Keep a reserve fund for expenses or unexpected repairs
Two months into owning our home we discovered that we had an infestation of termites in our detached garage. This was a $800 expense my wife and I were not expecting nor did we budget for. Luckily, we opened a joint savings account just for situations like this.
Complete projects before moving in
A month after moving in, we called a contractor to see what it would cost to resurface our wood floors. We wanted a professional to sand them down to their original beauty. We were told we’d need to move all of our furniture- basically move everything we just moved in, back out. We should have had the floors done before we moved. This is our biggest regret to date.
Leave some home projects to the professionals
Over the summer our guest bathroom shower faucet started to leak. I figured that since I’m a pretty handy guy, I would tackle the project myself. After watching a YouTube video for my specific shower faucet, I thought it would be an easy fix. I brought all the necessary gaskets and lubricants to service the fixture. Long story short, I ended up ripping out the shower faucet valve from the wall. We had to shut the water off to the second floor for two days. Both of our bathrooms are located on the second floor
which didn’t make my wife too happy. At this point, I had to call the professionals. A job that should have cost me $50 became an $800 job.
Do not feel obligated to furnish every room right away
Once we moved in, we felt obligated to furnish each of our rooms. We did not have a large budget for the furnishing so we bought budget tables and décor from Wayfair and Ikea. Some of the furniture we got was satisfactory quality but most of the stuff was just horrendously bad. Particle board, bad quality control, damaged goods, you name it. I can already tell a good portion of the furniture we purchased will need to be replaced within the next year. I wish we took our time and bought better quality pieces to begin with as it would have saved us money in the long run.
Learn how to turn off the water to the home
One thing I did correctly before my shower faucet project fiasco was shut off the water to the house. This was a saving grace. If I didn’t shut the water off to the home, I would have had water gushing out of the faucet valve that I ripped out. I would have had water damage to the lower levels of the house. It is imperative to know how to shut off the water to the house in case of an emergency. There is usually a value somewhere in the basement- make sure you know where it is!