Ever since I grew up in the same apartment from age 2 to 16 years old I have had this obsession with houses. I would constantly ask my mom to please move us into a house. The shame of a run down apartment has stuck with me and to this day I am always admiring houses. Every year I enter the HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes but this year I heard about the St. Jude's Dream Home Giveaway and it's local (Oklahoma), so I felt there is an even better chance of winning. After buying one ticket I began to obsess whether to buy another one. At the same time, I'm reading Dave Ramsey's book titled Total Money Makeover at the chapter that discusses obstacles that prevent you from succeeding with your money.
It is here that I realized that houses have become my false idol. Although I see houses as a place to share love, family memories, and peaceful living; home is where the heart is after all so I've been loving a materialistic idea.
While the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway is a great cause to support I did my research on property tax and calculated the income tax from such a winning that is currently valued at $575,000. Property tax each year would be around $6,225 give or take and this we could cover no problem at the end of each year. The IRS requires that the income tax however, be paid upfront before taking ownership of the prize which would come to roughly $187,774.50. That number has quickly sobered me up. I don't have that kind of money lying around and selling my current home would not cover that. I'm not a tax expert and these are just estimates. Now instead of praying to win a house I pray that IF we were to win that God would either provide the means to pay the tax because in this particular giveaway there is no alternative option to take cash or gift the house to someone else. Otherwise we be declined to accept the prize.
Now what...... well I'm just going to keep chugging along my total money makeover plan and try to find a way to go back to school to get a job doing something I enjoy more.
Good luck to everyone and happy dreaming, just make sure you know what it is your getting for that dream.
I did the same thing. I read the terms and conditions of the St Jude giveaway and wondered what estimated taxes would be. I googled and ran into your blog. I was laughin when I read your blog because I thought, if I had a sister, this would be her because I reacted the same way you did. I told my husband to get one of those tickets. He said he would but now I am hoping he did not. We are also applying Dave Ramsey's techniques to our life. Thank you for your blog as now I am looking around my home and thinking, wow I already have so much even with the squeaks, dings, wall marks, etc. of raising a family. God bless you and your family. I pray that God satisfies all our needs/wants even if it means just giving us satisfaction for what we have.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, I was so excited to read it. I had some doubts about posting this with the worry that it might sound like I'm telling people to not donate to a good cause when in fact I only want to help people make an informed donation in a way they can afford. Best of luck to you on your journey as well.
DeleteI really wish I saw this before I purchased my ticket on yesterday. I do also entered the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway with the hopes of taking the cash option, if I'm not interested in relocating to the home location. God knows I cannot afford this with my income. Maybe God knows it was only meant to be a donation but thank you thank you thank you for the helpful information.
ReplyDeleteGlad to help in any way I can :-)
ReplyDelete