Why I Love Our California Home (And How We Made It Happen)

When Lauren and I originally created this blog, a lot of readers wanted to hear about home buying. I haven't said much about the subject because, quite frankly, I feel like it's a miracle my husband and I were able to buy in the beautiful (aka PRICEY) Bay Area at all.

We started the house hunting process by creating a budget (you know I love budgets). Looking around at what was available for sale on our own, we thought we'd only be able to afford a small, two-bedroom condo at best. Luckily, we found a great REALTOR® who helped us figure out how we could get what we really wanted (a single family home) within our budget! He found a great neighborhood with no HOA fees, which increased the monthly amount we could put towards a mortgage. Our house is definitely a fixer-upper, but we've had fun putting in our own sweat-equity. (Details of our renovations here: bedroom, bathroom, and living room).

One of my favorite DIY upgrades to our home: our painted fireplace and mantel. (See the "before" picture here)

We still have a few more renovations to do, but we're enjoying the journey! And even though I'm not a native Californian, I'm loving it here.

My Favorite San Jose Spots

If you're ever in the San Jose area, check out some of my favorite spots:

Budget Boot Camp - To Do #4: Budget for Monthly Recurring Expenses

Give yourself a pat on the back for getting to this point-- the actual BUDGET part of the budget boot camp!

So far, you've

• Calculated your net worth,
• Set financial goals, and
• Tracked your spending for a month.

I know it took us a while to get to the point of actually creating a budget, but now that you've done those other three things,