875

I moved recently. Halfway across the country and into a condo we found online. We didn't bother to tour the place in advance because, A: it was big enough to fit my quilting machine; B: it was only going to be for a year (you can do anything for a year); and last, but most importantly, C: it was $875 per month. EIGHT-SEVENTY-FIVE. For those of you who have never looked for housing on the east coast, let me put this in context. A small, two or three bedroom house is about $1500 --and is 20 miles away from the hospital where husband works (unacceptable). An apartment, 2 bedroom, medium sized and close is $1600 (but has no space for the aforementioned quilting machine-which is kindof a deal-breaker). The dream house with at least 1600 square feet, 3-4 bedrooms and close to work is (brace yourselves) $2000 to 3000+! Yikes, right? So now it should be completely obvious why we couldn't pass this place up. It was too good to be true! And how bad could it be right? Tiny kitchen with literally 3 feet of counter space? 875! No room for a guest bed? 875! No garage or covered parking? 875! The justification for every shortcoming of this place before we moved was: (you guessed it!) 875! So I'm not gonna lie, the first couple weeks were ROUGH. Nothing could have prepared me for what we really got for 875. Here's a short list, just for fun.

-no air conditioning (P.S. the east cost is HUMID)
-kitchen cabinets that look dangerously close to falling off the wall
-two kitchen drawers...neither of which fit even the smallest silverware tray
-weird smells; most notably elusive propane exhaust (this literally drove me crazy for a good two weeks)
-nasty smelling basement (smell waxes and wanes with the humidity)
-old plumbing...we've had the plumber out twice already in less than a month
-a neighbor who ruins every breath of cool fresh air with his smoking on the front porch requiring the closing of windows/doors several times per day
-pet mouse who lives under the deck

 Yes, 875 gets you a lot...but don't worry, there is more! We also get:

-a pool! A nice pool!
-a swing set...and a 30 second walk to get to it!
-fabulous deck that the kids play on for hours, and we eat on frequently
-close neighbors with kids for my girls to play with
-cute neighbor friend (in my ward who lives 1 minute away)
-less square footage=less cleaning!
-extra money (not being spent on rent) so we could afford to buy shelves, drawers, air purifiers, fans and a small air conditioner YAY

 So though it was rocky at first, the pros are starting to outweigh the cons. This place is starting to grow on me. And if I ever get frustrated with anything here...I just say to myself...875.