List of Home Bying Expenses

Off my usual topics, I am currently going through the process of home buying. If you're looking into buying a place to live, here is a list of expenses that you should probably be ready for:

• Inspection - You'll probably need about $300 to get an inspection on any property you make an offer on. If you seriously look at more than one home, make sure you've got enough to cover multiple inspections.
• Earnest Money - This is money that you pay to show a seller that you are really interested in buying their home. Usually you'll want at least $1,000. This usually goes toward buying the home, but you'll need to have it on hand.
• Appraisal fee - You'll need to have the home professionally appraised. This is also about $300.
• Closing Costs - This may be anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000. Good news though, sellers may be willing to pay this, or you can cover it with your loan.
• Moving costs - There's absolutely no way for me to estimate this for you, but with moving trucks, etc. you may want about $500 to $1000.

Total costs: $5,100 - 8,600

This is how much money it will cost you to get through the home buying process, so make sure you're saving up for it. And if your seller does cover closing costs, then you'll have a bit of extra cash on hand. It's a win-win.

Other possible costs to think about. I can't estimate these because they'll be different for everyone:

• Furniture (need a new couch anyone?)
• Appliances (The fridge isn't included?)
• Repairs - just in case the house isn't completely ready to move into.

Do you know of any costs I'm missing? Share them below. Otherwise, share this post with anyone that may be thinking of buying a home.

Momentum

There's more to it, but Newton's first law of motion is this: An object in motion tends to stay in motion. An object at rest tends to stay at rest.

You've might have heard about this law. You've probably seen it in action, and you've definitely taken part in it. I'll turn to Wikipedia for a simple example.

"For example, a heavy truck moving rapidly has a large momentum—it takes a large or prolonged force to get the truck up to this speed, and it takes a large or prolonged force to bring it to a stop afterwards. If the truck were lighter, or moving more slowly, then it would have less momentum." (Momentum - Wikipedia)

 Now for application to writing, or any long project really. When I'm writing, I often get frustrated by interruptions. I stop what I'm doing. I disengage my brain from writing, and then I deal with whatever caused me to stop. Then I'm stuck and I can't seem to start writing again. I look back at the screen or page (Sometimes I write by hand. Maybe I'll tell you why sometime), and...nothing.

The screen hasn't changed. The cursor still blinks away merrily, mocking my attempt to find new words. I could have even been in the middle of a sentence, maybe I knew exactly what I was going to write. But now my mind is blank. It's as if the words dried up in my mind  like a gooey plop of pooled ink at the end of a pen. My thoughts are all blocked up, walled away beyond my reach.

It sometimes takes me up to 30 minutes just to get writing again. It's frustrating. It's common. But it's not what I'm going to talk about. I'm talking about momentum on a larger scale.

What makes it difficult to finish a book when you've written 10, 20, or even 50 pages? Is it more difficult if you take a long break from writing? For some people it is.

Brandon Sanderson, a bestselling author and host of writing podcast Writing Excuses, talks about it here, here, here, here, and even here.

When you start writing, you will often be excited about your project. You'll have ideas about your story, character, conflict, or world. Something sparks your interest so much that you just have to start writing. You're book is like that heavy truck. You break past the natural resistance of the dreadful blank page and you write something.

As long as you can keep writing, day after day, then you will keep moving forward. Your mind is working on the story in the background, you come up with ideas in the shower, at the dinner table, sitting on the toilet, driving the car...practically anywhere.

But then something stops you. Like that truck that's moving forward, it takes a lot of energy to stop you. Sometimes we call it writer's block (I'll talk about that another time). Sometimes it's a plot hole that you didn't anticipate, a broken character, a negative comment by someone you thought supported you. Sometimes it's real life duties. But whatever it is, if you can't work through it, your momentum is gone. Sometimes it hits you like a brick wall. Your energy is sapped. All the energy that you had moving you forward is gone.

Now, I'm not saying this to discourage you. But I do want you to know that it's real. When you stop writing. When your brain stops working on your story in the background. When you turn your attention to something else for a few days. That's when your momentum will work against you. And that's when you have to realize that it's okay. It might take a few days or weeks to work back into your book. It might take your mind twisting and turning in the background while you feel stumped. It might take writing 100 pages of absolute drivel. But it's possible. If you turn back to what originally sparked you, or if you can find a new spark, then you can pick up that momentum again.

Another time I'll talk about ways to avoid momentum killers, but right now I just want to say that if you do stop, and if you do feel like it's impossible to start again. It's not. You've got a book gestating inside you. Some births are more difficult than others. But ask any mother if it's worth it. The answer, of course, is yes.

Do I want the result?

Three anecdotes:

1. When I was younger, I told my mother (numerous times I'm sure) something like this: "I just don't like doing dishes." You can exchange "dishes" with any other chore and I probably said it.

2. Here's another situation. When I was training to be in the US Air Force (I never made it), I had to do push-ups. I got to the point where I could regularly pump out 60 or more in a minute. Every time I did so, I got to 25/30 push ups and it was hard. I always thought, "Huh. This isn't fun anymore."

3. One summer a while back I started a small business venture making chain mail. I made ties, bracelets, necklaces, and other stuff. About halfway through the summer I thought, "This is hard. I don't really want to do this anymore."

Now how are these stories related? In each situation I came up to something hard. In each instance I had a choice. I could push forward and do it despite the fact that I "didn't want to." Or I could quit.

So, what do you want to do? Here's an idea. Forget the concept, "I don't want to do it." Erase the question, "Do I want to do it?" from your mind. Replace it with, "Do I want the result?"

For cleaning, my mom said, "I don't like doing dishes either, but I do like having a clean kitchen." I now clean my dishes.

For push ups, I said, "I don't like feeling tired, but I do like being healthy." I kept doing push ups.

For the chain mail business I said, "I don't like spending this time away from my family making chain mail creations that I'll never see again. I don't like my time and effort being undervalued so that I have to lower my prices so far that I don't make enough money to make it worth my time. And I don't really want to be a business owner."

I quit the business.

The cool part about all of these situations is that I am ultimately in control of what I do with my time. I get to choose how to spend my time. I use the word "spend" here on purpose. We usually associate that word with money. Our money doesn't spend itself. We choose what to spend it on. We don't just give someone our money. We spend our money to get something in return. Even if we're giving to charity, we're giving up our money for a cause that we believe in.

Don't ask, "Do I want to do this?" Instead ask, "Do I want the result of this action?"

And then you get to spend your time to purchase whatever result you want. (Of course, just like with real money, the cost is commensurate with the purchase.)

So, how does this relate to writing?

When you start writing a story, you will probably come up to some point where the shine comes off. The great idea you had won't feel so great anymore. It will be too hard to find time to write. You'll sit down to write and it will just be hard to come up with anything good.

Ask the question, "Do I want the result of writing today?" "Do I want a book?" "Do I want to be a published author?" "Do I want to make a living at this?" "Do I want my story to live?" "Do I want other people to fall in love with my world and the characters I've imagined?" "Do I want to succeed at writing?"

If the answer is yes, then write. Make yourself do it. Make yourself push through the hard part.

If the answer is no, then good news. You don't have to.

You are the master of your life. There is always a choice.

Do you want to watch YouTube for an hour? Don't ask that. Ask, "If I sit down for an hour to watch You Tube, how will I feel? Do I want that feeling?"

And guess what. Sometimes the answer will be yes! You'll get to choose where you want to end up in life. You'll get to choose if you feel sick because you ate so much of your favorite food. You'll get to choose if you feel proud of the story you just sweat blood over. And if you really put in the time, you'll get to choose that other people will like what you've written, revised, and rewritten. Because you know what you want. And that's where you're going to spend your time.

(Author's Note: This is a motivational analogy meant only for good. If you have evil goals, don't listen to this advice. If you have evil goals, then just give up on them now.)