Wednesday, April 29, 2009

It Comes In Threes

Have you ever heard the saying that bad news comes in threes? Well, I think we are now done with our bad news. Here is a rundown of April:

1. Worst flus of all time (Ben says we have already had Swine Flu- excuse me, the H1N1 Virus- and we should now be fine)

2. Bad french doors and damaged subfloors

3. Yesterday I accidentaly downloaded a virus on Ben's computer. He is not too happy with me right now....

We finally got an estimate on what it will cost to fix the door situation. We know we for sure need new French doors and new frame. We also know we need the contractor to lift the linoleum in our kitchen and replace some of the subfloor. We don't know how much. Because of that, we need to replace the entire kitchen floor because the linoleum will be destroyed. Since they have to redo the kitchen floor anyway, we thought we might as well get hardwood installed and have hardwood installed on our entire main floor- a project we want to do eventually anyway, so why not do it now when we have to do part of it anyway?

The answer of course is cost. We got our first estimate today. To do the entire floor exactly how we want it and never have to worry about it again will cost almost all of our savings. So, we would have the perfect floor, but virtually no savings. Bye, bye dreams of a mini-van (haha- as if anybody dreams of a mini-van, but the thought is we probably eventually would want one and we would like to be able to pay for it- another reason to stop having children with baby #2!). We can just put hardwood in the kitchen and dining room (the area where we want it most) and that would cost a little less then half our savings and then have the rest of the rooms done when we have money again. Or, Ben's brialliant plan: Get the door replaced and the floor fixed, and then just have them put a patch of linoleum where they pull it up. That wouldn't cost much money, but would cause great embarrassment everytime we had company over (Ben says we can put a rug on it).

I put a poll on the side so you can vote! What an exciting time (I say with great sarcasm- the apartment is looking better and better...).

I will post something fun about Audra later!

5 comments:

  1. Well. Best laid plans. Oh, and you never know - we didn't think we could afford a mini-van either, but oh well. Personally, I have two philosophies and both are right! First, if you're going to do something, do it the way you want, or just do a patch job. Second, I also would not use all of your savings, as we are a prime example, it just takes one bad thing to happen, and whoosh, it's all gone.

    So, my vote, do a patch job and throw a rug on it, and do it the way you want later. But, you've seen our house - pretty low standards, so myabe you shouldn't listen to me!

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  2. When it rains, it pours! I definitely wouldn't put your savings into it beyond what is necessary. I might have said "GO FOR IT!" last year, but now with the uncertainty of everything I would try to find some happy medium. No, I wouldn't do a lame patch work job, but doing the whole main level is over the top. I'm not sure if you know who Dave Ramsey is, but I recommed taking a listen. He's the best financial guy I've ever listened to. www.daveramsey.com

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  3. When I read the "patch linoleum", my face just magically grimaced. :) Just note that patching linoleum is not only ugly, but it's bound to curl up on the edges and cause you other unsightly problems. Sorry about the cost...yuck...but who wants a minivan anyway? Just get a larger sedan...a nice honda accord or something. Unless you do plan to do this whole baby-thing again. Apparently people with two girls are less likely to try for a boy than people with two boys trying for a girl. :)

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  4. Have you guys looked into pre-finished hardwood? If you bought a nice enough grade, it would probably look just as good and not cost as much. It would get you through at least 15-20 years and your taste may change by then. Just another suggestion.

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  5. I hate making these decisions! Ben now thinks he wants laminate instead of hardwood, but I MUCH prefer real hardwood- I just think it looks so much better. Luckily, we got another bid that was thousands of dollars less, and then a guy came today and said we didn't really need to change our doors, we could just replace the damaged wood and fix the seal and that would save us another 2 or 3 thousand. So, we now just have a lot of decisions to make. Unfortunately, Ben does still like the patch idea...

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