Almost every one of us has faced or will be facing the dilemma of whether to buy a house or not. If you are going to choose owning a home instead of renting, then you should look at a few important things before deciding. Otherwise you will end up on the wrong side of the ‘home sweet home’ game.
Do you really need to own a home? Or Are you playing some status game with people who you think care about you but actually don’t. Just buying a home to impress is not going to help you in any way.
Do you have enough money as cash or do you need to take out a loan to buy your dream home?. If you have cash in hand to buy the house, then all good given that this cash amount is not all of savings. If you are going to take a loan, then it is reasonable if the monthly installment is less than 30% of your monthly income. Otherwise, the debt/loan will swallow your money and mental health as well.
Similarly, you should think twice (may be more than that) before purchasing a new car. Think about whether you can settle for a used car in a good condition. Also don’t forget there is another option, if you don’t use your vehicle frequently, you can use ride sharing services like uber, grab & etc. and/or taxis. If expense is not worth buying a car, then it would be a wise decision to settle with ride sharing service & taxis. Note that
Expense of your vehicle = Initial purchase price + maintenance and repair costs + fuel cost.
Falling into an unnecessary debt should be avoided at all costs. Because these types of bad debts are going to cost you a lot more than you think. It would reduce your flexibility to do whatever you want, take away freedom- you can’t take risks even if you like to since you are already in debt. Bad debt will definitely affect mental health as well. So before taking a loan, kindly remember loans taken for personal use are not your friend.
