[brenda67]

Every year we upgrade something that needs to be replaced or better our lives...last year it was our dishwasher, BBQ Grill, water pump, hooked up the water softener, hot water tank that we had bought 9years ago but never got hooked up.

This year so far has been a new wireless modem and a new Kitchenaid mixer as mine died.. this was unexpected but luckily I had money saved to buy a new one ..There is a promotion where you get to pick a ice creamer maker or 5-piece spritzer I picked the spritzer and had wanted that last year but never purchased it...I have every attachment except for the juicer because it got poor reviews..so it made sense to invest in buying another Kitchenaid mixer..

Bought myself a new leather wallet..I’ve had the same leather wallet for 31 years that’s how much I love it...however, the zipper is broke and the leather is very worned and over all just not functional anymore.

A set of flannel sheets for our queen size bed..we desperately needed them and sleep on them year round.

On our list for the remaining year is:

New clothesline..I use my clothesline religiously and it shows.
Building a bigger chicken coop.
Plant more medicinal plants.
New garage doors.
New garage door opener for my dh’s side of the garage..
New living room furniture.
Paint the house.
Replace worned kitchen tiles.
Buy a pair of Birkenstock sandals for myself mine are 5/6 years old.

Not sure financially if we will be able to do all of this but sure will try.

So what about you what’s on your list?

 

[Spirit Deer]

I hadn't thought about it much, but there are some things that need to be dealt with around here. We're looking at retirement before too long and don't want a bunch of debt hanging over us in the form of home and car repair/replacements.

Last year we sided the cabin for $4,000. That was our biggest expense.

We also salvaged 2/3 of the decking needed to put a floor in the greenhouse, but still had to buy 1/3 new decking and all the framing to put under it. I think that was around $300, still a big savings due to the salvaged materials.

We did a lot of work to purge and organize the garage last year, but did not spend a ton of money on that either. We did spend $40 on bike hoists for the HydroBikes, yet to be installed, $3 on a flat screen TV to have in the garage (rummage sale), probably around $100 on assorted wheels for the new lumber rack I built and other cabinets and workbenches, some money on magnetic catches for the garage cabinets, and other assorted small items. Mostly we used repurposed items and salvaged materials, so overall costs were low.

I think most of what we need to do this year will be more work and not a lot of cost. I have spent about $100 on building a new set of shelving to back two repurposed, salvaged base cabinets to create a new work table for our family room. I do a lot of winter projects there, since we don't have a basement. I've used other paint and materials from the lumber and hardware stashes, so haven't had to buy that stuff. Additionally, we have other projects to deal with this year.
-Install ceiling and insulation in garage. We have the ceiling paneling already and some insulation, but may need more insulation. We also bought a pull-down ladder to install in the garage ceiling last year. I think that was about $80.
-Rebuild and expand fence between house, garage, and cabin, and around greenhouse and garden area.
-Possibly have a new parking pad built in front of cabin.
-Finish building potting bench.
-Build additional boardwalks to make walking in our sloping yard easier and safer.
-Have additional support structure built for our front deck.
-Build new clothes airer.
-Replace some damaged panels in the greenhouse.
-Have new vanity, sink, and faucet installed in master bathroom. Rehab vanity and buy countertop for guest bath and have it installed. Also rebuild, paint, and install wall cabinet in guest bath.

I'd really love to replace the kitchen floor this year but I'm not sure we'll get that far. That's going to be several thousand dollars. We'd also like to add knotty pine T&G to the old section of the living room.

That's the short list, but I do believe we're getting to the end of our big expenses, due to the planning we did in previous years to get some of the big things taken care of.

 

[renmerc446]

Didn't really have any upgrade plans until this week. I upgraded my desktop when the DVD player part died. Ended up upgrading the whole kit and caboodle since my monitor was older than the computer, the computer comes with keyboard and mouse, and the old speakers didn't work with the new system. Also 'upgraded' the MS Office software since I never got around to getting it downloaded to the previous desktop (ended up downloading it on my laptop instead) but it's the 2016 software.

I do intend to upgrade my laptop sometime later this year. It works well enough but I do need to upgrade the antivirus software and I doubt they'll do that while the laptop runs on Vista. May or may not upgrade the MS software on it but may have to.

I will probably buy more tomato cages for my garden but may also buy new bean poles since the ones I have are getting rusty and bent out of shape.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I forgot we need to do something about our stupid heat pump. We've been trying to get it fixed for about five years now, and the company comes, it's working when they leave, and then it won't cool if the temp goes above eighty. Big help. Who cares about AC when it's below eighty? They reached the point where they won't even take our calls because I think they think we're just making it up. Why would we? But clearly, they don't know how to fix it. The heat part of it was fine till last fall, so we've been letting it go but we've just about had it. We've spent over $1,000 over the past few years trying to fix the damn thing and it still doesn't work right. Right now we're debating if we should buy another heat pump or just put in a central AC unit, and not from the company where we got the heat pump. One way or another, I'm not willing to go through another summer sitting around in my underwear doing nothing because the house is too dang hot. We get absolutely nothing done if the weather is hot and we don't have a cool place to either work in or go into for a break from heat. Not being able to be productive costs us, too, so we might as well be comfortable, not to mention being too hot is a health issue.

 

[Stillfrugal]

Last year
-the entire water system
-a new mower w/ push start button
-a new more powerful snow blower
-All new flannel sheets and blankets for the 2 beds
-A whole "new to me" summer wardrobe
-new night gowns and pj's
-new furnace regulator part
-lots of new clothes for DH


This year
-many new wooden spoons,pizza cutter,dish Towels,tongs,tart ins,etc for the kitchen
-satisfied a recall on DH's emissions system
-get living room furniture and dump the Mastiffs stinky couch


Need to
get a new van
a new furnace/air conditioning(dream-a generator thats wired in and kicks over)
fix the drywall on the ceiling in the Fam room
think about a new generator??
think about a new water heater

 

[dlrcpa]

2018 plans are mostly landscaping to get the yard looking good - my job.

A few small repairs and caulking needed outside - hubby bought materials and then procrastinated. There are also logs to be split & stacked properly. He is supposed to hire someone to do all this.

Inside just need to replace/modernize blinds and remove wallpaper and paint in the main floor bath - me. Continue decluttering.

 

[Spirit Deer]

We're just sitting here talking about this upcoming year and trying to balance the money we need to put into the house and retiring next year. It'll be interesting to say the least. And we're trying to decide what we're willing to DIY and what we need to hire people to do. More interesting.

Our main focus, I think, will be to get the ceiling in the garage and finish up the insulation and organization, and maybe get started on putting T&G knotty pine in the old half of the living room and try to finish up some other UFOs. Then we'll see where we are at the end of the summer.

We also need to get the AC fixed in the camper, and I hope we don't have to drag it all the way down to Minneapolis to do that. I need to research and see if we can DIY that or have a local HVAC person do it. The camper needs new bungees on the roof and some other maintenance, too.

The list never ends.

 

[Stillfrugal]

Amen that the list never ends. Van is dead in driveway because i let it sit after smelling gas and the rear wheel was already squealing and the exhaust had a hole. Now the little car had a hole in the tire from a nail. And we discovered needs new tires and rotor and front brakes between spring and summer sometime. Dh wants to jump the van and I would rather tow (flat bed) it a few miles than take the risk of a gas leak.?? So it sits. Luckily he works from home when he's not traveling. And I am "retired".

We need a new cement drive and porch slab and front door,fire place insert heater,whole new kitchen,a couch sectional,paint throughout,etc,etc,etc.

 

[daylily]

Last year we had to replace the dish washer, not because we wanted to but because the old one died.

This year, we hope to get a microwave to replace one that died and to replace the propane water heater that is getting old but still functioning well. I hope to replace it before it springs a leak and ruins something. It's about 17 years old.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I think we'll get away without replacing our dishwasher. It was leaking but when I was searching for the leak, I happened to accidentally put my hand on something that didn't feel right. I found a ridge of crud made of soap scum that I think was deforming the door seal. Since I scraped the crud out with a pot scraper, it doesn't seem to be leaking anymore. I sure hope that was the problem. Every essential large appliance in our house and cabin is at least 25 years old except the water heater, stove, and freezers, so I'm always expecting something to quit. The one I really dread quitting is the fridge, which we bought in 1988.

I've been debating all day today how much of the bigger projects that need to be done around here I can DIY while Husby is at work. For starters I need to paint the bathroom. I'll have to reassess once that's done, but I'm starting to think I could do all the T&G in the living room up to a height of six feet or so by myself. After that I'd need help since I couldn't be on two ladders at once. I'm going to have to step it up though. He's at work all day, I'm home full time. It's always been part of my responsibility to handle stuff like this at home. Otherwise I don't feel I'm being an equal partner. Not fair to him. I did get a ton of the work done by myself in the garage last summer, so I know what I'm capable of. The bonus is if I'm working on stuff, he's more motivated to get stuff done too, because every day he sees the progress, which he likes as much as I do.

 

[Stillfrugal]

I was just trying to figure out how old our Water heater is. Been here since 1994 and i think it was 8 yrs old then. That would make it 31 yrs old. Is that even possible?? Its a 40 gal. gas. We do way less wash and such but still. Add it to the front of the line.

 

[RABBIT]

I feel the same way you do SD. I work part time but DH work 50-60+ hours a week, I am not going to have him come home from work and do a bunch of stuff around the house when I've had more free hours in my day than he has. I think I am the only woman I know, besides my sisters, that does yard work.

We have no plans on doing anything around here this year. Last year we put on a new roof, new well tank, new water softener and both of us got new glasses. We are starting to talk about replacing the flooring in our house but that wouldn't be until maybe next year. We have an open concept house but it has cut up floors. Wood in foyer, carpeting in living room, hall and bedrooms and tile in kitchen and laundry room. I would like to put wood laminate everywhere except for the bedrooms. Hopefully we would be able to do this ourselves.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I've done so many things women don't usually do, Rabbit. When I look back on it now I can't believe I even attempted some of what I've done, much less been successful. The two things that stick out the most for me are gutting the bathroom to the studs in our house in Minneapolis and rebuilding everything, and wiring the garage on this property from nothing and passing inspection on the first try, which the inspector informed me is very unusual for owner-installed wiring. It's an unusual day around here if I haven't had my hands on some kind of tool, and in fact, most of the tools we own I've either bought myself with Husby not even around, or it's been my idea to buy them. He's not at all handy, plus there's the issue of him working and me 'not working' so it only makes sense for me to do it. I have the time, and over my lifetime I've developed skills he will never have.

We laid the laminate in our bedroom and LR, which adjoin each other, but the kitchen floor would be a whole other beast. It would take us forever. We would need to do the utility room, master bath, kitchen, pantry, family room, back hall, and guest bath all at the same time. Every large appliance would need to be moved except probably the water heater and furnace. There are so many angles, corners, walls, toilets, and other objects to be dealt with, it would mean the house would be all torn up for months. And then there's the crawling around on the floor to do the work, which my knees can't take anymore. I'm willing to pay a crew to come in and move it all, rip up everything, and install the new flooring which I hope wouldn't take more than a week. It would be worth the extra cost to get it done fast. Our snow guys actually do snow removal as a sideline business, but their main business is construction, so in the spring we intend to talk to them about some of the work we need done.

It should be an interesting year, home improvement-wise.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

We don't have plans to do any upgrades this year, but you never know. Our gas furnace is 15+ years old and I always get a shocked look from the service guys when I say that. It's been needing service more often, too, so it may fail on us. We have money set aside.

DH wants to replace the carpet now that our old cat is gone, but we are nowhere near being able to move all the accumulated clutter out of the rooms that need it. Our house is open concept, too, so it all has to be done at once. Ugh.

I don't necessarily have more time to do stuff than DH, but I learned woodworking and how to use tools and do small repairs. My generation spent a lot of effort pushing the boundaries of what girls were allowed to, or supposed to do. I was the first girl in my high school to take wood shop. I do a lot of yard work, but DH still mows, because I can never get that stupid cord thingie to start the mower. I made him buy an electric weeder and tiller for me.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Are your remaining cats still quite young? I'm resisting replacing some things here because our three cats aren't very young anymore and are likely to develop problems, too.

I asked our gas guy about whether our furnace needs to be replaced soon but he said no. Ours is about 25 years old. I'm of two minds about it though. Yeah, it's expensive to replace it, but at the same time, the new high-efficiency furnaces burn 97% of the propane that fuels them, so I know it's costing us not to replace it. If it needed replacing, it would be done immediately because it's costing us extra money every hour it runs, but it just seems like a harder choice to replace it when it's not broken. At this point though, when we don't know how soon we might move, we're less inclined to replace anything we don't have to. Chances are we won't be here long enough to get a return on the investment of a new one.

I can't usually start things with pull cords either. As Husby is fond of telling people who comment on my skills as a DIYer, I'm the brains, he's the brawn. I don't necessarily agree about the brains because he comes up with some great ideas too, but I'm the first to admit sometimes I need some extra muscle. OTOH, I've gotten good at work-arounds when I run up against problems that require more strength then I have.

I guess I've always just been too independent to not want to do things myself, and too curious not to want to continually learn how to do new things.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

The girls will be 10 this year, middle aged. I am not too worried about them going forward. Being female they are less likely to spray, and they don't have the litterbox issues our male cat had from day one. Plus, if we replace the carpet there won't be pee smell in the corners of every room.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Yeah, the pee smell is a big incentive for replacing carpets. It's one reason we got rid of every carpet in the house, because there's no way to get a carpet really clean.

Our girls are about the same age and we've had problems with one of them, as you know. I just tossed a cat bed that was full of pee. We're not sure why at this point. We'll wait to see if it's a one-time thing or an ongoing problem.

 

[Stillfrugal]

well from the time we got a house 1 year into our marriage 1986-2013 I did the lawn mowing and bush trimming and leaf raking and blowing. I had a garden at the old house and a few year here too.No one wanted to rototill it and the dogs decided it was a bathroom.So that ended too.I used to love it But diabetes and heart trouble have changed that. I had service for 1 yr and I wanted to ring their necks for billing issues and tearing up the lawn so I got DH a nice mower last summer. I asked if he wanted to get a tractor for the back and a shed but got a TD.

I was thinking about our stove today. It is 28 yrs old and is the last thing that came w/ us that I can think of. All the burners work and also the controls. I have kept it in good shape. I have noticed the oven takes a bit longer and heat a bit uneven. I may balance it and cross my fingers for another year. I grew up w/ a stove you set the timer 1/2 way ,spun it and set it the rest so...doesnt really phase me ATM.

As far as cats go I cant imagine having carpet. Ours for the most part are 13-15 yrs. now and I clean a lot of fur and urps up daily. I wont get new floors for a few areas.

 

[NikoSan999]

Stove and fridge both giving us issues and has been for over a year. Going to deal until can't deal anymore. All the swagbucks and mypoints I do I'm saving for just that. Whichever goes first. They sure don't make them like they used to and I wouldn't have another LG shoved up my yahoo.

He has a mower that he traded something for... a rider. It works/runs but guessing at some point it's going to go too.

Washer and dryer are .. wow... 13 to 15 years old. So that's going to be a given.

My computer is several years old and a Windows 7. I never let it update. Hate Windows 10

Lets not even talk about the vehicles.

So as far as updating ... it's whatever whichever happens first.

Edit to add... I would LOVE to have a full couch. It WILL fit in here but close. Right now all we have for sitting is a chair and a loveseat that's divided in the middle. So only 3 people can sit. Thank goodness it's next to the kitchen counter/bar type thing where there's 2 chairs. This living room is SMALL.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I'm sorry you've had problems with your LG stuff, Niko. We've had a few in the house and camper and have liked them so far. I do agree nothing lasts like it used to.