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Home > Archive: June, 2011

Archive for June, 2011

The new house is still costing me money...but less money

June 1st, 2011 at 02:54 pm

Hi everyone,
I hope someone is getting some rain somewhere because Savannah is dry dry dry!

Anyways, I am starting to get my interest in savings and blogging again. For a while there I just shut out any thought of money because I was spending so much of it on the new house.

Now I am still spending huge quantities but its no longer at a fast and furious pace.

Our 19 yr old air conditioning went out 2 weeks ago. (The only original features of the house we kept was the roof, the A/C, the floors and the porch. Because they were still in varying degrees of functional)I wanted to squeeze 1 year out of everything so I could save up some money to start replacing those aging items when they started to go. But of course 1 month after I move in we lost the A/C.

I have been sleeping on the couch downstairs to stay cool and got 3 quotes to replace it. The first quote came in at $4200 which blew my mind. The 2nd quote came in at $3200. The 3rd quote came in at $5100. Although the $5100 guy was so high I was considering him because his presentation was so good. He really educated me on what they were going to be doing, the quality of the brands, and the warrenties/guarantees. He was a rep that seemed to come from a very comprehensive, well managed company that focused on customer service and customer comfort. Whereas the other 2 worked for themselves and had a more unreliable, non customer service based approach.

But in the end I couldnt wrap my brain around a price that started with a "5" or even a high "4". I went back to the $3200 guy and asked the brand A/C he was planning to install. He's using a Carrier unit which I understand is a lower end brand but I think it will last over 5 years and thats good enough for me. He'll warranty it for 1 year.

Otherwise the house is turning out nice. BB comes home from FL for 2 days next week. He has never seen the finished house because he had to leave in February before it was completed. He and I are both so excited.

I have not used any of the appliances except the washer/dryer. I kept the protective wrapping on them so he can be the first to use them. I want him to enjoy some of the excitement of a brand new home. And let me say- going to the grocery store and only buying food that can be made in a toaster or microwave is very limiting! But it add to the excitement. It's been months since I have had a plate of noodles. They'll taste great!

And financially we are stopping the cash flood. Our purchases still wipe out our bank account, but I am able to make the purchase when the money is in the account. Before I was writing checks on a several times a week basis that would equal a couple of months worth of paychecks.

Things are getting back in order. I am starting to find a new normal.

BTW: my computer isnt working so I cannot upload pictures yet. I am hoping BB gets it fixed when he comes home next week!