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Spending free fall

July 17th, 2017 at 02:52 am

Well since we bought the house our spending has been in free fall. Not unexpected nor unplanned. It just is something that happens. Everything we knew about but it's a bit insane to see the bills. We've never spent this way and I am going to guess most people on here haven't either. Otherwise they wouldn't be on savingadvice.

So we started with a playset for the kids. That was installed from costco for $1000. It was discounted when I ordered it memorial day weekend and set up within a week. They love it. They play on it daily. I wondered whether we should do it because they will age out of it. But then decided we might as well. We've been promising it for a long time.

Got the backyard cleaned up for $1200. I'm going to try and maintain it and have spring and fall cleanups but apparently the people before us never took care of the yard in 3 years. The fruit trees are overgrown and in poor shape both neighbors and the yard guys told me. We've even got a fire pit that we've used for s'mores 4x already. The yard is fantastic. We love it. We have 2 cherry, 3 apples, 1 pear, 1 apricot, blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes. Seriously I never imagined having this opportunity.

Patio Furniture just got on Friday was $500 from Amazon. DH put it together in 2 hours and it's amazing. The deck is lovely. I had my morning tea out there.

New TV above the fireplace $600 from costco. Our last TV purchase was in 2005 when we moved to our last house. It's interesting to see how much bigger and lighter and cheaper it is now. We also bought our much wanted king mattress for $1000 from purple. We love tempurpedic. When we bought our last mattress 10 years ago a king didn't fit up the stairs and it didn't come the way it comes now. Technology has changed a lot since 2005. Can't wait to try it but we haven't got a bedframe. That's next on the list to order.

Those were our big ticket items of spending thus far and we aren't done. We're renovating our basement and garage and I'll explain with photos what's going on later and price and decisions.

I'm not sure how long we are staying in this house but it really is lovely.

Other items on our list to order is a gas grill Weber summit series $2000, new couch, dining table, bedroom sets for us and the kids, and building the closets. The kids have our old queen size beds we had and it doesn't fit in the rooms. Until we moved here we decided to just make it work and they barely played in their rooms anyway. And until recently they slept in our room a lot. Well it's time to make rooms for them and let them have a say and maybe they'll feel more adult and "their" rooms. So far we've spent $4300 and another $2000 earmarked already plus the gas line for the grill I'm seeing numbers around $1500 installation.

This is not going to be a cheap summer. But this is down the street from me. The location is to die for. Both how we live and DH gained a minimum of 1 hour a day back on his commute more like 1.5 hours a day. His commute is now 30 minute both directions instead of 1 hour and 1.5 hours. He's really enjoying it.

More photos to come.

16 Responses to “Spending free fall”

  1. laura (deacon's wife) Says:
    1500258835


    Love the lake location! All looks wonderful. What state are you in?

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1500259455

    I'm so happy for you! I'm sure that play set can be sold for several hundred dollars when you kids age out of it. And the lower commute time is fantastic for quality of life.

  3. snafu Says:
    1500261045

    Awesome! Enjoy the house and every item.

  4. CB in the City Says:
    1500261269

    Hey! I've got one of those down the street from me, too! Your lawn, playset and patio furniture all look great!

  5. Petunia 100 Says:
    1500265555

    Love your deck and yard! The lake's pretty nice, too. Smile

  6. Out of the Dark Says:
    1500306834

    So happy and proud of you! Great pics and great expenditures. Fruits of your labor are very important!

  7. MonkeyMama Says:
    1500308679

    Nice!

    We've never spent like that, but we haven't had the means. (Nor the means to buy that much space to furnish, etc.). But if you can afford it and enjoy it, then why not??

    On the flip side, making a big move like that affords some extra luxury. I just saw some conversation about how when you buy a house at 25 that you don't buy a 5-bedroom new construction house (if you are financially sensible). We did! Big Grin So yeah, your post kind of reminds me of that. Knowing some of your "big picture" and journey to get to this point, I can't say that I would do any differently in your shoes. Enjoy!

  8. patientsaver Says:
    1500319926

    Nice pics. That would see to be a crazy good price on the outdoor furniture.

  9. ceejay74 Says:
    1500322768

    You know I'm not shy about spending as long as it's real money and not adding to debt! Those sound like really smart, reasonably priced choices that are going to get a ton of use and enjoyment for years to come.

  10. rob62521 Says:
    1500324239

    All great expenditures. Especially when you mention how much the kids have used the playset and you have used the other items. The yard looks wonderful and I imagine now that it has been cleared away you can maintain it far easier. Sometimes you just have to spend money to have improvements. And saying that, it seems like the outflow all comes at once. But, in my humble opinion, you did very well and have some great things to show for it. Enjoy!

  11. ThriftoRama Says:
    1500324343

    Uh, that looks heavenly! We have a swingset, and our boys 7 and 9, still play on it. Usually, as a fort for shooting nerf guns, but it counts! We also run a hose over the top in summer (so the water goes down the slide, creating a water slide. They like that too.

  12. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1500325417

    thanks a lot. CCF I was thinking that but I'm hoping like Thrift mentioned that our girls use it as a fort or secret getaway even as they get older. They already took a book and toys out there so I'm thinking it might get more use than I think. I have a sprinkler next to it like Thrift and the kids love it.

    The lake is a true bonus. I have to admit it's heavenly to be so close. It reminds me a lot of home in that sense.

    MM lol. I have to say that we were 25 and didn't buy the 5 bd house we got the 1 bd condo. And then 3 bd townhouse/condo. Then rental house and now our house. Small it's actually 2000 sq ft and 3 bed/2.75 bathes. So it's not large by most people's standards. But it's the biggest place we've ever lived in. I am a bit worried on space about storage but what can we do? Live and move up if we choose.

    Rob I think I am trying with the kids to weed and deadhead the rhodis and just keep yard looking nice. DH is going to mow it. I don't think it's as difficult as it was and we are trying out best. We did the front yard this weekend upkeep. This next weekend the back again. But I definitely might have to invest in 2x/year cleaning of the yard to help us along.

  13. MonkeyMama Says:
    1500334667

    My point is the only reason we bought the 5 bedroom house was because it was crazy cheap (we traded from condo in very expensive city). But it's not what people think of when they think frugal. You made this move so that you can enjoy a house, yes? You are getting more bang for you buck than you did in prior city? I guess that's what I am trying to say. It won't look "frugal" even if it is by your own frame of reference.

  14. My English Castle Says:
    1500339953

    Absolutely gorgeous!

  15. Buendia Says:
    1500385764

    I think the purchases make a lot of sense... if you waited and waited, you wouldn't get the enjoyment out of them. I saw that very same patio set on Amazon and put it on my wishlist! Those can cost thousands, so $500 not so bad! I don't think it would fit in our yard, though; not with a dining set, too. The flat area is very limited! Also no room for a playset, so you are super lucky! Have fun and enjoy everything! I always divide the cost by the use (in general terms) so something that is expensive can actually be really cost effective!

  16. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1500695820

    One of the houses we lived in in Iowa was right down the street from a lake. We spent so many hours there!

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