(Previous posts can be found HERE.)
After posting the last post I received the following question …
Where did you guys stay when
working on the house? Did you have a camper?
I’ve been telling you that we
knew what we wanted and that we were determined. Well, if you haven’t believed it before now,
this should convince you.
We
(my husband and I were empty-nesters at the time and still are) were renting
and had been since moving to the area. In
January of that year our landlady told us that since her husband had recently
passed away she was going to have to move from their home to a home of her
own. She told us not to worry though,
that she wasn’t going to ask us to move because we were such good renters and she
had a beach house she could move to and that’s what she was going to do.
February 1st she gave us notice
that we had to be out by the end of the month and my husband had a week long
work related trip out of town that he had to take that month. We had been working on the house but it was
in no way near livable. We had no family
that lived anywhere near us. We had a
serious problem!
After much prayer and a
kind offer we decided to put almost all of our worldly possessions in storage
and move into … a good friend’s brother’s garage … yes, a garage! The garage was not attached to their house
and did have a mini kitchenette and a bathroom/shower so we set our bed up in the garage part and
used the mini kitchenette and bathroom/shower. All it cost
us was the electricity we used. We lived like this for about 4 months until we
could get one room of our house livable and then we moved into it. This was some of the hardest days of the
whole journey. Our friend (and his
wife), whose brother’s garage we were living in fixed supper for us several
evenings every week. They really went
the extra mile to help us through this difficult time and we will forever be
grateful to them. The upside of it
though, was that we had the money we had been paying for rent to use on our
house. Remember we were paying as we
went.
All
I can say is that where there is a will, there is a way … as hard as it was; it
moved us closer to our goal more quickly than we would have gotten there
otherwise!
Are you ready for some more pictures ... here you go ...
Last week I left you with us completing the foundation, sitting the house down on it and tying it down with the hurricane straps.
This week we're going to go inside ... are you ready???
Have I mentioned that the inside of the house was dirty ... even after hauling load after load after load of junk out of it ...
We swept and swept and swept and swept the floors ...
... and the walls and gave the whole inside a thorough cleaning. My husband patched the hole in the roof and the one directly below it in the floor.
The house was full of small little rooms and we knocked out some of those wall studs and made a living room/kitchen/dining room combination, a half bath, a master bedroom, master bath and 3 closets. Since we had knocked out those stud walls my husband had to build a very strong bridge to go across the 'big' room in the attic. This bridge gave the 'big' room the support it needed. (Our entire house was and is 925 sq.feet.)
Next, my husband ran the wiring ... and this was about the time that we got the notice that we had to move out of the house we were renting.
Next, the rush to get one room ready for us to live in!
Until next time,
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
I'm sure it wasn't anything but at the time, but this is an exciting story to read! I can't wait to see the finished house :)
ReplyDeleteI lived in a tent trailer in a garage for a year. It worked fine. You do what you have to do. Good financial decision you two!
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your journey.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got my first real job and had to move to another city, I had very little time to find an apartment. I was successful, but then had to wait another month before the furniture arrived. My grandparents just happened to be moving out of their home of many years to an apartment and I was able to get almost all of the furniture for this new apartment from what they didn't need. I slept on a mattress from my parents trailer on the floor, had a small kitchen table and chair and a TV table to put my TV on, but that's it for furniture for an entire month. Thankfully I had kitchen and bathroom stuff to start out with. It was interesting to live like that, and honestly, I could do it again if need be.
ReplyDeletecan't wait to see the finished room you are living in, (or the rest of the 'finished' house) this is a riveting story!
ReplyDeletethanx for sharing
Hi Patsy!
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad you had a structurally solid place to stay, with amenities. In terms of basics, you were well provided for.
The beauty in the woodwork is coming through! It's getting a bit exciting - closer to 'setting up house'!!
Regards,
Rachel Holt
This is such an interesting story. I can't wait to see the finished product.
ReplyDeleteYou did great. Good for you. I've lived on a shoestring myself at times.
ReplyDeleteLoving this !
ReplyDeleteOh my... nothing like having to move quickly!! Looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteI'm in awe of your unity and dedication to your goals. My husband and I are almost complete opposites financially and that has been very trying for most of our 31 years of marriage.
ReplyDeleteWhen our third child was born we were living in a 3 bedroom house just the size of yours. We had one bedroom, the 4 yo and 2 yo shared another and the baby was in my sewing room for about six months. Then he moved in with his brother and sister. I remember those days fondly.
Rozy, a house the size of ours with 3 children would be hard, kudos to you for making it work!
Delete