Harsh reality, the world generally doesn’t care about your feelings, and unfortunately, money is just as indifferent.  

Why does that matter? 

See, sometimes we hold a perception of what something should be worth, but the general market has an entirely different view. 

Let’s use the reality of buying a house in Trinidad today as a prime example. 

Personally, I find houses in Trinidad are overpriced in most places, ridiculously so in some instances. 

And yeah, we could probably debate that from many different angles, and maybe I’d be right, perhaps I’d be wrong, but guess what doesn’t change the reality of the situation now does it? 

This also lends itself well to the whole Renting vs. Buying a home debate because, in our market, it’s often cheaper to rent depending on where you live and where you work, but that’s another issue all by itself.  
 
And yes, I know there are some people with firm beliefs about owning your home, and I get that, but if you’re a millennial like myself and didn’t inherit it, you need to run your numbers when looking at today’s market prices.  

 
The timing is also essential because unless you are sitting on large amounts of savings, you will need some time to save up for your down payment, such as legal fees, etc.  
 
Then, you also need to account for how your monthly expenses will change, and that’s the part that planning plays a significant role.  
 
An approach I’ve found helpful is to approach your lifestyle expense in stages, and you can do it a couple of ways, either by time or by situation. 

For example, the income levels I needed to survive 10 years ago are not what I need today, and this isn’t about inflation here eh, these are just items to consider.  

10 years ago, I didn’t have my son’s lessons and extra circular activities to budget for as an example. In the same way, I know my expenses in the next 5 years will be different with owning a property and all that comes with it.  
 
The key here is understanding what you want, understanding the costs to acquire it AND keep it, and removing the emotion when you see some of those figures cause, being honest, I watch my figures sometimes and am like, wtf, why are these things so expensive?  

And it’s at that point you go back to my first line: it costs money to enjoy certain things in life, and many times we may feel a way about it; at that stage, you either tell yourself, na, I don’t want that anymore, or you work out maths, and you find a way to get it done.  
 
Easier said than done, I know, but it’s what it takes. 

 I hope this helps.