Still Breathing

I am sorry that I have not posted in the last 10 days. How is that possible? Can it have been 10 days already?

We have been house hunting. We need something closer to the Computer Guy’s new job. (He starts today. Good Luck, Computer Guy! I love you!) We figured out that it was going to cost us $18 a day in gasoline for him to commute. I don’t know about you, but I can think of many things I’d rather buy with my $400 a month than gas for his car.

Looking at houses was fun the first 3 days. Now my brain is mush, and all the houses blend into each other. They all begin to look alike after awhile.

We are funny to listen to at night. “I liked the house with the funky staircase, but not the one with the weird laundry room.” “Was that the one with the green bathroom? Or the one with the red dining room?” It was the one with the leopard wallpaper in the bathroom.” “Hmmm…I guess I don’t remember that one. Maybe we should go look at it again.” Again? Are you kidding?

Then there’s the mortgage stuff and the FICO scores. Is it possible for this to be any more of a game? What a joke. We pay cash for everything, live within our means, and budget like crazy. We live the idea that “If you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it.” Then we applied for a mortgage and were told, “You can get a substantially lower interest rate if you would just open a couple of charge accounts and put maybe $100 each on them and just let it sit while you pay the minimum payments for about 6 months.” What? Go into debt so that I look like a better financial risk? The theory here is that the more money I owe, the better I am at handling my finances? What kind of whack-a-doo nutjob dreamed this system up?

I told them “We have saved a substantial down payment.” And then I smiled because cute can help sometimes. The guy just shook his head and said “It would be better if you just had a more substantial credit history.” Substantial? Like more? Yes. Owe more, and they will give you more. I think I may have stumbled through the looking glass. Has anyone else seen that white rabbit?

The short version is: We’re looking for a new house. My brain hurts. Blogging may be intermittent. The End.