Doing my part to support the economy...(and my dad is my hero) [vecturist]

Aside from my frustration with the IRS (and fraudulent porn charges), I've done some major spending in the past couple weeks. First I ordered new countertops and then yesterday I had a plumber come out and install my new bathroom faucets. They're so shiny! The bill was a little more than I expected, but a couple pipes needed to be replaced, and better to spend the money no than deal with a leak later. I knew the company I hired was a little on the expensive side, but they also service my a/c unit (a necessity here in AZ), the guys are always polite and on time, and as a bonus my parents go to church with the owner, so if there's a problem, it will get handled quickly.

Today my dad and I borrowed my mom's station wagon and headed over to IKEA where I bought a dozen cabinets, a new dishwasher, and a new fan for the stove. IKEA was running a special where if you bought a certain amount of cabinets (and/or related items) and two appliances, you got 10% back on a gift card. I still have a few things to buy, like a sink, faucet, knobs, so the gift card will be used for some of that. It took four trips to haul everything back to my house (my workout for the day) - luckily I live about four miles away. Of course the catch with IKEA is that you have to assemble everything yourself - so cue Dad. He's agreed to do the work and he's a perfectionist.

I'm just a little scared to check the balance on my Amex right now. I know I have the money set aside, but still.

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Whoa! Major spending. Help out that economy =)
I still don't have my replacment card, so I can live through your spending.

I love Ikea. Friends of mine who watched Fight Club one too many times now are sour on the store, but I love it. Where else can you get 100 tea lights for $5.00?

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My brother used to make fun of IKEA too until he got his first apartment and discovered they're really handy when you're first starting out - especially their kitchen section for things like glasses and plates. There are a couple things I wouldn't buy there (like sofas), but I think the quality has gone up the last couple of years, and it helps if you have someone good assembling things.

Hopefully you get a replacement card soon! I will admit I've cut back on most of my other spending though...

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Yay for shiny new things! \o/

Your dad sounds like my dad. They're handy to have around. ;)

I'll post pictures.

My dad has always been handy - he used to make a lot of the furniture in the house when he and my mom first married. Now that he's mostly retired he's spent the last couple years volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, so he's definitely got some useful skills. I also think dads have a certain obligation to their daughters as far as doing things around the house, at least until we're married, although I'm not a complete slough - I knew more than my last boyfriend.

Ooooh, kitchen stuff, kitchen stuff! You just reminded me that I need a new countertop (and everything else, but a countertop will do). You just go out there and spend, spend, spend--if you an afford it. It's spending on things that you don't have funds set aside for that gets you into trouble.

Well my house is about 25 years old and I think the countertops are original. It's time for them to go - for starters, they're powder blue. There are stains and the seams are starting to separate. The cabinets are oak and would be ok if a previous owner hadn't stained them badly and used the wrong kind of stain. It's peeling in a few places, but there's no way to easily remove it without a lot of effort. It's also too uneven to paint.

I was originally going to replace the laminate with more laminate, but they didn't have a pre-done piece for the breakfast bar, so I'd have to get a custom made piece which was almost as much as corian. Then home depot dropped the price of corian and started offering a couple deal with even more off...

I knew when I bought the house I'd have to fix some things. It does hurt a little with slumping house values, but I know I'll enjoy the results and they may help sell the house, even if I don't get the entire cost back.

Before I started all this, I made up a list of what I wanted to do and what I thought it would cost, which has been helpful. A few things have been dropped because they're not practical - like replacing the vanity in my bathroom (cultured marble), it's getting re-caulked, and I put in new faucets. The cabinets will get new pulls (recycled from the current ones in the kitchen) and the wood will get oiled, so it looks much better. I think the main shock of spending money is that a lot of the big-ticket expenditures are all at once (like cabinets and countertops).

Edited Date: 2008-05-01 09:12 pm (UTC)

All reasonable updates (as opposed to a former neighbor of mine, who re-did her recently re-done kitchen because she wanted cherry cabinets instead of oak, granite countertops instead of Corian, etc.).

Although the housing market isn't hot like a potato, investing in your home is always a good idea, especially if you go for practical things like updating the kitchen and fixing up the bathroom. And, as you said, your enjoyment of the changes is well worth the expense. You have to live there, after all!

vecturist

Doing my part to support the economy...(and my dad is my hero)

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February