Looks like there will be more than a few hits to our wallet over the next few months. It’s been a while since we’ve done some routine maintenance to a few things and so all of a sudden things are piling up that need some attention. Unfortunately, we’ve been deferring a few maintenance tasks over the last few years and it seems that a lot has caught up with us! Sure, I thought we were being smart about delaying the inevitable; for the sake of preserving our bottom line, we were more than happy to postpone the yearly touch ups, but you can only wait so long.
Big Family & Home Expenses In The Horizon
Here’s a quick list of what’s going to hit our pockets very soon:
Our relatively old van will need replacing soon. I can feel it. It has 140,000 miles and already is beginning to see too many visits with the mechanic. It may be time to make the switch. After checking out the latest van models out there, I’m excited about the slick new looks that these new models are sporting. The downside? We’ll probably part with our old van for around $6,000. $7,000 if we’re REALLY lucky. (We’re thinking of selling online through Craigslist again.) A new car will take us back around $30,000. It’s a guesstimate, but it’s still a big number!
The house needs a fresh face. After 10 years, I think our house needs some weather proofing, which translates to a fresh coat of paint. And painters and their paint jobs here in the SF Bay Area will take a bite out of the budget. You can blame the cost of labor over here. There are a few more maintenance costs and clean up jobs we need to take care of, with this paint project being just the tip of the iceberg.
New furniture. Some of our stuff is dying on us (think: coils popping out of chairs!). I got some of our furniture off of Craigslist (you can see that I use this site a lot!), and these pieces served us well, but I think they’re on their way out. While used stuff can be a great deal, many of these things don’t have much long to live and eventually, they’ll need replacing.
Kids’ camp. There are cheap camps and there are expensive camps. We are eyeing a computer camp for our 8 year old, and the charge is steep. Everything about it seems like a perfect fit for our kid and the type of people we are (I’ll leave out the details), but the downside is that it costs a lot. However, it’s probably not as expensive as a typical summer trip to visit family in other parts of the world. Airfare for our entire family for those trips would add up to several thousands of dollars. Given all the expenses we’re facing, it’s a good thing we’re staying put this year.
So there you have it: additional things we’ve had to budget for and will add to our outlay over the next few months. These are extra expenditures that crop up once in a while but are too easily overlooked: they go to wear and tear, and the maintenance of home and family! So how is your summer turning out?
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