the beginning...

yesterday i was giving a tour of my home to a friend of mine.
i was explaining my treasures and my furniture, their origins, and what simple alterations were involved  to make them home-worthy.
and i kind of felt like a "Ready Made" poster child...except most of my projects were even easier than some of theirs.
so i thought perhaps it might be helpful to share my home and what i've learned with the rest of the world.

I became a homeowner in 2004. at that time i was 23 years old had just started a great job, was newly engaged, had a dog, and was eagerly embracing the domestic life.
we bought a 3 bedroom house for about $49,000.
we also bought a $1000 sofa, a land line-phone, a new TV, a satellite system, and some other silly stuff i can't recall.
But after a few months...well,  the relationship ended, the sofa FELL APART and the tv got turned on less and less.

which brings me to where i am today: engaged again, working a far less than great part-time job, have three dogs, three cats, a turtle, the same old tv, no cable or satellite, pay as you go cell phones, and my sister, her boyfriend and her dog as part-time residents.

Most of my furniture is second hand.
most of my furniture cost less than $20.
even some of my appliances, including the big ones, (range, freezer) are second-hand.

i've found that if you figure out what you want/need, spend a little time looking around and are open to seemingly unlikely possibilities, you can find exactly what you need for a fraction of what you would spend buying it new.
and with consumerism the way it is, there is no shortage of perfectly good, clean, functioning pieces discarded all the time, just waiting to be snatched up for little to no money.

But aside from just filling ones house with stuff, i've also learned how to keep bills low (through complete financial failure and idiot mistakes), how to live well and make a life out of what you've got.
and that's what this blog is all about.