This is the entrance to the place, it looks fine when you haven't moved your things in. What you don't see is that there is a wall to the left making this entrance extremely narrow. The lack of counter space makes it a hassle to cook. We probably only made two meals the entire time we've been here. And the brand new oven stayed a virgin.
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To the left of the "kitchen" is this space. Don't be fooled, it's smaller than a compact parking spot. You have to be an extreme minimalist to live here. For a family of three, it just doesn't work. At $1200 (includes utilities), we thought it was a good deal considering the apartments that we looked at cost $300 more and do not include utilities.
This is the rest of the house. On the left is the 2nd bedroom, bathroom and a deep linen shelf. At the end is the master bedroom. There is a closet to the right and a door separating from us the landlord's place.
Our new place is a one bedroom with a pretty decent size living room. There is a kitchen space much larger than our current place. But there is no oven. However, for $820 bucks (including utilities and internet)... I'm willing to make a few sacrifices. I've already remedied this issue by buying a counter top oven. I won't be baking as much as I would like, but I won't have much time with a baby anyways. We have been blessed that my husband's mom not only takes care of our baby but she cooks for us as well. That's how we get away with not cooking.
One of my goals when we move out is to keep our expenses the same. The $1200/mo rent was really pushing some limits. We were using the rent I received from my rental to pay for childcare. When usually the rental income goes to savings. The difference we're saving on rent will really make a huge impact on our overall budget. I'm still saving 40% of my take home income and contributing 12% with 3% match to my 401k.
But moving isn't cheap. We've already incur some expenses for the new place and we haven't even moved in yet. We intent to make the new place more permanent so we made a few large expense to make ourselves more comfortable.
Replaced the old and dirty carpet with wood: material $300-400, labor: 200
A chaise for more seating: $145
Breville counter top over: $250
Over the toilet shelf: $30
Dinning set: $300 but will be returned and will purchase another one for $250.
One of my goals when we move out is to keep our expenses the same. The $1200/mo rent was really pushing some limits. We were using the rent I received from my rental to pay for childcare. When usually the rental income goes to savings. The difference we're saving on rent will really make a huge impact on our overall budget. I'm still saving 40% of my take home income and contributing 12% with 3% match to my 401k.
But moving isn't cheap. We've already incur some expenses for the new place and we haven't even moved in yet. We intent to make the new place more permanent so we made a few large expense to make ourselves more comfortable.
Replaced the old and dirty carpet with wood: material $300-400, labor: 200
A chaise for more seating: $145
Breville counter top over: $250
Over the toilet shelf: $30
Dinning set: $300 but will be returned and will purchase another one for $250.
