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Stop buying, start saving
September 21, 2010 I'M GOING out on a limb here, but should we really be calling talking about a housing affordability ''crisis''? Or is it more the case that people can't amass a deposit because they are too busy queuing for the latest iPhone?
I remember my first house: a tiny brick veneer that I loved because it was mine. There was no family room, no en suite and just enough room to swing a cat and myself. I understood that because it was my first house, not my last, it would not be my ''dream'' home. It had lime green kitchen doors with blue knobs (tasteful), mirror tiles in my bedroom (don't ask) and other quirky features. I'd ended up in a suburb I'd initially not considered because it was what I could afford - and I'd still had to go halves with a relative because the banks wouldn't lend that much money to a single woman. Remember those days? Oh, and at their peak, interest rates hit 17 per cent.
I scraped up the deposit by, wait for it, saving. And making choices, not ''sacrifices''' - today's buzzword if you can't have everything you want NOW. They are the same choices I make today as I continue to pay off my home on one, by no means large, income. Granted, this home is nicer than my first one, but that's because I learnt how to prioritise and wait. I lived on a concrete slab for five years while I saved for floor coverings, bought recycled clothes and still have the bedroom suite I purchased when I moved out of home. I may get a new one, someday.
I've always been a budgeter - my mother remembers me dividing pocket money into designated envelopes as a child - and this has carried into my adult life. I know how much I earn, I keep track of what I spend, and I don't rack up huge bills on my credit card buying things I don't need. I am able to say no to the season's ''must-have'' items if I already have plenty in the wardrobe. Despite what advertisers would have you believe, the line between ''need'' and ''want'' is quite clear.
I read recently about a couple whingeing about the ''struggle'' to pay for a $25,000 wedding and save for a house. They obviously didn't think of having a cheaper wedding and a house. Or, God forbid, of buying a unit as a first step. When did having everything instantly become an entitlement?
There will always be those who can afford to ''have it all''. That's life. Just as there will always be those who will never earn enough to buy a home. But many people do; they just don't realise it.
Karen Hobsen
September 21, 2010 I'M GOING out on a limb here, but should we really be calling talking about a housing affordability ''crisis''? Or is it more the case that people can't amass a deposit because they are too busy queuing for the latest iPhone?
I remember my first house: a tiny brick veneer that I loved because it was mine. There was no family room, no en suite and just enough room to swing a cat and myself. I understood that because it was my first house, not my last, it would not be my ''dream'' home. It had lime green kitchen doors with blue knobs (tasteful), mirror tiles in my bedroom (don't ask) and other quirky features. I'd ended up in a suburb I'd initially not considered because it was what I could afford - and I'd still had to go halves with a relative because the banks wouldn't lend that much money to a single woman. Remember those days? Oh, and at their peak, interest rates hit 17 per cent.
I scraped up the deposit by, wait for it, saving. And making choices, not ''sacrifices''' - today's buzzword if you can't have everything you want NOW. They are the same choices I make today as I continue to pay off my home on one, by no means large, income. Granted, this home is nicer than my first one, but that's because I learnt how to prioritise and wait. I lived on a concrete slab for five years while I saved for floor coverings, bought recycled clothes and still have the bedroom suite I purchased when I moved out of home. I may get a new one, someday.
I've always been a budgeter - my mother remembers me dividing pocket money into designated envelopes as a child - and this has carried into my adult life. I know how much I earn, I keep track of what I spend, and I don't rack up huge bills on my credit card buying things I don't need. I am able to say no to the season's ''must-have'' items if I already have plenty in the wardrobe. Despite what advertisers would have you believe, the line between ''need'' and ''want'' is quite clear.
I read recently about a couple whingeing about the ''struggle'' to pay for a $25,000 wedding and save for a house. They obviously didn't think of having a cheaper wedding and a house. Or, God forbid, of buying a unit as a first step. When did having everything instantly become an entitlement?
There will always be those who can afford to ''have it all''. That's life. Just as there will always be those who will never earn enough to buy a home. But many people do; they just don't realise it.
Karen Hobsen
