08/24/2026
When I met Kenny, he had just bought a house that would eventually become our starter home
And when I say less than ideal... I mean it
💀Shag carpet
💀White laminate kitchen countertops
💀GREEN carpet in the sunroom (ken LOVED it )
💀70s tile halfway up the bathroom walls
💀PINK tile in the master bathroom
💀And yes... a literal KOI POND in the backyard
So no. Not exactly the Pinterest dream home
But it was something Kenny could reasonably afford so he pulled the trigger
And that little starter house ended up changing our lives
When we moved to Hickory we sold that house for DOUBLE what Kenny paid for it 🤯
That equity allowed us to majorly upgrade our next home, pay off our student loans AND put some money back
Then when we bought our now home in Conover we were able to upgrade again into what feels like our forever home AND pay off my car
So basically...
Because my husband bought the house with the s**g carpet, pink bathroom tile and koi pond, we now have a forever home, a paid-off car and no student loans
The power of a starter home is FOR REAL 👏🏼
And I think sometimes we get so caught up in the social media aesthetic of everything
We want the perfect kitchen. The perfect bathrooms. The Pinterest-worthy living room. The house that looks amazing in the “we bought a house!!!” Instagram post 💀
But sometimes the ugly little house with green carpet is the one that gets you where you actually want to go
So my official financial advice is:
buy the starter home... or marry the man who already bought one 🤪
Either way stop waiting for everything to be aesthetically perfect before making a move
The pink tile might just pay off your car one day 👀👀
