A New Journey Begins: Home Ownership

Home Improvement Initiatives

I have finally entered my homeowner era, and I was not prepared for how tiring it was, and how much money it would cost.

It has its’ upsides, like investing and putting money to work for you. Most families in America, their home is their largest asset. I hope this isn’t the case for my family as I am hoping my retirement accounts will be able to balloon higher and higher to support me after taking work out of my daily routine. Which is another topic because I sincerely feel like retiring would drive me crazy. I have to be in pursuit of something in my life. Hoping to find a new venture to put my energy into. Side note done.

I have been in the new home for two weeks now and it has been a LONG two weeks. Of course, it started by moving, which wasn’t terrible, but it rained, there were three flights of stairs, and moving is just always such a hassle. Each day, I would go to work for my eight-hour shift to come home to work more. Or it was a trip out to inspect something off of Facebook marketplace or it was putting together an item or fixing an item.

First it was a new bedroom set. We had been enjoying our queen bed set with matching furniture for two years now, but we decided to go to a king-size mattress which I still don’t agree with. Added expense for the same or worse experience. This opened a can of worms because we then had to buy matching furniture and scoured Facebook marketplace.

After sitting in our living room, it was apparent that our TV was too small as well. One trip to Walmart later and we had that issue fixed. It is all ready for football and the Bachelorette. At first the TV was almost rejected due to only having two HDMI ports but luckily it was finally accepted.

The house was DARK at nighttime, especially in the backyard. If there were intruders, they would be able to hide really easily. Some flood lights have been installed. Next will be two cameras attached to the house. We did have a peephole ring doorbell but there is no peephole in the new house, so we had to get a big enough drill and a large enough bit to drill a hole for our ring. There was also no privacy in the windows next to the door, you could see right in. Only a few dollars for a privacy screen. Which of course, had to look pretty.

We then found bugs all around. We sprayed and sprayed and sprayed some more, all along the openings to the house. Some openings needed to be sealed in the bathroom and windowsills around the house.

Now, it’s the backyard’s turn. This backyard had leaves all over it. Some grassy patches but it was mostly leaves and dirt. This was an all-day activity. I had to get a shovel, a rake, and a trash can to pile all the leaves to make it cleaner.

Halfway through the leaves issue, I went to the toilet and noticed it was leaking. Removed the toilet, replaced the wax ring and then connected the water again. This took a couple days as we waited to get a bigger wrench because we tightened the water valve too tightly in the wrong place.

The plan was to pick up all the leaves and acorns to get the lawn mower out but I wasn’t able to get the lawn mower out as it took until 8:30 in the evening just to rake everything, add flood lights, fix a toilet, bag up everything and move them in the garage to come back out for Friday pickup.

The next project for the outside is to set up pavers in the grassless patches. More money. More time. After that project wraps up, I don’t think many things are next. Maybe spruce up the front yard, plant some items in the back yard. Then it will be onto my wants. I am hoping to get my fishing equipment ready to go, a kayak, a paddleboard, and I want my bike back out from my parents’ storage.

Also, a dog is coming soon. In the next couple of months, he will be our first added wrinkle. Will he adjust well, will I be able to train him well? How does he act with others? He is an older dog. Loving but has some anxiety issues like me.

This journey is just beginning and having to buy more and more items but the happiness I feel after a long, hard day makes me extremely happy. I feel peace. I feel accomplished. I know I am working hard towards a goal that will help our family. I get to learn how to be a handyman too which is a good skill to have.