L I V I N G // Being a New Homeowner is Hard

Holy geez it's been over a week since I last posted! I was hoping to do a blog every other day, but I guess this will have to do.

The topic today is being a new homeowner. I never imagined owning my own home or getting into this until I was in my 30s, but here I am still in my 20s and I'm experiencing what it's like to own a new home and going through all the issues that a homeowner might encounter. And I don't even actually own the home. I just hear of the struggles.

Rent/Mortgage Payment: Geez louise. Living in California, finding an affordable place to stay is nearly impossible for someone my age. First off, the minimum wage cannot even allow you to afford a new home, let alone rent for an apartment. I have family who live in other states that can afford buying their own home that would allow them to live in a place without having other people renting the rooms to lower the cost of rent with minimum wage to sustain them. Even with a full-time job in Vegas, you literally have to live pay check to paycheck unless you have a roommate or money saved up to invest in a down payment and stashed up for upcoming payments.

Utilities: I've never really paid my own bills, except for my credit card so knowing I'll have to pay for electricity, gas, water, trash, etc. is overwhelming. I haven't even received my bills yet, but I've literally been doing every precaution I can to help conserve energy/water. I hardly ever get my AC lower than 79 degrees. I tend to stay downstairs where it's cooler (since heat travels up), thus uses less AC. My current place has less square footage to it covers a lot of ground fairly quickly and cools down fast as well. I try to stay in darker parts of the home to keep cool and so far it's working for me. I've literally taken old boiled water and reused it for washing my hands. I know it sounds so cheap but I think you'll understand my weird habits.

Security: I think with every location, you'll be wary of your surroundings. I've just installed a home security system and I have no idea if the cost I invested was worth the money. $54.99/mo for an alarm system seems a bit pricey and I don't know how to go about lowering it since it's on a five year agreement. Brilliant right? And that was to lock in the price which supposedly other competitors will raise their prices by 5%. Who knows. These are sales people we're dealing with.

Internet: I just got the internet installed and it's such a relief to have it. I don't plan on buying cable because majority of the things I watch are through the internet except for Pretty Little Liars and I'm sure I could buy that through amazon or wait for it to come on Netflix. Cheap right? Whatever, I don't care. It's pretty pricey out in Vegas since the competitors aren't out here and it's a developing area. Like wtf is that. $80 for internet. Sheesh. I think it's like $50 in Cali but I guess it's a tradeoff since the homes are cheaper out here.

So far those are the things I've encountered and I'm sure there are more to come. The actual bills haven't come in yet, so I'm bracing myself for those actual costs. Hopefully it won't be too strenuous.