What we didn’t know.

Hello everyone, I hope you are well.

Today I am bringing you a post all about being a homeowner. Michael and I purchased our house nearly four years ago, and it was one of those achievements that I thought we’d never be able to manage. But with clever saving and using my unspent student loans we secured our deposit and haven’t looked back. I absolutely love our home and I honestly couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. However lovely it is thought, it doesn’t come without its struggles too. So here are some things that we either didn’t consider or was informed (younger and more naïve I guess)

If you work full time in the week, food shopping on a weekend is a bitch.

Michael and I both work Monday to Friday, pretty much 7:30am till 5:30pm. So for us it can be a struggle to do a food shop during the week. However, trying to do a food shop is absolutely hell on earth. The business, the stress, it is literally my worst nightmare. I also hate the fact that one of my days off I end up spending in a place I detest. (and don’t even get me started on trying to get my shopping from the car to the house.)

Buy as many radiator drying racks as you can physically have in your home. 

I never thought that I’d be at a stage in my life were I look forward to Spring/Summer just so that I can put my washing on the line. Trying to dry clothing in the Winter is legit one of the most infuriating things about home owning. I struggle to dry when at work (because the heating isn’t on) so when I comes to trying clothes on a night, I find myself rotating around the house with wet clothes over my shoulder swapping them as soon as anything is remotely dry. (I also have become a dab hand at drying clothes with my hair dryer)

Don’t buy cream carpets.

We love our home and haven’t really changed that much  since being in, however having cream carpets has become some what of a battle when it comes to cleaning. Honestly why anyone would want cream carpets in there home I don’t know. The amount of dirt that they pick us is ridiculous and they never look properly clean no matter what you do. (Plus if you have regular house parties like we do then God help you.)

Those kitchen utensils that you think you wont need … you will. 

I remember when Michael and I had got our confirmation but were waiting for our moving date, we very excitedly went onto the Asda website to start ordering our kitchen homeware, we went through clicking add on all the things we’d need, feeling confident that we had ticked everything off. Then we moved in… second day I want to cook us our first roast dinner with gravy but oh… no whisk. (This has happened at least 10 to 15 times since we moved in)

Don’t get a big garden if you don’t like gardening.

I love nothing more than sitting outside with a cold lemonade and a good book on a Sunday afternoon. But I am absolutely not a gardener, The people who owned the house previous to us were very clearly avid gardeners. Because of this we have an insane amount of plants that I have never even heard of before. So when viewing a possible house, check the garden and check that its something you can either manage or change with ease.

So that’s it… my advice to you… This was initially started as a serious post but when chatting with Michael we did start to laugh at the things we came up with. But I am absolutely 100% proud of our home we have created for ourselves.

What home advice do you have for first time buyers? Are you a first time buyer and want to ask me something? Let me know!