Harder to make financial decisions post child

[Goldy1]

Even though we have retirement savings and emergency fund in place, it is so hard to spend money when you have a child. I have one. We were considering a home improvement of partial siding on my home(it is part brick) My dh wants it but I hate to spend the money. I just feel like the money is more important for him(college, or not wanting to worry as much due to a layoff) The main thing also is I don't care about money as much anymore now I have a family!

[disneysteve]

I'd suggest that you need to have a budget that you and your husband write up together and agree upon. That would solve those issues. Set aside a certain amount each month for college savings, retirement savings, emergency savings,food, clothing, toys, entertainment, home repairs, car repairs, etc. If he wanted to put new siding on the house and there wasn't enough in the home repair budget, it wouldn't get done until there was enough.

[momcents]

I shared a similar mindset - wanting to keep money for things like retirement and college. We own two properties (our primary and a rental). It costs money for upkeep of your home. You will eventually need a new roof (we put one on our rental in '08 for $3K, and one on our primary in July of 09 for $6K). We had to have our primary residence painted ($3.5K). A new furnace in the rental property several years ago was $4K. It is definitely best to put money aside for things like upkeep and maintenance. I hate to part with the money, but by taking care of our dwellings and planning for repairs, you'll have a better chance selling a well maintained property than one that is in need of repair. I'm with DisneySteve, you need a budget you can both live with, and setting aside money for the home repairs and upgrades is probably a good thing.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

If you want to save money on your home, save it on the decoration (paint, furniture, curtains) and non-functional updating. Go ahead and spend the money on things that make your house safer, less expensive to "operate," and protected from the elements. One thing you don't need is for your child's house to fall down around him.

So if you have a in the sink leak, fix that. If you just don't have fashionable faucets, consider saying no to that until some point in the future when you know you are secure enough in your more important plans.....If there is a floor that has uneveness that trips people, fix that even if it means a whole new floor. But if you just would prefer to get rid of some previous owner's 1968 idea of a good looking vinyl floor, that is the kind of project you can delay for many years until you feel happy with your college savings and other accounts.

With the siding, well you should be able to get good insulation underneath it. I'd say go for the very best insulation, so that it will actually help protect you from the weather and dampen the wear and tear of temperature changes on your house. Then, especially if the siding is on a first floor area where it could get hit by balls and bikes, go for siding that has good bounce-back and does not crack easily. In other words, I think this may be something that, yes, you should spend for and not put off for a long time. However, if it is only for cosmetic purposes that your DH wants the new siding, perhaps you two can compromise on the timing of it. One more year till you have it done? Maybe three years? Maybe until the X, Y, and Z funds get built up to a certain point?

Don't know if this is helpful, but when it comes to house maintenance type things, I tend to ask my self, "What would Grandpa Carl have done?" He was a fellow who used everything up, wasted nothing, let items serve out their entire useful life, took care of any problem as soon as it was noticed, solved household problems inexpensively, but did it all with quality. Do you have anyone like that to ask, or to at least consider what they would have done?

[Goldy1]

The siding is only around the upstars area.

We did get a new rook about 6 years ago. It looks great still. A total tear off. There are some areas the siding is buckling but it's not all dented or anything. WE have some wood around the overhang areas. It doesn't look like it's in great shape either. I don't think the house is falling down or anything.

Also, we have about 40 ish K in the bank and about 10 K in ira's(roth) 401K has maybe 80 ish in it. Our house is almost paid off, but my dh doesn't make a great amount of money and I am staying home now. Taking 9 K to do siding and gutters is a lot for me to swallow. No, it' snot crazy but we already did put it off a year now. WE buy a car in cash or have another home repair and we're not looking so good for liquid cash now. He took a pay cut after a layoff when he got called back. He will never get a raise since the company he has worked for for 10 years has never given him one. They cut 401K match and we pay part of our medical. WE have no debt. (auto supplier is his employer)

[SimplySaving]

It doesn't sound like it is an emergency but something you probably eventually want to have done. If it were me, I would feel better about spending the money if I saved up for it slowly. I would start putting money aside for that specific purpose so that you don't have to take out of your emergency fund to buy it. Are you able to save any money on the budget you currently live off of?

[Hector]

The siding is only around the upstars area.

We did get a new rook about 6 years ago. It looks great still. A total tear off. There are some areas the siding is buckling but it's not all dented or anything. WE have some wood around the overhang areas. It doesn't look like it's in great shape either. I don't think the house is falling down or anything.

Also, we have about 40 ish K in the bank and about 10 K in ira's(roth) 401K has maybe 80 ish in it. Our house is almost paid off, but my dh doesn't make a great amount of money and I am staying home now. Taking 9 K to do siding and gutters is a lot for me to swallow. No, it' snot crazy but we already did put it off a year now. WE buy a car in cash or have another home repair and we're not looking so good for liquid cash now. He took a pay cut after a layoff when he got called back. He will never get a raise since the company he has worked for for 10 years has never given him one. They cut 401K match and we pay part of our medical. WE have no debt. (auto supplier is his employer)

If I made an investment which is paying me a very good return, but I am not able to sleep well because of that investment, I would rather not make that investment.

If you are worried like this for months and months and dont see a sign of changing anything for years to come, you might need to think about selling rental property.

[Goldy1]

I actually do not have any rental property. I don't think that is for me. My folks rent out about 3 units (they did not want to get into it but they INHERITED the homes from my grandma) The stories I can tell.