Denver-Bound
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 by Amy
First, some throw-back pictures from over a year ago. Thought that would be fun:
So, we've decided to move to Denver next summer (2010). Riley will finish up school at Golden Mountain, and since she'll be in transition between schools anyway, we'll skip on up to Denver and start again there. I think that Rudi and I are more urban than we like to think. Not that Denver is a big city or anything, but so much more to do there! There are a couple of public Montessori schools up there that I'm interested in for the girls. I hear they're in demand, so I have to check into a waiting list soon.
I think we've found the perfect neighborhood for us. We're going up there in the beginning of May to check it out. We'd be within walking distance of the Denver Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, two big parks (including a huge one, City Park), walking distance from the Nature and Science Center, and from Rudi's favorite bookstore. WALKING distance, people! And several coffee shops within a 1/2 mile. Seriously, we're getting excited. Oh, it's Congress Park. We'd look at Cheesman Park too, but Congress is our first choice so far. Oh, and highly ranked public schools if the Montessori ones don't pan out.
Apartments are a tad smaller there, but I think we can deal. I figure that I will compare the functional space of our house now (not the useless square footage) and compare to a new apartment's square footage. Such as, we have 2 1/2 bathrooms, so 1 1/2 of those are wasted space. We also have steps and a hallway, which are both wasted space. So if we consider livable space, the places in Denver are not much smaller. Hardwood floors are a deal-maker for me. No more carpet. I'm done with it. A lot of the apartments in Congress Park are a tad more expensive than here, but many include utilities (even internet and cable) so it's pretty much a wash.
Additionally, Rudi will officially retire that summer and get SSI, so we'll have a bit of extra income. I'll see if I can take online courses Spring 2010 at the Univ. Colorado Denver. That way I won't fall behind in school. There will be a lot more jobs available in Denver, and the pay will be better. Not too shabby.
The girls' swim lessons started again. Both girls are really jazzed. I couldn't go to their first lesson because I had homework and cooking to do. Lessons are at a really inconvenient time, 4 o'clock on Mondays and Wednesdays, getting home again after 5. Which means dinner has to be instantaneous when we get home so we can all eat before I leave for school at 6. But the girls love it, so I'll make it work. I suppose I'll make left-over friendly dinners on Sundays and Tuesdays so I don't have to cook from scratch on Mondays and Wednesdays. I hate planning ahead like that. Oh, I just thought! I have several "fish in a packet" recipes that involve a fair amount of prep work, but once they're in the foil packets they can be refrigerated and put in the oven later! Score!
Our adventures in budgeting are starting to go south. Rudi stated that he was almost out of spending money. To which I replied "so?" That was his MONTHLY spending money and here he thinks it will be replenished mid-month because he spent it all. Um, no. He also spent $75 on vitamins yesterday, and a $75 expense needs to be in the budget. It's too much for our budget to just absorb. And I forgot to figure in my car registration renewal, which is thankfully only $26 (which was due last month, but Colorado has a 30-day grace period), but still. I guess it's going better than it could have gone, but still not perfect. Live and learn. I'll tweak next month's budget and hopefully it'll work better for us.
Oh, and I've spent $250 on groceries so far this month. Which is good, but Rudi has spent about $140 additional on his own groceries, which we don't need. The gym is right next to the grocery store and he hops over there after working out and buys a second dinner, comprised mainly of horrifically unhealthy prepared food. So, our grocery budget is going out the window too. I'll have to have a tough-love conversation with him. Maybe I'll buy only dinners and then split the rest of the money with him and he can buy whatever breakfasts, lunches, and snacks he wants with his own grocery money, and I'll buy stuff for me and the girls. And that way I won't have to be left with no grocery money because he keeps buying expensive things like smoked salmon that he doesn't share, and then he can't make a man's favorite complaint (there's nothing to eat in this house!) We'll figure this out somehow. It doesn't help that Rudi comes at it from the "budgets don't work so why try" angle. It WON'T work if you sabotage it! Right now we have managed to save $400, which we will probably have to dip into this month, but hopefully we won't have to next month once we get the budget wrinkles ironed out. It's high time we grown up and start saving money. I mean, what grown-ups have NO money in savings? Um, that's us! But I think he's REALLY motivated to save now that we're moving to Denver.
So, we've decided to move to Denver next summer (2010). Riley will finish up school at Golden Mountain, and since she'll be in transition between schools anyway, we'll skip on up to Denver and start again there. I think that Rudi and I are more urban than we like to think. Not that Denver is a big city or anything, but so much more to do there! There are a couple of public Montessori schools up there that I'm interested in for the girls. I hear they're in demand, so I have to check into a waiting list soon.
I think we've found the perfect neighborhood for us. We're going up there in the beginning of May to check it out. We'd be within walking distance of the Denver Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, two big parks (including a huge one, City Park), walking distance from the Nature and Science Center, and from Rudi's favorite bookstore. WALKING distance, people! And several coffee shops within a 1/2 mile. Seriously, we're getting excited. Oh, it's Congress Park. We'd look at Cheesman Park too, but Congress is our first choice so far. Oh, and highly ranked public schools if the Montessori ones don't pan out.
Apartments are a tad smaller there, but I think we can deal. I figure that I will compare the functional space of our house now (not the useless square footage) and compare to a new apartment's square footage. Such as, we have 2 1/2 bathrooms, so 1 1/2 of those are wasted space. We also have steps and a hallway, which are both wasted space. So if we consider livable space, the places in Denver are not much smaller. Hardwood floors are a deal-maker for me. No more carpet. I'm done with it. A lot of the apartments in Congress Park are a tad more expensive than here, but many include utilities (even internet and cable) so it's pretty much a wash.
Additionally, Rudi will officially retire that summer and get SSI, so we'll have a bit of extra income. I'll see if I can take online courses Spring 2010 at the Univ. Colorado Denver. That way I won't fall behind in school. There will be a lot more jobs available in Denver, and the pay will be better. Not too shabby.
The girls' swim lessons started again. Both girls are really jazzed. I couldn't go to their first lesson because I had homework and cooking to do. Lessons are at a really inconvenient time, 4 o'clock on Mondays and Wednesdays, getting home again after 5. Which means dinner has to be instantaneous when we get home so we can all eat before I leave for school at 6. But the girls love it, so I'll make it work. I suppose I'll make left-over friendly dinners on Sundays and Tuesdays so I don't have to cook from scratch on Mondays and Wednesdays. I hate planning ahead like that. Oh, I just thought! I have several "fish in a packet" recipes that involve a fair amount of prep work, but once they're in the foil packets they can be refrigerated and put in the oven later! Score!
Our adventures in budgeting are starting to go south. Rudi stated that he was almost out of spending money. To which I replied "so?" That was his MONTHLY spending money and here he thinks it will be replenished mid-month because he spent it all. Um, no. He also spent $75 on vitamins yesterday, and a $75 expense needs to be in the budget. It's too much for our budget to just absorb. And I forgot to figure in my car registration renewal, which is thankfully only $26 (which was due last month, but Colorado has a 30-day grace period), but still. I guess it's going better than it could have gone, but still not perfect. Live and learn. I'll tweak next month's budget and hopefully it'll work better for us.
Oh, and I've spent $250 on groceries so far this month. Which is good, but Rudi has spent about $140 additional on his own groceries, which we don't need. The gym is right next to the grocery store and he hops over there after working out and buys a second dinner, comprised mainly of horrifically unhealthy prepared food. So, our grocery budget is going out the window too. I'll have to have a tough-love conversation with him. Maybe I'll buy only dinners and then split the rest of the money with him and he can buy whatever breakfasts, lunches, and snacks he wants with his own grocery money, and I'll buy stuff for me and the girls. And that way I won't have to be left with no grocery money because he keeps buying expensive things like smoked salmon that he doesn't share, and then he can't make a man's favorite complaint (there's nothing to eat in this house!) We'll figure this out somehow. It doesn't help that Rudi comes at it from the "budgets don't work so why try" angle. It WON'T work if you sabotage it! Right now we have managed to save $400, which we will probably have to dip into this month, but hopefully we won't have to next month once we get the budget wrinkles ironed out. It's high time we grown up and start saving money. I mean, what grown-ups have NO money in savings? Um, that's us! But I think he's REALLY motivated to save now that we're moving to Denver.
