If you were to read my My Story or credit card debt payoff pages without any other context, you should very well wonder how in the world such a mess was able to buy her own condo in Boston while unmarried (and without financial assistance from others!). Here are some of the ways I changed my ways to fulfill my dream of becoming a homeowner by the age of 30:

I took my head out of the sand

I forced myself to tally up my debts, made a plan for how to pay them off, and forged full-steam ahead with said plan.

I analyzed my professional position

Although I had a good job in a very beautiful location, I realized that I had come to a career crossroads: I wasn’t fulfilled with my work, I craved an intellectual challenge, and I wanted to explore other fields before I settled into any permanent career path.

I decided to apply for Grad school, and I got into a top school

What does this have to do with buying a house you ask? Plenty as it dictated where I’d be living and how I needed to re-focus my financial efforts to account for the insanely high cost of living in Boston.

I realized that I couldn’t do it all

There was no way that I could pay off my credit card debt, go to grad school, and pay expensive rent on a part-time salary. It was time to get creative.

I focused my job search on part-time positions that provided living expenses

I happened to stumble upon a Craigslist ad for residential counselors at a group home for adults with mental illness. Since I was pursuing a Masters degree in Psychology, it was a perfect fit. The position was only 15-20 hours/week, but in exchange I got my own room in a beautiful house–for free! I did a bit of research to validate the information in the ad (no scams for this lady, please), sent my resume, and had an interview the following week. The interview process had 3 pieces but I sailed through them and began working immediately upon moving.

I paid myself “rent”

The beauty of my new job was that it provided real-world experience for what I was learning about in school AND it provided virtually 100% of my living expenses. Rent, utilities, furnishings–even food was included. The job was not easy, but it was immensely rewarding and within 2 months, I was promoted to Director of the home. This brought with it a real salary in addition to my living benefits, plus I was also working full-time at a local hospital (yes, I was insanely busy). Once I had a handle on my budget, I began to pay myself “rent.” I researched the local area, found some hard data to support how much I should have been paying, and sent that much to my credit cards every month (no less than $1,300). Once I was done paying off my consumer debt ($14K in less than a year…yeah, baby!), I began saving that much for my future foray into home ownership.

I stayed creative even after graduating

Once graduation came & went, so too did the job at the residential home. However, not lost was my zest for rent-free living. I was determined to keep up the progress I had worked so hard for, so I again sought out part-time positions that paid the rent. For the next 2.5 years, I worked at a local college in the Residential Life department. I had to live on campus with a bunch of wild undergrads, but I now had my own apartment, free utilities, free parking for my now paid-off car, and a campus meal plan! I continued to pay myself “rent” for the going rate of a 2BD/2BA apartment in Boston.

I rewarded myself

For every $10K I saved, I celebrated by spending just a bit–a trip to Australia, new work clothes, etc. Nothing too fancy, nothing too expensive and everything had to fit in the monthly budget or it wasn’t purchased. These rewards, big and small, helped me keep my motivation high and momentum forward.

I saved for the “extras,” too

I’ve heard so many stories of first-time home buyers who fail to save enough when it comes to buying their home. I was determined to still have a healthy bottom line AFTER closing, so I saved as much as I possibly could in the 1.5 years before purchasing my place: I saved for the down payment, closing costs, moving expenses, furniture, decor, small renovations–I even ear-marked $200 for a re-stock of my new refrigerator and pantry.

I stayed realistic

All along, I knew my story wasn’t typical. I knew that my hard work would eventually pay off, but I also knew that it wasn’t a sustainable life to work full-time on top of full-time grad school and 2-4 part-time jobs. I paid attention to when I began to feel burnt out (often towards the end of this particular chapter), and I re-adjusted as a means to maintain my sanity. Oh, and I partied like a rock star once I had those keys in my hand after closing. I’ll let you make your own interpretation of what that may have looked like (and please do leave a comment telling me about what you’re imagining right now…haha!).

How did you save for your down payment? If you’re not a homeowner, are you planning to be? If so, what’s your savings plan?