The other night, while looking for a calculator online, I stumbled upon a “How Much House Can I Afford” calculator. So, for fun, I put in the info – I’m always curious as to what these things tell the consumer.The results were, that we could afford just over 4 times what we are currently paying for our mortgage. FOUR TIMES. Do you understand how much money this is ?!?! I know with certainty, that we cannot afford that house payment...But, we qualify for it. The bank would gladly lend us the money on it. Because the bank cares about us! They want to help us achieve our goals & dreams! They want us to be happy :)
No, they don’t – We’ve got to stop drinking the consumer juice!! The banks are enslaving us, one mortgage at a time. One credit card at a time. One car loan at a time. A house won’t make us happy. A car won’t make us happy. Monthly payments won’t make us happy. The banks aren’t making our dreams come true, they are making THEIR dreams come true… ever wonder why banks are so big and beautiful? – you paid for it!
God said that “the rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” and He was NOT kidding. The bank has the money and they entice you to chase after it, and as soon as you do, you are enslaved to them… for the next 30 years if you bought a home. Every day, we get up and go to a job (which most of us hate) so that we can pay the lenders the money that we owe them. I wonder why we feel so much financial pressure… I mean, we qualified for it in the first place, how come we can’t afford it now? Here’s the problem… qualifying for a loan, in NO WAY means that you can afford it. This is true for a home, a car, a credit card, furniture, you fill in the blank.
The average US adult spends $1.22 for every $1.00 they earn. How does that happen? I'll tell you... we qualify for it!!!
This is why I’m a debt coach, first, and originating mortgage loans is secondary. I get to dig deep into my client’s financial world and determine if they can actually afford a home, and not just qualify for it. When we buy everything we qualify for, we stretch ourselves thin and set ourselves up for tremendous financial pressure, and ultimately failure. Pressure, fear and servitude are what the financial institutions want for your financial life, not what God wants!
You know, it's really easy for people these days to villainize faceless banks. These allegedly evil bankers have families and bills to pay too. Maybe it's time that we as a nation stop blaming everyone else for our poor decisions. Everyone expects everyone else to tell them what to do when they should try to use their own brain for a while, but I guess it's easier to point fingers and place blame on businesses.
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