Why?

I just want to know why do I come up with all kinds of absolutely fabulous and "do-able" remodeling ideas for my home, when we can't do a single one because of our budget? I find that very curious. Usually I am stuck with some kind of design brain freeze, but today.... in my mind I completely redid two upstairs bedrooms relocating walls, doors, and closets, and remodeled my entire kitchen. Now what is up with that???

Too bad we are on Baby Step 2 of the Dave Ramsey Plan and paying off all our debt(except the house). We'll be starting Baby Step 3 hopefully this summer. That step involves having an Emergency fund of 3-6 months salary saved should we lose a job or something. I know I will be thankful when all this is done, and we actually have a cushion to fall back on and our debt is gone. It's just hard now. I guess I'll just draw up the ideas and keep working on them. They'll be ready for us when we have the cash in hand. :-)

Budget Cuts

I posted below that I know I can do our remodelilng on a budget. However, my budget just got smaller. Way smaller......

My husband and I started reading through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I have read many of his concepts before, but we have never read the book together. We have never been on the same page together. So, this is a good thing.... and a bad thing. Good because I want us to be on the same page with our finances and to both be on board. The bad thing is that we are going to have to take a good look at our budget and make some cuts. The one thing we agree on is that no remodeling happens unless we have the money up front. Period. So, the bathroom that I want to re-do (even frugally) will have to wait until we have about $700 to replace all the fixtures and shower. (This should be interesting!)

So, for now I am focused on cleaning out and organizing to make our house seem more put together. We already did the garage, and while it isn't organized the way I would like with all the clutter behind closed doors, it is better. At least we aren't tripping over an obstacle course to get around everything! Plus we can park dh's car in there and work on it until we are ready to sell it......Here are before and after shots.

BEFORE

AFTER

I know it's hard to tell between the before and after pictures, but trust me.... it does look a whole lot better! And we got rid of a ton of stuff! One big contractor bag full! There is more to "go", and I eventually would like to see a work bench of some type for dh.... but for now this will be okay. The next thing is the attic. It is a war zone up there... and I want it to look spacious! I DO wish we had more storage in this house. The attic is not one of my favorite places to store things. I know it's not economical and it's why we don't do it....but a storage building that is climate controlled would be awesome! Especially for the things we save should we ever have room in another home. Plus it would be great to get rid of all the clutter!

So today is cleaning out the attic day. I hope we get a ton accomplished and that everything feels more organized, like we did after the garage transformation.