house

How to Keep Your Roof From Leaking

A roof can sometimes be a daunting project to attend to – but it doesn’t have to be. But, your roof is one of the essential features of your entire house – without it, you’d basically have four walls, and no coverage from the harsh element nature throws at us from time to time. Luckily, there are easy things to look out for when you want to check your roof and repair a few things. There are also easy steps you can take in order to properly maintain your home, thereby preventing any leakages that may cause severe damage to your home. By following the below steps, you’ll rest easy at night, knowing that your roof is in top shape and your family is safe and sound under it.

Keep your gutters clean

This is one of the most important things to remember when maintaining your roof. Clean gutters ensure that there will be proper drainage when it rains, seeing as clogged gutters can cause water to store on your roof, leading to leakages through any cracks that may exist on your roof. Gutters can get clogged very quickly if there’s a lot of foliage around or if you live in an area where weather storms are a frequent occurrence. Cleaning gutters properly can sometimes be a tricky project, seeing as one doesn’t always have the proper tools to remove all the debris from the drainage pipes as well. If you feel like it would be safer to hire a professional, it would be highly recommended to get the Best gutter cleaners near Greensboro, NC – they do a fantastic job and even go the extra mile by sweeping away all the extra leaves on your driveway to enhance your curb appeal!

Check your roof’s shingles

The best time to check your roof’s shingles would be especially after the stormier weather season. The sun’s harsh rays can also do some damage over time, so when inspecting your roof’s shingles, ensure they are still functioning correctly, are still where they should be, and are not cracked or chipped.

Look out for ice dams

If you live in an area where heavy snowfall occurs, ice dams are something you should monitor closely. Ice dams are what happens when the warmer attic’s air rises to the roof and melts the snow that’s gathered on top. The water from the melted snow then runs along the roof, reaches colder parts, and freezes all over again. These ice dams trap any further melting snow water and cause the water to seep through the roof, causing damage to your ceiling and peeling of the paint inside. The vital step to take here would be to check your attic for appropriate insulation and ventilation – this will ensure your roof stays cool during the winter months and doesn’t cause ice dams on top.

The above steps are just some of the easy ways to maintain your roof and ensure it stays in optimal condition. Not only will you feel better and more prepared for anything nature might throw your way, but you’ll spare yourself a lot of trouble and money in the future!

By Natalie|2021-03-17T22:34:24+00:00March 17, 2021|Frugal Living|0 Comments

The Seven Year Flip

When we bought our first home we did a complete overhaul to the house, but it wasn’t exactly a flip. It was never meant to be. We weren’t looking for a quick investment.

We just wanted a home that we could afford and that pretty much narrowed our search down to fixer uppers, which was fine because J is so handy and we always wanted our first house to be unique. Of course, we didn’t plan for the remodel to take 7 years, but hey life happens and we were living it!

This post is just a tiny little glimpse at some of the before and afters of our first renovation. I’ll post links to the extended version of the remodel for anyone that wants to see more, but this will be the first time I am going to share just how much we bought it for, how much we put into it, and what it sold for. Which, I hope will be inspiring for all the DIYers out there.

The Living Room

The Dining Room

The Hallway

The Kitchen

The pictures were taken at opposite angles of the room, but you get the idea.

The Master Bedroom

The House

It was winter grass for the record

So that’s most of it other than the two other bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room. I don’t know if any of you like to watch “Flip or Flop” or any of those HGTV shows for that matter. I love that stuff, and so how can I not show a final tally of how this investment turned out for us financially? These are not exact numbers by the way, but they are pretty close.

We purchased the house in 2004 for $77,000

We spent a little over $35,000 on renovations. Not all at once! Remember this was a 7 year project. I also thought it would be worth mentioning that the kitchen was by far the biggest expense coming in at a total of $13,000! That includes gutting the entire room, putting up new walls, laying slate floors, getting all knew custom built cabinets, crown molding, granite counter tops, the booth, the lighting, and all new energy efficient stainless steel appliances. So it was a whopper, but it could have cost a lot more had we not done most of the grunt work ourselves.

Lastly, we put the house on the market the week of Christmas (talk about bad timing) but miraculously received an offer days later for our asking price of $139,000. How cool is that?

In the end we spent 112,000 (77,000+35,000). We sold for $139,000 giving us a $27,000 profit. Instead of paying to live somewhere we made over $3,000 a year off of our property. Not too shabby, although keep in mind most of the time we were somewhere in-between the before and after. So it wasn’t a classy situation believe me, and I can assure you that there was a ton of physical labor involved. Let’s just say we earned our keep.

Not that it’s anyones business what happened to that money, but we were able to pay off all of our debt including student loans, a car loan, medical bills, and credit cards. It has been such a blessing to be out from underneath all of that! I am really happy with the outcome of our “7 year flip” even though it’s not realistic for us to be home owners right now, I look forward to the day we can do something like this again. I say that looking at all the pretty pictures. It’s kind of like childbirth though, you forget how much effort it took!

Have you ever done any major home renovations? Would you do it again?

By Natalie|2015-07-28T02:45:35+00:00July 28, 2015|Frugal Living, My Life, Projects|4 Comments

Prayers to the God of Miracles

2 years ago I wrote a post called “We Need a Miracle”. It was one on the most vulnerable posts I’ve ever had to write. We were living in the basement of my brother’s house driving an hour to get SJ to school and the money was about to run out. We knew we needed to move across state lines so that she could qualify for scholarships, which meant we had 3 months to find a job and a home starting from scratch with zero connections. We truly did need a miracle and we got one! We found an apartment crazy enough to accept the pay stubs from J’s temp job he was wrapping up and we lived off of savings for a few weeks while he tried to find work. While volunteering at SJ’s school he met a guy that gave him a job! We knew he still needed a “career” in the long run, so that is why he went back to school. All that happened 2 years ago and the Lord has provided for us this whole time.

Last year I wrote another post titled “We’re Not Moving” where I boasted about the sense of relief I felt by renewing the lease on apartment for another year. At that point we had just moved 3 times in less than 3 years, so I was thrilled to finally not be going anywhere.

However, this year is a different story. We gave the notice to the apartment management that we would NOT be renewing our lease. I am all for “Lots of Hope for the Little Home” and I don’t mind living in a small space at all, but I’ll spare you all the details and just say that we definitely need something more accommodating for a family of six. Trust me. We also need a van because after three kids I have learned that a baby doesn’t need much. However, we can not legally fit all 4 kids in our current vehicles so this is a non negotiable upgrade. As if that weren’t enough J needs a new job. He has to have a co-op for school, so something in the field of computer programming. Do you see how I might be just a tiny bit stressed? The baby is coming in 5 months and all we need is a car, a house, and a job. No big deal.

I say no big deal sarcastically, but it truly is not a big deal for God. You’ve probably heard the songs Oceans by Hillsong United. The line that says “You’ve never failed and you won’t start now” has been resonating deep within me. We find ourselves desperate for another miracle, but thankfully I serve a God of miracles. He is a mighty savior with infinite resources.

So here we go again. We need a house, a van, and a job. We need a miracle. Will join me in praying and believing for that?