And so not for you right now.

About three and half years ago we managed to leave our stressful, under-payed, over-worked, over-charged life in the city and buy a big house on a big property.It’s something I grew up thinking romantic thoughts about and hoping I might be able to experience one day, maybe when I retired.

I caught the “restoring and old house” bug early on in life and I know it’s an affliction that a lot of other people have too.I thought today I’d share our story and our tips just for fun and so you might see how you could do it too if it’s your dream as well..In the planning stages, it’s all about the money.

Oh my goodness, living that hustle-and-bustle city life is expensive!Big mortgages, big child-care costs to cover those long hours you have to work, and expensive fuel costs so you can get to the job to work the long hours, all that.

It all adds up and you can really feel like the only way to get ahead is to stay put in your tiny townhouse, put budgeting ahead of everything else, and just work work work until hopefully you move up the corporate ladder and maybe get a bit of a raise.

Those were exciting and character-building years for us for sure, but when I reached the ripe old age of 27 and our daughter Kennedy was about 5, I was done with it.You’ve got to have something though!

Even if it is just a little something.. Around here, all the corner famer’s markets sell the same package: 1 bale of straw, one corn stalk bundle, and one pumpkin for $10.It’s a pretty great deal for someone like me who thinks this stuff is worth it’s weight in gold..

I even sprung for the giant $6 pot of mums instead of just the little $3 ones.I feel like the front of our house starts looking pretty abandoned sometimes without a little cheeriness, especially since it never gets used..