Wednesday, April 24, 2013

10 Years New - Why Owning a New Home Has Rocked Our Boat | Sponsored


So.

Some of you know that 
when we purchased our home

we bought a Bank Owned property.



What some of you might have assumed

was that it was a used home and 

that we would be inheriting "issues"
from previous owners.

You know...things like paint choices, 

add ons that were super neat (but not built to code)

garden choices that didn't flow with our sustainable living choices.

Thing is.
Though we bought a Bank Owned home,
NO ONE had ever lived in our home.

It was brand new construction built to semi-custom specs.

And the home we sold to move in to our current home?

That one was new NEW construction.  

The kind where you get to tell the builder what color tile or carpet you want

and where to put the stairs.

Given a choice, here are two things I would always choose:



Buying a home over renting a home (more on that in a second)
Building a new home over buying a pre-owned home.

I know you might tend to think that in this market of freely available homes

(which is actually NOT the case in my neighborhood, there is actually a lack of supply)

that building yet another home isn't environmentally friendly.

But here are three ways in which going newly built IS more green than you might have thought:

1. Newly built homes are more energy efficient.

     Here in the PNW, that really matters.
From what I've seen,
newly built homes give you the option to do the obvious
(like choose specific products you want used in construction)
 AND it gives you the option to think outside of the box
for instance, choosing your window size and placement
really matters for energy efficiency.  


2. Newly built homes can be personalized to fit your needs.

Rather than bringing in heavy machinery after the fact
(and impacting your neighborhood vegetation)
to add on additions or replace/repair aspects
of your pre-owned home to fit your needs,
you can be thoughtful about your needs and build to suit.
When you are building it all at once, budget, size and scope
often get people to scale back their wants
to a realistic set of needs and that is totally green.

3. Newly built homes save you time and money...

And they save on world resources.
Usually, for home ownership, when we spend money on our homes,
it is on products for home improvement.
Especially when you live in a house that NEEDS improvement
vs a house that you WANT to just tweak a bit.
All to say that there is a big difference in the supply chain involved
for products like bolts screws and studs (more likely to come from other countries)
than for products like paint and garden plants (which might even be locally available).
It is green to put less of a drain on diesel and oil
and all of the other resources necessary
to get you the home improvement products
you might need to make your already almost perfect house
your own with a newly built home.

These are just some of my own ideas about why I love owning a new home.

Overall, I love owning a home instead of renting a place to stay because,
well,
because I love having a piece of this world that I can share that is all me.

Homeownership was daunting at first.
Actual home purchasing even moreso.

If you want to know more about Buying New,
Check out Start Fresh, Buy New's website.

Even if you don't want to know more about Buying New,
I bet you want to test your knowledge about
Buying New with a shot at winning $10,000.
So get on that already.

But almost 5 years removed from my most recent home purchase
(but not that many months removed from a refinance)
I can say homeownership
of a new home
has been the best adult decision of my life.


I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Things I miss | Dollar General Shopping Sprees (Sponsored)

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dollar General for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

You know it is rough times
when your thoughts about "going home"
primarily revolve around
the stores you would shop in
and the restaurants you would eat at.

So is it a problem that when I think about
going home to El Paso, TX
most of my thoughts revolve around
eating at Chicos Tacos
and shopping at the Dollar General?

Back in the day,
the Dollar General
was where I would go
to stock up for the annual house move.

What? You didn't move apartments/homes
every year at tax time?
Overshare much?

In any event,
with $20 in your pocket,
you could set up your kitchen and your bathroom
and pick up a few really cool other things too.

What I never DID know
was that you could also get 
styled pretty there.

I mean, I knew you could buy toiletries and even makeup.
But I didn't know you could buy some of the hottest fashion trends around.

Dollar General Spring Apparel

I think I did create a baby basket
full of goods from Dollar General
so I think I knew that they had
cute baby goods.

But as summer comes around
and I find myself dressing in really simple
shifts and the like, I really don't feel like
I need to pay $50 for a jersey knit maxi dress.

And I definitely don't need to pay $90 for the cute bracelets and earrings
that would take that simple dress to simply stunning.

This, my friends, is where the Dollar General Apparel Book comes in.

(HInt, if you don't have a DG in your neck of the woods,
get a peek at the book by typing in 79924).

Leaving the short dress and the hat behind,
I'd totally buy everything else on this page.
I even have the perfect sweater to make that maxi dress work ready.
Those cute socks are to die for.

The rest of it would be great
for yoga class
or gardening.

Speaking of yoga class
(Hatha Hot Yoga and Yin Hot Yoga...that's a post for another time)

$8 Yoga capri pants
and $6 - $8 performance bras and tees
are prices I could layer on with abandon.

Yes.
I have to layer my performance bras and tees.
TMI?
Not.

But even those super cute
jean looking knit capris in fun colors.

Those would work with my curves AND the colors can not be beat.

I could stop there.
But why?

Before Yoga, I thought I was going to take up swimming again.
With a $16 swimsuit, I could totally afford some flippers and goggles.

And do you spy what I spy?
That $5 Missoni-ish iphone case?
It, alone, would ALMOST be worth 
spending the points to get home and buy it.

Just. Saying.

You should totally like Dollar General on Facebook and follow Dollar General on Twitter.

Clearly, they are splashing out with pops of color
and awesomeness
that can't be missed.

 

 

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