needed to almost carry him back home when the snow got between his paws. I can’t blame him. Honestly, if snow got between my toes I’d probably whine and hold my foot up as well.

We were finally able to take a longish walk this morning, even though it was a bit nippy out. Walking my neighborhood is a double edged sword. I love this neighborhood. I love the different houses, the different ways people will decorate not just their homes, but their front steps and gardens as well. At the same token, I also have been wanting to buy a house. Holy cow have I been having some serious FOMO with the houses on my block. However, I also have an aversion to incurring even more debt, especially at the interest rates as they currently sit and the amount of interest that i would end up paying out. But, since I doubt very seriously that someone will just see me on the street and offer me the house of my choosing, I need to make some decisions.

Do I want to buckle down and start looking hardcore at getting a house? Or do I want to just sit back and be discontented about the whole thing. The second option, while not at all optimal, has been what I’ve been living with for easily the last year or longer. But as rent creeps up, I’m having a harder and harder time justifying paying essentially mortgage money to my landlord. And the houses in my neighborhood are more expensive than what I would be paying, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look outside my neighborhood and make some decisions.

So, to kick my internal dialogue in the ass, I’ve made an appointment to talk to a realtor this week. I want to vet what the possibilities are in finding something I will be happy with, that I won’t have to make massive changes to (hello garage already on premises). I completely recognize that a realtor is a seller. Their ability to make money will be based on whether or not they can find a house in my price range. I want some more information and not just dire words of warning that I see on the news. Who knows? Perhaps their words will be dire as well and I can drop this back and forth that has been plaguing me for the last several months.

To that end, I decided I needed to take a look at my insurance policy that I have and even see if that is a possibility to tap. (I’m thinking the answer is no), but as I tried logging in for the first time, the website kicked me out, telling me the information is incorrect and that I needed to add some beneficiaries. Whoops. Time to get the family loaded up in there correctly so they can not have to worry about any expenses. Of course this company is of the opinion everything should be printed out (hello? the 21st century is calling) and then rescanned in so they can verify my signature. Honestly I don’t think they have one to verify against, but so long as the family gets paid what do I care? I supposed I will be taking a longer lunch this week than I originally anticipated.

I guess I will be carrying Monday’s maturity along with me for the week.