Surprising Home Expenses
This year we're working to build up our savings, again. Since we closed on our home at the beginning of November our accounts have felt like they've been hemorrhaging money. As any homeowner will tell you: there are a lot of expenses. You really just get used to people asking you for money. There have been some expenses that completely baffle me, though. I mean, there are some seriously surprising home expenses that I hadn't thought of prior to buying.
Surprising Home Expenses
Home Depot
The first baffling expense I noticed was from Home Improvement Stores. For the first month and a half, we frequented Home Depot daily. Sometimes we went 3, 4, FIVE times in a single day. Every time we turned around we needed something for the house: lightbulbs, a ladder, faucet winterizers, paint (oh the paint!!), a new sprinkler head. You name it, we bought it... which is puzzling because this house was move in ready.We actually asked for Home Depot gift cards for Christmas. Thrilling? Not really, but completely practical.
Costco
Another baffling home expense to me? Costco. Lord have mercy on my soul. How we ever functioned without 20 boxes of Kleenex or an industrial size carton of Jelly Belly jelly beans, I do not know. We joined Costco to save money, hilariously. Since then we've purchased a shop light, an outdoor heater, a TV stand, 6 bottles of whiskey, a Philips Sonicare Toothbrush TWIN PACK, a dog bed that I actually spent a night in, a memory foam sleeper sofa for our game room, and a 100 pound ceramic flower pot. That's not to mention the groceries and other consumables we've purchased, which may or may not have included five pounds of Mahi Mahi, 24 razor blades, and eight pounds of butter.Don't worry though - we have the executive membership, so we get 2% back on all purchases. Excuse me while I go collect change for my $1.50 hotdog and soda fountain lunch.
Furniture
Furniture was yet another surprising home expense. Everyone knows that you need furniture when you move into a new home... especially a new home over double the size of your last. We knew we'd need some furniture, but we really had everything we had to have: our bedroom suit, a new couch, a queen guest bed and dresser, dining room furniture, a TV, various tables and chests, a couple of random sitting chairs.We had plans for each room and we thought over the course of the next year we'd get everything we needed. Ha! How naive I was. We quickly noticed that we had so much space that we weren't able to utilize. We had 2 living areas pretty much bare and the twin mattresses for the second guest room were stacked on top of one another.After Christmas we caught a Pottery Barn sale and outfitted our sitting room (more on that to come!). Then we caught the big Costco furniture sale and picked up a sofa bed for the loft. And then there was the daybed with trundle from Wayfair... and then another table from Pottery Barn. Sheesh. Take my money.
The Most Baffling Home Expense
But the most baffling household expense of them all? Physical labor. I have worked since moving in, y'all. I have scrubbed, and tidied, and organized, and poop scooped. I have pushed and shoved too many articles up (and down) the stairs to count. I have put up and taken down Christmas lights and broken my ribs reaching for the bottom in our too-tall washing machine.Owning a home has kept me on my feet! And honestly, I kind of love it.
Is Owning a Home Worth it?
There are so many unexpected and baffling expenses that have come from buying our first home. There have been a lot of adjustments and a few mini heart attacks, but I am so thankful to be in this home. Sleeping under our own roof gives me such joy. I've noticed that even the difficult things are taken in stride because they're in our home. Are you a homeowner? What baffling expenses have you found? Please tell me I'm not the only one to drop a fortune at Home Depot, Costco, and furniture stores. I need to know this for my sanity.
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