Lesson #48: Who Needs Space?

We've done it.

We finally, officially found our future residence.

Spoiled by our current apartment, we thought we could afford the same luxury of space that we've been enjoying for the past two years.  We found a place that was only slightly smaller than our apartment now, and we applied.  After being approved and then budgeting, we realized how silly of a choice that was.

As was previously posted, we decided to start the apartment hunting process all over again.  This time, looking for a more appropriate one bedroom apartment, we ended up at a complex today.  We were worried because although we could certainly afford it, it is almost exactly half the size of our current apartment.  Yikes.  I kept encouraging myself with the thought, "Who needs space to move in an apartment anyway?"

But how pleasantly surprised we were!  Incredibly affordable, plenty of storage, and cheap pet rent.  The rent total is so inexpensive that we'll be able to swing a garage for all of our extra stuff.  They even have garages available now, which is the first time that has happened in our search.

We even lucked out with the same great deal that we had at the original apartment we applied for.  We'll be getting fifty dollars off our rent every month for our year lease.  I'm sure that doesn't sound like much to a lot of people, but that means the world to us.

I'm beginning to get involved in pre-internship things.  I sent out a resume for another job.  Lyndon is looking for a second job.  We found an apartment that we can actually afford.  We get our puppy (officially named Nala) in two weeks.  Lyndon takes his soldier to regionals (go Block!) next week.  I leave for Italy in less than a week.  The spring game/Jacoby family time is this weekend.

Things are looking up.  We just might survive these next seven months of my internship.

Lesson #47: Penny pinching power

It's time.


We've crunched the numbers, and it's time.


Frivolous spenders, we will be no more!


Not that we were frivolous spenders, but the little frivolity we had has now vanished.  I have an internship, he has a job, we bought a dog, and we have our next apartment, but we're not sure how all of this is going to work out financially.  As I've said in previous posts, we're getting ready to dive into the world of grown-ups.


We're cutting as much out of other funds as possible to make sure there's food on the table, even if it ends up being ramen noodles every night.  Lyndon won't be able to be as involved on the paintball team as much as we had hoped.  The envelope for "homey" things will remain empty and dry for the next several months.


Money problems have always scared me.  Finances when I was younger were never secure, so I was always scared, always worried that there would be enough every month.  Getting married offered me a breath of fresh air.  I thought I would never be scared when it came to money situations again.  We thought we had our lives for the next few years figured out.  We weren't holding too high of expectations to realistically stick to; instead, we had a logical and realistic view on what our financial situation would be like.


It turned out that even that view was a little high-reaching.  Our plans have been postponed for various reasons, and that has hurt us.  We have some interesting months to look forward to in the all-too-near future.


Time to re-focus that trusting in God thing.