Mikey D

Well I can't say we weren't warned. Real estate experts, home shows on television, home inspectors- everyone involved in the home buying/maintenance process- they all say it: Be prepared for unexpected costs to arise when you become a homeowner.

And Grace and I, financially at least, have been prepared. But I tell you what, it fucking sucks having to dole out money for this and that, even if it improves the quality of our home. Seven months into home ownership, I'm already sick and tired of it.

This past Friday morning our refrigerator started making a weird clunking sound. It wasn't that bad at first, but now it sounds like there is a gnome hiding in our fridge and he's taking a jackhammer to it. Just an annoying and awful sound. The fridge itself is about 10 years old- not the newest model out there, but not the oldest, either. We had a guy come out and look at it on Saturday morning (he spent five minutes looking at it- and I was out $7o, sheesh), and right away he knew the compressor was about to die. The compressor happens to be one of the most important parts of a refrigerator and costs upwards of $600 to replace. Many people with older fridges that have bad compressors ultimately end up just buying a new refrigerator altogether because of the high cost.

Grace and I have been planning a kitchen renovation in the near future, and that included getting a new refrigerator. But by near future we were not thinking about over the weekend. With our compressor dying (the repairman gave our fridge two weeks to live...sniffle sniffle), our hand was kind of forced. We were able to find a nice fridge for a $1000, but it wasn't the kind we had in mind. We've had our eyes on a bottom-drawer freezer refrigerator, but with the extremely small size of our galley kitchen, none of those more modern-type models would fit. So we had to settle for the usual top freezer unit. Paying a $1000 and having to settle is not something that sits easy with me.

So I've been thinking about some of the costs Grace and I have incurred since moving into our home. Obviously with Obama's credit we were able to purchase some things (some furniture for our basement, a new energy efficient washer and dryer, oven, bookcase, and paint for our whole house), but since we've gotten that money, here's a list of other things we've thrown down for that I wasn't anticipating when we first moved in:

-Lighting for our dining room.
-Money for our escrow account (apparently our lender wanted us to have more in it).
-Columbia Association dues (apparently we have to pay to live where we do- not county taxes or state taxes...or HOA...just to be living where we do- and where we live is nothing special).
-Carpenter ant removal in the basement.
-New refrigerator.

That's about $2500 worth of extra stuff in seven months. Throw in all the little things you get when you move- from picture frames to curtains to doormats- and it starts to add up!

But that's what you get when you buy a house. We were warned, and "they" were right. But I tell you, I am getting a little tired of spending money! Ah well, at least we're not like Tom Hanks in the "Money Pit". And it is all for making our house a better place to live.

At least that's what I'm telling myself as I write another check.

~Mikey D