There’s a website called restonlakeanne dot com or dot org with some history & facts. The community seems to be underpublicized for some reason & word of mouth is how people find out about it.

Good luck in your search. You sound like such thoughtful, hard-working folks that I hope you can find the life you’re seeking. Keep looking.

This idea that you can plan when your machine needs maintenance is rather optimistic. I guess in my group of about 30 people, the macs seem to have more problems and failures than the PCs, so having a backup is a must. A library machine really isn’t going to cut it when you have a deadline. Having just purchased 4 MacBook Pros that were fully loaded, I’m not sure how you get to 5K anyway.

$5000 closing costs
$2000 up front outlay for “stuff” over the first year or so (e.g. lawnmower, weed trimmer, garden tools, stepladder, new furniture, hoses, etc.)
$3500 per year taxes (you are unlikely to be able to deduct much more than your standard deduction, so unless someone shows you specific numbers to the contrary, you are not likely to be able to deduct your property taxes and reap a benefit)
$2000 per year in upkeep and maintenance.
$1000 per year for homeowners insurance.
(Note: I am leaving out utilities, they may climb or may not climb, dependant on lots of factors but your friend ought to be able to give you an idea of those costs to compare)

So looking at about $46K over 6 years versus $90K. Still a good savings in one aspect if you were definitly staying there. Downside is the reality of moving. If you have to move in three years, you would compare $26K for the house costs versus $43K in rental costs. If you had to sell you could take a $15K loss on the house (e.g. $165K) and consider yourself having broke even.

Actually, provided the house is a good deal for the price for the current market, it’s not looking like a bad deal to buy in this particular situation. Sure it can be a hassle to sell it if you have to, but if you are careful and don’t let a need to buy new things and fill up the home overwhelm you, you could very likely reap a benefit from this property.

Best of luck whichever you decide.

If you need to keep working during the downtime, or need a true backup in case of Goeff Hart suggests, then obviously the netbook is not a good option. In this case I would agree with others that a Windows system would be a bad choice for you due to the need t purchase additional software (and possibly hardware), familiarize yourself with it, etc. You should determine the value of the work you lose during the downtime and see if that offsets the cost of a new system. It seems unlikely that that the $5k system would make sense in this scenario. Maybe a $1500 system would, I don’t know. If you average being without a machine for 3 days/year, would you make more than $150/day? if so, you would recuperate the costs in just over 3 years. If you make anything less than that I would question if spending $1500 on a replacement makes sense. Of course, if you have more than 3 days/year downtime or routinely have projects with penalties for late delivery the situation changes.

Your computer guru has misled you; paying $1500 for a Macbook Air makes no sense at all when you can buy a regular MacBook for 2/3 that price, and a refurbished desktop Mac for closer to half that price, and a new Mac mini for considerably less than half that price. All of these computers will be faster than the MacBook Air, which is important if you’re doing graphic arts. (fwiw, I’ve bought refurb Macs for my last three computers and never had a significant problem.) I’m also not sure what you mean by “maintenance”; I have a Mac myself and a Windows machine for my kids, and no maintenance is required for either that I can’t do myself. Moreover, if it’s truly maintenance rather than emergency repairs, you should be able to schedule this far enough in advance that your guru can return the computer in an hour or two; “a few days” is unacceptable. Possibly you need a new guru?

If you’re a working professional, you should never be without a backup — and don’t forget, it’s a tax-deductible expense. (Speaking as a freelancer myself, whose income and two kids depend on me never being without a computer.) Sending your computer for maintenance is generally not a problem because you can usually schedule this and work around it. But what if your computer dies suddenly or the roof falls in on it right before a crucial deadline? Weirder things happen.

For the last 8 years or so, I’ve simply kept my old computer as a backup instead of selling it for next to nothing when I upgrade (which I do every 3 years or so). It’s slower than a new model, but works just fine.

The prudent thing is to find a way you can get back to work in an hour or two max. Until you replace your Mac with a new model, thereby generating an instant backup, the easiest way to do this is check the classified ads in late December (when families are getting rid of last year’s computer because they just replaced it with the latest model) and in May (when university students are heading home and can’t be bothered bringing last year’s computer with them on the airplane or train or bus). You can usually find a decent used computer for around $200, including monitor and keyboard and often software. Macs are a little more expensive, but there are still many bargains.

When you get it, install and update all your key software; many companies will let you do this, though possibly you’ll have to jump through a few hoops to succeed. If you’re keeping your own computer and migrate all your software to the new machine, the old software will remain functional.

Then keep all data for your current work stored somewhere safe. I backup every half hour or so to a flash drive that lives in my USB port, and use Mac.com (soon Dropbox.com) for off-site backup in case the computer is stolen. If disaster strikes, I can be up and running again in as much time as it takes me to boot the old computer and download the work files.

Sure, the old machine won’t be nearly as fast and refined as your brand-new computer, but it’ll get you through the current job until you have time to replace your dead/stolen/borked computer. And it means you won’t have any downtime when you need to send your main computer for maintenance because you can simply boot it, download the files, and keep working.

Highly recommended.

To do this successfully Ellen should
1) determine a month out when she’ll have the computer serviced
2) plan deliverables to be finished before that time
3) alert current clients that she’ll have a planned time off line and will be largely unavailable (the reason is irrelevant)
4) set an auto responder on the work email
5) only if necessary check in using a web enabled phone, library computer, friend’s computer or cheap netbook

Otherwise, completely unplug, refocus on other things and don’t spend $1500-5000 for ONE week when you’re unavailable. Because the cost will always be higher once you buy software and outfit the backup computer.

Also, clients who want last minute work and you to be constantly available are not good clients. Use this time to reevaluate your business and raise your rates. It encourages clients to engage you sooner (because you’re so good your rates will increase) or get you on retainer for all of their graphics needs.

Then, if you really want to, you’ll be able to afford a second computer with the increased income.

But then I would do research. How is the housing market doing? How long is it taking to sell homes?

You’re young and I think the most valuable thing is to have financial freedom and not an anchor at this point in your lives especially since there is a strong possibility that you will move. It doesn’t matter if there is a mortgage or not. The economics of the housing market is such that I would not consider buying a home an investment.

If you like the house – see if you can rent it from the person!

Q5 Kelly: Sounds like you just recently broke up from a long term relationship and that puts you in a hard spot emotionally. I agree with Valleycat that right now I’d focus on stability and getting your life in some order.

You went from homelessness to college educated. That is not a loser or someone who isn’t smart. Truly dumb people don’t graduate from college. MOST Americans do not have any form of college degree so you’ve obtained more education wise than most people. Everyone has to learn to make it on their own at some point and its certainly something you can accomplish.

I’d say go back to school for the medical job and continue to do your writing in your spare time on the side. I certainly agree with Johanna that you shouldn’t think that you can’t pursue your dream of writing and continuing your education to get a good day job. 26 is still very young and you’ve got lots of time to accomplish your goals in the future. Getting a good career now would give you a nice stable income to rely on and make life so much easier in the long run.

Q7 Emily: You have $200k in cash so yes you can afford to buy a $180k house with cash. It sounds like your rent is in the ballpark of $1200 a month. Instead of paying all cash I might make a large downpayment like 50% or something and then keep the rest of your cash in the bank. I just don’t want to see you almost empty your bank account just to own a house free and clear. However if theres a good chance that you might move within 3 years then I’d probably just keep renting. Unfortunately its hard to know the best path with uncertainty but the safer route is renting in such a situation.

Q8 Angie : The 10% of your income you’re putting into that 401k is saving you money on taxes today. You’re in the 15% tax bracket so putting 10% of your $36k income into a 401k is saving you 15% of $3600 or $540 in income taxes every year today right now. So theres that. Johanna makes an excellent point that you do have tax protection from the standard deduction & exemption. Lets look down the road 40 years from now when you’re in your 60′s. If you follow Trents advice and put ALL your retirement savings into a Roth IRA then you’ll pay taxes on that money today and then it will be tax free at retirement. That sounds great to have it all tax free at retirement, but theres a flaw. When you’re 62 you’d have a standard deduction and exemption you can claim on your income taxes. But all your money is in a Roth IRA which is tax free. That standard deduction and exemption makes the first $9500 of income for a single person tax free. So its to your benefit to have at least that much of your income in a 401k /traditional IRA so its tax free today and taxed at retirement. Your employers contribution to the 401k will be taxable but by the time your 62 it won’t amount to $9500 /year in todays dollars. You could easily put 3-4% of your pay in the 401k today and then be able to cash that out tax free at retirement simply due to the standard deduction & exemption. Personally I’d split the difference and put 5% in the 401k and 5% in the Roth IRA.

Q7 – Coming from a fellow MilSpouse, don’t buy. Keep that savings, keep contributing to it, then when you get out, you’ll be able to buy your dream house. I’ve seen too many friends wait months and months trying to sell, with the house sitting empty. After you move, you have to pay for lawn care and security. All those are out of pocket. And if you try and rent it, then you are the landlord, and you’re in charge of the place. Maybe look into renting a house where you are. Homeownership is not worth the headache when you are military. Oh, and you won’t stay there forever, unless he gets out.

I think buying anything for a few hundred bucks is silly, if you’re only going to use it for a week each year. Use the library, if you just need internet access. Or, run over to a friend’s house during that week– I’m sure you know someone with a computer (or smart phone) that would be accommodating.

Of course, if you want a new toy and the one work week each year is an excuse to give to your thrifty husband, use it– But if not, utilize one of the many free possibilities around you!

(Or take a vacation that week, like Riki suggests.)

If you need a joint account for joint bills (rent, utilities, food, etc.) then just transfer the amount each month to cover your share of current required expenses. If you can save a few dollars a month, go ahead and set it aside in your own savings too on each payday – even having a little bit of your own money stashed aside is empowering, & develops a good habit.

While you’re in school on financial aid is not the time to be trying to save up for big future expenses too. Wait until you’ve gotten a job after school, set one or two goals then & start working toward them once you know how far your pay will go.