As Major Dad says, "Money can't buy happiness but it sure doesn't suck, either."
Being a responsible adult, however, does suck.
As we were driving home last night from purchasing our ridiculously expensive fridge for the new house, we started lamenting about how much money we're spending.
LT. Hubs mused how maybe it would have been smarter if we had just continued to live with our parents and save some money after we got married, to which I replied with a grand "HA!"
Isn't it pretty?
But seriously, I'm an extremely money-conscious person. I'm downright obsessive. At this very moment I'm oscelating between writing this post and updating our monthly budget. It makes me happy when I know exactly where all our money is going. If we don't have the cash, we don't spend it. If we can't pay it off at the end of the month, it can wait.
Except having a fridge couldn't wait. So begrudgingly I have entered the land of 18 months/0% financing.
I knew when we made the decision to buy the house that we were going to have to throw down some major green, and to be honest, it scares the crap out of me. I've never spent so much money at one time in my life. We worked so hard to build up our savings over the last year and to see it drop so fast in such a short time makes me sick to my stomach.
I've been trying to remind myself that this is part of the reason for having savings to begin with. I mean, it's there for big purchases and emergencies. What's the point in having the money put aside if you don't plan to spend it one way or another?
I'm determined not to be, as my Mom would put it, "House Poor." So now we get to play the good ol' NEED vs WANT game--hours of fun for the whole damn family!
It's just so hard when there is so much I am dying to do- replace the ugly blue carpet, get rid of the God-awful popcorn ceilings. But I can't justify draining all of our savings for stuff I can tolerate for a while. I can live in 1984 for a couple of months, even though I really, really don't want to.
Any home-owners care to weigh in? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Much love to ya,
consider me impressed you were able to save enough to buy the home and fridge in the first place. i am still paying off student loans for dayz. womp womp.
ReplyDeletefrom a person who has moved THREE TIMES (ugh), spend the money on things that you NEED instead of what you want and consider the ROI vs what you're spending. for example: when you upgrade your kitchen, it's best to spend the $$ because you'll get double that when you sell. the kitchen is one of the biggest ROIs you'll get in the whole house!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that's good to know! Thanks!
DeleteI bought my place a year ago, luckily it was pretty updated but I wanted to replace the carpet so I drained my savings for that. I probably will do one more "big" thing this year like a new vanity for the master bath maybe. I guess you just have to be okay with waiting.....be sure to post pics as you progress though:) And I LOVE that fridge!
ReplyDeleteWhenever we make a big purchase I have a mini freak out heart attack, then just want to freeze my bank accounts so we don't spend any more money. Yay for being a grown up! Not. haha
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, it's so hard. Especially because I want to spend money on decorations and the fun stuff and then my husband is like "the pool pump broke, that's $200." We bought our house last october. I think I just prioritize on fixing what I can't stand and then start with the cheapest. I hate white walls and painting is relatively cheap so I started with that! It's hard to wait on some things tho
ReplyDeleteThis post was a total reality check. I had to ask the boo what "house poor" means. Turns out I've been house poor since I graduated college. Maybe you can come to DC and teach me about financial responsibility?
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