That's right people it's official,we broke ground, we move Labor Day weekend onto our land and into a...camper! SAY WHAT?!?!
It played out like this 2.5 years ago on a trip back from Pelican Rapids:
Alicia: Adam, would you ever move?
Adam: Why would we move when we just added onto our house?
Alicia: I know but if you did move anywhere, where would it be?
Adam: I suppose Alex. (that's the answer I was hoping for)
Alicia: And if you moved what would you want?
Adam: I'd want over 40 acres of hunting land and I'd want to build.
Alicia: You know the only way you're going to get a good deal on land is if you buy it from a widow (I know shame on me). hops online to realtor.com...I think I found something.
Adam: What?
Alicia: I found some land just 3 miles outside of Alex with 53 acres. Want to go take a look?
Adam: I guess
And that's how it all started. We looked at the land, called the realtor, they just dropped the price $50k (it happened to be a widow that wanted a fast sale), we found a realtor Matt Imdieke (centralmnrealty.com), listed our house on Monday, put an offer in on Wednesday and had our first showing on Thursday. This is how we did things; quick decisions with no clue of what could go wrong...and they did.
(picture taken when we thought we sold the 6th time...Lucy must have seen the bad news coming...they too backed out.)
Let's just fast forward through all the not-so-fun things and move on to TODAY! Today I'm starting this blog as a way for me to document our building process and also, and maybe more importantly, our budget process. You see we did learn something through that roller coaster ride. We learned patience, thought process, hope for the best but plan for the worst, and we learned how to budget.
We found Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com) and it has completely changed our way of life and outlook on our future. If you've never heard of Dave or maybe just heard a few little things about him I encourage you to check it out. You see I was never told that I should live on a budget, or how for that matter. Money comes and goes as we make it and spend it and that's that. Everyone has a house payment, everyone has a car payment, everyone has student loans...until I learned that some people don't and the freedom that comes along with that. It's amazing what happens when you tell your money where to go. And that's just what we're going to do.
It is my goal to build this house on a budget. "But Alicia, you can't build a house on a budget and actually come in on budget" they say. "EVERYONE goes over 10-15%!" So here is me holding us accountable and putting it out there for others to see. I will talk numbers on here but not always specific as I don't want to upset my contractors. And I will explain when, how, and why we do things. If you ever want details don't hesitate to ask - I'm an open book. I would also encourage you to share this blog with anyone who is looking to build, a do-it-yourself friend, or anyone you think this might be helpful to. We would also love to hear from you so please don't hesitate to comment with words of encouragement (we're gonna need them) and questions you may have.
*I also want to add a disclaimer. I am not a creative writer nor do I have the best grammar and spelling. I also cuss like a sailer but I'll limit that on here.
So here is our building process...on a budget...wish us luck!
{stay tuned for our next post which includes the house plan & budget}
#bertiesbuildonabudget
