Frugality Mixed With A Dose of Spending
Spending money is almost harder for me than saving it. Does anyone else seem to have this problem?
Of course, I love to splurge on a new pair of shoes or a cute top for summer, but it seems to be very rare that I actually pull the trigger. My husband and I have fought hard to be savers instead of spenders, and being a one income family has really contributed to this mindset. We garage sale, craigslist, borrow, consign, or just go without sometimes. Don’t get me wrong. We do spend money on things other than bills (though at times it doesn’t feel like that), but for the most part, we’re very careful with how we spend.
We have lived in our “new” home for about 10 months now, and we have yet to really do anything to it. We were so thrilled that it was “move-in ready.” Everything was tan, carpet was in good shape, the curtains were left from the old seller, so we’ve basically just moved our items into the existing home. But now the decorating bug has bitten, and we’re scouring DIY blogs, home blogs, and decorating ideas online to figure out how to make this house our home.
Throwing our things on the wall and putting our “stuff” in the house sort of just declares that we own the place. Yep, that’s us on the wall. We are the ones who actually live in these four walls.’ But now it feels time for some personal touch – paint will be a great place to start. We have this running list of ideas we have for this house – putting up new backsplash, getting different light fixtures in the kitchen, changing out mirrors in the bathrooms, adding glass mosaic tile around the fireplace, landscaping the front and back of the house and more - but it all requires money (and of course, time).
We’re starting to prioritize this list, but I’m a little surprised myself to say I’m actually excited that we even have a list! This is our 2nd home, and we’ve always put ideas from the 1st home on hold because we knew we wouldn’t be there “that long.” Relative words, yes, but still. Now that we’re in the 2nd home, we both feel ready to make some changes that embrace who we are as a family, but to do it without breaking the bank. Making a house a home is a worthy task that, in the end, brings everyone closer together. We just have to budget, prioritize, make choices, and pace ourselves in the process!