Wow, buyer’s remorse hit me big-time last night, and I haven’t even had the home inspection yet. (Next Thursday.)
I was making a budget and, well, I don’t think I plugged the numbers in exactly right, because I scared the hell out of myself and thought I had no money left over after paying the bills. Today, I’ve come to realize that I probably don’t spend $400 a month on food (I’m single and I cook most of my meals), even factoring in the kosher requirements. And not every month will have a gas bill like last month. In fact, I save money on every Monday holiday, because I don’t have to drive up to NorVA if there’s no staff meeting. There are a few Monday holidays coming up soon, thankfully.
I was also thinking it’s time to sell my Jeep. I love it, but I bought it when gas was a buck and a quarter a gallon. Or maybe even less. For the twenty years prior, I had Ford Escorts and a Datsun 310, all cars that got about 25/30 mpg. Now, instead of dumping my Jeep in a panic, I think I’m going to wait until I’m in my new home and the new budget kicks in. If I have to, my plan is to possibly trade in the Jeep for a car with better mileage, but one that still makes me feel safe driving on the highway every week, like a Rav4. Or maybe buy a cheap used high-mileage vehicle for the trips up to NorVA and keep my Jeep for tooling around Richmond. I really do love my Jeep. I also like the sturdiness factor. It’s pretty solid, and if I do (God forbid) get into a crash, it will protect me far better than one of those little 40 mpg tin cans.
Anyway, there are a ton of things I can do to cut costs. Now that I have more storage space, I can buy those bulk items from Costco. I can make a regular pasta night (I tend to be more carnivorous and like meat for dinner most nights). I already usually bring lunch to work on Mondays instead of ordering out. There are a ton of things you can do to cut costs. There’s also more income: I might finally get ads for my weblog, though I’ve been reluctant to go that way so far. I’m thinking I might get back into freelance proofreading. That’s pretty easy work that I can do at home, and the pay is decent. I wonder if I still have contacts at Tor.
The other thing I realized is that everyone cuts costs for their first home. Most of them do it with two incomes, but hey—I’ve been on my own for a long time now. I think I can handle this, too.
Five weeks left. Only five more weeks of annoying noise, kids who ride their bikes in the middle of the street and get annoyed with you when you beep at them to move over. Five more weeks of maintenance workers ignoring your calls. Five more weeks of hiding my laptop every time I go out for fear of a break-in while I’m gone.
I can’t wait.