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[ScrapHappy]

I thought we could finally paint the interior of our home and install new window treatments.  It's been almost two years since our last home improvement project...saving and watching the money.  Started getting quotes and picking out what I like and then it happens....my husband's truck is on its last legs.  It's 12 years old and has 175,000 miles on it.  We were hoping to get 2 more years out of it.  This always happens, as soon as I start planning some type of project in my home, something breaks. 

[Kachina624]

Yes, that's the way things often happen for me too.  Can you go ahead and start the painting?  Paint isn't terribly expensive. 

[ScrapHappy]

@Kachina624 wrote:

Yes, that's the way things often happen for me too.  Can you go ahead and start the painting?  Paint isn't terribly expensive. 

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I wish I could, but I don't think so.  I want to paint the entire second floor, including ceilings, crown molding and wainscoting.  My ceiling are very high with inverted ceilings in some and it's just about 2000 square feet. 

[VaBelle35]

This happened to me as well.  It took 8 years to get to a place where everything was in it's new to mid-life and I had to get it done before something else came up to halt my plans.  It was like my house knew I was planning something.  LOL

Finger's crossed for you.  You will get there.

[Mominohio]

@ScrapHappy 

I so feel your pain, and I've been there repeatedly. 

I just think I can do something 'pretty' for my home, and something really necessary comes up (like a roof, a septic issue, a car etc.) and I compromise or simply forget the thing I wanted to do. 

This exact scenario came about this spring. I decided to stop putting off a kitchen remodel and the exact day I went to the contractor to start looking and getting a quote, the foundation leaked. In the following weeks, the car broke down three times, we decided we needed to get proactive about getting a roof before it was a problem, the washer broke and several other things. 

I'm not telling you you should do what I did, but I decided I wasn't going to wait. I am paying for what I can, and financing most of the kitchen. 

Something is always going to go wrong. I've put this off for 25 years, and it is one of those things that if I don't do it now, I won't ever get to enjoy it, and I might have trouble getting what my house is worth in selling in the future (because the kitchen was not just outdated but in really bad shape). 

We seem to be more successful at paying off things, than saving for them. If I create a debt, I buckle down and get it paid off, usually with no interest or very low interest, in a much shorter time than the terms of the financing calls for. 

IT works for us, but I know that isn't how a lot of people approach paying for things. 

I hope you find a way to still get at least part of what you want to get done. One of my sacrifices is that I really could use a new car. We bought it new in 2005, so it is going on 15 years old, and has over 200,000 miles on it. 

My kitchen remodel financing is about what a cheapo new car would run, and I am willing to forgo any new car until I pay off the kitchen, which I have planned to do in three years or less. 

Maybe you can kind of rob Peter to pay Paul, so to speak, and still get part or all of what you want to accomplish. 

Another part of my getting this done is I'm doing what work I can myself. I would have prefered to hire someone to pull the wallpaper down and paint, but I've done all that myself. I hate that kind of work, but I'm doing it to keep the cost down. I'm also paying for the things I can. I saved up and paid for the new sliding glass door, I'm paying for the paint and supplies as I go, I've saved up to pay cash for most of the flooring and the new trim work. So at least I"m paying for what I can as I go, and not just financing it all.