Stuck in the middle

Author: Ashley

30 Oct

I don’t know about you, but around here it’s not the small stuff that falls through the cracks, but the medium stuff. By medium stuff I mean things that cost between $50-$200, or so. Stuff we need that costs less than $50 we just pick up without a terrible amount of thought. Stuff that costs more than about $200 we tend consider it a big purchase and either decide we don’t need it, or save up for it. But the mid range stuff never gets done. For example, we really need to get our carpets cleaned. We figure it will cost about $100. It’s been about a year since we decided to do it. Somehow that extra $100 never seems to materialize. While it doesn’t seem worth saving up for, it also isn’t something we are just going to go out and do on a whim. So it never happens.

It’s the same with projects. Big stuff, like landscaping the backyard, get done. We plan for it, set aside the time, and do it. Small projects, like changing a lightbulb, happen without thinking. But the mid range stuff, like painting the bathroom, never happen. I’ve had a color picked out for our bathroom for about 2 years, but it remains as white as the day we moved in.

It’s hard to put these projects in their proper place. But these projects are important. They will add to the quality of our life. If I could get the two projects I mentioned done I wouldn’t feel stressed out every time I look at our carpets. And it would make me happy to have some color in our bathroom instead of knowing it’s just another project on a seemingly endless list of projects.

I don’t know what the answer is. How do we make sure these projects get the attention they deserve? I guess we just have to make sure we plan these midrange projects just like we do the big projects. Maybe keep a list somewhere of all the middle stuff we want done and put money towards them just like we do the big stuff.

Pic by: ESwift

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post consider subscribing!

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

No related posts.

Filed under: life

5 Responses for "Stuck in the middle"

Bill October 30th, 2008 at 1:44 pm 1
We use a “House” envelope that is kept at $400. We each only use it after talking to the other. Next budget we count it and restock it. We do this with several hard to budget for things.

Enjoy your blog.

Bill
MrsMoney October 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm 2
I have a list of “projects” that need to be done to our house. They may be big, they may be small, but they are all on there. That definitely helps. And if I was closer, I’d come help you paint!
JRC October 31st, 2008 at 11:42 am 3
We made a completely list of home repair/upgrade projects.. it ended up being about 50 items. I did approximate costs on each item… costs ranged from $5.00 to about $2500.

We then both then ranked them, not giving any advice to the other on how we thought they should be ranked. We then balanced the scores in a spreadsheet, and then do them in order.

We have a budgeted amount for the “house fund” and when we can afford to do the next project, we do the next on the list.

Some of the minor cheap projects got done out of order, but we’re still going through the list of major projects as we can afford them.

When something new comes up, we talk and discuss to where it should go on the list (usually if it ‘comes up’, then it goes on the top of the list).
Slinky November 3rd, 2008 at 3:33 pm 4
I have this same problem, with the medium expenses. Big goals like saving for something or paying off debt are planned. Buying small things just come out of my ‘allowance’. My problem was when something was more than my ‘allowance’, but not big enough or important enough to get planned into the budget….like a filing cabinet. Boy would I love a file cabinet!

So far, no solution to this problem. I’m trying to budget in a small amount to (hopefully) accumulate for these sorts of things, but the last couple of months have been pretty tight and I’m not really getting anywhere.
Passing the Week. . . . | taxguy November 9th, 2008 at 6:53 am 5
[...] From Wide Open Wallet comes a few post I think most should read. In her post Stuck in the middle she discusses something I am willing to bet is very common in households today, spending less than [...]