Hardway Finance Part 4

Hardway Finance Part 4

Credit where credit is due.  In the six years I “owned” the house, I never, ever made a late payment.  Ever.  I always rounded up on the payment, too, bringing it up to the next hundred dollar level.  I would designate it towards principle reduction, but they just ignored that and sent it all back once every year or so.  I’d cash the check and blow the money on something stupid.  I’d look forward to it.

Things went wrong with the house pretty much immediately.  Water had gotten into the furnace exhaust and made a gurgling sound once I kicked it on.  That was fixed for free, as were most of the furnace issues.  Despite never being used before, the central air went out, requiring a $4,000 replacement.  The elaborate stonework for the shower cracked at a corner, and the mortar on the floor started cracking, too.  The shingles were of a poor design, and placed on the roof in a lazy way, which meant that if it rained from a certain direction, there was a leak in the roof that would come down from the hanging light in the dining room.

Brand new house.

Meanwhile, I got used to the payment, and all of the overtime, to the point that I would save up money and go on absolutely insane vacations.  I’ve been in deserts, jungles, mountain tops, pyramids (plural!) And more ancient cities than you could shake a stick at.  I’ve seen buildings that the Apostles also saw.  I’ve been to the Great Wall of China.  One year, with two vacations, I stepped foot in 12 countries on five continents.  I’ve spent more time on layovers in German airports than most of my friends have spent outside of the US full stop.  I’ve been through the Panama canal on a cruise ship.  I bought an emerald in Columbia and jade in China.  I’ve had a dinner of alpaca steak.  I’ve had a main course that stared back at me.  In all of my travels, I have visited 20 countries.  I estimate that I spent at least $1,000 per country visited in travel expenses.  On top of that, I had a mortgage that took up 75% of my base pay for a house that had things going wrong.

The house has an amazing home theater.  For 2006, when the house was built, it was state of the art.  It was still pretty good when I had it.  Well, except that I could never use it, because I was always working to pay for it.  It had a room that would protect me from tornadoes.  It had one and a half kitchens.  It was too much.