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In budgeting for a lifestyle change, I am going to have to make many changes to my income and savings plan. I will be graduating with my associate’s degree in nursing in June and plan to begin working as an RN in July after passing my state board exam. My income will change drastically after beginning work as an RN, and while I will still be living at my home with my parents, this will allow me to continue saving a good portion of my earnings. I plan on moving out next June when I graduate with my Bachelor’s in Nursing.  I estimated that with casual part time wages the majority of the months, it will take 10 months of saving 50% of my wages to earn enough for about half of a needed down payment of $40,000. Based on my current earnings and expenses, I know that an income of half my wages will be sufficient enough while living with my parents during this next year. I plan on moving out in June of next year which is in about a year from now. Therefore, with my savings accumulated based on my spreadsheets, I will have a good start to the savings of a down payment.

 Because many homes such as a house or condominium require a good job security, such as holding a job for one year, I would not qualify to make a down payment on a home at this time. I plan on moving out of town and get a new job as an RN. Therefore, I will need to maintain a job elsewhere for at least one year before being considered to buying a home. Also, from the assistance of my family members in organizing this dream, I have discovered that it is probably best to rent a place first, before buying a home in a potential location that I later discover is not where I want to reside in.
Therefore, because I will still not have enough for a down payment by one year, I must continue to save money while beginning to pay more of my own expenses such as paying rent. Although I will have to rent for at least one year, I think that this may be the best choice because it will give me a chance to adjust to the new environment and help me decided if I like Portland or if I would like to move somewhere else. I actually plan to be living with my twin sister in Portland as she will be currently going to school there. My sister and I will be living together so we will be able to split the living expenses such as rent, electricity, water, Internet, cable, and groceries.

There are only two expenses in which I will continue not to pay for. Those are my cell phone bill I share with my dad and my car insurance. I also don’t keep a credit card balance. I pay the whole balance of each month.

Adjustments toward the first year of renting include taking more of my income as a nurse toward living expenses. This means less money into savings. Because I predict this, I see the importance in saving my earnings as soon as possible to help assure the fact that money will be available when deciding to buy a home. I added a second Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to my project that lays out an estimate earnings and expenses based in one year when I move out of my parent’s house and rent a home with my sister. I take in consideration the estimated cost of rent, bills and other living expenses on a 50/50 base with my sister. I then took my expenses and estimated how much “left over” I would have each month to go into a savings account for making a 20% down payment.
In the conclusion of this spreadsheet, in 12 months I would be roughly close to having enough needed in combination with my first year savings to afford a down payment. I realize that because this is the future I am analyzing, my earnings and expenses can very well change. At least this gives me a closer idea of what the costs and length of time it will take to build a huge savings account. There is definitely more to take into consideration than I initially thought.

 From Down Payment Calculator, I found a down payment/morgage calculator that took your income and living expenses into consideration to help give an estimate of what your mortgage payment would be, along with property tax, and private mortgage insurance. I placed my estimated income along with estimated expenses next year when I rent a home. I think the results seem pretty close to what I would pay. This tool was nice to used because when putting in a downpayment that is anything over 20%, there is no Private Mortgage Insurance payment that is added into the expenses.