Thursday, July 9, 2015

Not Quite a Capsule, but Still Pretty Small: My Wardrobe

I’ve been reading a lot lately about capsule wardrobes. And I honestly have no idea why this idea even appeals to me, because I’m the type of person who when I have plans with a friend, I try and think of the last time I saw him or her, and then try to remember what I was wearing so I can be sure not to wear the same thing.

That said, I honestly don’t have that many clothes. I take up one side of a walk-in closet with my wardrobe. I counted my items one day, and while there were some things in the laundry, I came up with 116 pieces of clothing. If one was to do a Project 333 wardrobe, you’d end up with 132 items (right? That’s 33 items every 3 months? Or do you keep some items from season to season?) Of course, my number wasn’t counting shoes or jewelry. Anyway, my main point is that I have a medium sized wardrobe that over the two years I’ve really been trying to edit down to only the pieces that I truly love. I have all but stopped buying clothes in retail stores (aside from my recent “emergency” Target trip to get something to wear to a bachelorette party). The way I have been shopping lately is via a personal shopper through my favorite thrift store. My shopper knows my sizes and style, and picks things for me to try on at our session, which I have done four times now. I have gotten some incredible deals (a $425 purse for $40 that I adore and carry daily) and I now try to purchase higher end brands that last longer than my previous wardrobe of mostly Target and Old Navy stuff.

Still, I think my wardrobe could still be edited down more. At this point, I’m not really trying to save space because my clothes don’t take up that much space, and I’m not trying to save money, because I feel like I’m already doing that via thrifting. But I’d like a simpler morning routine. I’d like to get up and just select something and know it’s going to look good and fit well and match. I sometimes stand in my closet unsure of what to wear, and then get frustrated at the time and energy I’m wasting. I’m suffering from choice fatigue.


So, I have a few options. One is to create a smaller capsule wardrobe for each season with my existing clothing. I’ve thought it might be useful to reorganize my closet into sections for the seasons. I wouldn’t see the need to take out everything but the current season’s clothing when my clothes currently fit on my hanging bar. I’d be creating a storage problem when there isn’t one! But right now everything is all mixed up, and my cotton skirts are hanging next to sweater dresses, and that just doesn’t make a lot of sense. My other option is to just continue to edit things out until I only have items I truly love. Really, the best option is to do a bit of both. There is some chaff in my closet right now that could use separating, but the organization of the closet could also use some help. I might also go back to planning a week’s worth of outfits on Sunday night. The time I’d spend up front would save me a lot of time in the morning.

I will keep you updated (and maybe snap some photos of my current set up) and let you see how my closet evolves!

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

July Monthly Goals

Time to set my July monthly goals. I really want to make these happen, so I think I’ll set fewer this month.

*Declutter a cabinet in our bedroom. Turn it into a craft, art supply, computer cabinet. I want to be one of those people who always knows where the paper and string are. Right now we have some kid’s art stuff in the kitchen, sewing stuff in the master closet, and computer paper and CDs and such all over the place. I thought it would be nice to have one dedicated space to this kind of thing, and the cabinet that currently houses playing cards, pens, and a bunch of books from college seems like a good place.

*Remodel our bathroom! We had a contractor come out and take measurements, and we’re holding our breath waiting for the estimate to come back. In order to either sell or rent out our condo, we need to address the shower. It cannot be sold or rented in its current condition: there are tiles falling down, the shower base is so dirty and cannot get clean (believe me, I have tried). I’m excited we’re finally making steps toward making this happen.

*Declutter our garage. In the summer we don’t park in there because we can’t with the bike and bike trailer being down. But right now, I feel like we can barely walk in there.


*Continue simplifying and saying “no” as much as possible. That includes saying “no” to our kids sometimes when they want to get fast food for lunch or have ice cream after playing in the park.

June Goal Recap

Well, here it is, July 8, and I haven’t posted in a really long time! I’m going to update how June went and create my July goals.

* Automate our weekly daycare payment to go into savings instead. I will set up our bank account to withdraw the same amount weekly that we pay to daycare. If we stick to it, we’ll save a big chunk of change this summer!
We did awesome at this. Our weekly daycare payment is going into savings automatically, and I have barely noticed. We ended up purchasing a new computer in June because our laptop broke, and seeing as though I work from home one day per week and M works from home full-time, we needed to replace it. However, we paid cash and the daycare payment replenished our savings in no time, which felt fantastic!

* Find free and cheap things to put on our “summer bucket list.” One of my ideas is to visit every park in our school district. The kids love exploring new areas, and who knows, maybe one of these parks will become our new neighborhood next year!
We’ve been doing pretty well at this, but we could do better. Our problem tends to be we’ll be out doing something for free, and then we hit meal time and end up grabbing something out. A really fun beach trip ended up costing $50 in lunch the other day. We need to pack more picnics, or stay close enough to home that we can go home for lunch or dinner.

* Quiet our master bedroom. I didn’t do this last month, but I really want to focus on making our master bedroom a decluttered, minimal haven for us to relax.
Ugh, still working on this. I quieted the space somewhat by taking out all the tchotchkes and framed photos off the surfaces. But I want to take the next step and work on a cabinet that right now just holds a bunch of junk, and then make a few tweaks to make it cleaner, more minimal, and relaxing.

* Take care of the school’s community garden. One thing we adore about our neighborhood is my eldest’s school. We are participating in the community garden this year, and have signed up for a week in late June to be in charge. I look forward to digging in the dirt, enjoying fresh vegetables, and being part of the community.
We had our week of being in charge, and it was great! I enjoyed weeding and watering and having something to check on and dote on for the week. We’ve gotten a ton of lettuce from the garden, and last night I also picked some kale, a zucchini, and chives.

* Better anticipate “extras” in our budget, particularly presents and outings. We do have some wedding showers and birthday parties to attend in June, and I need to better incorporate these expenses into our budget. For some reason they always sneak up on me, and they really shouldn’t. I also want to make sure we are as frugal as possible when it comes to these expenses. For the wedding I am in in July, I plan to get my dress altered by someone I know who is extremely affordable, wear shoes I already have, and wear clothing I already have to all the other events instead of buying new outfits.
I did pretty well at this goal. For those events in June, I built the presents into the budget, and that really helped. It was nice that those things weren’t a “surprise” that threw us off track, but something that we had planned for. I tried on the shoes for the July wedding and none of them fit well (my feet have seriously gone up a size since having my kids!), but I scored a pair of better fitting shoes in the color the bride specified from a thrift store for only $3! I wore an outfit I already had to the shower and felt great. However, I could not find anything I liked for the bachelorette party, which was on a lake cruise and then out to bars. My wardrobe is heavily weighted toward professional work clothing and not so much on the girl’s night out clothing. I ended up driving to Target an hour before I had to leave and buying a new top there. Not a great moment for the budget or my simplification plan. However, I really like the top I purchased and will wear it again. And that moment has made me think a little bit more about the idea of creating a capsule wardrobe, which I will explore in a later post.

* Say “no” more. If it doesn’t fit into the budget, if it makes our schedule untenable, or it just doesn’t fit with our values of living a slower, simpler life, I will say no.
I think we did OK at this one. We both said no a couple of times last week when friends wanted to go out, but we already had plans on the books for later in the week. We tried to strike a balance between being with friends and spending money. I don’t think we totally accomplished it, because there were many days that were far too busy. But we tried to be more mindful of our schedule getting too overloaded.

* Dent the credit card debt. We saved a lot of money last month, but didn’t pay down any debt. My goal for this year is to do both simultaneously, so I have will make this a higher priority in June.

We did this a little bit. We paid a couple of small balances. I hope to do more later on, though.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

THINK

It's hard when you're feeling pretty good about something, and someone takes the wind out of your sails. It happened to me at work a couple of weeks ago, and then happened again in a situation relating to our home and social life. A friend is working with a contractor who has worked on our condo development, who told her some gossipy details and "horror stories" that made it seem like we need to move pronto. Honestly, I hated hearing it, because the way the condo board handles the shared spaces of the building is outside of my control. And it felt like an exaggeration too. I'm not burying my head in the sand; there are definitely some problems with the buildings, particularly one of them. But the building not being "promising" was just a weird thing for this person to say, and honestly, for my friend to relay to us.

I've heard an awesome saying recently that has totally influenced the way I deal with people. It says to stop and THINK: is this True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? And is it Kind? If  not, chances are, you probably shouldn't say it.

This guideline made me question a lot of the things I read online. I just don't get the same schadenfreude judgy pleasure from reading snark boards as I once did. Mostly they just seem kind of mean now, certainly not necessary or kind. And I'm having trouble gossiping with friends, or discussing work situations with coworkers now too. Am I just getting old? I just feel more empathetic these days to other people's situations, and am realizing that the way people live their lives must be right for them, even if I might make another choice.

I feel good about these changes in myself, but I admit that I still don't have a very thick skin myself when it comes to the judgment of others. I guess that's something I still need to work on.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

June Monthly Goals

June is always a time of readjustment for our family. We go from being a two working parent family to having M at home with the kids full-time. We don’t pay for daycare over the summer, which is fabulous, but we also have a big change in our schedule and routine. Because May was so busy, and our July is going to be extraordinarily busy with a wedding and a work conference back-to-back, I plan to make June all about rest, relaxation, and simplification. Here are our goals for June:

* Automate our weekly daycare payment to go into savings instead. I will set up our bank account to withdraw the same amount weekly that we pay to daycare. If we stick to it, we’ll save a big chunk of change this summer!

* Find free and cheap things to put on our “summer bucket list.” One of my ideas is to visit every park in our school district. The kids love exploring new areas, and who knows, maybe one of these parks will become our new neighborhood next year!

* Quiet our master bedroom. I didn’t do this last month, but I really want to focus on making our master bedroom a decluttered, minimal haven for us to relax.

* Take care of the school’s community garden. One thing we adore about our neighborhood is my eldest’s school. We are participating in the community garden this year, and have signed up for a week in late June to be in charge. I look forward to digging in the dirt, enjoying fresh vegetables, and being part of the community.

* Better anticipate “extras” in our budget, particularly presents and outings. We do have some wedding showers and birthday parties to attend in June, and I need to better incorporate these expenses into our budget. For some reason they always sneak up on me, and they really shouldn’t. I also want to make sure we are as frugal as possible when it comes to these expenses. For the wedding I am in in July, I plan to get my dress altered by someone I know who is extremely affordable, wear shoes I already have, and wear clothing I already have to all the other events instead of buying new outfits.

* Say “no” more. If it doesn’t fit into the budget, if it makes our schedule untenable, or it just doesn’t fit with our values of living a slower, simpler life, I will say no.


* Dent the credit card debt. We saved a lot of money last month, but didn’t pay down any debt. My goal for this year is to do both simultaneously, so I have will make this a higher priority in June. 

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

May Monthly Recap

I can’t believe May is already almost over! It has flown by, particularly because this time of year is so busy with birthdays, holidays, end-of-year school stuff, and work deadlines.

Each month I will go through how I did on the goals I set at the beginning of the month. If I don’t achieve a goal, I might move it to next month’s goals, which I will write about tomorrow.

My goals for May were:

* Up the amount we are saving monthly. I’ve already changed our automatic savings plan, and the first larger savings payment comes out today. Right now, we are 7.5% of the way to our down payment goal. It is NOT much. But I look forward to watching this number grow.

We did well with this one. By the end of the month we were 21% of the way to our goal, which is awesome! We made a lot more progress than I imagined we would. I upped the amount of money we were putting into savings bi-weekly, and we made a few large payments to the account as well.

* Stick to our budget and live within our means. This one is a bit vague, but this month, I am setting our goal to no eating out for the first two weeks of the month, and only eating out once per week after that until the end of May. I will also stay out of stores during lunch time by walking instead.

This goal was so-so. We only ate out once during the first two weeks in May, and generally cut back on eating out, but we also hosted three parties and had some birthdays, and didn’t budget very well for those expenses. Money was still tight at the end of each pay period.

* Talk to our condo association about the possibility of renting out our condo to family. They are very vague in the bylaws and the actions of the association on rentals. Basically, it is subject to approval. I want to know what our options will be next year. But I’m also really conflict adverse, and despite being on the board (I know!), I really don’t want to deal with the association. I might make M do this one.

We did not accomplish this goal. However, at our annual association meeting it became clear that at least one person is renting to family currently, and there have been others in the past. I think we have leverage, but we have not asked for approval yet.

* Look in to ways to earn extra income. M has a few freelance gigs going, and I am going to look into taking on a few writing jobs.

M has been freelancing still for extra cash, but I have not made any progress toward earning extra income.

* Declutter our master bedroom closet and “quiet” our master bedroom. I’ll go into this “quieting” business later, but basically as an early birthday present this year, I signed up and took the Nester’s Cozy Minimalist decorating course. I totally loved it, and we really made some nice changes to our living room as a result of the class. I loved it so much, I’m going to go through the same process with our master bedroom. I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that because we plan to move in “only” a year we shouldn’t work on our space. If we try to sell the condo, we will want it to be looking its best. And it’s always a good idea to pare things down before moving!

We started decluttering our master bedroom closet and under the bed. We haven’t done the official “quieting” yet, however. I just have been too busy right now.

* Host family and friends at our condo. In May we’ll be hosting a family dinner, my son’s 6th birthday party, and an informal gathering of friends for a BBQ. This one should be fun and easy to achieve!

We did this, and it was wonderful! We made a lot of great memories in May in the condo!


So, we did the best in the two goals that mattered most – we saved more money than expected for the house, and we had a great time living in the condo. I found this process really encouraging, and am looking forward to setting my goals for June!

Friday, May 22, 2015

Goal Update - 20%!

I'm back with another goal update. M got a bonus at work, and the entire thing went to the house fund. We're really motivated right now to save, and it's exciting. We've honestly never been this good at saving in our entire lives, and I'm kind of giddy over the change in us. Making it 20% of the way to our goal in the first month we tackled this project is pretty darned good! I don't think we'll be able to maintain this pace through the whole year (we'd reach our goal 6 months early if we could!), but because we won't be paying daycare over the summer, I think we'll be making a lot of progress now, and probably less in the fall and winter.

So, time to fill in more on our floor plan! I want to keep up my excitement and momentum, so I filled in the big living room space. I also filled in the laundry room, because I'm kind of sick of our cramped one in the condo.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Deep Breaths

Our best friends are buying a house. They were just like us - a family stuck in a townhouse that was underwater. They bought in 2005, and truthfully, a lot of the reason I rushed to buy was because they had. I was envious of their townhouse, particularly because from 2005-2006 we lived in a terrible apartment with horrible neighbors, and we wanted O-U-T. We saw our friends enjoying their brand new townhouse, picking out paint colors, buying new furniture, and we wanted that too. So as soon as we could, we went and bought a place. And in hindsight, maybe we didn't think hard enough about that decision.

Now they are no longer underwater, and so are putting their townhome on the market and just had an offer accepted on a big, single family home. I'm totally thrilled for them - I know they really want this and have worked really hard to get here. Of course, I'm envious again too. They're getting to do something that I desperately want.

This time, though, I need to keep my head about me. We need to buy when the time is right for us. And right now, it's not. But in a year, it will be.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I really want, and the truth is, I do really want a house. While the condo has been great for us before we had children, and when our children were small, we need a little bit more room to stretch our legs now. We had a fantastic party for my birthday last weekend, and all my friends gathered at our house for pizza and beer. One thing that was tricky was that the kids wanted to play outside, so we ended up with a couple of parents outside in the front of the condo building watching the kids play, while everyone else was upstairs hanging out. It was fine, but I kept thinking of how much easier it would be if we could just open up the door and be in the back yard. Shlepping up and down the stairs to go hang out outside is getting kind of old.

I am learning that it's OK to want a house but still be content in the condo. These two things are not mutually exclusive. And I can still want a house while working toward a more simplified, minimalist lifestyle. I've been so drawn lately to the minimalist movement because it aligns so well with the life we're leading in the condo, and I've consequently started second-guessing whether moving next year makes sense for us. But I think it does. We'll still be able to have a simplified lifestyle, even if we do move into a larger, single family home. Simplicity is more about living intentionally, not buying things just to keep up with others, not working around the clock just so you can buy more things, etc. If we keep our values at the forefront when it comes time to shop for a house and buy something modest that will fit our needs, at a price that fits our budget, I think we will still be living simply. In fact, I hope it will be a way for us live even more simply - by being able to garden, by giving us more space that we will be more inclined to stay home instead of going out, etc.

I struggle a lot with the green-eyed monster, I know. But it's unproductive, and I know this too. I am countering my envious feelings by reminding myself of all I have to be grateful for in my own life, with sincere feelings of happiness for my friends, and by using it as motivation to work all that much harder toward my own goal.

But, it's hard. Deep breaths.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Goal Update - 10%

We're now 12% of the way toward our goal. We can now fill in another area on our floor plan goal tracker. I decided to "buy" the office today because my poor husband needs an office that is inside the house.



I don't think I've mentioned that M set up an office in our condo's storage room, located around the corner from our unit. It is a windowless little room, but it's actually been a decent way for him to get a private office space. And he can close it off and not think about work when he's not working, so it has some advantages. However, sometimes, when he's working late, I go to bed and forget he will need to get back into the house, and lock him out. Like I did last weekend. I found him dozing in his office chair at 3 am. Poor guy.

Friday, May 15, 2015

Friday Randoms

Hello there! I have not written much lately because life has been so busy. In fact, I ended up letting the kids stay home from school and daycare yesterday because they just seemed so out of sorts and tired. We're doing too much, and so I am doing what I can to scale back, although part of it is just powering through this very busy season. Still, I'm learning to recognize where me and the kids need downtime. We need days where we don't leave the house, where we stay in our jammies, watch movies, make spaceships out of cardboard boxes, and go to bed early.

I signed up for The Bloom over at Slow Your Home, mostly because I was so rejuvenated by the Cozy Minimalism course from the Nester, and I wanted to continue to make positive progress in our home. Cozy Minimalism was focused more on decorating, whereas so far, The Bloom's mini courses are more about decluttering and simplifying, but I've so far really enjoyed both.

The other night I decluttered the medicine cabinet and our kitchen utensil drawer. I also organized the kid's stuffed animals (I wish we could declutter those, but S is very opposed to donating any. I need to work on him).

I also got a carpet cleaning machine for my birthday and it is the best present ever! I used it last night and it's fantastic. The carpet looks like it was professionally cleaned. One thing that really stresses me out about our home is our wall-to-wall carpeting. I wish we had hardwood floors, but we live on the second floor, and while I don't think it's prohibited, it wouldn't be the best choice for a family with two rambunctious boys. Having a machine to keep them looking fresher is really going to be a game-changer for me when it comes to my happiness at home, I think.

We're still plugging away at the house savings, while still enjoying things in the condo. S's friend birthday party was an amazing amount of fun, and we even took the kids outside and had part of the party in the condo's side yard. It was lovely. And today I was telling some people about an event at the nature center across the street, and they said, "wow, that sounds like you live in a really cool place." And yeah, I kind of do!

Friday, May 8, 2015

What Do I Really Want?

I think I should probably make the goal of this year-long project to blog as often as humanly possible instead of every day. Because I completely forgot to blog yesterday! And with a very busy weekend ahead (S's birthday and Mother's Day), I probably will not blog again until Monday.

In any event, I've been listening to Brooke McAlary's Slow Your Home podcast lately, and it really has me stewing on several things. Basically, I think I really need to evaluate what it is I really want. So much of my desire for a house comes from feelings of inadequacy for living in a condo. If I am honest with myself, I  want to keep up with the Joneses. I tell myself that that's not true... that I don't want a huge house, just a house. And that I want a house for a multitude of reasons, not just because everyone else has one. But when it comes down to it, I often find myself thinking, "Once I have a house, then I will be happy." When really, true happiness comes from within.

It's not that I plan to abandon my goal of buying a house next year. However, I do plan to spend a little more time exploring what I really hope to achieve, and make sure that I'm doing this for the right reasons, and not just to please or keep with others. I really want to work on my inner happiness and find contentment right where I am. I think that's an important part of the process toward moving on. If I can't find happiness here, then there's a good chance that the house really won't make me happy.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Dreaming

I know that at the end of this year of saving up to buy a single family house, I’m not going to be buying a “dream home.” That phrase conjures images of huge, palatial mansions with soaring ceilings, beautiful windows, high-end finishes, a chef’s kitchen, and a lush, landscaped yard. Because we’ve been “stuck” in the condo for as long we have, my dream is pretty practical. I just want a backyard and a door that opens into my own space instead of a shared hallway. I’m not shooting for the stars here, hah!

On the other hand, one thing I’ve learned from the condo is that investing in real estate is never a sure thing. Therefore, I plan to be WAY pickier than I was the first time. I want to find something that we’d be comfortable living in for the rest of our lives, if necessary.

So, what are we looking for in a house, besides the obvious “it being a house” qualities? Here are a few of the things on my wish list.

  • Lots of natural light. The condo is north facing and all the windows are on one side of the house. I want a cross breeze and some southern exposure.
  • A fireplace. The condo has one and we love it, and it would be hard to get through a cold Minnesota winter without that cozy feeling you get from having a fire in the fireplace.
  • A nice-sized backyard. It doesn’t have to be huge, but I want enough space for the kids to play, for us to grill, and to have a fire pit. I’d love for it to be fenced (although M does not care about this).
  • At least three bedrooms. I’m sure some day the kids would like their own rooms. And it would probably be good to have space for an office as well.
  • A basement. We go back and forth on this one, because basements kind of seem like a pain. On the other hand, our dream as 20-something newlyweds was to someday have a Pac-Man machine in our basement. And with two boys, having a basement seems like it will be key to keeping them and their friends happy when they become teens.
  • A comfortable layout, maybe a ranch? We kind of dig living all on one level in the condo. It’s been a pretty awesome setup for having little kids. It’s meant a lot less baby proofing (we’ve never owned a baby gate!) and the kids are always in earshot. And since we really do want to find something that we could live in forever, ranch houses are nice because of the lack of stairs. I would like something with a little more breathing room and airiness than the condo, though, and sometimes ranches can be a little narrow.
  • A big kitchen. The condo’s kitchen is awesome. I would hate to end up with something smaller, so I will definitely try to find a kitchen of comparable size.
  • Close to where we live now. We really adore our neighborhood, and it would be great if we could find a single family home near where we’re at now. My son’s elementary school is fantastic, and so is the nature center. Even if we can’t find something on the same block we currently live, we will definitely be looking in the same town and at the very least, the same school district.
  • A little space. We have a lot of amazing neighbors. But we are looking forward to a little more privacy someday. In particular, we would really like to not have to hear people cough or smell cigarette smoke when our windows are open.
  • Absolutely no HOA. God. Our Home Owners Association isn’t even that bad, but I still cannot wait to not have to deal with annual association meetings and all the crabbiness that comes with them. I would never, ever buy a house with an HOA again.
  • Hardwood floors. I am very sick of dealing with little kids and wall-to-wall carpet.
  • A 2-car garage. It’s not even that we need the space of a 2-car garage, necessarily, it’s just that parking in a 1-car garage with kids is useless.
  • A crab apple tree and a window seat. These are just two little dreams. I love flowering trees in the spring (I miss cherry blossoms from Northern California. They just smell like spring to me), and all my life I have wanted a window seat. My dream home might not come with these two things, but I hope to someday plant a little flowering tree that I can view from a cushy window seat. Ahh.
  • Not very big. While big, brand new homes with two-story entries can be beautiful, they just aren’t for me. I really would like something small and manageable, maybe around 1500 square feet. Our 1200 condo just feels a bit too small for our family, but the thought of doubling our space just seems like too much for us. We like to keep things simple and strive for a somewhat minimalist lifestyle. We’re nowhere near as minimalist as some, but I’d say we have less stuff than the average American. 



It’s interesting–there are many things on my list from the condo that I’d like to find again in a house. And there are several things that I’ve learned don’t quite work for me and I want to try something different. It makes me think that once we find the house that’s perfect for us, we’ll look back on our time in the condo as an important part of our journey.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Visual Goal Tracker

Someone once suggested to me (OK, it was my therapist) that I should find a way to visually track my goal of saving for a down payment on a house. She thought maybe a cute way to motivate us to keep going would be to figure out how much we wanted to save, and then tie that amount to a drawing of a floor plan of a house. Then we could get excited when we saved enough money for a bathroom, for example. I loved this idea, but I took it way too seriously by 1) trying to find and draw by hand the floor plan to an actual realistic house we might buy, and then 2) trying to do the math by square footage rather than just room by room. I gave up in frustration and forgot about the idea.

But since keeping this daily blog, I realized it might be fun to resurrect this idea, so I can keep track of my goal. I’ve been updating you with percentages, and we are 8.6% of the way there currently. I found an image of a floor plan, and there are 20 different spaces in this fictional house. Thus, each space will represent being 5% of the way toward our down payment. So look, we’ve saved for our porch!




I thought I’d “buy” that first since we’ve never had a porch. I think I will leave the yard for last, though, because it’s my biggest reason for wanting a single family home in the first place, and maybe that will be extra motivating.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Hosting in a Small Space

I wrote this post in 2011 about hosting in a small space, and while much of it is still true, as our family has grown, it's getting harder and harder to still make our condo work for family gatherings. Last night we had our son's family birthday party (the friend birthday party is this weekend). We cleaned the house, made dessert, prepped everything for the enchiladas, and about an hour before the party was about to start we brought out the old dining room table. When we turned the formal dining room into a playroom, we stored our larger dining room table under our bed with the legs off. For parties, we bring it out and set it up in the playroom, although we haven't done so in a really long time. Yesterday we dragged it out, set it up, and realized there was no way we were going to get 12 people around that table. So we brought the kitchen table out to the dining room as well, and ate at one huge long table. It worked out fine, but anytime anyone needed to get through to get seconds or use the restroom, people had to scoot in or get up. And then having those huge tables set up meant that we had to cram into the small living room for S to open presents.

Everything was fine, and our family seemed like they had a great time. S was so happy, opening his presents and blowing out the candles (with help from his little brother, of course). I absolutely would rather cram everyone into our tiny house than not host a party, for sure. Even when it's tight and cramped, it's usually cozy and homey at the same time. And there's something about looking back on old photos of our sons' parties and seeing how our spaces have evolved. If this really is our last year in the condo, then that might very well be S's last birthday party in the condo, which makes me feel a little nostalgic and sad. And at the same time, though, I recognize that these kids of mine only grow bigger and taller with each passing year. Our extended family has grown since we bought the condo, too, through marriages, and I'm sure someday my boys will have some cousins as well. So while we can always find a way to make it work and host parties in a small space, I do look forward to someday having more space to host our family and friends.

We'll see how birthday party part 2 works out this weekend! There are going to be an awful lot of kindergartners coming over!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Day 3 - Goal Update

We’re hosting a family dinner for my son’s 6th birthday later this evening, so today’s post will be brief. First off, how do I already have a 6-year-old? The time has flown by so quickly. It has me thinking about our time here at the condo. In a blink of an eye, we’ve been here 9 years. Part of the reason it has felt so quick, I’m sure, is because of having our sons. We’ve been half-heartedly toying with the idea of moving for the last three years or so. But the timing never seemed right. We had our second son, my husband spent some time unemployed, and we had several large expenses pop up such as major car repairs, car replacement, a new furnace, and a new water heater. Next thing we know, bam, it’s 3 years later and we haven’t made any real progress toward buying a single family home. 

Today we are 8.6% of the way toward our goal. We still have a long way to go, but it’s fun seeing the number go up! And it’s exciting to think that next year, we’ll host S’s 7th birthday in our new home.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Cozy Minimalism

Day 2

As an early birthday present, I signed up to take the Nester’s Cozy Minimalism course. It was the name that drew me in. “Cozy” has always been my favorite word. My family uses it a lot, and it’s my ultimate goal for my house. But over the last couple of years, trying to make living in a 2 bedroom condo with two kids work, I’ve really been drawn to minimalism. I loved the idea of being able to marry the two concepts, and during one of the first classes, Myquillan said something to the effect of, “Minimalism doesn’t have to be cold and modern, and cozy doesn’t have to be cluttered.” I loved that!

I decided to makeover our living room for the class. It’s just never felt quite right to me, and I wanted to make small, inexpensive changes.

Our first task was to “quiet” our room, meaning take everything out. When I first heard that, I thought, no, I don’t have time for that, I’ll skip that part and move on to the next assignment. But by the end of the webinar I was convinced it would help, and I’m glad I did. As soon as I took everything out, I felt a physical lightness in the room. Seeing it empty helped me identify the three biggest changes I would make to our room – I finally painted our entertainment center, I moved out our ottoman and made over our old oak coffee table, and I rehung the artwork in a gallery-like cluster.

Here is the entertainment center before. It has always bugged me so much. Like, I would try and watch TV and be distracted by all the clutter.



Here is the entertainment center after. It looks so much calmer and holds (almost) the same amount of stuff.



I painted the laminate using the same Dutch Boy Cabinet and Trim paint we have used throughout the condo to paint our cabinets, trim, doors, and fireplace. It seems like it will hold up decently well (it probably won’t be as durable as on real wood, but we only plan to keep this unit until we move). I also replaced the hardware (the old pulls were plastic), and got baskets for the bottom to hide all the wires. I think that change made a really big impact, because it helped give the unit more presence while also looking less cluttered.


The other two big changes were the artwork and the coffee table. Once the room was quieted, I realized two things – our old coffee table might look really nice in here, but it’s an ugly orangey oak. And two, our artwork is too spaced out and hung too high. Here is the before.


And here’s the after!


I added a couple of paintings to the artwork grouping that we had in other spots, and made one new painting (the small square). The coffee table is my favorite though. I used Polyshades in a darker walnut color (I believe it was called Royal Chestnut) to make over the top. And then I painted the legs turquoise (I used Devine Paints from Target in Pond). The best thing is, the table is so much more functional. The kids can spread out coloring, or snacks, or a board game, and we can hide remotes in the drawer. The ottoman moved to the playroom.


These were all pretty small changes. I’d say I spent about $70 overall for paint, stain, new hardware, and bins. The room feels cozier to us and much more functional for our family. I’m so thrilled with the process that I’m going to try the same method to spruce up our bedroom.


The main takeaway is that you can create more of an impact with larger pieces than lots of small clutter, and to try and remove everything from the room and bring back only what you love. For the bedroom, I’m planning to try and do it for free, since we’re trying to save all our extra money for a house. 

Friday, May 1, 2015

Project 365 - One year until buying a house

Day 1

I am back from another blogging hiatus (that was a year long.. how did that happen??), this time with a big project in mind. Things have been changing pretty dramatically in our local housing market. We’re very close to no longer being underwater on our condo. It’s taken us nine years to get to this point, and as you know, it’s been a roller coaster. I’ve fallen in and out and back in love with our condo more times than I can count. But as we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, something has hit me. We’re going to be leaving here someday, sooner rather than later it seems. In many ways, I am really excited and motivated, and in other ways I am uncertain and scared. This has been our home for almost ten years, and it’s been a great little home. It’s where we brought both of our boys home from the hospital, where we learned to become parents to these wonderful little guys. It’s where we’ve hosted parties, had struggles, played, made memories. And as much as I’ve moaned and groaned about being stuck here, and lamented the struggles of raising a family in a condo, I am going to miss these days… probably more than I’m even aware of.

It probably wouldn’t be completely impossible to buy a single family house now, but we are going to be in a better position next year. M and I have had many conversations over the last few weeks about our “plan,” and today, while on a sunny spring walk, I had an idea. What if I set a goal that exactly one year from today, on May 1, 2016, we will be preapproved for a mortgage and be shopping for our new home? And what if I blogged every day about this process – about saving up for a down payment, about readying our condo for its next inhabitants, about my excitement over this next chapter of our lives, and my sadness about the end of this chapter? It would be a neat way to not only motivate me to keep saving and keep getting ready to buy a house, but it would also be a good way to chronicle our last year in the condo.

So, I’m going to jump right in and get started!

They say that a goal is a dream with a deadline. My goal is to be preapproved to buy a house by May, 1, 2016. My other goal is to make the most of our last year in the condo, and practice gratitude. Experts say that the best way to achieve a goal is to set actionable, specific tasks. I think the best way to achieve my goal is to create a handful of smaller monthly goals. Here are the tasks I plan to achieve in the month of May:
  • Up the amount we are saving monthly. I’ve already changed our automatic savings plan, and the first larger savings payment comes out today. Right now, we are 7.5% of the way to our down payment goal. It is NOT much. But I look forward to watching this number grow.
  • Stick to our budget and live within our means. This one is a bit vague, but this month, I am setting our goal to no eating out for the first two weeks of the month, and only eating out once per week after that until the end of May. I will also stay out of stores during lunch time by walking instead.
  • Talk to our condo association about the possibility of renting out our condo to family. They are very vague in the bylaws and the actions of the association on rentals. Basically, it is subject to approval. I want to know what our options will be next year. But I’m also really conflict-adverse, and despite being on the board (I know!), I really don’t want to deal with the association. I might make M do this one.
  • Look into ways to earn extra income. M has a few freelance gigs going, and I am going to look into taking on a few writing jobs.
  • Declutter our master bedroom closet and “quiet” our master bedroom. I’ll go into this “quieting” business later, but basically as an early birthday present this year, I signed up and took the Nester’s Cozy Minimalist decorating course. I totally loved it, and we really made some nice changes to our living room as a result of the class. I loved it so much, I’m going to go through the same process with our master bedroom. I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that because we plan to move in “only” a year we shouldn’t work on our space. If we try to sell the condo, we will want it to be looking its best. And it’s always a good idea to pare things down before moving!
  • Host family and friends at our condo. In May we’ll be hosting a family dinner, my son’s 6th birthday party, and an informal gathering of friends for a BBQ. This one should be fun and easy to achieve!


I can’t even tell you how excited I am writing this all down and getting started on this project. It’s going to make a process that could be a little bit emotional and stressful a bit easier on me. Tomorrow I’ll share my progress so far and talk more about my decluttering plans.