Stacy Martin Real Estate Professional The Martin DreamToHOME Team, Keller Williams Realty About 8100 Ashton Avenue #103 Manassas, VA 20109 O: 703-330-2222 M: 703-795-3959 Contact Me

Tickets to professional sports games: $500 per year
Tickets to concerts and theater performances: $500 per year
Sea World/Entertainment: $1,000 per year
Organic groceries: $4,000 per year
Doctor visits, co-payments: $600 per year
Landscaping, home upgrades: $3,000 per year
Birthday, baby shower gifts, etc.: $600 per year

If this was the Texas couple's list, how in the world would they have been able to afford a $450,000 home and still pay for pre-school for both children, soccer/ballet classes, summer camp, Sea World, health insurance, doctor visits, organic groceries and donations to charity? Right, they couldn’t have afforded it without using credit cards.

So, they chose to buy a modest home for $215,000—half of what they’d qualified to buy! Their house doesn’t have granite countertops, and they don’t have a swimming pool. They converted one of the bedrooms into an office and their landscaping is sparse. But by buying a house for half of what they  qualified for on paper, they have the ability and freedom to invest in their future, donate to charity, start a business, send their children to the best schools in town, eat quality food and travel the world—all without incurring a nickel of debt.