Join our participants as they reduce debt and increase savings with the help of Summit financial coaches.
Jasmine's Journey:
Renovation Disaster
This past week, my focus has been tackling some of these home renovations projects and getting them completed. I started my new project, which was the downstairs half bath, thinking this would be a quick update, paint, new toilet, vanity and flooring. It’s easy to say this changed into to a much more expensive project, as in $500-$900 for a new toilet. After demolishing my half bath, I uncovered some of the secrets behind the walls. Removing the toilet, I found that the plumbing drain for the toilet is actually on the wall instead of the floor. Thinking that would be a quick fix, I searched for a new toilet but only came across crazy-expensive ones. This made me very frustrated and on edge because I wasn’t expecting to purchase a toilet for this much money. Now I have to decide if I should call a professional to reroute the toilet drain or purchase an expensive toilet instead. Not being able to come to a conclusion means we are now down one bathroom.
In addition to the bathroom updates, what I thought to be a quick fix of changing out my ceiling fan to a regular light has only been a nightmare. I discovered faulty wires and was unable to connect the wire to the light switch without rerouting the electrical. So, my next decision was to either call a professional electrician to reroute these wires or remove all lights from each room and just utilize lamps. I’ve decided to remove all lights from the room because it makes sense to just use the lamps on our nightstands. All of these unexpected turns have really frustrated me throughout this week. I’m trying to stay positive, push forward and not focus on the negatives. This situation has only helped me really focus on priorities versus budget and at this point, budget wins.