Another lesson in being a full-fledged grown up: furnishing or upgrading your home is a LOT of money.
Now I remember why we've thus far relied on the kindness of others. I've literally gotten one of my best mattresses out of... a dumpster. Not kidding. Some people will understand this, others will go, ewwww! Ok, it was beside the dumpster, not in it. It was very good! It has been replaced since then with a $60 twin mattress from St. Vincent DePaul. The mattress Brandon is on is a futon from freecycle (www.freecycle.org). Ours we bought with our tax refund one year. Grace's we got from a friend and the bed off www.craigslist.com. I got Dave's mattress off freecycle, too, and it's the best one. Our couch is from a homeschooling friend. Our table is from a friend's grandparents. The dining room bench was $50 in a driveway last summer. The tv thingy is from a friend who was upgrading. The computer desk was $90 on craigslist. Our dressers are from friends, childhood, or the one I bought slightly damaged at Fred Meyer when we got married.
I am proud to say that I bought my laptop I'm typing on with my own money from Mother of Divine Grace, a school I correct papers for and Gabe is enrolled in as a correspondence school. I have my resources! And I've learned and am learning, some things need to be bought new. Shoes, for instance. Good ones. I bought a really good purse, too, because they kept breaking. This one was expensive, but worth it. A big leather purse from Franklin Covey! Another tax splurge.
Of course, taxes are coming up again and I have nearly got everything ready. We're using a CPA this year instead of HR Block because 1. HR Block screwed up, and 2. they know less than I do, I now realize. They just have a big book that I lack. One guy did know more than me, but he was the "fix other people's oopsies" guy, so I can't request him.
I'm looking forward to meeting a real CPA and making plans. We are (I hesitate to say) officially moving from survival mode to thriving mode. Thank God. We've been married over eight years, but things are really looking up.
With that said, the temptation is to upgrade. See? I came back to the subject. I started looking at nice looking queen bed frames on craigslist. They are about $300-$400. Francis was wondering where we could find one cheaper, and of course, I then showed him how much they are new! $1100 is the average price for what we thought looked nice. Reality check! We've never really been furniture shopping, can you tell? I had a really nice queen bed frame, but we moved to a place with a lot of stairs and gave it away because it was solid oak and we couldn't move it that far. Good thing, since we moved about five times more after that, but I wish I had it now. Yes, Mom, I know you are still mad I gave that away. I just had no choice that day.
Then we went to Home Depot yesterday. We wanted to get nice shades to block light in the bedroom windows. Price? About $700. Oh dear. Think I'll do savings and debt, then on the tax refund or my next MODG payment, I'll go get those. ARGH. We really do need shades, and if I'm going to do it, it has to be what I want and will be happy with, or I'll have wasted my money. ACK!
Now to shop for clothing. Also something I've never spent money on, and it shows. I'm using the book "Color Me Beautiful" to help me with that. It's a dated book but with good ideas...
Wow. Reality Bites.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
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Inexpensive bed frames: Ikea. Seriously. And this is the part where you rely on the kindness of friends: Find a friend who is willing to lend you a truck or van for the cost of gas and maybe a nice homemade dinner. Then drive it down to Seattle— they have an Ikea in Seattle— and buy what you need. Make sure you have rope in case of truck or open van doors. Pre-shop at the website, ikea.com.
ReplyDeleteAnd watch your budget. They have many nice things at Ikea, for many different tastes. And they design "backwards"— they set a price point before they make the item, then figure out how to make it for that cheap. It's good. (There are also good ideas at the Ikea Hacker site, where they use Ikea products in non-standard or unusual ways.)
As for clothes— hmm. I think you'd look good in a lot of neutrals that I don't, but the main thing is to get a friend with a good eye to go shopping with you and try things out. You might be surprised at what works and what doesn't. (The primary rule, one I find hard to follow because of my peculiar proportions, is that a short zipper on your jeans is slimming, while highwaters— "mommy jeans"— are the opposite.) I think, but I may be wrong, that an empire waist— which is just under your bust— would not work in your case. I haven't seen you for a while (and a baby!) so that may have changed.
And yes, I buy my shoes new— but I happen to know where the Skechers outlet store is, so my shoes are still generally pretty cheap.
Shades... I think there might be room for some creativity with those. try the HGTV site since they've got Design On a Dime and Decorating Cents; they may well have tackled a similar issue at some point and have an explanation up.
One last suggestion: try church festival auctions. I got our pillowtop luxurious mattress set for $325, which seems like a lot until you realize this is a $1000 set. And the store donates a set every year, so last year it went for $150!
You are so cool, Bernie!
ReplyDeleteI will check out Ikea hacker, but I already have a few ikea products, and longterm, I've not been that happy with them. I also get very, very frustrated putting them together. Right now, we found a pine log bed frame on craigslist for 200 and we're trying to meet them in Bellevue on Saturday. I think that will do. I'll take a look there for the shades. We have definitely borrowed vans and trucks, but now we have a van, so I think we're ok.
I think you're right about the clothes, and I have a friend I'm borrowing, but I have to wait til her relatives go home. She's got a great eye, and we plan to go to Kohl's. I think you're right, and I don't like the baby doll stuff at all. I've already been pregnant enough, I don't want to look like that again! :)
It's so fun to use all these connections to learn so much. Our kids are going to be way smarter than us!
:)
LOL, I'm there with you. We bought our microwave and our king mattress (necessary for cosleeping w/ twins, which is great for sleep months 0-4). I can't think of a single other piece of furniture we bought new - it's all gifts or second-hand.
ReplyDeleteWe've salvaged things next to dumpsters before, and had some things we threw out salvaged before - so I think it's pretty common. And honestly, most of the time the used things work as well or better than new. If they've lasted through one owner, they will probably last through another! You just sometimes miss out on that "shiny" phase - but with kids, it doesn't last too long anyways.
I hear you on upgrading. Since we're looking at buying a house, I have to keep giving myself reality checks on what we can afford beyond that. One upgrade at a time and all.
We should see about getting a CPA. My sister keeps offering to do our taxes, but I just don't feel comfortable with that. How did you find yours?
I found my CPA through Eileen, and I haven't met her yet, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm still trying to collect all my tax info into one folder and then I need to set up an appt. Thanks for reminding me!
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