Bills, Bills & More Bills

When you buy your first home you're thinking this is going to be awesome. I can paint and decoratet as I choose, instead of paying Joe Landlord each month my money goes towards and investment and lastly it's all ours!

The Doc and I have been homeowners for three months now and I can tell you that the honeymoon is over. Here are some things that are different now that we are no longer renters:

(1) Water: as a homeowner now we have to pay for our water – as a renter the water is free (or included in your rent) – so you take long showers, run the dishwasher even though it isn’t full, and that leaky faucet – no big deal. Now because we have to pay for our water usage each month the running toilet is a big deal and we jam pack our washing machine to cut down on the amount of loads.

(2) The Electric Bill Triples: in our small two bedroom apartment, while running our tiny 8,000-BTU window air conditioner, had all lights on, ran two computers, a television, x-box and surround sound system all using the electricity and our electric bill would only be about $32.00 per month. You just can’t beat that. Now – much different story. Bigger space means more rooms to use electricity, and now we have central air that we ran 24/7 (it was a brutal summer) so I won’t even tell you what my electric bill was last month.

(3) Heat/Gas: before heat included in our rent – now, not so much. Since it is summer it is hard to say what this burden will be, but we do use hot water and without a circulator pump – you have to run the water at least a minute before it is hot (refer to the water section above)

(4) Repairs/Maintenance: as a renter when the shower handle broke, the window is busted or your rugs are old and need replacing – call the landlord – they take care of it and at no charge to you. Now if the heating unit is not working or an outlet stops working – call the HVAC tech or an electrician and we foot the bill. Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet (knock on wood) but it’s only a matter of time. Even if you’re a ‘do-it-yourselfer’ as my friend Brian is – you still have to purchase the supplies and put in the time to fix the problem.

Now don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t go back to being a renter - I love owning my own home, I am just saying there are some things that were nice about being a renter. So good luck to all future homeowners – believe me – the excitement will wear off fast!