So far I've sold a light fixture on Craigslist for $25. Later today I think someone is going to buy the daybed for $40, and someone wants my Roomba for $50. So that's $115 toward my kitchen remodel, if all goes well (I had to double check the numbers... my math-teacher mom will tell you I'm not the best with math).
The thing that makes me really mad about this leaky ceiling is that I can tell it has happened before. If I look closely, I can see places on the ceiling that have been patched, sanded, and repainted. So the previous owners had this problem, but didn't really fix it. What's more, they knew about it and didn't say anything. I think that to really fix the problem, the roof needs to be extended. Who knows how much that will cost.
So the ceiling and all the other stuff that needs to be fixed in this house have me thinking a lot about money, which I don't have a lot of. I mean, we're doing fine. But we have debt and other bills to pay. I teach part time at the university, and an adjunct's salary is, well, not good (I'm holding back several bad words here regarding how much adjuncts are paid at this university). My husband is a professor, but he's only in his second year, so his salary is commensurate. So we basically live paycheck to paycheck, and it's hard to put money away. We don't have $50k to spend on a house remodel (where do those people on HGTV get all that money to do those massive remodels, anyway)?
There must be millions of people out there who are in my position, who need or want to do things with their homes, but who have no money. There are things that NEED to be done in my house. The leak NEEDS to be taken care of. There are some issues in the basement, with some rotting studs behind the paneling. That NEEDS to be dealt with. And I'm afraid of it. And then there are the things I want to do, like rip out the entire kitchen and remodel it, rip out the carpet in the den, rip out the stone planter that gets no natural light, rip out the peach-colored bathtub and linoleum that's attached to the floor with staples in the upstairs bath... How do we all do these things without any money? Someone out there must have done it. Someone must be clever enough. If you've done it, let me know how you did it.
On a happier note, today Vivian is 2 1/2. The potty training experiment yesterday was successful, if you consider success to be some big puddles of pee on the floor and a few drops of pee in the potty. She has to be potty trained by September, when she starts preschool. That gives me about six months. If you've done that, let me know how you did it.
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I have no words of wisdom for you with the house remodel stuff, I'm just impressed by anyone who is willing to take that on. Hubby grew up in a house that was constantly requiring renovations so when the housing market was good, we built new and so far have had few issues (except for crummy windows we'd like to replace--but of course, have no money to do so.)
ReplyDeleteShe'll be potty trained by preschool, don't worry about that. Just try to be as laid back as possible about it. With my girls I found that if they felt any pressure they pushed back just as hard as to *not* succeed with potty learning.
Good luck!
According to my mother, I potty-trained myself. So while I guess I HAVE done that, I sure as heck can't remember how I did it.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend is currently starting a major apartment renovation/conversion, and while he DOES have money, he really, really hates spending it. So if I come up with any good ideas that will help you, I'll pass them on. So far, I've got a) find a perfectly good, old-model Ikea bed in your building's recycling room and sweet-talk an Ikea manager into finding hardware for it, and 2) make liberal use of craigslist and freecycle, both for picking up things and getting rid of crap that's just taking up space.
Okay, so I'm not all that helpful. But do check out freecycle.org if you haven't already - I think we're going to try to give away an entire bathroom, and you just never know what kind of stuff will show up on there for free, as long as you're willing to come get it.
(This is Beth from Civic, BTW...)
If it was not disclosed when you signed the lease/bought the house, you may be able to go back to the realtor and they may be liable for it. I know in IL, the three most magical words in real estate was 'Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure'. If you had to ask whether you should disclose something, the answer was yes!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have Restores in Ohio, but it is run by Habitat by Humanity and you can find amazing deals on home improvement materials. Since you are blessed with the vision to see past bad paint or hideous finishes and upholstery, you will love it! Check out the details at: http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore_detail.aspx?place=53
Sending positive home vibes to you :)
Jenne (from Des Plaines :) )
Beth!!!! How's Canadia? Cold, I bet! I'm not too far from you now, as the crow flies... we're in the Cleveland area. I'm a total Craigslist junkie. I'll post some pics of things I've gotten on C-list soon. Best find: two Dux chairs that usually sell for $500 each, for $20 each. I've furnished our whole dining and living room for under $500.
ReplyDeleteHey Jenne (from DP... goo 60016!). We do have a local ReStore. I'll go check it out again soon! Nice to hear from you.
ReplyDelete