I have wanted to be a homeowner for a long time, but to be totally honest, I've frequently placed my energy on other things with home ownership as a back of mind aspiration. Twice I've given it a lot of focus though . . . until I let other things take over my mental space.
I think part of my issue has come down to not having a plan. Or having a plan with steps that are too grandiose and too difficult to mentally comprehend and achieve.
Today, I was thinking about my home ownership desires and, more broadly, about Dan Harris's book, 10% Happier. I started to wonder if I could approach becoming a home owner through a series of steps based on percentages.
If you don't know, Dan Harris is a news reporter who had a panic attack giving a national broadcast and decided something in his life had to change -- ultimately, he wanted to feel happier, but that was too vague and too big of a goal. He decided that feeling only 10% happier was achievable and set out to do that which led to writing a book about his experience. While the book goes into a lot of detail about meditation, Buddhism, anxiety, and so on, I think his idea of trying to be 10% happier can be applied to many other things, including incremental steps towards home ownership.
It got me thinking, what can I do 10% more or less of this week to push me closer to my goal?
Just a few of the many things that came to mind:
- Pay 10% more with every debt payment
- Replace 10% of my coffee and soda drinking with water, and better: replace ALL of my purchased beverages at work with water from the water station at work (thus, it would be no added water on my household water bill!)
- Put 10% more of my next paycheck into savings
- Spend 10% more time every day on my Etsy and Mercari shops (with the goal of selling more)
- Spend 10% more time every day working on finishing my networking e-book for shy, anxious, introverts
- Use 10% less of household and hygiene products (as long as doing so doesn't impact their effectiveness)
- Figure out how to use 10% less energy to lower my electric bill
- Two bedrooms and two bathrooms
- A patio or yard that's about 100 square feet for a small sitting area and a small garden
- A lot of natural light
- Close to public transportation