Well, this is the first post in about 5 months. My entry title is a take off on Jack Paar's first words when he came back to his Tonight show after a big long kerfluffle.
Anyway, what happened was not a mere storm to my routine it was a fiscal hurricane (apologies to those still coming back from ss Sandy). It was all self induced. Pull up a chair and let me tell you about it.
First of all, no more DH. Actually, just to be clear, DH was more a DP (partner). We never got married, but we were together for over 20 years. I fudged the legal aspects of the relationship to provide myself a hair more anonymity. And now, it matters little except for the fact that no marriage, no divorce.
I had been dissatisfied in our relationship for some time, but something good usually happened that I could go on for a little longer. Last July though, I just looked around and saw that DH (okay, DP) was not going to change and I was damned, if I continued, that I was going to spend my next 30 years picking up after him. I blew...for me I blew, and then while I snapped back I snapped back into a different place ... a different realization.
We broke up, but we did go to Argentina together. I did give him the option to not go (he took out trip insurance), but told him that we all did want him to come. I can't say what he thought about the whole thing. I know that strangely enough, it took the heat off of me. If he did something cringe worthy, I didn't think of it as a reflection on our relationship because there now wasn't one.
Next day after I snapped, I went to my credit union in search of a home loan. Which, if you look at my net worth, was easy to get. I had 20% and could qualify pretty easy for a 3% 15 yr fixed. Next I thought hard about what I really really wanted. I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a real yard? Yeah, I suppose, but really yard work only appealed to me once in awhile, while plants in the yard grew relentlessly. And if I waited for Seattle home prices to turn reasonable, well I'd still be spending 30 yrs waiting for that. Plus, if I truly wanted to do yard work for a couple of weeks, I could fly out, spend some time with sister at the farmette, help her with the garden and weeding, and since I co-own the farmette, well, it helps me also.
After a bit of searching, I found probably one of the last sweet condo deals in Seattle, out in Lake City/Cedar Park, out at the northeast edge of Seattle. And yet the bus commute was 20 minutes shorter than what I'm used to (buses here are express, and I'm on the last stop before downtown), and the neighborhood itself sports a +90 walkability score. So I now am a proud condo owner.
With it, well I'm still spending money right and left. However, I'm buying quality and getting exactly what I want. New carpet, but carpet tile instead of wall to wall shag; new paint, but high end paint which means I can get away with 1/2 coats, only buying 1 gallon and taking only 1/2 sessions to paint a room. V.I. (kitty) has moved in with me and seems to have settled in well. Of course that litter genie could have helped much.
I can't rightly say that I'm saving money yet, but I am saving my sanity, resetting my routine, making new friends (I'm now closer to Spondilucks, who invited me to her New Year's party).
More to come, but as it is, while life is different, it is nicer for me than before.
...as I was saying (long)
December 13th, 2012 at 08:50 pm
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December 13th, 2012 at 09:47 pm 1355435267
"while life is different, it is nicer for me than before" - Well, I think that is awesome!
December 13th, 2012 at 10:19 pm 1355437187
And Congratulations on your new life.
December 13th, 2012 at 10:20 pm 1355437253
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December 14th, 2012 at 12:28 am 1355444904
@LibraryLady, I've been wondering about Retire@50 too.
December 14th, 2012 at 01:53 am 1355450033
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December 14th, 2012 at 03:23 am 1355455394
I've been wondering about you and your trip.
Been missing your daily blog especially about finding money and the stock market/investing.
Glad you are back and in better place than before.
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December 14th, 2012 at 08:48 pm 1355518132
I think what is happening in the Seattle RE market (probably the same in CA) is that the supply is totally constricted. Either its great and prices are high, or its a teardown or a short sale. Even this summer it was tight if you weren't looking at a short sale - I suspect that the deal with what I got was that most people saw the aging carpet, the old kitchen (everything looks mid80s) with no dishwasher, and a relatively high average HOA. Turned enough other buyers away, and aged the listing just enough so that there were no fights and bidding wars.
Right now I'm debating about being on the condo board for next year. Could be a new fun set of posts.
Oh yes, and its still on for Death Bet of 2013!
December 15th, 2012 at 01:26 am 1355534797
I'm glad you're doing well.Congrats on the condo. I would like to sell my house and get a condo as well, but it will be an uphill battle just getting the house ready for market. don't even want to go there yet.
December 15th, 2012 at 02:22 am 1355538172
The only reason we were not eaten up alive in bidding wars when we bought both our homes is we lucked into the "less desirable." What is interesting is we bought both our home move-in ready/updated to the brink. "Less desireable" has only meant less advertising/terrible selling agents, for us. Anyway, sounds like you lucked into something in a very trying market!
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