Most people don’t realize how expensive it is to sell a house. You have to pay realtor’s fees, taxes, closing costs (possibly other things that are escaping me at the moment) and all of those things can add up to or more than what you would have paid in rent, if you only live in the house a short period of time. That’s assuming your house is worth more than when you bought it. If it is worth less, than you also have to come up with the difference. I strongly believe you need to live in a house a minimum of 5 years, actually at least 7-10 in order to make it worth your while.

You also need to budget in the cost of buying a house. Yes, you can get a loan, but there are moving costs involved. Whether you rent a u-haul or pay movers for the physical move, if you have to take time off to move, coming up with money for the inspections before you move in as well as the down payment and possible closing costs, you may also need to buy appliances as most people do not leave theirs behind when selling, plus the cost of turning on your water, electricity, etc because most companies want a down payment to do so. These are things most buyers don’t think about.

Also, before choosing to buy you need to consider many other things. Is your job stable? Have you been there for a few years to know for sure if it is stable? If there is a chance you could get laid off due to budget cuts, etc, you should not buy. If there is a chance you could be transferred to another location, you should not buy. It is not just income, but the fact that you may need to be mobile in order to find a new job, and that is not so easy to do when you own a house. It is expensive enough to break a lease!

It is also very expensive to maintain a house when you own it. I am not talking about the cost of getting new paint and window treatments, I mean actual maintenance that comes up while owning a house. What if you need a new roof or furnace? What if a window breaks and you need to replace it? What if your plumbing backs up and you need to replace a pipe? You cannot call the landlord to fix these things, because you are the landlord when you own. Can you afford to fix these things, plus pay your mortgage? If not, you should not own. (And a mortgage includes insurance and taxes, which most “mortgage calculators” that you find online do not take into account, so you basically have to double whatever they tell you your mortgage will be.)

Another thing that I see a lot is people doing is getting approved for a loan for say $300,000 and then they go out and look at houses listed for $300,000 or above, hoping to negotiate down to $300,000. Just because you get approved for X amount does not mean you need to spend that much. You could very likely find a house for WAY less that has all your criteria.

So, to answer your question, each individual case is different. If you have a stable job and know you will be in the house for at least 7 years, and you have shopped around to make sure you are getting the best deal possible when buying the house, and have saved up a substantial down payment to avoid extra insurance and it can also help with lowering your (fixed) interest rate (which is a big deal, by the way), plus have worked out your budget to know you can afford the house, yes it is a good idea to buy. You can find a great deal in this market. But if you are unsure of your job stability or have not been working very long at your job and are unsure whether you are going to live in the house for any length of time, it is WAY smarter to rent. Buying (and selling) a home can be throwing your money away, and even more expensive than renting in certain situations.

Renting vs owning is a hard question. I lean to owning though I KNOW I spend more money on bills now than when I was renting. If you rent, you are paying the landlord’s mortgage so might as well buy your own.

Too many people have a decent paying job, but spend just as much, if not more, than they make.

From the Indian point of view, it was the coming of America that destroyed the beauty and resources of the land that had sustained us as we had sustained it for thousands of years and many generations of people.

If you are old enough to remember the 70s, it was an “awakening” time for the Indian people. The American Indian Movement came into the spotlight in 1973 when they occupied Wounded Knee. Until then it wasn’t “cool” to be Indian. Most of us were in a “limbo” – being neither wolf nor dog – half-breeds stripped of our language and culture.

We were in the beginning years of reclaiming our culture and the beliefs that go along with it. They were angry years often acted out in rage, hating who and what we had become; wanting to return to the time when honor lived big among us.

Most Indians today have come to peace with who we are, finding that our culture still fits us, believing that we have a place and purpose in this world.

To my amazement there are still people who believe in evolution. If it is true, why have we come to the place that we find ourselves and the state that our world is in?

To me, being “green” has been the color of our lives. It has only become “cool” to the society that is looking doom in the face. Being green is not so much buying the “right” products, recycling, using up or making do. Green is the color of life. When human life in its completeness – body, soul, and spirit – becomes our priority, respect and honor will return to our society. Without respect for life itself, there will be no respect for the things that sustain life.

Human beings were made from the dust of the earth and the breath of The Eternal. We were given the care of the earth because it is the earth by which our natural life is sustained. When we fail to care for that which has been entrusted to us, we fail to care for ourselves.

The Indian people make decisions based on how it will affect the next seven generations, not on how it will benefit me and satisfy my need of the moment. Selflessness is only found in love; love for my fellow human being and love for the awesome world we occupy. This is being GREEN.

The experience of poverty is beneficial insofar as it allows one to hold on to the things that are of true value in life: family,love, peace, truth, integrity, honor, hope, faith. None of these things can be bought with money, and they are the true blessings of life. It is the strong spirit of a man that sustains him in hard times.