Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Recent Struggles Update

Well, my husband and I are officially homeowners! We are still renting our house to our seller, due to the fact we also need to complete our lease at the end of July. We were completely thrilled that everything worked out okay and our closing went, well, as smooth as it could have gone.

Anyways, I'd also like to take this time to tell you about a recent struggle with consumerism that has been a problem with getting a new house. I have such an awful compulsion to fill it with new furniture. For some reason, since this is our first home, I find myself wanting it to look like a "real house". While I bought the previous piece of furniture in the last post on Craig's list, this has been one of my most difficult battles with consumerism in a while. Additionally, while I switched my major 7 times in undergrad, one of them was interior architecture, also known as interior design. When you know about all the colors, gadgets, and furniture that you have been staring at and learning about for years it is so hard to not think about putting it in your own place. I don't know how interior designers keep any money in the bank! I am artistic by nature, and enjoy projects like this where I am suddenly given the freedom to paint walls and exercise the other freedoms that come with being a new home-owner.

As I have likely said in a previous post, its so much better to replace items in the house one at a time, then they are more affordable, and I am using this post mainly to reaffirm that to myself. I keep telling myself our savings needs to stay put. Even when looking at used items, like I was considering a sewing machine so I could make throw pillows and curtains rather than to pay a high price for them, however, I haven't used a sewing machine since the 7th grade. I would really want to take a refresher class, which is an additional expense. I would like to think skills with a sewing machine would pay off in the long run as an investment, however, I am still debating about whether the class and sewing machine would be worth it or just wait to afford the appropriate home accents and decor.

1 comment:

Tiffany said...

I totally understand how you feel.. we bought our first home this past April and it is hard looking at this home in a suspended state. We're working on it though. I've repainted some older furniture with plans to paint much more. I buy most items used, with the occasional purchase of something new but affordable. And I agree, it takes time. But with each new change, we get a little bit closer to that dream home.