Happy FOWN, Menewshans, and a happy New Year! what are some of your successes from the past year? What have you grown out of? What have you grown into? Do you have a list of resolutions this year, or are you just happy with where you're at?

I hope this year is a good one for all of us, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a good year for Menewsha too. You never know.

Happy New Year!!

I feel fairly unsuccessful as an adult. XP I finally got a permanent full-time job last year, so that’s nice. I hope I can save up money to get a place of my own this year.

I think it’ll only be a good year for Mene if insomniac and/or jellysundae somehow appear. Maybe yanyan too.

Happy New Year to you all! :)

I really like the question "what have you grown out of and into?". It stimulates self-reflection in my opinion. It isn't something I ordinarily think about when I reflect on the past year.
A simple thing I have grown out of/into is this past year I started always making my bed, even on work days. In the past I would only make my bed when I didn't have work that day.

This past year we bought a townhouse and got engaged (in that order), which are two humongous changes in my life. We bought the townhouse pre-construction so it will not be built until sometime this year. I am SURE there will be delays due to covid-related shortages in either workers or supplies.
As a result of planning my wedding I "grew into" communicating better. Specifically, I had to get used to liaising between different people to book venue tours, and vendor meetings.
This year I also had to get used to reading legal contracts, both for our wedding and house. I am so glad to be done with negotiating vendor contracts because it was such an unenjoyable process that took much longer than I thought it would.

The process of trying to buy a house where we live (Toronto, Canada) was horrible, and I am so glad we were able to buy something. We started looking in September 2020 and finally bought something in May 2021. We entered losing offers on 5 different houses during that period. We also didn't like our real estate agent. We waited until our contract with him expired in order to purchase our pre-construction townhouse.
I have been reading articles regarding our real estate market ever since we started looking for houses back in 2020 and the steep increase in prices month after month never fails to anger me. At least now a small part of me knows that our townhouse is worth significantly more than when we bought it, even though it isn't even built yet.
I quickly googled some recent statistics regarding our real estate market, and to afford an average detached house in Toronto you need a household income of roughly 250k/year. Since there aren't many brand new detached houses being built in Toronto, it is likely that the one you buy needs some sort of renovations so you also must have tens of thousands of dollars set aside for that.
Detached home prices have gone up around 33% this year, and obviously household incomes have not.
We don't even have the most expensive real estate in Canada, that honor belongs to Vancouver.

My resolutions this year are to exercise almost every day and eat healthier (less high glycemic index carbs and more vegetables) in order to lose some weight before my wedding. I technically started these resolutions in the end of November 2021. So far I have been doing a slightly better job at my diet rather than the exercise part. I am finding it very hard to completely cut out instant noodles from my diet, because after a particularly stressful day at work I really crave them and usually give into that craving.

My wish for this year is that our wedding can go on as planned. I am trying my best to stay optimistic because there is no point stressing out about something that is out of my control.

@Kent: Congrats on getting a permanent full-time job! The feeling of security it brings is great, speaking from personal experience. I hate how a lot of economies have moved towards a higher proportion of temporary work. It is very exploitative. :(
I really hope you will be able to buy a place this year! As you can see, I enjoy talking about real estate so I would love to hear more about what real estate is like where you live. You don't need to disclose the city you live in like I did if you are not comfortable doing so. Is it feasible for people to buy property with a single income?
Here in Toronto you are most likely only going to be able to buy a condo if you are a single income household, and even then your income needs to be a bit over 100k/year. A lot of the people I know who bought condos recently by themselves had parents help them with a part of their down payment.

This was a long and somewhat rant-y post. I hope people are ok with reading it and can relate.

M i n u x e: Thanks!! Yeah, I don’t think I want to buy a property. I was just thinking of renting an apartment. I live in Indianapolis, Indiana. My parents have been trying to get me to buy a house though? I’m not sure I can afford it.

Kent: Do you live with your family at the moment? Renting would be great now that you have secure income. It is nice to be on your own and taking care of yourself.
My parents also strongly encouraged me to try and purchase a property as soon as I could. Real estate is seen as an investment rather than a necessary shelter where I'm from, so the general advice is to enter the real estate market as soon as possible because then there is more time for your property to increase in value.
Determining how much you can afford is very difficult, but that is what financial advisors can help you with. We talked to one from the bank we use. There are so many more costs that come with being a property owner vs a tenant. Things such as home insurance, property tax, all the utilities, hot water tank rental, etc.

I wonder if rent is fairly affordable where you are. Here if you are trying to rent in downtown Toronto it can be quite expensive depending on how nice of a place you want. For example a relatively new (less than 10 years old) 1 bedroom condo will run you in the low $2000s/month, and they are usually only around 500 sq. ft. However, these condos come with amenities like 24 hr concierge, pool, gym, sauna, and meeting rooms among other things. Unfortunately covid has caused all of those amenities to close down. If you rent a 1 bedroom apartment that does not have any amenities it will be hundreds of dollars cheaper, but there are not as many of those downtown.

Yes, I do. Yeah, I think it would be nice as long as I have a cat with me~
Yeah, I guess a lot of people see it as an investment but I don't think my parents ever have.. I think they want me to start paying for a home as soon as possible so I can own the home when I'm old or something. Yeah, the thing about owning a house, it sounds so hard and costly to keep it maintained... And while I love having a yard, I'm not really interested in cutting the grass.. XP

Rent is definitely expensive downtown. You might find some rare places where rent is around $600 for a studio or 1 bedroom but they're usually pretty rundown places in very old buildings...

I love cats too! My sister has one and she is so sweet and loving. I miss her when it's been a few weeks since my last visit.
It does suck how most people have to take out 20-30 year mortgages. Our mortgage is 30 years so we will be old by the time we have paid it off. However, if housing prices are not ridiculous where you are and you are in a position to put in a large down payment then you could only take out a 5-10 year mortgage.
Good point about yard maintenance. I do not like gardening or mowing the grass at all. I know that many people who dislike gardening and mowing the grass interlock the majority of their backyard. It is costly upfront but is great in the long run. Too bad you cannot do the same for your front yard.

Thinking about old buildings brings me back to when I was staying in one as a university student. I don't like how they are almost always dark and the floors are very creaky. I also get paranoid about hidden mold, asbestos, and lead due to its age.

I had the sweetest, most affectionate cat too. ; w; I miss her so much... I love lap cats..

I don't think I have that kind of money and I haven't been all that good at saving up money either...
What do you mean by interlock? Like put a fence around it?

I would be so paranoid about every dark crevice and creak in the night...

I hope that if you do get another cat they are at least as sweet as today one! I wish my sister's cat was a lap cat. She is loving, but doesn't tolerate being on your lap for more than a minute.

Interlock refers to stones that you place on top of your lawn so that it won't grow anymore. The stones are almost always different colors and shapes so that patterns can be created on the ground to make your yard visually appealing.