"Fix it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without." ~Gordon B Hinkley
Koda and I have tried to make this quote our motto in life. Especially in our early married life and parenthood. There has quite a few times, that by making do with what we had we were doubly blessed in the long run. A couple of examples.
Example #2. Our House. We bought it two and half years into our marriage, but it was a long road to get it. There were two homes that we actually looked at and almost bought in Jensen, one we actually went into negotions one, but we never felt completly right about it, so nothing ever came from them. The Spring of 2008, after I'd graduated college, we finally decided to get a stick-built house and put it on the farm. So we started that process and kept hitting roadblock after roadblock trying to get this house in. It was such a headache! During this time, we lived at my mom and dad's, in our camper, then Koda's moms and dad's, then finally his grandma Southams. We saved on not having to rent, but it was a major headache and stress, for I didn't have a place of my own and there was now three of us, since Daisy had joined our family. Finally in October the Tri-County Health told us that we had to wait through high-water season to have our water monitored, to see exactly what kind of septic system to get, and the earliest we could start on it, was June, if it passed. So the waiting game had begun. Just as a note, our loan for this house was going to be $120,000 plus the $120,000 for the land so a grand total of $240,000. We figured that wasn't bad. Our home that we were getting was only 1,500 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths and we were getting 160 acres in land. (How we aquired the land is a whole other story, I'll go into that sometime). Many people were spending that amount of money on a decent sized house and a smaller lot. The economy at this time was good and we had a good job, with only two other loans, we could afford this kind of debt. Well in January 2009, my dad called me and told me about a single wide trailer that he heard was for sale in Lapoint for $3,500. That night I told Koda about it and he was certain, it was just a junked out indian home, and wouldn't be worth it to even look at. I convinced him ohterwise I felt we needed to go check it out. So the next morning (miraculsaly Koda was off work), we drove over and looked at the home. It was an older used trailer no doubt about it, but it was in good shape and clean. The lady selling it told us that it was being sold to the first person to get her the money and she wasn't holding it for anyone. We knew before we even got all the way out of Lapoint that we were going to buy it. So I made a phone call to my mom to transfer some money for me from our savings, and we went back ready to write a check out. She wasn't there, so we called her and came back later that afternoon, to give her the check. We owned a home! Free and clear. It still took us eight months before we were living in it, and even then another two before we had running water. But we were able to only have to pay for the land, since our home was in the free and clear. It is small, we will out grow it, but this way we can save our money, get other things paid off, and start building in about seven years.
There is many other examples that I could go on about (my serger, couch, rocking chair oven, koda's vice, etc), but this post is long enough already. I'm just glad that I've learned this principle in my young adult life and I pray and hope to keep it in my mind throughout my life. "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
Koda and I have tried to make this quote our motto in life. Especially in our early married life and parenthood. There has quite a few times, that by making do with what we had we were doubly blessed in the long run. A couple of examples.
Example #1. Our kitchen table. We never had one, which never was a big deal, since I lived in apartments that were furnished at college and he lived here in our camper, so the table was built in. Chirstmas of 2008 my parents gave us a card table, so I could do my bills and other projects on it, instead of the floor. When we finally bought our trailer house, we were just planning on using that card table as our kitchen table. Well before we even got moved into our home, Koda's aunt asked us if we would like a table. It had been through a fire, had some smoke damage and bubbling on the varnish other then that it was a solid oak table and in great shape. The previous owners, were just getting rid of everything and getting all new stuff, they didn't want any reminder of their fire. So Koda's aunt took it and had plans to clean it up and fix it, but she never did. So we took it, my mom cleaned it up and refinshed the top. It also came with two chairs, that just needed cleaning. It is absoulutly stunning! I bet that if the original owners and even Koda's aunt knew all it took was some hotwater and some soap, with only the top needing redone, they would've never gave it up.
Example #2. Our House. We bought it two and half years into our marriage, but it was a long road to get it. There were two homes that we actually looked at and almost bought in Jensen, one we actually went into negotions one, but we never felt completly right about it, so nothing ever came from them. The Spring of 2008, after I'd graduated college, we finally decided to get a stick-built house and put it on the farm. So we started that process and kept hitting roadblock after roadblock trying to get this house in. It was such a headache! During this time, we lived at my mom and dad's, in our camper, then Koda's moms and dad's, then finally his grandma Southams. We saved on not having to rent, but it was a major headache and stress, for I didn't have a place of my own and there was now three of us, since Daisy had joined our family. Finally in October the Tri-County Health told us that we had to wait through high-water season to have our water monitored, to see exactly what kind of septic system to get, and the earliest we could start on it, was June, if it passed. So the waiting game had begun. Just as a note, our loan for this house was going to be $120,000 plus the $120,000 for the land so a grand total of $240,000. We figured that wasn't bad. Our home that we were getting was only 1,500 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths and we were getting 160 acres in land. (How we aquired the land is a whole other story, I'll go into that sometime). Many people were spending that amount of money on a decent sized house and a smaller lot. The economy at this time was good and we had a good job, with only two other loans, we could afford this kind of debt. Well in January 2009, my dad called me and told me about a single wide trailer that he heard was for sale in Lapoint for $3,500. That night I told Koda about it and he was certain, it was just a junked out indian home, and wouldn't be worth it to even look at. I convinced him ohterwise I felt we needed to go check it out. So the next morning (miraculsaly Koda was off work), we drove over and looked at the home. It was an older used trailer no doubt about it, but it was in good shape and clean. The lady selling it told us that it was being sold to the first person to get her the money and she wasn't holding it for anyone. We knew before we even got all the way out of Lapoint that we were going to buy it. So I made a phone call to my mom to transfer some money for me from our savings, and we went back ready to write a check out. She wasn't there, so we called her and came back later that afternoon, to give her the check. We owned a home! Free and clear. It still took us eight months before we were living in it, and even then another two before we had running water. But we were able to only have to pay for the land, since our home was in the free and clear. It is small, we will out grow it, but this way we can save our money, get other things paid off, and start building in about seven years.There is many other examples that I could go on about (my serger, couch, rocking chair oven, koda's vice, etc), but this post is long enough already. I'm just glad that I've learned this principle in my young adult life and I pray and hope to keep it in my mind throughout my life. "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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