This weekend was the first weekend where we actually had the keys to start moving in some non-essentials. It also meant that we could begin the battle of the wallpaper!

First off, I am not usually one that is driven crazy how a home is decorated. I mean, I am like most people and would love to have say in what my home looks like, but  I am ok with it being an ongoing project. It’s not usual for me to want it done asap! This was true until I saw this home.

Don’t get me wrong I love this home! It is perfect for my family. It’s like it’s own little paradise, matching the quiet suburban lifestyle with a natural wooded bliss, but the wallpaper in our master bedroom had to go!

Our home was built in 1977, and I think this wallpaper has been in that bedroom from about the time that Boy George was popular! It was this horrid blue wallpaper with flowers all over it, and I am a floral kind of girl. The telephone and electrical outlets were even covered in this stuff! It was just plain awful. It screamed from the walls, “Ashley, take me down now!” Fathoming one day with that dreadful stuff on my walls was making my stomach turn! Bedrooms are supposed to be places of escape, not something that’s gonna help you develop a twitch just at the sight of it!

This weekend hubby and I head to the local home improvement store. We grab our scorers, our wallpaper attacking spray, and our death to wallpaper scrapers. We are all set, or so we think!

I began scoring the wallpaper with the circular scorer. It took almost 45 minutes to score it all. I felt like Daniel-son from Karate Kid, “wax on, wax off”. Feel the burn in those arms. Of course, about 35 minutes into scoring, my husband realizes the scoring and gooping method is NOT removing this kryptonite based wallcrud. I was a little perturbed but at least I will have buff arms at the end of this experience. Boom, boom FIREPOWER!

After lots of toil and trouble, we finally figured out we had to scrape the dry wallpaper first with the supa scraper to separate the top designed layer from the paste and paper backing. THEN we could spray the holy crap out of the wallpaper and it peeled right off.

The spray that we put on the walls reminded me of ectoplasmic goop circa Ghostbusters. (How fitting since that was probably when this wallpaper was put up) It was sticky and nasty, but heck it did the job so what did I care.

8 hours, lots of goop, and two big guns later we finally removed all of the dang blasted wall paper. I am finally envisioning what my room is going to look like now that the screaming meme wallpaper is gone. The room is now a clean slate! We were able to putty the holes in the wall, and are going to put primer up today. 

I just wanted to share with you that even though I have whined, ok a lot, about removing this wallpaper, that it is actually a really frugal thing to do. My room is about 12X15, and to pay a contractor to remove wallpaper and paint the repaint the room (not counting the cost of paint) is almost $800! That’s just for paining. That doesn’t count the cost for removing the wallpaper!

I found this neat tool that calculates the price difference between doing it yourself, and paying a contractor. It even adjusts for the cost of living differences in the area. This is what it said for my area.

You can check out Do It Yourself or Not to check out this calculator, plus they have links to Lowe’s and Home Depot’s paint calculators as well. They were really helpful to us, and we saved a bundle because of these tools! Check them out!

Now the Crunchy family is off to paint primer, and finally pick a color that is a harmonious Earthy blend to bring a natural feel to my beautiful new abode!

Life has a way of making funny twists, and I was really happy that this story has a happy ending.

After having not the best luck, my husband and I will be moving into our very first home together. We are really excited! We currently live in the cutest, little house, but little is the key word there. It’s only 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms, and we have 3 growing children. Needless to say things are a wee bit cramped.

I started the “Couponing My Way Home” series, when my husband and I started searching for our first home. Due to credit problems, and budget restraints we weren’t able to qualify for anything that amounted to more than a cardboard box. Not sure how that is considered an “approval” but I am not a broker. What do I know?

Hubby and I were really devastated that we couldn’t get an approval on our dream home, so we had consigned to being ok with our smaller home. It was definitely settling because the home is cluttered and cramped, but I do love the yard. We had completely forgotten about the other home. It was the only way to cope. We just acted like it didn’t even exist.

We also knew it was a done deal because right when were going to ask if we could lease to own, we were told someone had put in a bid on the house, and the offer had been accepted. It was over

Fast forward to the end of December, we are in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Actually I was finally starting to relax because Christmas was gone, and New Year’s is a really low key event in our house. I was pretty surprised when a familiar number came across the caller ID.

I was sitting at my computer blogging, go figure right, and my realtor’s number popped up on my phone. I sat there for what seemed like 15 minutes debating on whether to pick up the phone or not. Why is she calling? Is she just trying to find a house we can settle on? Or rub salt in the wound? (Though neither is like her, just my paranoia speaking) After ruminating on why she was calling, I decided to pick up the phone. She had always been wonderful to us, wouldn’t kill me to see why she was calling.

To my shock and surprise, she was calling to let me know my dream home hadn’t sold. The last offer had fallen through, and this point the seller just wants to lease to own the property. The phone almost hit the floor. My jaw certainly dropped. I think I was in a state of shock. For the past THREE months, I had acted like this house didn’t even exist on the planet, and now it was falling in my lap almost literally!

I spoke with my husband about it, though inside I was silently begging, and told her we would love to let our kids see the house. So we set an appointment for them to see it.

As soon as they hit the door, the kids raced up the stairs to claim “their” room. So much for telling the kids it wasn’t a done deal yet. They LOVED the house, and wanted to know when we were going to move in. Try telling three anxious kids that details aren’t ironed out yet. No thanks!

We let the realtor know we were definitely interested, and the dance began. Off to talk to the seller.

Being a holiday weekend, I didn’t expect to hear anything back until at least Tuesday. I was quite shocked when the realtor called and said the owner just happened to be in town (even though he lives 6 hours south), and would love to talk with us about the house, could we come over? Um,  yes!!!!!

We ended spending almost three hours going through the house with the owner. He was an amazingly funny and warm guy, that you could tell had put a lot of love and care into this home. He wasn’t hesitant to tell us the quirks of the house (even though their weren’t many), plus shared family anecdotes about raising his children and grandchildren in the home. I really think that every home sale should be this personal and special. It was amazing to see how much he loved his home, and how he really wanted a family like us to be the next to have it. It almost felt like a right of passage.

The owner really made my 2012 start off in a wonderful fashion. I couldn’t help myself but hug him for all the generosity in letting us move in until we can get everything settled financially. It still seems like a dream. I have had to pinch myself several times to feel like this is all real, but I can’t wait until we actually move into our home!

It’s been a little bit since I have updated this series, but honestly it was because I didn’t have much to update. We had paid down a few of my husband’s credit cards, and we were waiting to see if we did enough homework to get his score high enough to qualify. Well the oustanding news, is we did at least get it up high enough to send to an underwriter. Yeah, woohoo! So right now we are waiting to hear if we can get pre-approved so we can make an offer on the house that we want. Let the sleepless nights begin

I am trying not to over think it, and just leave it up to the fates that be. We have done our homework on the credit part, nothing else can fix it but time, so no need to worry. If it will happen, it’s going to happen!

As a tip to make our situation as best as we can, our broker told us to start socking away money so we can cover costs, have savings, and maybe pay more items down. Being the financial enthusiast I am, I started pouring over how we can save money. The number one thing it made me realize is that if we chose to buckle down and save we really could save quite a bit. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable existance in history, but it would be manageable.

I guess that is just the point. A lot of us turn to being frugal minded, because we are tired of the rat race. We are tired of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Every now and then though it is really a good idea to check in with yourself. Have you let a few of your frugal habits slip? Are you forgetting to ask yourself if you really “need” something before making an impulse purchase? Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself every now and then. The problem lies when every now and then becomes the exception rather than the rule.

I find that I am more financially disciplined when I have a financial goal. Two months ago, my goal was to save up for a new set of tires before winter. Guess what? Without really trying I was able to get my new set of tires. Now, my goal is to save up enough money to get into my new house (thinking positively that we will get pre-approved), move out of my old house, and cover application fees and such. In the five minutes I sat in front of my computer to figure that out, I found a way to have $1500 in savings in less than 2 weeks. (Don’t let that statement make you think we are rolling in it, because that is SOOOO far from the truth)

Having short term financial goals, helps keep things in perspective. It also helps keep you motivated. Nothing, ok well almost nothing, feels better than challenging yourself to set a short term financial goal and seeing how fast you can reach it. At least that keeps me motivated. Maybe I am just a financial dork, but I happen to be proud of that because after spending many years living paycheck to paycheck I feel like I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully the light at the end of this short-term tunnel will be a pre-approval call at the end of the week!

Well things are at least moving in the right direction! We have continued to save, and I am proud to say our savings account has hit over the $500 mark, which for us is a huge milestone. I was also able to pay of 2 of the 4 credit cards that my husband has. We have contacted a broker to see if we could qualify for a mortgage, and were told not right now. At least it’s not a no. We just have some “homework” to do in order to get a little closer to making our dream a reality.

Through this journey I have learned a lot about myself. I tend to obsess on a goal, and that is all I can see. So when that goal doesn’t happen, I am totally and utterly devastated wondering why I even bothered in the first place. My husband calls it tunnel vision. Well with this round, I refuse to get tunnel vision, and I am going to use my financial know how that I have learned in my career to take active steps towards getting into our first home.

We are putting the cart before the horse in our journey, we should’ve pre qualified for a home first and then go house shopping, but in good ole Ashley fashion we went house shopping anyway. Of course, I have found a house I LOVE which is in our price range. So we definitely need to get our “homework” done! Here’s some homework you all can do before you go house shopping to make your experience a little bit easier!

1. Pull your own credit: When you pull your own credit, you don’t lose any points. This is a great way to see if there are any mistakes that you need to get corrected before you try to apply for a mortgage. Many sites offer free credit reports if you try out their monitoring services. Credit Karma is a great service to try to get your report and your free credit score. You can also get your own credit report for free once a year at Annual Credit Report.

2. Don’t be afraid to shop around: When you shop around within a two week period, your credit takes less of hit from the inquiries because the credit bureaus lump them all together. So don’t be afraid to question the deals you are qualifying for and get several offers from several different types of lenders.

3. Figure out how much you are comfortable with:  I love the mortgage calculators at Bank Rate! They have calculators to help you see how much your mortgage payments would be based on your down payment, amount, and interest rates. They also have a  great calculator called “how much can you afford?” This one takes into consideration all of your monthly payments, and lets you see what payment range should work based on the information you inputed.

4. If the answer is not right now, don’t get discouraged! Don’t be afraid to ask what “homework” you need to do in order to qualify. With how the economy has been over the last few years, lenders are extremely tight on their lending requirements. Ask advice on how you can improve your situation in order to qualify. It might be something as simple as paying of your credit card balances or saving a little extra cash.

5. Keep your eye on the prize: Make sure to set your goals, and write them down! You may get sick of eating chicken every night because it’s inexpensive, but just remember every step you take to live frugally gets you one step closer to your dream of homeownership. Ideally, through sites like Crunchy Frugalista, you can learn to live frugally while not feeling like you are living as a pauper! It is possible to live frugally and still feel like you are living!

I can’t wait to write the post where I share with you all that we have actually pre-qualified to buy a home, but until that time I will just keep plugging along and taking positive steps toward my goals instead of dwelling on what a trying journey this has been. I feel like we are finally getting closer to making our dreams a reality.

Yesterday my husband and I spent most of the day going to open houses in our area.  I have had the dream of homeownership ever since I moved out when I was 18 years old, but due to many unforseen circumstances, and bad choices of my own, that dream has not become a reality! I am now at a place in my life where I can do the leg work, and get our finances on the straight and narrow to make things happen! So I thought that this was something that I could definitely share with all of you guys! I know many people out there have had their financial goals be the pipe dreams that mine are, so maybe we can take this journey together.

I am on a mission to make this happen for my family. My home that I rent currently is nice, but my family is growing and we need a change. So I am going to do everything within my power to make sure that this happens. We have been a family that until recently really wasn’t able to save any money. Of course, with lenders being so tight right now, having savings is a huge way of selling yourself into a mortgage. So over the course of the next few months, maybe even the next year, I am on a mission to live as frugally as possible, but still manage to feel like we are living!

The first thing my husband and I did was sit down and write out our goals! Goals are a great thing to write down if you are trying to get your finances in order. The one thing about goals though is that you have to write down what you are going to do to help you get there. If you just write down what your goals are with no plan, then they are really just a dream you have not a goal. It’s like putting your faith in the universe that things will just happen. It reminds me of one of my favorite jokes! A guy prays every day to the powers that be to let him win the lottery and nothing happens. In the end, the guy asks “why won’t you help me out, and let me win the lottery?” A big booming voice comes down from the sky and says, “Can you help me out, and BUY A TICKET?!?” Same concept! A goal needs some action steps that you are going to hold yourself to that is going to get you a step closer. I wouldn’t make it anything drastic, but don’t be afraid to push yourself a little outside your comfort zone.

The goal that my husband and I set for our first goal was to save $2000! It’s been a long time since we have had any savings let alone $2000! We put our heads together, and what we came up with was anything that is leftover from the previous paycheck when we get paid again goes into savings! Since my husband is now getting paid weekly, we have found we aren’t spending quite as much. Last week we were able to put $146 in savings! I was so excited. So I am happy to share our savings is up to $146 bucks .

Well, I shared with you our first goal. This is how my husband, and I decided that we would help ourselves reach this goal

• Reduce our day to day spending
• Take our debit cards out of our wallets. (This reduces impulse spending)
• Eat out only 3 times/month, and when we eat out use coupons!
• Stay home more often to reduce gas! Need ideas on staying home? Check out my post here about staying home more!
• Ask ourselves if really NEED something or just want it before making a purchase
• Put any money left over between paychecks in savings!