The Terrible Money Twos & Home Ownership in This Day and Age. #MoneyWiseMoms
The Terrible Money Twos.
I have always been a dreamer but, I have always been very goal-oriented. If I wanted something, I went out and worked my tush off until I got it. The same thing goes for building a life and working towards ownership on all levels. I started working when I was 15 and I bought my first car on my own when I was 18.
Wasting time is not one of my favorite things, I don’t like to mess around! I went to college twice and got two diplomas, got married and we started a family in our early 20’s. While most of my friends were hitting the clubs, I was raising Gabby and working towards bigger goals.
Throughout our journey, we’ve stayed with family and rented lofts and apartments and worked where we had to to get by and while I finished college. Our city has one of the lowest employment rates and fortunately, we were already able to find work but, to say it wasn’t tough wouldn’t be the truth.
Eventually, I finished college and Dara got an amazing job in a trade and we were able to get our life going towards stability. When we finally bought our house, we bought a house we can grow into and I can’t even tell you how amazing ownership feels.
Unfortunately, according to RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s comprehensive financial rates comparison resource, finds that 55.6% of respondents believe their ability to start or expand their family is directly impacted by real estate prices in their region. The challenge is even greater for millennials, at 72.11%.
Expanding Our Family.
In our region, real estate is affordable. If we were to live in a bigger city, we wouldn’t have been able to buy the size of house that we have now or perhaps own a house at all. We are blessed to have a house with a room for both of our girls, us and an office for me to work out of. There’s even room to grow if we were to have any more children.
Not to mention, we are fortunate enough that Dara has had a good job for a good company that pays more than fairly and takes care of their employees for many years now.
Child Care Challenge.
Lack of affordable childcare was cited by respondents as a top financial challenge; only 15.21% of all respondents say childcare is affordable in their region, with 41.9% indicating they do, or will, rely on one parent staying home full-time in order to provide childcare. 48% stated that childcare costs impacted their affordability for other things.
As far as child care, I couldn’t have finished college or worked part-time out of the home if it weren’t for the help of my family. Though I’ve worked part-time and now full-time out of my home for many years now, it helped cut-down child care costs significantly for us.
In this day and age, not everyone is as fortunate. As real estate and debt levels skyrocket, current and would-be parents are finding their family plans derailed by their financial situation.
The Numbers:
- 54.5% said family costs were more than they anticipated.
- The price of food topped the list of unexpected costs for parents at 26.5%.
- 52.8% of respondents say they cannot start or expand their family in their current home.
- 49.4% of respondents say they have changed their minds about their desired family size due to associated costs.
- 71.4% of millennial respondents say they would need to make significant financial changes before starting a family, lead by increasing savings at 41%.
According to the survey, 15.21% of respondents said childcare was affordable in their region with 41.9% saying that they do or will rely on one parent staying home full-time to care for the children. 48% stated that childcare costs impacted their affordability for other things.
When we started our search for our house, we made sure to do as much research as we could. We wanted to make sure that we were going to get the best rate for our mortgage and to be really sure it was what we could afford. With current prices, it’s more important than ever that would-be homeowners compare their mortgage options and boost their affordability with truly competitive financing.
If you’re ready to start thinking about home ownership, RateSupermarket.ca has a pretty nifty mortgage rate comparison tool that will help you find the most affordable rate. When we bought our house, we made sure we got the best rate and we did that by getting as much information that we could. It is something we can comfortably afford and we are in love with our home.
In this day and age, there are a lot of factors that can impede you from taking that next step. Taking the extra time to consider the economy, your region and finding and comparing the best mortgage rates is absolutely essential. The more prepared you are, the better the decision you will make!
Do you think it’s possible to have a family and own a home nowadays?
Let me know your experience, til then–cheers m’deres!
Nancy Polanco is a freelance journalist, lifestyle content creator, and editor of Whispered Inspirations. She is a proud Mom to Gabby and Michaela and partner and best friend to Darasak. Having worked as part of a health care team for almost a decade, Nancy is happy to be back to her passion. She is a contributor to the Huffington Post, TODAY’s Parents, and an Oprah Magazine Brand Ambassador.
I bought my house before I had kids. It just made more financial sense to me to do it that way.
That is awesome! For us, life happened first! Hehe.
the balance is super hard and I know first hand. We had kids first and have struggled to figure out if we could ever own a home. We are aiming for next year or maybe 2017 at the latest. I really hope we can do it!
You can do it, I know you can!
Yes you can have both, you just have to spend smart. We just bought a home after years of financial problems. We got our act together and saved. We bought a small house and we are SO happy not to have debt!
I agree! Good for you! 🙂
It's definitely possible to do both today, but it isn't always easy. At this point, we've started our family, but are still in the hopes of home ownership one day. I would love to get out of renting and become a home owner.
You can do it!
We were a victim of the terrible twos of money. We've got our act together now, but it's still a work in progress.
It can definitely be tough! Glad you are on the right track now.
I think its for sure possible. Any thing is with good credit, a good job and a will. I love ratesupermarket.ca and think it has so much to offer. I enjoy how much financial information I've learned from it as well.
I love them too. Such a wealth of information!
I've been waiting to start my family until I am paying off a home, but every year that passes I feel it's less and less realistic. I know my parents didn't have a home until I was 13!
You have to do what is right for you! 🙂
Balancing home ownership and parenting cost wise can be so hard. These are all great factors to consider in buying a home.
I agree!
It is definitely possible to have both. Depending on where you live the housing market can be quite reasonable. I would hate to be in a big city and trying to do both.
That is for sure, the bigger the more it costs!
I was lucky to be in our first home and established before we started our family. It can be so expensive to start a family. Being as prepared as you can helps a lot.
That is awesome! 🙂
We had one kid and we are currently living in my mom's house. My hubby and I are working for almost 2 years and now we are planning to have our own house.
That is awesome, make sure to use the mortgage calculator when you are ready. That way you get the best rate!
Raising a family can be such a challenge! I'm glad there's resources to help!
Me too, it would be harder without them.
Now a days raising a family is so expensive. Without a doubt affording your first home is more challenging than ever.
My recent post Target $200 Giftcard Giveaway – Enter DAILY to Win Worldwide, Ends 12/28/15
This is so true!
I do think it's possible to have a family and own a home, but it does require planning ahead. For many of the reasons that you mentioned, having a family can be quite costly. It's important to start saving for our future at a young age!
For sure, it is hard to have both these days.
We still rent, but I would like to own my own home one day. Thank you for such sound advice!
There are a lot of resources to help you when you are ready!
I think it is great when a family can help support one and other's financial dreams. I was able to buy a house thanks to the financial responsibility my parents instilled in us.
That is great, it is something that is so important.
Great post about money, family and homeownership. These days homeownership is not as easy or attainable as it was for our parents and grandparents. Sometimes one has to be sacrificed for another until you’re in a different chapter of life.
That is very true!
Ugh, we looked into childcare around here and it was totally not affordable… so we could not do all we do without the help of family. Plus, we have the inlaws live with us, which helps, a lot, as well… It works out this way and between you and me, I know we couldn't do it without them.
Having a go-to for a mortgage calculator is a great idea.
We are lucky to have family close by to help too. Without it, it would be rough.
We purchased land and then we rented till our kids were 2 and 7 ,it was a difficult job and money was very tight but finally we got enough finshed to move in before our younest stared school.
Hard work pays off!