Category: Homeowner

January 23rd: Refinance My House

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Wow! This is a big one! And I am super excited to get this going.

I bought my house 3 1/2 years ago and the interest rates were pretty reasonable but now that have fallen quite a bit, my home value has gone up (quite substantially) and I still pay mortgage insurance (which is a waste once I am past the 20% paid off mark… which I am)!

So I submitted an inquiry and have been talking to a mortgage company. I can reduce my interest rate by TWO POINTS, take a little money out to take care of some outstanding debt and PAY LESS than what I am paying now.

I’m glad I made this move and hope in 90 days everything clears and I’ll have a new and improved mortgage.

January 12th: Hang Curtains in Living Room

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If I keep up all these home projects my house might just look like a home.

One of my biggest things since moving in has been not having a curtain in the front of my house. I actually completed this task a while ago but forgot to check it off my list, so today, I will lazily mark this one off.

I will say, it is ridiculously hard to pick out curtains. There are probably 16 million different options. I am simple and like rustic, so I went with this cheap but cute style.

I like it because of its simplicity but multi-fictionality.

January 5th: Build Shelves in my Kitchen

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I love DIY projects, especially since I bought my house. Many blah posts over the last couple years often show that.

When I first moved in I knew I would be making a lot of changes. The kitchen at the front of my mind.

This is what it looked like when I first moved in.

I quickly moved my refrigerator, took down some of the cabinets and painted the remaining ones. This quickly showed that I needed some more storage areas.

I found these shelves on Etsy

But all the ones I found were either too small or far too expensive.

So I decided I could make them myself!

I contacted a friend who I Jew had an abundance of reclaimed wood, found piping online at Essential Hardware and went to work.

This is what the kitchen has become. It is amazing how some colorful paint and a cheap DIY project can transform a space.

I am pleased with it. But will always continue changing things up. I already have changed how the shelves are organized to make them look a little more decorative.

I have a few more to put on another wall but am having problems attaching them because of the type of material the wall is made out of. Hopefully a project for another day.

January 4th: Treat Yourself to Lunch

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I started this journey two years ago on January 1st of 2017. The December coming up to that new year I compiled a list of 365 things that I had either never done, goals I wanted to accomplish or resolutions I wanted to set for the year. In that first year I accomplished just over 200 of them. It was hard some days… other days it was super easy.

Coming up onto 2018 I realized I was never going to cross them all off. So I added new ones and in some cases repeated ones that I wanted to make sure to repeat. 2018 was hectic. After crossing off “Buy a House” in 2017, 2018 became a lot about renovating and costly expenses, particularly mortgage costs. Through the year I only crossed off 60 things.

Now that 2019 is here I am restarting the list and hoping to spend the year concentrating on positive reinforcement things and goals. Continuing DIY projects for my house, garden and property will be a major part but I will also concentrate improving myself through month long resolutions, like purging one item a day for a month that I started on the first. But I also want to make sure to think about things I can do for myself that positively reinforce life. I do not want everyday to be about what I can do to improve or “fix” myself. I think it is also important at to do things that make me feel good or give me a sense of positivity.

So, really, that long wonder blog for the day just boils down to my thing for today- “Treat Yourself to Lunch”. I went out this afternoon and had a nice lunch at Buchi Cuban Cafe. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive- but a nice change up from either not even eating lunch or something thrown together at home. I went and had a delicious lunch by myself. I just set out from my house with no known destination and as I drive by Buchi’s (which I had been to before) I remember how much I enjoyed the establishment. It is owned by a Floridian and kind of reminds me home.

Nice how such a simple thing for the day gave me a positive feeling and put me in a good mood about having to go to work tonight.

January 1st: Purge One Item Everyday for a Month

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Here we go again. Last year was not as good as I would hope but I’m going for… I only marked 60 things off my life… but I’m going for it again. This year I am kicking it off with purging items to declutter my life.

On the 1st I threw away some old boots that I have been holding onto for far too long.

Throughout the month I will continue to throw things out in hopes to clean up my house. They say decluttering brings a sense of peace.

February 15th: Buy Something Unnecessary

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I do not think I would call this completely unnecessary but I definitely could have gotten something cheaper or not as extravagant…

Anyway, getting to the point: I bought a Bissell SmartClean Robot Vacuum. Mia has always shed a lot but now with AJ in the house there is even more hair ALL OVER THE PLACE.

So I bought this vacuum and can not wait to use it!

January 31st: Hang a Coat Rack

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It might seem like a trivial thing but any homeowner will tell you, when you buy a new home you expect to do a lot of thing. You expect them to happen right away, like it’s easy to just make a comfortable, organized and full home in a month.

I have lived in my house for 7 months now! Which, is so exciting… but day to day there are things that I look at and say “man, I really need to get this or that done, yet tasks always seem to fall by the wayside”.

One of my big things has been to hang a coat rack. Particularly, living in Colorado during the winter, I have 2-5 coats in rotation that I use on a regular basis. Typically they end up in a pile by my front door. BUT NO MORE!

I hung a coat rack today and like I said, though it may seem trivial, I absolutely love how much more organized and decluttered it makes me feel. Sometimes the smallest tasks are the best.

January 18th: Create an Amazon Wishlist

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Since buying my house I always seem to go to Target or Walmart or some other store where I can get home goods, plants and home necessities. Often, however, I forget what I actually need or would like to make my house complete.

So today, I sat in my house (still sick 🤢), and looked around, thinking of what I want or need. Slowly, I made a short list and found things on Amazon that I prefer.

I do not use Amazon often, usually just to buy gifts for others, but I do think this is a great way to get my thoughts together and maybe put a budget together to start getting some of this stuff.

You can check out my list here. If you have suggestions of things to add or things that are like the items I have but better or cheaper, I’m all ears.

My social media positivity today was:

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”

Ayn Rand