this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

This post originally appeared on November 15, 2007, about one year after we bought our first home. This month marks the three year anniversary and I still pretty much feel the same way - perhaps not our best financial decision, but overall it feels like we are in the right place.

One year ago this month, we purchased our first home. Lately The Tall One and I have been reflecting on that decision. Literally the night before we found this house we had decided we were going to wait at least a year before buying so we could save up a down payment. But then we went house hunting anyway, because it's fun, and here we are.

There's really no way to know if it was a mistake or not. Sure we'd have more money in savings had we waited, but in the past year we've payed off a student loan and a car. When money became not so abundant after we bought the house, we really focused on getting rid of our non-mortgage debt. Would we have done that if we didn't buy the house? Who knows.

Money isn't everything though. We've made friends we wouldn't have met had we not bought our house. We've had opportunities we wouldn't have had if we didn't live where we do now. When finances are completely taken out of the picture, it's been the best decision we could have made for our family, and that should count for something.