Opportunity Cost

Dave Ramsey always talks about opportunity cost. Basically, it means that whenever you buy something, you are always giving something up in return for that.

In life that's true of the decisions we make. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what Luke and I gave up to buy our house. We were so excited about buying our first house, and on top of that, renting part of it out to cover our mortgage payments. We couldn't wait to renovate and decorate it. Couldn't wait to feel like we weren't just throwing our money away by renting. I especially couldn't wait to get a pet! We got all those things, but we gave some things up, too!

We gave up an apartment that I was absolutely in love with! I really miss my apartment. It had been newly renovated, and had everything a renter could ever want. The rent was so low it was almost unbelievable. Now that I have my dream: a house, I find myself missing the apartment every once in awhile!

Here it is...not much to look out on the outside, but the inside was awesome. And we had a garage!!! Something that I miss now, that's for sure.
We also had a larger kitchen back then, with a pantry and a lot more storage room
There was even room for a table that we could sit at!
There was a dining room - not room for one of those here...our table is in the hallway
I miss the HUGE living room. Our living room now is pretty tiny. The old one was perfect for parties. this picture was taken when Luke lived there alone, a few months before the wedding. You can tell it needs a woman's touch!
I miss the His & Hers closets we had in our bedroom. Although our bedroom was tiny back then, so that's an upgrade!

I miss the big window in our computer room that let in so much natural light (during the daytime that is...this picture was obviously taken at night!)- we don't get much natural light in our house since we live in the top floor and just have little windows.

But most of all, I miss our yard! We have almost no yard now, and I miss it.
Our old yard was perfect for playing cornhole,
Bonfires,

Throwing the light-up Frisbee (Not sure how JC got this picture to look like this, but I like it!)
And just hanging out with friends on a summer night. Now that it's getting warmer, I'm missing having a yard so much! But I can make the most of what we have, I guess.

Along with the apartment, we gave away a lot of free time. It was nice to just call our landlord when something went wrong. Now we ARE the landlords, and have to worry about our own problems, plus the problems of 2 other groups of people.

We gave up a lower rent payment for a higher mortgage payment. Even though the rent money we get from our apartments covers it, it doesn't cover the taxes, gas bill for the whole building, or repairs. It doesn't help when our renters' check bounces, which is exactly what happened this month.

In a nutshell, we traded freedom for responsibility.

I love our house, and I'm so happy with where life has brought it. We feel so blessed. But I have those moments when I miss our life when it was a little simpler. I have learned such a great lesson through this experience: Be content, and be happy in the moment! Because you WILL miss it someday. I'm trying to enjoy and remember every moment right now, because I know that in a few years, I'm going to really miss being a newlywed! It's easy to look to the future and hope and dream about it, but it's more important to be content and happy in the moment.

I'm sure there are things going on in your life that you will miss someday! So remember to cherish them while they last. Have a wonderful Sunday!