I'm back and nearly moved in!

I've been away from the blogging world for a while now due to the moving in process and a few other things. Thanks, everyone for all the kind words!

I had a few things done with the condo that took nearly a month (three weeks) and then, moving in took longer than planned due to a close cousin's wedding and family gatherings, etc on weekends. Oh, and the rats..mice..critters with sharp teeth and alot of bowel movements have gone through my boxes of clothing, toiletries, and cookware that I had stored in the garage...so washing and cleaning the mess up took abit of time as well.

I am starting to really like this place... it's on a little hill....allright, it's a mound, but I still get a pretty good view of the hillside. There's always a nice breeze even on hot days. I'm no longer near a beach but I can live with it. One bad side: rats... mice...critters have gone through my......

Things That Have Been Done So Far:

The bathrooms of the place were pretty bad...the last owner took the fixtures (??) and the tubs were scratched up, so I decided to remodel the bathrooms. The contractor took two weeks to finish with one week lost in the middle due to missing supplies. I couldn't live in the place with holes in place of toilets, so I ended up staying with my sister longer than expected. The end total cost came out abit higher than I had initially budgeted since I ended up ripping off the carpet since the last owners' two bulldogs had a field day on those carpets and putting in laminate wood flooring.

For funding, I decided to take out my secret stash, in the form of a CD, that I had not included in my net worth calculations earlier (It was supposed to be the ultimate backup money...I basically lied to myself and made myself believe I never had it, so that I won't spend it...although it obviously didn't work). I hated to cash out the CD mid cycle, since I had to pay $89 as penalty but I knew that I'd never get around to redoing the place after I've fully moved and I have no savings left due to the downpayment. It's just abit easier to work on an empty place.

Here's the breakdown to help me remember what I did to this place when the time comes to sell in five years:

• Laminate wood flooring: $ 2,200
• Kitchen, hallway, & bathroom recessed lighting: $800
• Two bathroom remodeling (floor, cultured slabs, sliding doors, tub, & toilet): $ 5,700 (original $5,000 estimate/overboard by $300 and $400 for putting in ceramic tiles for both bathroom floors.)
• Interior Painting: $ 200
• Miscellaneous (replacement of screen doors, dryer hookups, other labor costs, etc): $100

Regrets:

• Not getting multiple estimates for the work. I got lazy and got only two estimates.
• Being lax with the contractor. They really did take their own sweet time.

Slowly, I'm building my emergency fund again.. it's now at $4,567.56 and gradually building up. I have stopped contributing to the Roth IRA for now, while I build up the emergency fund up to $20,000. $20,000, because it's approximately 6 months worth of mortgage and cost of living.

Slowly but surely, I'll get there.....the hare may pass me... heck, even the turtle may pass me, but I'll get there.