Buying your first home is a stressful experience. When the initial excitement of deciding on the perfect neighborhood, finding the best house for your budget, and signing on the dotted line begins to fade, you’re left with coming up with a down payment, signing loan documents, handling inspections, escrow, and the anxiety that comes with packing and moving all of your belongings. It’s easily one of the most stressful times in anyone’s life.

With that said, my husband and I moved into our first home just last summer, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most frustrating and anxiety-inducing experiences that I’ve ever experienced. Now, from this awful experience, I was able to gain some knowledge on the entire process, and I can say that there are things that I would do differently if we had it all to do over again. That’s what I want to share with you today. I want to give you some advice that I wish someone had given me before we went through this entire process.

Ensure you’re working with quality people

Our first real estate agent was a nightmare to work with. She recommended a loan officer who couldn’t get us approved with favorable terms, she didn’t answer phone calls (or return the call in a timely fashion), and she was quick to show us properties that didn’t contain the items on our wish list, or were too far above our agreed upon budget.

It didn’t last long. We ultimately hired a real estate agent who put us in touch with a loan officer who we loved (and would highly recommend), was more than thoughtful about returning calls, and showed us just what we wanted to see without pressuring us to view properties in a separate part of town, or that were above our price range. It was slow going, but she found us the house of our dreams, and for that we’re highly appreciative.

Anticipate hiccups

Nothing goes right when buying a house. Anticipate these issues before they happen, and you’ll find that you’re much more likely to laugh when they do as opposed to stressing out. Oh, and in anticipating thing going wrong, don’t buy a house without hiring (and listening to) a home inspector.

Accept that you can’t have it all

You might not find everything on your wish list in your budget, or you might learn that living just outside of the area that you had initially chose actually makes more financial sense. Unless you have a budge that supports it, you have to understand that — at some point in the process — you’re going to have to compromise. We didn’t get it all, but it’s better than renting.

Hire movers

I wish I had. We looked up the cost of hiring movers to move us out of our condo and into our new home, but ultimately decided that we’d just take a few days off and do it ourselves.

Big mistake. The cost of the movers was only slightly more than the cost of us both taking off work, and we managed to damage more than a few items in the process. In addition, it seems like the entire thing was one big fight. Next time, I’m going to overrule my husband and hire movers to complete the job.

Buying a home is exciting, and although it can be an unimaginably stressful experience, it’s one that I believe we go through for a reason. This new home is where future memories are going to come from, and you don’t get to experience these amazing things, without a little hard work first. Enjoy your new home, and the lessons you learned in obtaining it.

Eliminating Stress When Purchasing Your First Home is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Home-sharing services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and FlipKey can make renting and turning your home into a money-making vacation rental easy.

The sites hold payments from guests who are renting private rooms or entire homes. All the host has to do is provide a key and then collect payment from the site after check-in, right?

Not so fast. Here are three things that hosts should plan on, whether renting a couch, spare room, in-law suite or their house to visitors:

Know the rules

Cities and counties are regularly updating laws when Airbnb or other services become popular in a town, though sometimes they’re rarely enforced. A loud party at your home by your paid guests may get your neighbors to complain to police, which could quickly lead to enforcement of any laws for short-term rentals.

Some cities, such as New York City, require that rentals of less than 30 days in apartments are only allowed if the host is there.

Check with your city to see if you have to register, get a business license and if it has any rules on short-term rentals.

Taxes and renting

If the rental service you’re using has an agreement with your city, it may collect an occupancy tax from any fees you receive and pay the tax to the city, county and state for you.

If not, you’ll have to figure out how much taxes to collect and report them on your income taxes. If you rent for 15 or more days per year, you’ll have to pay income tax on your rental income also.

You can deduct costs related directly to your rental, such as taxes you pay, advertising and supplies. The IRS offers advice on deducting a portion of expenses for utilities and insurance.

Insurance

Homeowners insurance may cover the occasional paying guest who is injured in your home or starts a fire, but you should get it in writing.

Alert your insurer if you rent out your home often, and if you’re there when guests are staying. The extra risk can cost 25 percent more in your premium, or you can buy an umbrella policy for about $200 per year for liability protection above your regular insurance limits.

Airbnb includes insurance for up to $1 million each in liability and property damage.

To help lessen the chance of guests trashing your home on purpose and causing enough damage to lead to an insurance claim, you can impose a hefty security deposit. That might make your insurance company happier.

What to Know Before Renting Out Your Home is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Home sellers who have just pulled down the “For Sale” sign from their house and have made a successful sale may think the hard work is over.

It is, for the most part. But a home sale may leave home sellers with some tax questions for a tax professional. Below are some questions that home sellers should ask (with some possible answers), with the caveats that everyone’s tax situation can differ and tax laws change, so seek professional advice.

Deductions to claim from my home sale?

Don’t expect to be able to deduct expenses from fixing up a house to lure buyers. However, significant capital improvements that add to your cost basis for purposes of sale can be deducted.

Can real estate agent commission be written off?

No, not for a personal residence. But it may be added to your basis for the sale as adjustments your tax professional says are OK. Such costs can be subtracted from whatever gain you made on the house.

Do I need a real estate lawyer?

No, legal services can’t be deducted on a tax return. However, if you sold a business or rental property, they can.

Can I write off my tax lawyer and accountant?

Yes. Services for tax advice and preparation can generally be deducted from your taxes.

Deduct mortgage interest if I don’t own the house at tax time?

Yes. Your mortgage can’t be for more than $1 million and is your main or second home. Check form 1089 that is issued by your mortgage provider at the end of the year to see how much interest you’ve paid.

Do I pay taxes on the sales proceeds?

Yes. However, you can avoid paying tax on up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000for married filing jointly, if you’ve owned and lived in the property for two of the last five years.

Can I avoid paying tax on the gain by putting the proceeds toward a new house?

No. Before 1997 the proceeds from the sale of a home to buy another house could be excluded. Now, the IRS doesn’t care what you do with the proceeds. Ask your tax pro for advice.

What am I missing?

This is the final question you should ask your tax or real estate law professional. Are you missing anything having to do with your taxes this year?

Your taxes revolve around your bigger financial picture. If you have any questions, ask. If you need something explained, ask for help. You’ve hired these professionals to work for you, so let them do it and give them time to ask you any questions.

8 Tax Questions Home Sellers Should Ask is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

If you want to get a second mortgage so you can make renovations to your home, it can be difficult if you have poor credit. Still, there are mortgage refinance options out there.

A second mortgage can use a home’s equity as collateral for a second home loan, allowing up to 80 percent of a home’s value to be borrowed. However, getting a second mortgage through a home equity loan or line of credit can be difficult if you don’t a credit score of 680 or better.

While high home equity will make a second mortgage less risky and may compensate for poor credit, there are other mortgage refinance options. Here are a few:

Cash-out mortgage refinance

Instead of an additional loan on your home, your loan and the cash you need is refinanced into one loan with one loan payment.

Even if you have bad credit, a cash-out refi is less risky for the lender because it doesn’t involve a second loan. With a second mortgage, the second lender is second in line to get paid if a lien is ever put on the home.

Streamline refinance

Some government home loans offer what’s called a streamline refinance that offer a lower mortgage rate. FHA and VA home loans, for example, allow borrowers to refinance into a lower rate and payment without a credit check, income or employment verification, or property appraisal.

It also doesn’t matter if you how little home equity you have or if you’re underwater on your mortgage.

For borrowers with a VA loan or FHA mortgage in good standing, refinancing a loan through the federal government is so streamlined that it’s almost automatic. The underwriting process is simplified enough to allow a refinance to happen based largely on if you’ve stayed current on your mortgage payments.

HARP refinance

The Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, was created in 2009 to help people who were underwater on their mortgage refinance into a lower rate. Without it, the fear was that people who owed more on their home than the home was worth would walk away from the loan and lose their home.

The federal program is set to expire at the end of 2018, though it may be extended.

Improve your credit score

If a poor credit score prevents you from getting a second mortgage, the simple solution is to improve your credit score. While not easy and usually not fast, here are the best ways to increase a credit score within a month or so to improve your chances for a mortgage refinance:

• Pay off your credit card balances.
• Pay your bills on time.
• Remove or pay off collection accounts.
• Get added as an authorized user.
• Don’t apply for new credit.
• Dispute negative accounts with the credit bureaus.

Mortgage Refinance Options if You Have Bad Credit is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

If you’re waiting for spring cleaning season to get you motivated to get rid of the junk in your garage, chances are you won’t get too far in cleaning it up.

Like many people, I have too much stuff in my garage, and every time I enter it, I vow to do something about the clutter. I don’t consider myself a packrat — no one probably does — but I’ll admit my garage is a mess and needs to be cleaned out.

Craigslist a start for removing junk in your garage

Below are some ways to get some money out of the junk in your garage, though I have to admit I haven’t used any yet. Like many goals — they’re on my to-do list. I’m a fan of Craigslist and Freecycle, and most recently used Craigslist to sell my old car.

But the free Craigslist ad brought too many cheapskates to my door, or at least to my phone, as they tried to talk me down in price for a good, reliable car that I was already offering a deal on. If I can avoid Craigslist, I do for this reason.

Instead, here are some other online ways to monetize the junk in your garage. Again, note that I haven’t used them but they at least sound like smart ideas:

Everything But The House

This site is an online estate and consignment sale marketplace that specializes in offering a high-touch, full service approach aimed at downsizing boomers and retirees. It doesn’t necessarily sound like a way to get rid of the junk in your garage — unless it’s expensive junk.

Rather than go item-by-item, EBTH signs a contract with its sellers to sell their whole estate for them in exchange for a modest commission.

This site may not work for the typical stuff crammed into a garage, but if your garage or home has valuable items that you’d rather not have, EBTH could be a way to get some cash for it. More likely, however, is you’d need EBTH when a relative dies and you need to clear out their home quickly.

VarageSale

Shipping an old planter across the country doesn’t make sense for either party. Who wants to pay for shipping for an item they can buy at a local store, no matter how cheap the item is?

But find someone in your neighborhood who could pick it up, and you might have a deal.

VarageSale was founded by a wife-and-husband team and backed by Sequoia Capital, and is a social, local, mobile online marketplace for families who want to sell their unwanted items to people in their neighborhoods. The site is free to use and it has a mobile app.

Unfortunately for me, the closest VarageSale in my area was 25 miles away. That isn’t a deal breaker, but I’m unlikely to drive that far to buy a used toy for my kid.

Gemr

Gemr is a place where everyone from the curious to the collector can find a passionate community around objects of interest — from comics and sneakers to rare watches and antiques.

The site’s homepage focuses on unique toys that would probably be worth money no matter where you sell them online. If you have such collectibles in your garage, then you’ve got a better problem than most people who just have ordinary junk stashed away. Still, it looks like a smart place for such collectors to go.

Close5

Close5 is an app I’ve been meaning to use for months. You take a photo of the item you want to get rid of among the junk in your garage. You don’t even have to list a price or description. If an offer is made, you’re messaged privately and you arrange the sale in a public place.

It’s like a mobile garage sale without all of the hassles of setting up a garage sale. Photograph the things you want to move, wait for a reply, then arrange the sale.

Another great thing is that it tells how far away you are from the seller — with a map approximating where they are — so you can decide if it’s worth driving that far for.

Once I get motivated to use any of these, I’ll let you know how they work. Since I don’t have any expensive antiques waiting to be sold, it likely won’t be a huge cash haul. But when trying to get rid of the junk in your garage, money may not be the highest priority.

Monetizing the Junk in Your Garage is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Almost every other piece of personal finance advice I’ve written about I’ve implemented myself: have an emergency fund, set up a college account for my daughter early, buy value stocks, cooking dinner at home and buying a used car with cash, among other things.

Shopping for insurance is one of the easiest things to do, taking minutes online or a five-minute phone call to an insurance agent. Up until about a month ago, the last time I went shopping for insurance was about a dozen years ago when my wife and I bought a house and needed homeowner’s insurance.

Insurers often offer bundled savings, so shopping for insurance for your home is often accompanied by a quote for auto insurance. You can save at least $100 per year by buying multiple policies from the same carrier for your cars and home.

An armored truck started it all

After more than 12 years of not shopping for insurance, what finally got me checking around for prices? Dissatisfaction with our insurance company. It all started when an armored truck made an illegal left turn and hit my wife’s car, totaling her car and soon starting us down the path of shopping for insurance.

I’ll make that story as brief as I can, but the end result was saving $350 on our annual premiums for home and auto insurance. That’s not a ton of money, I realize, but it’s enough of a savings to make the switch worthwhile. And I realize that someday our current insurer may disappoint us, which may again cause us to go shopping for insurance.

It’s now something I realize I should do annually. Loyalty to an insurer, I found out, isn’t a two-way street.

What led to me shopping for insurance

Luckily, nothing major has happened to our home, so the change in homeowner’s insurance wasn’t at the top of my mind when I went shopping for insurance after an unhappy tale from our insurer, Traveler’s. Still, the price from AAA for homeowner’s insurance was about $80 less per year, so the change was worthwhile.

What led to the change from Traveler’s to AAA was the number of times Traveler’s dropped the ball with our auto insurance claim. Here’s a quick recap of the balls they dropped:

• Telling us to go after the other insurer to reimburse us for a rental car. After the accident, our claims rep told us to get a rental car for up to two weeks so my wife could drive to work, and to send her the receipt. We rented a car for nine days. After weeks of back and forth with our insurer’s subrogation department and being told that Traveler’s would go after the other party’s insurer to reimburse us, the Traveler’s rep told us in an email that it was up to use to work with the other insurer to get that money. I called the claims rep and told them this was unacceptable, that Traveler’s should be working on our behalf. She called the subrogation rep, who later sent us a check for the rental car.
• Slow responses. A claims adjustor at Traveler’s told us to sign some papers and FedEx them back quickly so that a check for the totaled car’s value could be sent to us. We did, but Traveler’s response was incredibly slow. Almost two weeks went by before we received a check, a process the rep told us would take a few days. After I asked where the check was a week after sending them the documents they needed, they discovered that it hadn’t been sent yet but would arrive in a few days via FedEx. A week later, the check arrived.
• Inexperience. From the claims rep, to the adjustor, subrogation rep and even the sales rep, I felt like I was dealing with rookies. I often knew more than they did about the process, though I admit they were helpful in a lot of areas I didn’t understand. But all of them dropped the ball at some point, either giving me wrong information, conflicting information or an attitude that they didn’t care if I left for another insurer.

What went right

The good news is that in the end, Traveler’s came through with the rental car reimbursement, a fair payout for the totaled car, and the negligent party paid our deductible. It took awhile, but I ultimately felt that Traveler’s did what an insurer is supposed to do: Make you whole.

When you get in a car accident that’s not your fault, you’re still going to end up in the red financially. There’s no way around it. Auto insurance may give you enough money to buy a car comparable to the one you lost, but good luck finding one.

Easy switch of insurers

Switching insurers was as easy as a few phone calls. I could have compared prices online when shopping for insurance, but I called AAA because I’ve been a member of its auto club for all of my driving life and I’ve had insurance with AAA before.

I also went shopping for insurance the old fashioned way by stopping at my local AAA office and asking to speak to an insurance agent. I gave her our coverage letters from Traveler’s and after about 10 minutes of plugging numbers into her computer, we had a price quote for auto and home that was $350 cheaper for a year.

A few days later we decided to go with AAA and all we had to do was sign a few emailed documents and make some payments and we were set. Traveler’s required us to sign and mail back two forms before canceling our policies.

One Traveler’s saleswoman asked why we were changing our homeowner’s policy, which I told her was because we found a lower price elsewhere.

I later contacted Traveler’s to cancel our auto insurance, but they didn’t ask why. I suspect they already knew from my request a few weeks earlier to investigate why their subrogation department was asking us to go after the other driver’s insurer to get our money.

At the end of the day, I am happy that my wife was not injured, and we made the decision to switch to another company to save money. However, with the help of a car accident lawyer this situation would have run much smoother, without any need for me to have to contact as many people that I did. In addition, if any injuries would have incurred I would have made sure to connect with personal injury lawyers to get her compensated for any pain and suffering she may have experienced.

How I Saved $350 by Finally Shopping for Insurance is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Homeowners can sometimes talk themselves into spending money on their house by assuring themselves it will add value at resale time. However, it turns out that there are many improvements that do not add the value you may be banking on. To ensure you stick to projects that successfully add value to your home, check out the details below and get inspired.

Little Investment, Big Reward

The best improvements the add value to your home are the ones that pay off big time with little capital and effort. The difference may not always be that obvious to you, but adding luxury attractions does not usually boost value as much as functional changes.

In general, the more personal a home improvement is, the smaller the chance it will make a substantial difference in resale value. It’s a good idea to look for solutions that everyone can use, like improving the kitchen or bathroom vs. adding a man cave. Remember, the actual cost and payback for each project depends on real estate market values in your area, as well as your home’s overall condition.

Add Value to Your Home with Appliance Upgrade

From the kitchen and bathroom to the laundry room, energy efficiency and updated appliances seem to be more important than ever to potential buyers.

If something doesn’t match or looks old, you may be able to just add new doors or face panels. One type of door that is growing in popularity to increase home values are sliding barn doors, as they are able to change the feel of any space they are in. But if something is truly old and inefficient, you might want to consider purchasing a newer model.

Adding new hardware can be a great way to spruce up these rooms and add value to your home if you can’t afford all new things. You don’t need to make things too fancy (this can sometimes even work against you), but remodeling a kitchen and keeping up-to-date on appliances can really pay off because these spaces are generally the real heart of a home and can add value to your home.

New Rooms on the Cheap

Adding a bedroom can add tens of thousands of dollars in value to your home. The difference between a bedroom and any other type of den, living room, or office is simple: a closet. Adding a closet to any room with a door can turn it into a bedroom just like that. You will just need to put up some framework and add drywall, which can often be done for less than $2,000. A local real estate agent can advise you on any other local regulations or specs you’re required to meet to be able to add the extra bedroom to an official listing.

In trying to add value to your home, you might want to consider finishing your attic or basement to make it livable space because homebuyers are often on the lookout for versatile spaces. Reinventing your existing space can be much more efficient and effective even than adding square footage. If your home only has one bathroom, you might also consider turning underutilized areas into another bathroom.

Paint & Packaging Add Value to Your Home

The least expensive and most cost-effective value booster for your home will likely be painting it. A fresh coat of neutral colors inside and out will brighten your house and make everything look more attractive. Curb appeal is important, so you also might consider investing in some low-maintenance landscaping like shrubs and colorful plants that are native to your region and so require less maintenance.

When someone is getting ready to shell out a lump sum as a down payment to buy a new home, they are generally looking to get the best bang for their buck. Do your best to discern between improvements that are worthwhile and those that just won’t help you sell, but don’t forget that you can always call in an expert who knows the conditions in your local market to help you decide. It’s a good idea not to let TV shows and your personal desires or unique needs guide your home improvement decisions if your goals are solely improving resale value and recouping your remodeling costs.

Related Articles

• How Selling Your Home Can Affect Your Credit
• What You Should Know About Home Equity Lines of Credit
• How to Refinance Your Home Loan With Bad Credit

This article originally appeared on Credit.com.

This article by AJ Smith was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.

Source

How to Make Improvements That Add Value to Your Home is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

And, to complicate matters, there are many mortgage life insurance products available that confuse matters even further.

It’s important to buy some form of life insurance to cover your mortgage because if you don’t, your surviving family members may not be able to pay for the mortgage and the lender could foreclose on the home.

Most lenders generally want the mortgage amount paid off in full when the principal signatory passes away. The lender may allow the survivor to reapply for a new mortgage afterwards, but each lender has their own policies which vary.

Let’s clear up the confusion so you understand your choices.

What is Mortgage Protection Insurance (MPI)?

Mortgage Protection Insurance, also known as Mortgage Protection Life Insurance, is a product offered through lenders indirectly through a life insurance company, or is sold directly by a life insurance company.

There are variations of these products available. Some products are similar to a decreasing term life insurance policy, while others are a level term type of policy.

Some of the policies available will pay the death benefits as a lump sum while others will pay out death benefits as an annuity to cover the mortgage payments over time. Policies which pay out death benefits as a lump are more expensive than those which pay out as an annuity.

There are also variations of these products which contain attached riders which will also provide coverage for accident and sickness such as if you can no longer work, or to cover the life insurance premiums so coverage will continue. Needless to say, this additional coverage is convenient but is also more expensive.

Also, some policies will make the lender the beneficiary while others will allow you, as the policy holder, to name your own beneficiary. The advantage in the latter is that it allows your beneficiary to use the funds in any manner they choose.

What Type of Mortgage Life Insurance to Buy?

It depends on your situation. If you are young and healthy, you might be better off either buying a level term policy on its own by using an independent life insurance agent because they can find you the best rates. Your beneficiaries can use the payout to either pay the mortgage off and/or use the outstanding balance anyway they need.

You could also opt for a decreasing term policy where the amount of death benefits diminishes over set time increments.

Or, you could opt for a more specific MPI product which offers additional protection for accident and sickness or cover your premiums if you can’t work.  Keep in mind that these types of policies that offer this more comprehensive form of coverage are provided by life insurance riders and that this additional coverage will cost more.

If you are elderly and/or have health issues, you might be better off applying for a life insurance product which does not require a medical exam through either the lender or a private life insurer. The cost of life insurance is more but at least you can feel confident that the mortgage will be covered. Otherwise, if you try to buy a policy on your own you could end up being declined.

We recommend that before you decide, consider speaking to an independent life insurance agent. They can discuss your particular situation and needs. The agent can explain what choices you have and then they can perform the comparison shopping for you to find you the best deal.

Otherwise you will be stuck with what a private lender or a private insurer will charge. You can likely find a much better rate by using an independent agent.

Also remember that you can stagger or layer several life insurance policies together so you have several policies to cover different needs. If you have a policy strictly for you mortgage, you can cancel it when the mortgage is paid off and still have the other policies in force.

And finally, you need to keep in mind what you want for your family and what they will need.

Need Help with Mortgage Life Insurance?

Mortgage life insurance can be a complicated issue especially with so many products available. And, everyone has there own particular needs when it comes not only to life insurance but also for life insurance to coverage a mortgage.

To help you decide, we suggest that you contact the independent brokers at JRC Insurance group today because we can provide you with the advice you need to help you make that crucial decision. 

This post is written by Chris Huntley, a licensed life insurance agent in 48 states. He is director of marketing at JRC Insurance Groups and blogs about life insurance at InsuranceBlogByChris.com.

Life Insurance to Cover a Mortgage is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

In money
I pay myself first. I try to keep our fixed costs low and track our spending very closely. But when things come up … like an opportunity to take a trip I can’t pass up … while I do try to be extra-frugal in other areas that month, I’m generally inclined to save a bit less than go Super Saiyan on cutting back elsewhere.

In my head
I don’t generally consider myself a Type A. However, when it comes to things in my personal life, I can be … inflexible. Once I set my heart on a plan of action, should it be derailed for whatever reason, I may or may not have a bit of a tantrum. I’ll be honest, I worry myself sometimes. The sheer rage that comes over me is usually way out of proportion to the situation. On the other hand, it doesn’t last long, and I don’t go punching holes in walls or anything – I usually just storm off and maybe have a huffy cry.

At work
I’m a pretty awesome employee. I’m productive, manage a sh*t ton of tasks and rarely waste time, even though the temptations of being online all the time are major (I barely have time to check the news more

than once a day, and tend to rely on coworkers to alert me of stuff I’ve missed). The nature of my job means there’s always more I could be doing. But I’ll admit I’m not always doing myself a favour working so hard. I’m not big on small talk, and I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t really take part in serendipitous ‘watercooler’ conversation (is the coffee machine a gathering place in your office too?). And I almost always eat lunch by myself – my workflow usually means I eat later in the day than others, and I do so over a book or catching up on blogs. For a workplace our size, I actually don’t see that many people in the lunchroom, either.

At home
I don’t make my bed. Ever. And I just generally don’t clean as often as I’d like to (I don’t think ‘like’ is the correct term there – I don’t *want* to clean more often; who does? But I know I should).

In health
I’m Asian, so I don’t burn as quickly as less-pigmented folk. That said, I’m not entirely immune to bad rays. The thing is, I really dislike sunscreen – even the lightest, least greasy of formulas. Of course, I slip slop and slap when we head out to the beach, but on a daily basis in the summer, I probably sunblock off my face … a quarter of the time? Oh, and I actually quite like Big Macs. (Plus McDonald’s has the best chips.) Stone me now.

Confessions of a Blogger is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

When J moved out of his parent’s house, he was starting with nothing. For the first half of a year that he lived alone, all he had was a used mattress (which I scored for him from a friend), some dollar store dishes (which we still have and work great) and an exercise bench.

Since my mom had gone through a divorce and then re-married, and also loves making her home perfect and therefore buys new things all the time, I came with a whole bunch of stuff when I moved in with him.

My mom set us up with dishes, forks, knives, cups, mugs, a microwave, blankets, a TV, shoe & coat racks, and several other things that she had started putting away for me when I was a toddler.

While I don’t see any purpose in replacing our plates and glasses, which are fine being a bit mismatched, there are a few things that J and I would love to replace when/if we get into a new place.

A New Mattress

The first and most urgent of those being a new mattress. Ours was donated to J by a friend of mine. It was clean and rarely used, but in storage under a bunch of boxes for years. We’ve had it for about 4 years now, and it’s horrid.

I wake up every morning feeling so sore. I can’t sleep in on weekends past 6 AM because my back starts to kill me.

I can’t sleep on my right hand side because my lower back gets a dull, aching pain until I roll over.

This isn’t just a back problem. This doesn’t happen at my mom’s house, or at hotels. We’ve been saving change for a new mattress for a little over a year, and have about $700. When we move out of this apartment, we’ll buy a new one. We’ll have to subsidize the money we have saved by about half, but I think it will be worth it.

Many of our prospects are online vendors like Casper, Purple and even Nolah. They’re all pretty affordable and are suppose to be great choices for relief from this type of pain. Might need to pony up a few more dollars for premium versions, but the reviews suggest it’s well worth it.

A Couch

Another thing we desperately need is a couch. Preferably a sectional.

Right before I moved in with J, his landlords were cleaning out their parents garage and they found two couches. They’re hideously ugly, but in relatively good shape. They noticed that he didn’t have any furniture, and donated them to us. That was about four years ago.

These couches are horrible. One didn’t last through the last move, so we have one couch and a Walmart fouton. They’re actually love seats. We’ve tried slipcovers, but they don’t stay on.

I think we’d have to budget about $1700 for a new, good quality lasting sectional. This won’t be happening until I have a steady paying job and we have some savings.

A Dyson

One thing I’ve been dreaming off for years is a Dyson vacuum. I love Dyson. J didn’t have a vacuum for three months after moving out, and I used a Future Shop gift card to buy the cheapest one I could find for him. At $40, the vacuum is a complete piece of crap, but has moved from place to place with us.

A New TV

Finally, we desperately need a new TV. The one that we have is from the early 90’s. It’s unbelievably heavy, and really, really big. I don’t mean big in screen size – I mean big. It’s only a 27″, but it weighs more than I do.

It’s a burden, but it’s a TV. We don’t have cable so it’s pointless to buy one now, so we’ll wait. I dream of a nice, sleek flat screen that we can mount on a wall. That will be about $600.

Especially since I don’t have a permanent job and still have tuition to pay, none of these things are going to be gracing us with their presence, except for the mattress, until I’m done school and find a steady, decent paying job. But a girl can dream, right?

Expensive Things That I “Need” is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.