The corporate Koolaid tasted delicious.
I broke my tooth six months into my new job. Paid time off was available to me to to visit the dentist, and insurance covered some of the cost. Every two weeks, a deposit came into my account like clockwork. It took a few months to stop thinking like an hourly employee, wondering if I’d have enough money for my bills, for my rent. Worrying that my schedule would be cut one week, hoping for overtime the next week.
Not anymore. Salary life is a different kind of life. One I was not used to. One I relished. I have since met plenty of college students that got their first job after college as a salaried worker. They will never understand the struggle, the luxury, the privilege of the steady, predictable paycheck that comes with a salary.
Granted, my paycheck was low. At least not much according to most. But to me, making $30,000 a year as an administrative assistant was amazing. Sure, it wasn’t the $40–50k promised by my university professors. Sure, my friends that went onto graduate school scoffed at my meager salary. But I was proud. And now that I worked for a somewhat large and well-established company, I had the opportunity to grow.
And grow, I did. I threw myself into my work. I drank that corporate Koolaid. Soon, I forgot my initial desire to spend more time with friends, not do homework in the evenings and weekends, and have more time for myself.
All socialization started to revolve around work. I joined team members for drinks after work. Even had my first adult vacation with some co-workers – about eight of us went in on a large beach house rental and had a blast for five days! As an eager new employee, I volunteered for all kinds of projects. I stayed late and worked from home during the evenings and weekends, knocking out projects, impressing my boss.
Within one year I found a better role as a quality assurance developer. My attention to detail and tenacity worked for me as I learned more about the company’s products, the role of quality assurance and technical development. About a year and half after that, I finally landed a role somewhat related my academic work – data analyst. This was my element. Sure, I had to learn more technical aspects like database programming languages, but I was all too eager learn and begin data analysis.
About a year into data analysis, and four years into corporate life, I had about $15,000 in my savings account, slowly squirreling away what I could with one goal in mind – buy my first house.
I was surrounded by techs who took a smarter college path than me. They studied IT and programming, and started as IT techs, developers, and systems administrators. This meant they started with great salaries, and were buying really nice houses in their mid-twenties. I was running behind, and began the path towards buying my first house.
As I looked for my first house, well-intentioned coworkers and friends gave me advice. It all sounded pretty much the same. Buy the biggest house you can afford. The logic: I was only going to make more money as I got older and more skilled, and as I got older I would need more house.
And if I was going to get the most I could afford, I should look for something that I would really enjoy and grow into. A place with a nice yard. Maybe even a swimming pool. A good location, close to work, maybe even nice restaurants and bars. It all sounded wonderful, and I found a real estate agent.
At this point I think I was making about $45,000, which was a great salary to me, but I could not afford what my technical colleagues could afford. But my real estate agent and lenders surprised me by what they thought I could afford. It’s been a while so I can’t remember specifics on what I qualified for, but I do remember that, when I saw that monthly payment tied to a 30-year mortgage… AND the amount of money I would pay towards interest throughout the life of the loan, it all seemed like too much.
My barometer for what I needed was way off too. With extended family from the north, I had fond memories of fireplaces – that’s where we huddled during the Christmas holidays, decorating the mantle and drinking hot cocoa.
For some reason, I really wanted a fireplace. In Central Texas.
I saw about fifteen houses in the first two weeks. Some were extravagant (to me) and looked beautiful, but the price did not. I didn’t want to be house poor. Then there were the affordable houses that needed a lot of work or were super tiny with only one bedroom.
But I eventually found it – a three bedroom, one bath house. The third bedroom was actually a converted garage, which the previous owner had begun remodeling but hadn’t finished. However all of the major areas and items were completed, it just needed cosmetic updates. Some paint here, new appliances there. Things I felt comfortable with. It was a fifteen-minute, no-highway drive from work, and a fifteen-minute drive to downtown. To top it off, it was one of the cheapest houses on the market. I still think the only reason it stayed on the market for as long as it did (over seventy days if memory serves) was because the pictures on the listing were horrible. I resisted even visiting it when my realtor brought it to me. It didn’t even have a fireplace.
I’m glad she talked me into it.
Because it was affordable and I had excellent credit, I qualified for a 15-year loan with 10% down. Even with a 15-year loan, I would pay what most would pay for a classy one bedroom or standard two bedroom apartment.
Jackpot!
Just like that, I put an offer down and was on my way to buying my first house.
And over the next two years, I painstakingly fixed the place up. By no means an expert craftsman, I did what I could on my own and hired out what I couldn’t. I patched and painted every single room. Kitchen cabinets painted. New appliances ordered and installed. I even switched out a double sink for a single sink so I could install a dishwasher.
Oh, and I purchased every piece of furniture from IKEA. Every. Single. Piece.
Perfect for a cheap young professional. I had a truck at the time and drove to the closest store (about an hour away) on two separate trips to furnish the entire house. It took about a week to assemble it all.
The house had become an obsession, just like my job. When I wasn’t improving my home or working for that next promotion, I sat on my ass watching TV. As a result, I put on about 30 pounds over my college weight. Several years as a corporate drone was not good for my health. I tried and failed several times to quit smoking cigarettes. Relaxing meant smoking cigarettes, eating lots of heavy and sweet food, and drinking wine. I had no other outlet for relaxation from my career and my house.
I graduated from high school, got my college degree, even got a job at one of the larger companies in my city. Steadily I worked my way up the corporate ladder for years, saved up money every year. I even finished my journey of buying my first house. And just like any successful professional, I now had my suburban house, with my suburban home improvement projects, and my suburban relaxation outlets.
I was a success, but I didn’t feel like it. It seemed like I had already settled down, before I was thirty years old. Slowly I felt trapped in a life that I half paid attention to. While I was trying so hard to be successful, I forgot to step back and enjoy life. Experience the world.
As luck would have it, this very career would open the door to travel abroad, and two years of exploring the world in a way I never had. It would teach me so much. Be nothing like I expected. And lead me to some of the dumbest choices I ever made.