We rent, and it's really not the end of the world. It's impossible for most first time buyers to buy now anyway, let alone buy something that's big enough for children and a dog lol.
At the moment we live in a 2.5 bed semi (3rd bed is half size and used a 'storage' room) in a small village. We have a large garden, a small terrier, our own car and hubby has a motorbike. We have managed to pay off half our debts in the 2.5 years we've been here (ticker below gives you an idea of scale lol).
We've got a way to go before those debts are paid off and it's more important that they're gone, so that our credit rating can recover before we buy. Hubby is due to start a 5 year course in September, and we're planning a second child. We're moving house soon to an entirely new area and for the rent we pay at the moment we can actually afford a larger place. With hubby's student loans and me working 4 days a week temping, we are no better or worse off than we are at the moment, and we are making progress.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, priorities are what you make of them. Some would argue that that rent payment is money down the drain. IMO it's a home for my family, and as long as that's the case I'll pay. I have debts, so any assets I had in a house would be outweighed massively.
We're probably going to start saving towards a deposit when hubby graduates in order to buy in time for Earl going to senior school.....basically I want to move into the catchment area of the best school. So we'll have 4-5 years once hubby finished Uni to save and as he'll hopefully be on a teacher's wage, and I'll be in a decent position career wise, our debts will be gone, and we'll be able to actually get a mortgage
, we should be able to pull it off. While 10 years might sound like a massive time frame, trust me, 2020 will be here in a flash!!
