When you have to spend $$$$ on home repairs and not bling !

[Bron357]

I have a milestone birthday coming up and while I was eyeing off a Cartier Love bangle a few tiles in the back bathroom fell off the wall. Sigh. Of course further investigation revealed we have a corroded pipe behind the tiles. Bye bye Cartier bangle and Hello Plumber, renderer, tiler!
Anyone else feel sad about spending $$$$ on home repairs when a lovely piece of bling would be MUCH preferred.
We are redoing the whole bathroom and the laundry. I was absolutely astounded by how many types of taps there are! How does anyone make a decision when there’s 17 pages to scroll through online (no retail shopping due to lockdown here). I gave up by page 3 and went “yep, they’ll do”. Plumber then wanted to know what laundry tub I wanted, more choices there. And tiles OMG. There are about 10 million tile choices, ok slight exaggeration but seriously, how do people decide. I just went with white. Vanity and cabinet will be black. Walls will be a violet blue colour, floor is dark grey.
It will look lovely once I survive the tradespeople and mess but a Cartier Love Bangle would have more much more lovelier!

 

[maryjane04]

So sad for you Bron. But think about a new bathroom and laundry and how awesome it would be! We're getting our laundry redone and it's about the cost of a love bangle lol. I can't imagine what your bathroom would cost. But yes one of the joys and stresses of being able to choose everything

 

[dk168]

Been there, done that, hopefully the latest round of works and expenses I forked out last year and now will keep the house and garden in good shape for the next 10 years or so.

However I suspect the fence at the back may need replacing in less than 5 years' time.

DK

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

I can commiserate!
This is the song of my family sung in our old, old, house.
I will almost put enough aside of my meager funds for a bauble, the house keeps a mental tally of the funds and thinks, 'Oooh, we can find much better use for that'.
Every. Damned. Time.

 

[Austina]

Try choosing finishes for a whole new house from 5000 miles away. Needless to say, the consultant, based on our wants, chose the most expensive options she could find.

 

[Arcadian]

Yep, I had a pretty major plumbing issue eat part of my bling budget before. The bright side is that my front yard no longer smells like a poo palace

And I did find I have a cracked tile in my master bath. I'm currently putting a rug over it and ignoring.

@Austina I was actually looking to move a bit more inland (for various reasons, some of which have to do with the type of storms we get) and prices for houses went through.the.roof. I'm just gonna bite the bullet and stay where I am. Its not the worst but being closer to the ocean costs me in other areas (like replacing certain things around the house even though they're under 10 years old!)

 

[YadaYadaYada]

So sorry Bron, that really is a bummer. For us it is more car bills (or having to buy a new one) and vet bills that seem to show up at the worst times.

 

[Austina]

Yep @Arcadian, when we started looking just after Christmas, houses were selling for $100,000+ over list price. Fortunately, we’ve got a fixed price contract on the house we’re buying.

 

[stracci2000]

I just spent a big chunk of money on two recent car repairs, a new refrigerator and dishwasher.
So no bling for a while. It is so hard to stay away from Ebay!

 

[yssie]

Ugh. Sorry Bron!! I sympathize, I lost a bunch of the bling to replacement vehicles last year (repairs would have been exorbitant).

Your bathroom will be all the lovelier to admire the bangle when you get it in future... Silver lining?

 

[Arcadian]

So sorry Bron, that really is a bummer. For us it is more car bills (or having to buy a new one) and vet bills that seem to show up at the worst times.

Gosh the vet bills. My dogs have their whole credit card...lol Lucky's exam just for her heart was near 800 dollars. I'm thankful that her insurance covered a portion of it, but hell even the insurance has gotten more expensive For both dogs I pay 1300/year in insurance.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@Arcadian, wow $800 is a lot. Pets are so expensive but they love us so much so that makes up for the high dollars.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Totally commiserate, Bron!!! So sorry you're facing the same challenges than me.... Re-redoing two guest bedrooms and a bathroom and parts of living room to the tune of more than the full pavé love bangle

 

[nala]

So I have my my mad money fund for bling and only bling, lol. No way would I ever use it for home repairs bc those fall under another fund. I find separating wants from needs in accounts helps me avoid disappointments and keeps my bling wants under control.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Yup. Living that experience now. I guess the roof and windows are important... The money is all in one pot: so holy hana--no Tiffany Victoria diamond line necklace for me!

cheers--Sharon

 

[tyty333]

We had to buy a new roof a couple of years ago...talk about feeling sad! I know its a necessity but that's a whole lot of money
I would rather spend on something fun or pretty to look at!

I think we're going to have to redo a bathroom next year too @Bron357 . Can you post some pics when you're done...maybe I
can steal some ideas!

 

[Matata]

I think of of those unplanned repairs as an opportunity to purchase house bling. I get as much pleasure from blinging up the house as I do from blinging up my body. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

 

[KristyDarling]

I'm in the same boat, @Bron357! This year is a milestone wedding anniversary for us and we were planning to celebrate with an EC ring, but that has been put on the backburner in favor of major home repairs and college tuition....and a third significant expense that we hadn't planned for until quite recently.

These are all positives in the grand scheme of things, but still....I'd been looking forward to this long-awaited EC for the last several years and it's sad that I'll need to wait another year or two. First world problems, for sure, but it's still disappointing!

For what it's worth, your new bathroom and laundry room sound like they'll be beautiful, and when you do finally get your Love bangle, it will be all the more special!

 

[lulu_ma]

Ugh@Bron357 I’m so sorry to hear that your bling spend got derailed!

I feel your pain. This happened to us a couple of years ago. I try not to think about all the bling I could have bought…

 

[Bron357]

We had to buy a new roof a couple of years ago...talk about feeling sad! I know its a necessity but that's a whole lot of money
I would rather spend on something fun or pretty to look at!

I think we're going to have to redo a bathroom next year too @Bron357 . Can you post some pics when you're done...maybe I
can steal some ideas!

Of course.
To add insult to financial injury here in Sydney, Australia we have just gone into “hard lockdown” so I get to live with the mess until 31 July at the earliest before my Plumber is allowed back to finish.

 

[Bron357]

Ugh@Bron357 I’m so sorry to hear that your bling spend got derailed!

I feel your pain. This happened to us a couple of years ago. I try not to think about all the bling I could have bought…

Ouch, that looks very expensive.

 

[Missy]

Yes we have experienced this. When Sandy hit we had to reconstruct our entire backyard. For a second time. It was pricey and insurance covered zero because outside is excluded. I cannot remember if I bought bling that year.

Certainly when one owns a house/apartment, real estate, etc. unexpected expenses are going to arise. That is a given. We don't separate our funds into fun money and home improvements etc but we do have an emergency fund (that we have never touched).

I don't have bling funds vs other funds. Neither does Greg have fun funds vs non discretionary funds. We don't find we need to do that though certainly I can see the reasoning behind having separate funds.

When we were renovating our homes (all very expensive and way over budget of course) we had to slow down/stop our discretionary purchases. It was only temporary and it wasn't too painful. Honestly, we have all we want and probably all we need (not counting medical issues and expenses). So when expenses pop up (as we know they will) it isn't much of a sacrifice to put a moratorium on bling purchases and other non critical purchases.


Photo from the damage Sandy caused in our backyard.







You can see our Epay deck thrown clear over to the other side of the backyard. And all the stone pavers ripped up and thrown all over.


Reconstruction in progress during 2013.



It was not the first time we had to reconstruct the backyard. It might not be the last time. But we are prepared and we have done all we could to ensure safety as best as possible. Believe it or not we are not in a flood zone. We were fortunate no water went into our house. So no complaints from us. Thankful it wasn't worse and thankful we have/had the funds to rebuild.




Anyway, my bling isn't more important than our home. Our home is our safe place to be. Filled with love and comfort and all the amenities I could want or need. I get so much joy from our home and I want it to be beautiful and comfortable and our safe haven. Which came in/comes in handy during this pandemic. But even during "ordinary" times I want all that for our home.


@Bron357 I am sure it is going to be gorgeous when all the construction is complete and you are going to enjoy it immensely. Happy milestone birthday in advance and I bet you get that Cartier bangle, one day.

 

[lulu_ma]

Ouch, that looks very expensive.

Yes, unfortunately, it was. And like @missy ‘s house, insurance covered zero because it was there outside. Luckily, it was before I discovered PS!

@Bron357 I hope everything gets repaired quickly post lockdown!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Oh @Bron357 that's a real bugga
but its going to be lovelly having a new flash laundry (and bathroom)
Our laundry is outside the back door and is in need of a complete re-do but our bathroom is more horrid

Perhaps the Cartier love bangle can celebrate the milestone birthday +1

stay safe over there
we are all worried about you

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I can commiserate!
This is the song of my family sung in our old, old, house.
I will almost put enough aside of my meager funds for a bauble, the house keeps a mental tally of the funds and thinks, 'Oooh, we can find much better use for that'.
Every. Damned. Time.

Shhhhhhhhh
My house is listening