Bling vs. New Driveway

[divergrrl]

Soooo....DH tells me after having our 2nd baby this September that I can go to our jewelers and just "pick something out". Since I manage the household finances, I figure I can play with about 1k. My jeweler (not a maul jeweler---really great private place) has some sapphire bands, diamond eternity bands, etc that I love. I was also considering the WF bangle or 2 maternity rings from Facets, one in blue sapphire & one in pink sapphire (for my son & daughter). Since I can''t decide to save my life, I''ve been doing nothing. (except surfing the Fay Cullen website to add extra indecision! lol)

So last week I''m carrying the baby in her carrier to the car (our garage is detached) and I trip on a rogue piece of concrete that sticks up a few inches out of my nasty old gravel driveway. Fortunately I only roll my ankle & am able to stay standing (cat like reflexes!!

).

But I''m standing there thinking, "this looks like a$$ out here. I''m sick of ruining my nice heels on my old gravel drive, and I''m gonna biff it one of these days". So I call DH and ask what our concrete guy who did our patios quoted him to pave our driveway.

$1500 bucks.

Well...AGAIN, I''m contemplating spending money on my house instead of bling. Our house is not a money pit, but it was a screamin'' deal, and then we''ve done so much renovating that now we have an awesome home, for way less than we could have bought it for. However, I still have a handful of projects that need to be done (replace windows upstairs, finish off our daylight basement, new laundry room, driveway)....

I know DH said I could get some jewelry, but a new driveway would really make our house look great. Here we''ve done all this work, and have so much pride in our home, and we have this NASTY tattered gravel driveway. I can''t do both, because then I''d be spending more than I''m comfortable with...

Argh...

Bling or driveway? Which would you choose?

 

[Skippy123]

I would do the driveway.

I know wanting bling but you don''t want to fall especially w/your beautiful baby. Glad you are okay. How about bling in the spring?

 

[divergrrl]

I agree I need a new drive Skippy! Spring is when we are putting 4 new windows upstairs...since my house is 103 yrs old, I cant buy standard windows...a pricey custom jobby...oy...but I need the kid''s rooms to be more energy efficient so they stay cool in summer....I''d rather my babies be comfortable than have bling for me....so this was my one chance to treat myself....I''ll wind up paving that sucker....I''ve looked at it for 8 years....it''s time.

 

[Ellen]

Driveway.

 

[TravelingGal]

Pave the driveway with diamonds.

OK, I hate that this is the choice, but the real gem is your daughter and I would hate for something to happen to you both because of renegade concrete.

So...

Driveway.

 

[snlee]

I would pave the driveway. Your safety comes first. Jewelry can come later.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Driveway!

 

[door knob solitaire]

Could you provide the size of your driveway?

DKS

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

No contest, driveway. Sorry.

cheers--Sharon

 

[hlmr]

I vote driveway too.

(And I think that hubby will be so impressed with your decision that next year, when you know exactly what you want, it will be yours without question).

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 11/14/2007 8:03:43 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Could you provide the size of your driveway?

DKS

Why DKS -- are you planning for future upgrade options? Maybe have it wrap around the house--like a "driveway halo"?

(Another vote for the driveway BTW.)

 

[KimberlyH]

Date: 11/14/2007 10:13:47 PM
Author: Dee*Jay

Date: 11/14/2007 8:03:43 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Could you provide the size of your driveway?

DKS

Why DKS -- are you planning for future upgrade options? Maybe have it wrap around the house--like a 'driveway halo'?

(Another vote for the driveway BTW.)

Bwahaha...thanks for the laugh, DeeJay!

Another vote for driveway, but I'm practical, maybe excessively so.

 

[Kaleigh]

Another vote for the driveway. Safety first. Glad you''re ok!!

 

[mrssalvo]

gosh, I sooooo want to say get the bling, but having kids and family needs too, I''d do the driveway first

 

[:)]

Date: 11/14/2007 7:48:01 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Pave the driveway with diamonds.

OK, I hate that this is the choice, but the real gem is your daughter and I would hate for something to happen to you both because of renegade concrete.

So...

Driveway.

YESSSSSS - WF ACA melee....

Just kidding - I have to say driveway too. As your children get older they will be running around and wanting to ride bikes, etc. It would be great for the driveway to be safe for them too!

 

[decodelighted]

Okay ... I'll be the rogue vote. BLING. Well ... under one condition. Did you get a "push present" for your first child? If YES: then it's only fair to get another!

And the driveway doesn't work 'cause you won't have that house FOREVER. Can't take a driveway with ya! If NOT ... well, I'll vote driveway.

If the driveway is a true safety matter ... you should do it no matter what. But maybe you can splurge on a smaller piece of bling now? Aiigh - It's a shame when "necessary" infringes on "discretionary".

 

[scarleta]

Date: 11/14/2007 8:03:43 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Could you provide the size of your driveway?


DKS

You are so funny again..I won''t be able to get my beauty sleep again...ha ha ha ha...


I vote driveway all the way no matter the size of it...

 

[door knob solitaire]

My I have your attention please: This time no joke...don''t laugh...cut it out....Uh....my question was really legitimate. Honest! Had no idea that question would garner such attention in the humor department. Suppose I need to use it as material on my next gig. (As you all know I am a professional comedian

) ...eh hem....ok so the other day the duck walked into the bar, he asked the bar tender....So, just How big is your driveway....sha boom boom!

Eh...I really don''t think it is going to work with just any crowd. This PS room is the easiest gig I have ever had.

Diver babe....Really, not kidding. Your driveway would have to be a postage stamp for $1500 to be a legitimate price. So I didn''t want you to get involved in some mucky mortar mess. I just told hubby your price and he said, she much be paving her patio. Just concerned, sweetie. No joke...don''t laugh. Have a measurement? THIS IS NOT I REPEAT NOT A PUNCH LINE.

OK everybody...get back to giggle mode!!

DKS

 

[divergrrl]

DKS: 24 x 15 ft.(he thinks) Its not *huge* but the guys who did my 2 decent sized patios and sport court (half court sized basketball court) in my backyard only charged us 3k for all that and did stellar work. My sport court & patios are a lot bigger than my driveway.

It''s not like my driveway is a huge danger zone, I did have heels on....my kids riding bikes out front are years off...they have a big backyard with court to ride on while babies/preschoolers.

And no, I didn''t get a "push present" for my son...we had just finished adding on to our house that year & decided to completely gut the kitchen. Sooooooo...

Don''t get me wrong, its nice to make our house a better place, but this is really my husband''s "baby", not mine. (I do love it...but sometimes its just so tiring to always be mid-project...since 1999...and he wants to die an old man here, I''ve tried to get him to sell so we can have a newer home with some modern conveniences & not such a vertical house...he almost started crying...then looked at new houses with me, and hated them all...he really does love this place with all his heart, so what can I do?) So I feel like all the money we spend on this place is for him, not me. Does that make sense? Not that he *has* to spend money on me, but between remodeling the old bathroom & kitchen, the 2 old bedrooms, adding on 1600sq feet, pouring sport courts, patios, etc...we''ve sunk a ton of dough into this place. So I just feel like for once, it would be nice to have something just for me. A little bit ''o bling to celebrate 2 wonderful pregnancies, births, and our 2 great children. I dunno...I feel like 1k is a drop in the bucket compared to what we''ve put into the house.

Its not like my DH won''t let me buy these things...heck I could do both if I wanted, but then I''d be spending money I have tucked away for emergencies etc, and since I don''t work, I get nervous that I''m spending too much & feel really guilty. Plus we just had a baby, so I''ve had medical bills up the wahoo, and just paid a ton of those last week.

My problem is, every time I feel like I want to do something discretionary (as a pp put it) for myself, something very sensible comes up. Trust me, a new driveway would be great on our house, and its the "right thing" to do, so I''ll do it.

And Tgal, yes D is my little gem, and that''s most important of all

.

 

[monarch64]

Sorry...another vote for "driveway." Take care of that first, imo, and then feed the bling account. The hospital bill for a broken ankle or worse might exceed the $1500 cost of a paved drive, plus you won''t have to worry about all that pesky gravel dust on your cars, your shoes, etc. Not to mention the fact that gravel needs to be replaced periodically...to me it''s the difference between springing for platinum vs. buying WG and having to re-rhodium every so often.

Congrats again on the new baby, Diver!

 

[Maisie]

My sensible head is saying driveway. My bling head is saying get yourself the present.

How long would you have to wait to do the driveway if you didn''t do it right now?

 

[Deelight]

DIY on the driveway and use the spare cash on the bling have the best of both worlds

 

[Fly Girl]

I had to make this very same decision a few years ago. I chose the driveway.

 

[Lorelei]

''Nother vote for driveway. Besides yours and your family''s safety, details like a good driveway can make a great house look superb and ''finished''.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

I too will have to weigh in for driveway. Sheesh, we''re all super sad with this arent we?

There is another option too that could let you have both. Not sure how set you are on concrete for the drive, but I was watching a show on the U.S HGTV that updated the curb appeal on a house with a low budget. They put in a new asphault drive and they stamped it like concrete. The edges were squared off like a band around it, then they painted the edge a different colour than the center part. Didnt it ever look fantastic! They didnt mention price, but did say it was "considerably less than concrete". As far as the repainting part, the contractor mentioned that the type of paint that you use for the detailing has some kind of special pigments/chemicals & will withstand wear & tear making it less of a maintenance issue than you would think. I dont know...but I told my husband anout it & since we have a black top now & would rather spend $$$ on other things, will consider the stamped asphault in future when we need to redo the drive.

I would guess if you did a search on stamped asphault or stamped black top drives, not sure what they would be called in your area, that you would find more info on it with pics (hopefully).

Judy

 

[Mara]

ugh as much as i hate to type this....it''s so hard to get it to come out....dddiiaaamm....uuuhhh no that''s not right, DRIVEWAY.

i am a bling lover for sure but if the driveway is unsightly it would bother me AND if it''s unsafe that''s even worse. i would just get it fixed. did you get another quote for the driveway from someone else? maybe you can get it down to 1000 and then take 500 and get something small for bling? just a thought.

 

[isaku5]

Here''s the out, maybe??? Do you live in a cold climate where the ground freezes in the winter???? If your answer is a resounding, "YES!!" then you can''t/shouldn''t pave as winter is approaching rapidly. That will cause all kinds of problems with future heaving.

Cold Climate = bling now; driveway in the late spring (six or seven months to save

)

Warm climate = driveway now

 

[partgypsy]

Dvrrgrl, I totally sympathize. We moved into a fixer upper in ''98. We have made it a nice home and gotten a much nicer home for the price by doing the work ourselves, but I''m at the point of renovation fatigue. I also do the bills and budget in my house, and yes when there is some money saved, seems like there is always something.
I can''t answer whether you should choose the driveway or something for yourself, that has to be your call. If it always is you taking a back seat to the house and you would resent doing that yet again, then take up your husband on his word. However if it would make you feel bad to do this and have a gravel driveway, delayed gratificaion is still great; it will give you time to shop and figure out exactly what you want!

 

[divergrrl]

oh it''ll be driveway............i hate that stupid gravel.....it''ll be concrete cuz that looks better & our neighbor across the street wants to do his at the same time/same contractor, so our end of the block will look really nice.

Practicality wins *sigh*, Oh well...good things come to those who wait, and I can''t believe I''m typing this, but its just jewelery. Its not like I don''t have a gorgeous w-ring, and I do have a great pair of diamond studs I wear all the time, so I can''t exactly cry bling-drought.

If you think about it, jewelry is a finishing touch... and my driveway will be a finishing touch for my house..so....the house gets bling??? LOL

 

[divergrrl]

Date: 11/15/2007 11:26:44 AM
Author: isaku5
Here''s the out, maybe??? Do you live in a cold climate where the ground freezes in the winter???? If your answer is a resounding, ''YES!!'' then you can''t/shouldn''t pave as winter is approaching rapidly. That will cause all kinds of problems with future heaving.

Cold Climate = bling now; driveway in the late spring (six or seven months to save

)

Warm climate = driveway now

Well, it is kind of cold here....we do hit freezing a lot. I''m in Portland, OR...not midwest/east coast cold, but we do go into the 30''s at night..sometimes cooler.

hmmmm you pose an interesting point.