The Housing Journey

So I just bought a house.....

Yep.  I am totally crazy.  I have lived with my parents for the past 2 years since college graduation.  Most would hate it.  I don't.  I love living with them.  Really!  I especially love the fact that it's free and that occasionally someone does my laundry or puts gas in my car.   

Anyway, this whole "Marjory buys a house thing" started in the Spring.  It started with a major life change.  Have you ever thought your life was going down one path when suddenly that path ends?  I'm not talking about a subtle ending where there is a nice pond and some woods and it's okay that the path ended because the scenery is beautiful.  I'm talking about an ending where there is a concrete wall and you are not getting around it.  The concrete wall is ugly.  The journey you were on is over.  You have to choose a new path.  This new path is different than you ever expected.  It's harder.  Scarier.  Unexpected.  But I have found that this path does have its joys.  One of those joys being that I am better, stronger, and smarter.  I am not interested in the old path so here I am at a new path.  This path means LIVING YOUR LIFE.  So in living my life, I realized it's time to be a big girl and move out of my parents' house. 

Rent....I did it in college.  Renting in my small town is about $400+ a month.  Many of those places don't allow pets.  Did I mention I have an ah-mazing dog named Khloe?  I am mildly obsessed with her and couldn't even think of not living with her.  Well that's when my dad started saying I should buy.  Interest rates are low.  Houses are cheap.  Blah, blah, blah.  My dad is a shop-a-holic so I didn't really listen.  But then my aunt started to do some research.  She found this program where teachers get a lower interest rate.  Then she started calling places in town.  I do believe she disguised herself as "Marjory's legal council" but whatever...  Eventually she found Amerifirst where Coley---the guy there, not sure of his title---introduced us to a program from the USDA (yes the U.S. Department of Agriculture) where you can have NO MONEY down.  Being a single teacher this program was MEANT FOR ME! 

In the meantime, we (me, my mom, and my dad) had looked at lots of houses.  Like 10.  Some were a ton of work.  (My dad is pretty handy, so we weren't scared of a little work).  Some were out of my price range and lovely.  Some were okay but didn't speak to me.  Some didn't have a good enough backyard for Khloe.  I told you I am obsessed.  In September, a good family friend told me to call this older couple in town who were thinking of selling their house but hadn't listed it yet.  She said it needed a little work but that it had a fenced in backyard.  We went over to take a look!  Mind you, this is no realtor....so it's just me and my dad and Sid (the seller) going through this house!  I fell in love with the house!  The house was perfect for me and K-dog and the PRICE WAS RIGHT. 

So I did what all normal people do, told them I would think about it.  Then I went for a run.  In my running, I sorted out if this is what I wanted and that I wasn't making a rash decision.  After 4 miles, I knew it was right!  So Coley---he really is amazing---got the process started and on November 2nd I walked into his office as a single 25-year old teacher and signed papers to buy my first house.  All by myself.  I nearly took a picture. 

Over the last few weeks, I have been accumulating lots of things for my new house.  I do appreciate the finer things in life, but usually can't afford them.  It has been a combination of my shop-a-holic father looking for deals, researching DIY projects on Pinterest, and going to lots of auctions.  My goal in all of this is to pay cash (no credit card debt for me--yet!), get quality items, and to get things I think are pretty....Khloe and I like pretty things. 

Big purchases are as follows:
-Caned-back chairs (local used furniture shop)---$60 for 2.  
-Bed (local furniture shop)---bought the floor model and saved $300!
-Coffee table, side table, buffet, dresser, chairs, miscellaneous home items (auctions)---auctions are my new favorite thing. 
-Bedframe (IKEA)---Ikea isn't that expensive so it was like $160
-Sofa (local furniture shop)---bought the floor model.  I do still have one more payment to make on this.  I get paid tomorrow though! 
-Chandelier (Lowe's)---Originally $99, it was marked down to $25 when I pointed out to the salesman that there was a light pink (hardly noticeable) mark on it.  I also smiled at him.  He said, how about $19 and I said YES.  I will be smiling at salesmen a lot more if it saves me money.  Who knew?
-Vacuum (Meijer)---Originally over $200, got it for $98.  My dad found it on an end cap at the store and scoped it out for like a week! 
-Paint (Sherwin Williams & the Anderson's in Toledo)---We are painting the Kitchen cabinets (more on that journey later) and cabinets require a mega-expensive paint (according to my pinterest research!).  My dad found a coupon for Sherwin Williams paint and so we used that.  The Anderson's at Toledo had some Pratt & Lambert (if you know paint, you know that's good paint) on clearance because the labeling had changed.  Again, dad found it.  I bought it.  My dad's pretty good at this stuff....
-Fabric (JoAnn's)---We (and by we, I mean my mom) are making curtains for the kitchen and reupholstering a couple of chairs.  Upholstery fabric was 50% off and we had a coupon for 25% off.  Mega savings.  

So basically I feel like I am blowing all my money.  I do realize that these are INVESTMENTS and not just a new pair of Puma flats (my favorite shoe to wear to school) or a new running shirt (Champion brand at Target & Nike are very tempting!!!!).  I don't love parting with my money though....

Immediate projects that we will be working on in the house are:
-A good clean!  Windows, shampooing carpet, etc.
-Reupholstering chairs & creating chair cushions
-Painting kitchen cabinets & kitchen walls.  The kitchen cabinets are currently a festive red, white, and blue.  Seriously.  Pictures later. 
-Painting my bedroom
-Painting/refinishing/doing something with all the furniture I bought at auctions


So there's my update.  I promise not every post will be this long.  And it won't be about my house all the time either.  Sometimes it might be about running, eating, baking, teaching, life, etc.  That's why I am new to it all.  This is a new journey.  A new path.  Let's see how it goes.