Happy Monday everyone! The weekend went by way too quickly and of course I’m not happy about it. I still have so much to do and don’t feel like I accomplished much.
This weekend we did a lot. We looked around on Sunday to try and think of possible areas that we want to buy in, and we found a couple that we like. We pretty much know what kind of house we want (we are pretty open, but love older styled and southern style homes).
We’re still unsure about how much we want to spend, and I guess it all just depends on how much we are able to save. It also depends on whether we want to go all Young House Love and renovate the house ourselves and make it perfect for us, or just buy something that someone else liked. I’m still not sure what I want to do! Oh yeah and we don’t know if we want a house that’s in an HOA or a home with a lot of land.
I have a feeling that buying this next house will be a long process, and much longer than when we bought our first house at the age of 20. Anyone else feel like this the second time around? It’s just that nothing seems perfect and what we’re exactly looking for!
I guess I should probably make a post soon that details everything that we want or need, and then I can makes references to that whenever I need to. What do you think are “needs” with the house that you buy? Let me know because there could easily be something that I’m overlooking. We want to live in our next house for awhile and don’t want to forget anything.
I’m still looking for possible guest posters as well. Since I am kind of close to paying off my student loans, I’m thinking about starting a debt payoff guest post series. Anyone interested? Topics can be about what you’re doing to pay off debt quickly, how you’re paying them off, whether you think your debt is good/bad, etc! A post that is somewhat related to the topic of debt is great.
I’ve also been constantly updating my blog post from the other day on How To Start A Blog. There are now added tips and instructions so that you guys don’t get too confused when starting your blog. I also have several other posts about blogs in the works, including how to transfer your blog from Blogger to WordPress.
Also, don’t forget to check out my sister’s blog, FITnancials. I’m helping run it, while she is the writer. This blog has been going pretty well and I’m still excited about it. My sister is a new writer but seems to be doing well. She’s still learning about the whole blogging thing but is starting to get the hang of it. She recently got a Page Rank of 2 from the recent update as well!
Spending:
I don’t think we bought anything in the past week, at least nothing that I can think of.
Extra Income (does not include salary from our jobs):
The $1,635 was for the first 10 days of February. This does not include the $325 from my sister, payments that I’m expecting or any affiliate income. If you add up just the $1,635, rent payment and some additional affiliate income which will come by check (I don’t want to count the expected payments until I actually receive them), then I have made $2,420 for the first 10 days of February.
I do feel like like I’m on a slow start for February so far, but I don’t think I’m doing bad. Hopefully I can start reeling in these payments that I’ve been waiting for!
I’m still working on my affiliate income as it’s one of my main blog goals for 2013. For now, will you tell me if you do affiliate income and what I should know? Any tips, opinions, etc. would be awesome.
Food:
No meal plan for this week, but we have been doing really good with eating at home as much as we can. We also ate out a couple of times last week, but we had a coupon for every time. Buy one get one free dinners at all of our favorite restaurants? We’ll take it! Thankfully it was W’s birthday last week so we got tons of free coupons.
Wedding
Nothing new with the wedding right now. We finally have decided on photographers. I love who we chose and I’m super excited! Now we just have to get everything else on track, which there is a lot. I don’t feel too rushed though, and I’m not really worried.
Being healthy:
The treadmill came in last week and we put it together. Took around 2 hours for us to put it together but it was well worth it. We thought about paying the company to put it together but we decided that it was not worth the extra $250 to pay the company to do this.
One thing that we didn’t really think about when we bought our home gym was making sure the ceiling was high enough. Yes we measured the height, but didn’t measure how much room we would actually NEED. So even though the home gym fit, we can’t actually do pull ups on it because the ceiling is so close (but come on, I most likely would never do a pull up anyways).
So this also means that if a giant wanted to run on my treadmill, they would be out of luck because there head would most likely hit the ceiling. Luckily I am only 5’4″ and have around one more foot before I hit the ceiling when I’m running.
I’ve only ran on it twice so far, but I have been swamped with things to do so I will blame it on that. My goal is to run on it 5 days this week and most likely at least 5 miles each time. Wish me luck!
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Our biggest need when we were house shopping was location. I needed to be within an easy jog of the beach. After that, it was all negotiable.
Being near a beach isn't really possible for us, but I wish it were! Living in the Midwest does have its downfalls in that area.
My recent post $2,420 in Extra Income, Life, Wedding Updates
Our first house was so easy, and we know we didn't spend enough time looking and thinking about it.
And thanks! Yeah there's a TV across the room. It's kind of far, so people will probably have to squint while running.
My recent post $2,420 in Extra Income, Life, Wedding Updates
LOVE the pic of the house you showed, Michelle! The best piece of advice we got when house hunting was to think "If I had to live in this house forever, could I?". Don't buy something assuming you can just sell if you get sick of it, b/c you never know… Also, think long term: Will the house work if you: have kids, when you're old, have pets, etc., etc. Try and think of all the scenarios not just in your life now, but what might come later, and see if the house works for you. Love that meal, BTW – It looks delicious!
I know I love that house! Those are all great tips. When we bought the house we currently live in, we knew it wouldn't be a forever house. We DO love our house, but we want something bigger.
I'm looking forward to your post about converting from blogger to wordpress. I've been considering it for a time, but haven't had the guts to go for it.
I'm going to try and post it this week, so stay tuned 🙂
As far as house goes, while there is a lot to consider, I agree – location! Check it out at different times throughout the day, find out how long your commute is, is it close to shopping, restaurants, etc. Also, maintenance. Big yard? Lots of landscaping? Siding that will require lots of maintenance?
Let me know if you think of any questions or ever want a guest post coming from a realtor’s point of view!
I want love a guest post from you Sam. If you're still interested, send me an email at senseofcents@gmail.com
Luckily, we already know what area we want (it's the same neighborhood as W grew up in). Now we're just waiting for a house to go up for sale there as maybe only 1 goes for sale every year. UGH!
My spending is off to a good start. And working the extra income hopefully February can bring something good to me! 🙂 It looks like your extra income and spending is going well too! Good luck looking for the right place and home to buy, pretty exciting!!
My recent post Getting Started Freelance Writing: What You Should Know.
When we start looking for a new house (or if we start looking) I will probably want to be on water. I love lakes and rivers. The good news, we will probably end up buying the family cottage (or one of the other 3 plots next to it) in southern Indiana on the Ohio River. Granted the Ohio isn't great for swimming and boating, but it is a body of water.
Other than that I am pretty easy going on what I look for. I guess my only real need is a garage since I hate having to defrost my car in the morning.
We are thinking about possibly buying a house on a lake as well!
This is how I feel as well!
Let's see what's on my list?
-Location
-big closets
-master to fit a king size bed
– good layout
– easy yard to maintain
I agree with your list!
Yea I wan to hear all about the home search. It’s so exciting!
I would love to do a guest post a out getting out of debt. I will email you. Happy Monday.
Looking forward to your email. Thanks!
I love your idea of hosting a debt payoff guest post series, Michelle. It's always fabulous receiving different perspectives and inspirational stories from those grappling with debt. Let me know how that evolves!
Thanks!
When we buy our next home, I would want to make sure it is large enough for entertaining. Right now we live in a smaller home that cant hold a large group gathering and would love to throw christmas/thanksgiving parties without everyone cramped.
Are you planning on renting out your first house or selling it?
I agree, I definitely need space for entertaining.
And we haven't decided what we will do. It's a tough decision.
We haven't bought a house, but when we do, here are a few of our must-haves: walk-in closets, double sinks in master bath, open floor plan, LOTS of natural light!
I agree with your list! There are just so many things that I want.
When looking for a new house, look into the school districts. I know you're only 23 and don't plan on having kids for quite awhile 🙂 But if you are looking to stay in this next house for the next 20 years, this is something to think about so you are prepared.
My recent post Your Wedding Doesn’t Have to Break The Bank
We definitely plan on looking at school districts. Thanks!
After six months in our first home.. we're already talking about our second! Not that we're planning to buy our next place soon but as we've been making some changes and improvements to our place we've mentioned what we want the next place to have. We've also discussed building.
Our next house needs to have a bathroom on the main floor (we currently have 2 full baths, but one is in the basement and one is on the second floor), attached garage, a pantry and more food prep space in the kitchen. We chose to buy a house situated between my husband's office and my office (in opposite suburbs) and it works out that the location makes working anywhere in the metro area possible. My husband got a job much closer to where we bought our house so our next place won't NEED to be "in between."
My recent post Friday Five: What I Learned
We can't decide if we want a new house built, or if we want to buy a historic house. Tough life right here, right? 🙂