The Unexpected Expenses We’ve Incurred Moving to a Homestead (So far)

When we moved last summer we knew we were going to incur some extra costs beside the cost of the house and property.

The roof needed replaced for example, which we promptly had done after purchasing. We also had the septic pumped, bought a fireplace insert, wood splitter and planned a few other things.

I knew that with a property like this we’d have a bunch of unexpected expenses pop up and I’m hoping we’ve crossed a lot of the one-time expenses off the list.

Here are some of the things we’ve had to deal with in the recent months.

The Cost of Internet….

This little bonus (a.k.a. junk room) will be my office after I spend 250 hours removing wallpaper. See that section above the window? Took me two hours to do.

…is freaking astronomical.

When we moved out here I had checked around on internet and thought that we’d be able to keep the same high speed unlimited plan for $25 per month that we previously had. I was wrong.

Internet costs are upwards of $300/month right now. The absolute only internet I can get is a Hotspot and obviously I need the internet in order to make a living.

And because I’m on a limited amount of internet (yes, even at that price!) we can’t get Netflix or watch Amazon Prime. Watching any videos online eat up the internet usage like you wouldn’t believe.

I’m hoping that one of the satellite internet companies will soon open up some new spots so we can switch over to that. (I’m not holding my breath though.)

Gravel for the Driveway

Let it be known: muddy footprints (and ashes) add character. 😉

Our driveway has been a muddy, murky mess. It translates to large muddy footprints all over my kitchen floor on a daily basis.

I live in Southern Ohio so the weather is crazy. One day we get six inches of snow and 30 degree temps. The next day it will be a sunny 65 degrees melting all the snow and leaving nothing but mud outside. Since we spend time everyday outside feeding and watering animals plus working on some sort of project we’re always going in and out.

The gravel on the driveway had worn down to pretty much nothing. We had new gravel put on because 1) we just needed it and 2) I was really hoping it would cut down on the mud tracking. (It did.)

Since we have a very long driveway the gravel came to $900.

A Water Leak that Was Really Hard to Find

I stepped out my backdoor to an impressive amount of birds.

Our water bill has consistently been around $30 since we moved in. Last month we got a bill for $170 and then a letter from the water company stating we must have a leak and that our next bill would be around $400.

We knew the leak wasn’t inside which made finding the actual leak a huge feat. Our house sits way far off the road and there are several water hydrants spaced throughout the property. (Great for animals – not so great for finding leaks.)

We found a plumber who brought some machinery out and started digging and turning off water with the hydrant closest to the road and then working his way back to the house.

Wouldn’t you know it that the water leak was underneath where I parked right next to the house.

Luckily he was a very nice plumber and only charged us $300 including the material he used. The water company is also adjusting our bill back to normal so we got off pretty easy on this one.

A Four Wheel Drive Junker

Another thing we had kind of considered but not really, was how my car was going to drive on our driveway and the road we live in.

Our driveway goes uphill if you’re pulling in. And we live on a hilly S-Curve on a backroad. My car has never done well on the snow. (I get stuck in flat parking lots LOL. It doesn’t help that I’m a horrible snow driver.)

My car won’t make it up the driveway if there’s more than a couple inches of snow. Jamie already has a four wheel drive vehicle so he was good.

Since we both need to leave the house we purchased an older four wheel drive truck for $1,000. (His Dad owns a car lot so we got a good deal.) This older truck has also doubled as his “wood truck.”

Now he drives the new (old) truck and I can drive his little truck in the winter.

(Also the insurance on the new truck only added $30 every six months to our bill. Not too shabby!)

Note: That’s actually a pretty good looking picture of the truck. Looks much more beat up in person plus has over 200,000 miles on it.

So Far It’s Been Worth It

The feeling I get when I walk outside each day has been worth every single penny.

We can make this work well because we don’t spend much money on a regular basis. Our expenses stay pretty low and I shovel all the extra money we have into a house fund for us to split among our individual projects.

We’ve been able to avoid touching our emergency savings and just use our house savings to cover the costs of these unexpected expenses.

Hopefully after another year or so we’ll have dealt with the majority of repairs that need made and will see less and less unexpected’s pop up.

P.S. In other homesteading news a hawk got one of my chickens. They are now permanently penned. My next project is expanding their fencing as soon as the ground allows.

Random, but super important question: Who has wallpaper removal suggestions?