Skip to main content

Buckling Down

So we're getting close to finally being done our renos. Yes there are still 2 bedrooms (the office and the craft/beer room) but everywhere else is pretty close. Maybe a couple finishing touches for most other places.

This has got us thinking about what we want to do next. The idea of paying down our mortgage has come up as quite appealing to us. Maybe a bit boring but kind of one of those short-term pain for long-term gain kind of things. So we were running some numbers over the weekend as our mortgage is up for renewal in a couple months. We're thinking of making a better effort to pay it down. The first year we had the house we were able to put a bunch of extra money on it but then the renovations began in earnest - and the expensive projects involved! Then keeping our sanity with time away and going to weddings of friends, and the visit back to Canada... it all adds up to not putting extra money on the house.

Neither of us have ever held debt that wasn't to our parents (teenage vehicle purchases) and even though we've gotten more than comfortable with holding a six-figure debt, it's still not something we want to keep for our lifetime.

The initial plan when we bought was to update the house, sell and then build new. But the original timeline was like 2 years!! We were not even halfway done at the two year mark and here we are at the 3.5 year mark and still not through everything. It's crazy how the time whips along.

Last week I got to wondering, how much would a new house be, one that's brand new but already built or something quite new. It was pretty interesting looking at listings because everything (even the super nice new stuff) still didn't compare to what we have now. I think our yard is a big part of that but also things like layout and colours inside the houses, we would have to put up with layout and get a new house painted (which just sounds silly.) So, we've been talking more about replacing the windows and sticking around here for a while longer yet.

It will be interesting to see where we are with this train of thought in a year. We really like our place, especially with the updates we've done and those that are still to come! I guess it proves that you can't predict how your life will go!!

Here is a picture of Porter getting himself stuck under a blanket. He got out. Phew.

Comments

  1. I know that I really don't have a place to add any input but I love your house and yard. I found it very versatile and peaceful as well. I truly enjoyed my time at your place and would love to have the backyard that you have. I can't wait to visit there again.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Most Read Posts

Taranaki Rugby!

Some photos from the game on Saturday afternoon. The wind caused a few wayward kicks and the torrential downpour mid-game made the ball slip all over the place but then the sun came out and Taranaki won! They were playing Canterbury who are now behind them by one place in the rankings. We had fun and managed to walk there and back without catching any of the rain. The steam-breathing drivable mascot I don't think the photo does justice to just how much it was raining! Line out Go the 'Naki! (They are the yellow and black team.)

Not for the squeamish

Well the long hours of work and planning and helping friends demo sheds and paper shuffling and biking and cooking and eating and cleaning have caught up with us and Dustin has relinquished his right to tell his story from last week. **Note, the pictures are gross so beware if you are a little faint seeing blood... So, last Friday I had worked the early shift and was back at home on a call with a virtual assisting client, so naturally my mobile was on silent, and as soon as I hung up, the home phone rang. (This is a phone that only people who have had a part in giving birth to one of us tend to use... that and wrong numbers, we get a surprising number of wrong numbers...) Anyways when Dustin's voice was on the other end the confusion began. "Hi, I'm at the hospital. Come here now." "What happened??" "I'm fine. Just come up here." (Wheels spinning in my head...) "Are you sure? I think it will take me too long to bike because I

Whitecliffs Walkway

About 15,000 people attended the fireworks Early in the evening Our walk at Whitecliffs Walkwa Strongest man competition contender We climbed up this rock