Home Improvement Budgeting

So, I was reading this post over at Teal & Lime that talked about budgeting and spending money on home improvements. It summed up exactly how I feel every time I spend a little bit of money on our home. For example, I have had my eye on this bench from Target, yes, Target. Not Ethan Allen or Raymour - Target. At full price it's not expensive but it's still more than I feel comfortable spending. In the grand scheme of things, the price isn't so bad (especially since I never buy anything at full price, waiting for a sale is always the way to go!) With all that being said, I have been looking at this bench for months. It has gone on sale, gone off sale, been back ordered, back in stock, and there was even a point where I thought it was going to be discontinued. I never pulled the trigger. Why? Because spending any kind of money for a piece of furniture that we don't need is really hard to justify.

H and I are BIG budget people. We have pretty much every dollar of what we earn designated for a specific category like the mortgage, cable, food, car payment, etc. We know where our money goes every month which is why I know we are ahead of the game. It took us a while to get there but we finally have a budget and we are sticking to it. We also have a "home improvement" budget that we try to keep to. That includes random trips to Lowes and we never walk out of there spending less than $100. I don't know how they do it, but they seriously suck the money right out of my wallet! I'm getting off track here. What I am trying to express is that Teal & Lime really made me realize that it's OK to spend a little money on our home.

If you want to read the full post check it out here. I highly recommend reading it, and the other posts on this blog too! But one thing I want to highlight from this post was that we spend so much money yearly on random things like haircuts, gym memberships, car payments, you name it. We invest in ourselves so why don't we invest in our house? Now, I'm not talking frivolous spending, I'm talking significant purchases that will make a difference in our home and our everyday life.

This is how I justify spending a little bit of money on the place I call home. Try to ask yourself these few questions next time you are shopping for your home:

• Is it going to make an otherwise unusable space usable?
• Is it something I have had my eye on for a while now and is finally on sale to a point that I can justify spending that amount of money on that particular item?
• Is it the one piece that will tie everything together? (we all know how difficult that is to find)
• Does it fit into my budget?

That last one is the kicker! Like I said, H and I have a set budget for what we feel we are comfortable spending in a given month on our home, but that doesn't mean we don't ever make a bigger purchase. We just try to plan ahead for it. So maybe I won't buy anything for a few months and then I will have enough to purchase that piece of furniture that I have had my eye on but was too pricey to begin with. I still ask myself those other questions to see if it is truly worth my hard earned money but it helps to know that we can afford it and aren't breaking the bank just to get our house in order. 

It is still tough for me to pull the trigger on certain things (like that Target bench), but budgeting really does help. Now, I could do a whole series on budgeting because it really is a beast on it's own but that is another story for another day. Decorating your home on a budget can be a daunting task. It's so overwhelming with the "but it's so expensive" or "I want to do it right, so I am going to just wait" or "why start at all if we can't afford to finish it". People, it doesn't have to be that way! If you budget home improvements into your monthly expenses and use that money for your home, then before you know it, your house will start to take form. And you will be happier for it, trust me! 

Happy Friday!

JP

It's My Blogiversary!

It's been one year! One whole year of blogging! I can't believe how fast the time flies. This year was a great year for us. We got so much done in the house and managed to keep our sanity (and some money in our pockets). Looking back, I now remember why I started this blog - to have an outlet for everyday life. I also wanted to write about our home progress in hopes it would be a way to hold myself accountable for continuing to do stuff around the house. It is so easy to put things off and then before you know it, BAM, a year has gone by and nothing has gotten done. The opposite is also true though, that if you move too fast you could make bad decisions or wind up spending more than you needed to. For us, I think we have found a happy medium (that leans towards the quicker-paced side) and it works for us. Everyone is different.

Moving into a new construction home has also allowed us to start with a blank canvas, but this, like everything else, has its ups and downs. We have done some smaller projects and some bigger ones this year, always inching closer to the final product. Seriously though, who am I kidding? It will never be "finished". Having a home is like having a never ending to-do list. Slowly, but surely, it will get there. One project at a time. H and I are just enjoying the ride. Annnd cookin' up some good eats in the mean time : )

So here is a list of my top five posts from this first year of blogging. Enjoy!

1. Life Under Construction - This is where is all started. Building our house from the bottom up was a great experience. It was so exciting to see the progress each week as we inched closer to home ownership. 
2. First Year in Review - I have a sweet spot for this post, mainly because of my love for lists. Though I have only been blogging for a year, H and I have been in the house for almost two now so we were doing projects before The JP Project even got started. It was so great to see everything we accomplished in the first year of owning our home and was a great way to see just how far we have come.
3. Our Crowning Achievement - In this post H and I (mainly H) tackled a huge project in our home, the living room. H had to have surround sound and I had to have character. The solution - crown molding : ) This was our first attempt and we really learned a lot through the process so next time it will hopefully run a little smoother.
4. The Final CrossFit Friday - I chose this post because I am so very proud of H and I for accomplishing this goal. We had been wanting to try CrossFit for a while and in this post I talked about how we made it through the into-classes and graduated onto the real deal. I seriously need to write an update one of these days because we are still at it and working harder than ever!
5. Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies - I couldn't have a Top Five without my all time favorite cookies! These are seriously the best. Stop reading my blog and just go make them. Like now ; )

Well, there you have it. Five of my favorite posts from this first year of blogging. It was really hard to narrow it down but I think these are a few good stand-out posts. If you enjoyed reading them I hope you continue to follow me here at The JP Project. This next year is already shaping up to be one of the best yet!

Thanks everyone for reading and supporting my blog!
JP