Not owning and paying for a phone unnecessarily is one of the reasons (a small reason, but still) that you have paid off your house already. You have this shit figured out. Everything but hockey.
lol...always a backhanded compliment.
But sure not wasting $ helped pay off the house....but here was the REAL situation as it played out. It will be a long read, but hopefully you and other find it entertaining.
1.Bought the house with my ex girlfriend at the time. We had been together 5 years and she did care about getting married so it was not a rushed thing to do.
2. My job at the transitioned and I found myself on the road 3 night a week(Tues-returning home Fri). It took a toll on the relationship and we decided to split...and it was the most civil breakup ever, I swear. One night watch tv, I look at her and said, "what's wrong". She replied with "I think we should break up". My response was "I agree". So we went and got a pen and paper and did a "draft" of who should get what in the house: I drafted TV, she then got tv in the bedroom be default. She choose the big coach, so I go the loveseat. Etc... It was REALLY odd, but good too.
3. The house...what to do about it. I wanted it and she was fine leaving. All she wanted was what she had put down as her part of the downpayment which back then, was $3000 fr her half. I agreed, but at the time had no extra money and she knew this, so she agreed to $1000 a year for 3 years.
4. Talked to a buddy who was a bank Mgr and told him we were splitting. His response was "do we need to kill her?". I assured him no and told him about the draft and house agreement and he said to get that draft typed up ASAP and signed with a witness before she has a chance to talk to anyone. And so I did, and got HER mom to sign it. Signed sealed and delivered.
5. Paid the ex back once a year in ROLLED COIN! Yup, because I was on the road and at that time, still used cash for everything, I collected a lot of change. So I kept it and rolled it and every year, gave her that $1000 as agreed to. She wasn't really happy but I thought it was funny as hell!
6. Had 2 employees who's roof blew off their apartment during Hurricane Juan and needed a place to stay. I was only 2 months into being alone and had a 3 bedroom place, so welcomed them in and they paid rent: $800...so $400 each.
7. Unknown to me at the time, but they too were on the verge of breaking up so asked if they could each have a room. Sure, no issue. So about 1 month into this, I am approached by the female and she hands me a letter as she heads off to work. She asks me to read it in private. She lets me know that she has feelings but knows I do not, but proposes that we have a friends with benefit agreement. She doesn't want her now ex to know of course as he is still living there. When we see each other again, I tell her that I it's not something I could see doing with him there. Then one night, about 2 weeks later, I am awoken around 3am with, well, a surprise visitor in my room. I pretend to still be asleep as she has her way with me then heads back to her room. Maybe I need to reconsider.
8. The ex boyfriend finds a new place to live the following month. She wants a "real relationship" but I am not feeling the feels. But I do get along well with her so want to keep things the same. She agrees. We do everything like a couple would, like travel down South for example, but no PDA in public and we keep telling our families we are just friends.
This goes on for 7 years....lol.
9. Then, my dad passed away from cancer and I started to re-evaluate my life. I knew and saw what love my parents had toward each other and I knew I was settling for something easy and convenient. So after taking some time(6 months) to make sure it's what I wanted, or didn't want, I ended things. She still lived with me, but no more "relations".
10. Talked with an old flame from high school and got re-acquainted. We were better off as friends
11. My buddy at the bank wants me to do an online profile, I am iffy on them(remember this is 10 years ago). He says he will actually do it for me and he can be my "agent" and screen out some obvious no's. Deep down, he wants to do it because he wants to talk to women and that's what he did in his marriage(oh...and HIS LIFE would be an interesting read). Anyways, I tell him to go ahead and make it.
12. After about 2-3 weeks online, I get a message from someone that says, "I see you are online. Is this the agent or the real person, lol?" I tell her it's me and we proceed to have a great convo. She loved the profile and thought it was funny except the part about "wanting to be with non-white chicks". Confused, I went into my profile to find that my buddy had changed some things and was having fun at my expense. So I changed my password and email to block my buddy out and then continued to get to know this girl well.
13. After lots of chatting online, we go on a date to playing indoor glow in the dark mini golf. We have a great time and then go for a sitdown at Chapter afterwards. She asks me to go out again and I agree. I then tell the roommate that I have gone on a date and she isn't happy. I continue to date this girl and eventually, the roommate realizes that I am not come back to her and moves out. Me and the new girl go on to have what is now referred to as "the summer of fun" and maybe, just maybe, Plenty of Fish has something to do with that.
14. New girl moves in...gotta charge rent! Gotta pay the bills!
15. I propose to new girl and we get married. She agrees in writing that should we split, the house is my possession. She still pays rent....until just a few years ago when the house is paid off.
16. She is still my wife!
So what you all need to do, is buy a house, and get others to help pay it off for you! Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane.