Initial House Cost

New house poor- Being broke after purchasing a new house.

We closed on our new house December 31, 2013. It was a goal of mine for the past 10 years and I was so proud of me and my husband. We purchased a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2313 square foot house for $163,000. It was a previous foreclosed home and had some minor issues that needed correcting and missing items that needed purchasing upon closing.

Our first required purchase was new locks. Since this was a HUD home and all HUD homes have the same key we were required to change the locks moments after closing. We considered changing the locks but found it would be cheaper to have the locks re-keyed and 4 keys made. $149 an hour after closing.

The next purchase was a vent and appliances. The dishwasher was broken and the kitchen was missing a stove and vent. We owned a stove but decided to trade that stove for prorated rent for the extra week we stayed in our rental home. It was a 15 year old stove and not in the best condition. Lowes was having a 15% off appliance sale plus an additional 5% off if used our Lowes credit card. We decided to buy a used white fridge from a friend for $300 instead of spend close to $2,000 on a new fridge. On the other appliance we decide to buy new. We felt with the savings compared to use we wouldn't be making a wise long term purchase. My goal for purchasing items for this house is to think long term vs temporary. If I can make a quality long term wisely is my goal without breaking the break.

We purchased a microwave vent, stove/oven, and dishwasher. After saving we spent $1,665.34 for the 3 items.

The house was also missing the ggarage door opener- $162.75.  We use the garage door opener as the primary entrance to our office. Especially for the kids after school.

Garage shelves. Going from a 3 car garage to a 2 car garage was going to be a challenge for us. Anybody who knows our garage knows that we have a messy garage! We were going to have to fit all that stuff into a smaller garage. Our solution was to purchase 4 gorilla shelves and plywood out the attic for storage. The shelves for the garage totaled $300.39 and the attic consisted of 5 sheets of plywood and attic stair totaled $247.00

We added an outside flood light out back. $50 from Home Depot.

Mini blinds. 6 of the windows were missing mini blinds. $159.42.

Linc pees on the carpet. We invested in a carpet cleaner. I'm refusing to let things settle and the carpet in this house to get damaged. $182.

Fire alarms. 5 alarms were missing. $50 (I believe)

Piping under the kitchen sink- $60

And I would guess approx $300 of odds and ends.

I've currently the Foursquare mayor of 2 Lowes in this town. I feel like we go there every weekend or multiple times a week.

And this is how a family becomes new house poor!

So what's next: We have a few items that we need to address from the inspection. Specifically Ethan's shower. Cost to repair approx $150. After that we are saving to pay off some debts. We have some debts that we want to pay off before this summer. We are going to put everything else from the house on hold until these debts are settled. Fixed emergency items only and save save save. After the debts are taken care of focus on the dock this summer. I would like to have it in by end summer. I think that is a more reasonable time frame.