a new set of priorities

I have blogged several times about what new stuff my family could use and enjoy. They are usually picked for their long term benefits and eco-friendliness. We're sticking with our old kitchen maybe for a long while but we are going for DIY improvements.

Here's the new list:

1. Roof and underfloor insulation
2. Fuel efficient car
3. Carpeting in the bedrooms
4. On-demand water heater
   

We only have roof insulation but it needs topping up. The quote for insulation is $2,100 discounted from $2,700. It's not so bad to spend whatever savings we have right now on insulation with winter coming up. It'll save us money in the long term for sure. However, I know Dave Ramsey would scream at me if I didn't have $1k stowed away for emergencies. The quote is good for 21 days and that gives us adequate time to save some more. The downside is not paying debts above minimum for 2 pay periods.

I still have not made a full decision about #2 yet. Some part of me wants a really efficient car, yet another part tells me to drive our current car to death. For a $20k worth of car, the monthly payments are at least $500.  That's a lot because we're paying debts. It doesn't make sense I know and yet it also does at the same time. Ggrrr.

While vacuuming today, I once again can't wait to replace the old carpeting in our bedrooms. You might think after reading so many times about my carpet complaints that I'm just particular but, really, the carpeting is ugly and old and looks dirty. We'll still pursue this plan but I don't know when yet. Though our quote has massive discounts, it's only valid until end of the month and we rather get insulation than new carpeting.

We have a tank for water heating and we only use hot water for 2 things - hand dishwashing and showering/bathing. We don't have a dishwasher and we only wash dishes in warm water in cold season. We take quick showers too. On demand water heating seems to make more sense to have.

While we don't have all the money we need to get all of these things, J does plenty of research. Most of the time we change our minds about a product after research. That is also why our priority list keeps changing.