perspective

Nine interest rate hikes later, I'm celebrating my first year of solo home ownership

Roughly this time last year, I jubilantly added a recurring annual reminder to my online calendar. "Bought my house!" it declared.

But really, it was the second time I'd purchased this particular home.

The first had been barely a year earlier, together with a long-term partner. A fiancé, actually.

When all that fell apart, I knew I wanted to keep the place. But borrowing more money to take over the mortgage was a terrifying prospect — especially because so much here was half-renovated and unfinished.

I'd never owned anything more expensive than a $6,000 car before (apart from a HECS debt), as part of a deliberate life choice to avoid loans and credit cards.

Yet 12 months on — and nine interest rate hikes later — I'm celebrating my first year of solo home ownership. Here's how I've made it work.

Years of thrifty living

I live in Tarntanya (Adelaide), where the median house sale price has now hit $700,000. That's cheaper than some east coast cities, yet simply unaffordable for me on my single income.

Thankfully, I wasn't trying to buy a big, flashy house. My little place is just 87 square metres. It has no separate laundry or ensuite bathroom, no third bedroom, no giant family room, and little air conditioning.

It's modest, and so much more affordable.

Plus, I have always prioritised saving money.

During 20 years of working and renting, I'd managed to put away a decent kitty for myself — mostly by living simply and thriftily. (I do acknowledge my inherent privilege here, as a white, educated and mostly able-bodied person).

My lifestyle is such that even while living in Spain for four years — where I barely earned more than $25,000 a year as I prioritised fun times and volunteering experiences over paid work — I still maintained savings.

So, when it came time to buy my partner out, I thankfully had some means to do so — by using every skerrick of savings and borrowing extra via mortgage refinancing.

Managing a mortgage alone

First up, I spoke with a mortgage broker to work out my maximum borrowing capacity. Then, I worked out what I could actually afford — a much lower amount than what the banks were offering.

At each borrowing level, I calculated if I could manage to pay double the weekly loan repayment, as a resilience measure to protect myself against future interest rate rises.

After some negotiation with my ex, we were able to agree on a payout that was just doable for me. And I knew I could get a flatmate if needed — an extra resilience option tucked in my back pocket.

With the mortgage refinance approved, I committed to repaying double my required weekly amount. This helped adjust my lifestyle to living within more constrained means.

Sharing, bartering, buying second-hand

The thrifty living skills I'd developed as a lifelong renter have proven invaluable as a single home owner. Ways I keep my expenses down include:

• Searching for things I need on the second-hand market first — everything from clothing and furniture to building materials and garden tools
• Minimising power use: small-scale, sustainable renovations inside my home helped increase its passive heating and cooling ability
• Connecting to the 'free economy' via my local Buy Nothing group
• Sharing internet with my neighbours
• Choosing cheaper ways to have fun with friends, such as beach picnics or homemade dinners over expensive nights out. My favourite book — The Art of Frugal Hedonism — is a constant source of ideas for this kind of thing

I also barter with other businesses for some of my key needs. It's legal in Australia and a great way to step outside the monetary economy.

For example, I barter marketing services with a local organic farm in exchange for fresh veggies. I write a regular newsletter for my local physio clinic in exchange for free acupuncture and massage sessions (crucial for me, as I live with a back injury that causes chronic pain).

Defined budget

When it comes to spending, I live within a defined budget. It's the standard approach — write down every expense you have, then break each one down into monthly and weekly amounts to set aside.

I keep this "bills and living expenses" money in an offset account, linked to my home loan account so I pay less interest. Whenever a bill rolls around, it's paid from the offset account kitty.

Each week I pay myself a small "wage" into a personal account, to cover groceries, petrol and entertainment.

Solo renovations

While my ex was still in the picture, we finished a bunch of relatively small-scale, sustainable indoor renovations.

But after we separated, the garden lay in chaos, needing skills, time and money to complete. All things that are easier to access with two people on board, rather than one.

Still, very slowly over the past year, I've started turning long-held thoughts and ideas into reality.

I've built a native butterfly garden out the front, and begun creating a food-producing urban permaculture paradise in my backyard.

As I've moved forward with my renovations, I've repeatedly had to ask for help and advice. I simply don't have the practical skills to do it all by myself.

I'm not sure I want to become someone who's overly tied to material possessions. And yet I'm so grateful for all my little house offers.

From an incredibly challenging time in my life, an unexpected source of beauty and connection has sprouted.

Koren Helbig is a freelance journalist who practices permaculture and grows organic food in the backyard of her small urban Tarntanya (Adelaide) home.