Is it December already??? So much has happened in the past
three months! We moved, Tutu turned 1
(!), Zach got a new job, I’ve fallen into a major spending pit… We’ll talk more about that later.
On today’s agenda: we moved!
I can’t believe all the money it is saving us. I didn’t realize all the extra bills that
come along with renting a house (in our experience): water, sewer, garbage, recycling,
and probably more I can’t think of right now.
Those are just the bills! We've already been able to pay off our two smallest loans and are halfway to paying off our third! Zach no
longer has to shovel or mow, and I no longer have to feel bad that I didn’t
landscape! I hated staring at the
overgrown plants, but not enough to do something about it. I hate gardening. We also have to clean less since our space is
smaller.
Let’s talk about that. Our space is much smaller. The house we were renting had 4 bedrooms and
a formal dining room. To me, formal
dining room equals a good sized space.
We only used two of the bedrooms.
We had a guest room and office upstairs, but they ended up being more of
catch-all rooms. We managed to get rid
of A LOT of stuff. We had to make 4
bedrooms of stuff fit in a 2 bedroom apartment. Did I mention that this
apartment has 1 storage closet (slightly bigger than a typical coat closet) and
1 linen closet? Yeah. It’s tight.
How did we do it? Well, we sold
some stuff, but mostly we gave it away.
We posted some furniture via the blog and managed to sell almost all of
it within a week. The remainders were
sold via Craigslist. That was a good
little chunk of change in the ‘ole pocketbook.
I tried taking some clothes to the consignment shop, but they rejected
most of it (they’re really picky; some of it was wrinkled. Seriously.). I made a rule that once it left the house it
didn’t come back in, ever. It all lived
in my car until we took everything to the Salvation Army.
We sold some of Tu’s stuff in the garage sale (not much), and
took the rest to our local Crisis Nursery.
They do great work for mothers in need.
It makes me smile knowing the stuff we donated is making the caretakers’
lives just a little easier. The toys
might also be putting some smiles on tiny faces. Once I packed her room and realized how much
I missed while sifting through for the garage sale, we had another good sized
lot to take over to the nursery. Next
we’re taking her bottles and leftover formula.
My baby is a toddler!
Mama and I (with a little help from my friend Liz) ended up
painting every room in the apartment.
The existing wall color was a little too close to the color of skin, and
one wall (an accent wall, I guess) in Tu’s room was hunter green. That took a
good two weekends of work. You notice
every single wall and trim issue while you’re doing that. Let’s just say the previous tenants were not
as precise painters as Mama and me. I
might be painting the trim come spring.
That is just one of many apartment projects on my list. I have definitely bitten off more than I can
chew. My goal with this place is to really make it feel like home. We have every intention of staying here until
all our debt is paid. I don’t want to
move again unless it’s a house that we own.
I have a theory: if I put a lot of work into our apartment, I’ll want to
stay longer. I’ve moved at least every
year since I was 17. I get the 1 year
itch for some change. I’ll just have to
find said change elsewhere; new curtains maybe.
Here is my current project list:
·
Make mason jar storage for bathroom.
Put up wallpaper as pseudo-backsplash in
kitchen.
Paint side table for living room.
Paint bistro table and stools?
Hang curtain rods and curtains in bedrooms.
Paint dresser.
Finish gallery wall in living room.
Frame chalkboard on living room wall.
Paint island/refinish top.
Re-organize kitchen cabinets.
Figure out a pantry?
Put hardware on cabinets?
Paint doors and trim
Spray paint door knobs.
Hang light in living room attached routed switch.
I might be insane. Stay tuned for the exciting
conclusion! Will she get any of these
done???
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