Home Ownership

So, I think I'm just beginning to figure out all the actual financial responsibilities of home ownership. After making a 10% down payment and writing a check for the closing costs not paid by the builder, I thought my money-spending was over until the first mortgage payment came due. Boy was I wrong.


First came the window blinds. Mind you, I have 13 windows in my 1600 square-foot house. That's a whole lot of windows and 5 of them in my master bedroom/bath alone. With construction workers on site just across the street those blinds were very necessary.


Next was the water softener. I could have had the builder put one in but it was triple what I ended up paying. Even still, it was an expense -- one that I thought I could delay a little but my skin started screaming after washing only one sink of dishes.


I thought I was well prepared with everything I needed in the kitchen. I have literally been buying and storing things away for nearly 10 years. However, when I suggested we heat up a can of soup for dinner the night I moved in, Dave asked if I had a can opener. No! Can you believe I forgot something so simple and important?!


Then I have also had to buy groceries. I never realized how much I took my mother's well-stocked kitchen for granted.


And my list of small incidental things needed continues to grow...TV cable, clothes hooks, nails to hang pictures and a hammer to pound them in the walls, scrub brush for dishes, stamps and envelopes, etc, etc, etc. Not to mention the larger purchases I'm dreaming about...coordinated bedroom furniture, rugs and accent pillows, coffee table and entertainment center, garage storage units, patio furniture, backyard makeover, etc, etc, etc.