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Aug 22, 2014    |       15 comments

Scary Reminder

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Something terrible happened in a friend’s life this week (to be fair, its my bro-in-law’s best friend, he was the best man in my sister and bro-in-law’s wedding. I’ve only met him once, when I was MOH and he was Best Man. Anyway….).

Mark had used a portable grill to grill some dinner while his pregnant wife and son played inside. After they ate Mark thought the grill had cooled, so he brought it back into the garage.

I don’t know the exact timing of things or sequence of events but at some later point that evening, Mark smelled smoke. He opened the door to the garage and saw that it was fully engulfed in flames.

He ran inside to get his wife and son and they ran outside with only the clothes on their backs. His wife had grabbed her cell phone. That was the only material possession they had (and they promptly called 911). Watching the fire blaze, Mark’s pregnant wife’s water broke. The stress had caused her to go into early labor. Being that both of their cars were in the garage she had to call 911 again. This time, she had to ask for an ambulance to take her to the hospital (being that both their cars were currently on fire).

They went to the hospital and Kirsten delivered their sweet baby girl (although slightly premature, the baby and Mom are both fine, thank goodness). But now they have nowhere to go, no way to even get the baby home (no car seat, no car), and one other thing…..they were renters and did not have renter’s insurance. They literally have nothing to their names.

It’s a terrible thing. Thankfully they have each other and everyone is safe (that’s the main thing). But its still devastating. Perhaps moreso, given the new baby.

When it happened, my Mom called me in a panic:  “I’m so worried about you guys! You have renter’s insurance, right???”

Of course we do, Mom!

……..

Wait a minute…..do we?

We moved into our current place (where we rent) at the beginning of last August. At that time we had paid in full for one year’s worth of renter’s insurance. Being that we’re now at the end of August, our policy has lapsed and we are currently uninsured. Guess what I’m calling about today to renew? Yep – renter’s insurance.

Let this be a reminder to all of you who rent. Renter’s insurance is one of the cheapest forms of insurance that you can buy. Please, please, do not let yourselves be uninsured.

 

If you feel inclined to donate to this family, a Go Fund Me has been set up here.  Please do not feel at all obligated, they have had an outpouring of love and support from friends and family, so I’m sure they will end up being okay. I just wanted to share (and to add legitimacy to the story – pictures are included on the Go Fund Me site).

 

Aug 20, 2014    |       17 comments

The house is in chaos…

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…but the kids are all joyful and full engaged.  We have all settled down around the idea of our impending move and jumped on board the “get ready” train.   I don’t want this blog to turn into the “Hope’s Moving” blog for the next month, but perhaps small updates on the financial impact of the move and moving frugally would be alright?  Let me know your thoughts.

Over the past week, since the bombshell of our move was dropped…we have gotten busy!  I have been in constant purging mode for four years now, but now we are in Get Rid of Everything that is Not a Necessity mode.  Going from 1800 sq ft to 900 sq ft, I know it’s going to be tight, and while the kids can’t visualize it, I am trying to make them aware of the reality of how having less “stuff” will make apartment living that much better for us.  So with that being said, here’s what I/we have done:

  1. I took inventory of every room in our home including furniture, stand alone technology, storage tubs, etc. including the garage and outdoor space.
  2. I sat down with each child and we worked through their room list asking them what was imperative that they have at the end of this move (meaning when we get into a new permanent home, not just the apartment.)  I thought it was important that I get their feedback so they would feel fully involved in this move.
  3. I then went through everything else and marked it’s importance in three categories…A = Needed in Apartment, B = Needed in Permanent Home and P = Take a Picture of it and sell it!
  4. Based on that list, we moving furniture/items marked P to the garage, cleaning them out and off and taking pictures of them.
  5. And now they are all listed for sale and some going like hot cakes, and some are not.

In addition, I got a small storage unit and moved all our bikes and some of the items we must keep but don’t need for this month.  Let me explain that as I know you’d say, if you don’t need them this month why keep them… 1) there are just a few pieces that are solely being kept for sentimental value and really are not usable.  While I am very proud of how brutal I have been in this purge, there are somethings I just can’t get rid of.  2) Some items are smaller and currently not used, but after I purge the larger items that are serving their purpose, they will be used in the apartment.  Make sense?  My end goal is to purge so much that I don’t need the storage unit, but that will require two things happening 1) my van will have to sell as they extra seats/custom bed must be stored when not in use and 2) I have to figure out where we can store our bikes at our apartment and that probably won’t happen until after the move.

Now as I was going over my progress with my dad he asked if some of this would need to be replaced when we move to a new permanent home.  Yes, it will.  We’ve sold our only dining room/kitchen table, we’re selling 3 of the kids bed frames (their choice,) etc.  However, two things 1) we simply cannot fit all our stuff into our apartment and 2) the cost to store our stuff vs replacing much of it through freecycle/garage sales and even some new balances out.

Last point on this….the money!  We are making a decent amount on many of the items especially since much of it is either handmade, refurbished or we got free.  I have decided to save 1/2 the money towards new furniture when that time comes and put 1/2 toward debt.  Knowing that we have at least a year before any replacements would be needed I am comfortable with pushing forward with debt pay off first before thinking about new furniture.

Side note: many readers noted that I would be ready for a garage sale soon…you are so right!  However, I must get approval of my HOA Board (full disclosure I’m on the board, but certainly cannot give myself approval.)  Tonight is the Board meeting where I will 1) request permission and hope that we will have a community yard sale and 2) have to resign from the Board on when I’ve served for over 3 years.  This move is affecting a lot more then just the place we live and it’s sad and hard, but I just know, and the kids are realizing as well, that there will be lots of new joys and adventures in our new place.

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