The Money Pit
Yes, this house was meant to be ours. And two years in, we have practically replaced everything except the walls. Some things by choice, others by necessity. Here are a few of the latest purchases within the last six months:
1. Fence was falling over. Fence was falling over. Well, when Humpty Dumpty kept falling over, people came and put him back up again. Which was what we did with a certain section of fence in particular. Then we finally put up a "real" fence that worked - board on board, pre-stained, gorgeous. Makes me smile every time I see it.
2. 100+ degree heat for weeks last summer. Right at the end of it, our A/C for the upstairs went out. The majority of the square feet is upstairs, as the master/bathroom/closet is all over the three-car garage. Builder had put in the lowest grade A/C possible and small duct work. Richard told us that they had a vent that was going four directions and that the A/C was unable to send air anywhere because it was left to go everywhere. Anyway, we put in a new 5 ton a/c unit with new duct work, new blower, new everything.
3. Middle of the cold winter, our downstairs heater blew the motor. So another $500 later, the motor is fixed on that unit.
4. Wind storm hit this spring. So the wood broke off the fireplace chimney. Malcolm came out and tore off the rest of the wood and put up fiberboard (or whatever it is).
5. Wind storm hit again. Tore off loads of our shingles on our roof. Backyard looks like a black sand beach. Ok, not that bad, but they are everywhere. Yet to know whether we'll be repairing or replacing as it just happened in the last two nights.
6. Stovetop wouldn't ever stop getting hot when turned on. Dishwasher left nasty residue on dishes. Microwave had a really annoying beep. Actually, it didn't heat food hardly at all. And the stove heated unevenly. We replaced all of our appliances as well as the faucet. Looks amazing. Cooks even better.
Why am I writing these things down? So I can remember that God provided. That every time I got nervous about how we were going to pay for these things without taking on credit card debt or being unable to pay for things, I can look back and see that God made a way. That He will always make a way. That saving money instead of spending it frivolously always pays when things go wrong. It's not much fun at times, but it eases the burden in the hard times.
1. Fence was falling over. Fence was falling over. Well, when Humpty Dumpty kept falling over, people came and put him back up again. Which was what we did with a certain section of fence in particular. Then we finally put up a "real" fence that worked - board on board, pre-stained, gorgeous. Makes me smile every time I see it.
2. 100+ degree heat for weeks last summer. Right at the end of it, our A/C for the upstairs went out. The majority of the square feet is upstairs, as the master/bathroom/closet is all over the three-car garage. Builder had put in the lowest grade A/C possible and small duct work. Richard told us that they had a vent that was going four directions and that the A/C was unable to send air anywhere because it was left to go everywhere. Anyway, we put in a new 5 ton a/c unit with new duct work, new blower, new everything.
3. Middle of the cold winter, our downstairs heater blew the motor. So another $500 later, the motor is fixed on that unit.
4. Wind storm hit this spring. So the wood broke off the fireplace chimney. Malcolm came out and tore off the rest of the wood and put up fiberboard (or whatever it is).
5. Wind storm hit again. Tore off loads of our shingles on our roof. Backyard looks like a black sand beach. Ok, not that bad, but they are everywhere. Yet to know whether we'll be repairing or replacing as it just happened in the last two nights.
6. Stovetop wouldn't ever stop getting hot when turned on. Dishwasher left nasty residue on dishes. Microwave had a really annoying beep. Actually, it didn't heat food hardly at all. And the stove heated unevenly. We replaced all of our appliances as well as the faucet. Looks amazing. Cooks even better.
Why am I writing these things down? So I can remember that God provided. That every time I got nervous about how we were going to pay for these things without taking on credit card debt or being unable to pay for things, I can look back and see that God made a way. That He will always make a way. That saving money instead of spending it frivolously always pays when things go wrong. It's not much fun at times, but it eases the burden in the hard times.
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