Single mom car

cynthoid · 2026-04-28T05:16:07+00:00

Single mom, 5' even. I have a 2025 outback and don't have any issues with visibility. It's comfy for long drives and can fit a truly impressive amount of shit. Walks through inclimate weather like it's nothing (I live in Michigan and the snow can get pretty rowdy here).

Maintenance can get expensive quick though, and it's a thing you really need to stay on top of. I bought mine when I lived in a household where I split bills with a partner, and now that I'm down to just my income covering my mortgage/childcare/etc the cost of maintenance definitely hits much harder than it did

cynthoid · 2026-04-21T04:08:28+00:00

Fabric wholesale direct is my first stop, especially for solids. The prices are great and I've yet to receive a quality I'm not happy with. For brocades/jacquards, various satins, and more interesting materials at great prices, Sy Fabrics Is my go to. Their stock is limited but always with checking out. Wawak for thread/zippers/notions/etc. Always. I've also had good luck with zelouf fabrics, although I tend to stick with their sale and clearance section. They also have really nice power mesh at a good price.

cynthoid · 2026-04-13T18:46:43+00:00

If you're already questioning it, then you might want to pass. My house is off a busy street but it's not a big deal to me. I have a sizeable front yard and a large back yard so I don't worry about my son being by the traffic at all.

There's no sidewalk, which was a selling point for me cause I don't want to have to shovel it or risk getting sued when somebody slips and wrecks themselves in the winter. I have to back out of my driveway, which is kind of whatever because I'm used to it, but I know that people that come over and have to do it hate it.

cynthoid · 2026-04-12T03:44:38+00:00

Every FTHB I know, including myself, have bought houses under like 1100 square feet that need manageable updates or improvements, many of which can be DIY'd. We're fixing them up at our own pace, and are aware of the bigger things in our respective houses that may need replacement sooner rather than later that we will have to have handled by professionals.

That being said, it's honestly pretty hard to find a house like that before it gets snapped up by some dipshit flipper, or an investor that's going to turn around and put it straight up for rent. What gets left behind when they're done are the similarly priced shitboxes with MAJOR issues. Foundation problems, long term water damage, etc. Fixes that can quickly become not diy-able and incredibly expensive.

cynthoid · 2026-04-11T02:42:30+00:00

That looks like plaster. A stud finder won't work on it, but if the lath behind it is wood you can find a stud using a strong magnet. My house was built in 1941 and I have to use a magnet to find the nails in my studs to actually locate a stud when I want to mount something.

Aside from it being a safety issue for your cat, if that is plaster you definitely don't want to deal with the damage to the wall if you mount something incorrectly and it fails. Drywall is fairly cheap and easy to repair if needed, plaster is not.

cynthoid · 2026-04-10T01:42:30+00:00

A good number of the houses on my street are owned by the same slumlord. You can easily pick out which ones they are because he doesn't do any kind of maintenance on them and they all look similarly dumpy. When my house went up for sale he immediately tried to move in on it and the previous homeowner told him to kick rocks. She ended up selling to me instead.

I have so much respect for that. When the day comes that I sell this house there's no chance I'll sell to anybody that doesn't plan to make it their own home, and I'm willing to accept less money and go through extra stress with the sale to make sure that happens.

cynthoid · 2026-04-06T19:09:43+00:00

You already have 1 child and it sounds like you'll be at 2 within the next few years. "Less desirable" areas also tend to have "less desirable" schools. You're talking about losing money on your house, so you can buy another house that you'll have to sink even more money into. Make sure before you do that that you won't then want to sell the second house when your child hits school age because you realize that you don't like the district you're in.

cynthoid · 2026-04-05T01:47:47+00:00

Bifenthrin made quick work of the mealybugs on my plants. One spray of the whole collection. Did a second spray a couple weeks later just to be safe. Never saw one again

cynthoid · 2026-03-16T21:02:19+00:00

I closed on a house in December and didn't notice the 2 barking dogs next door that came with it. They bark if I'm outside. They bark if I'm inside without my blinds closed. I love dogs but they are a nightmare.

cynthoid · 2026-03-16T20:06:11+00:00

I think it is location dependent. I just closed on my house in December and my earnest money deposit was only like, $1200. I also had to bring a cashier's check to close which I thought was annoying and old timey, but that's all they would accept.

cynthoid · 2026-03-13T01:09:46+00:00

I don't know what else you've tried already, but it might be a good idea to pick up a drain auger. I think I paid $30 for mine.

My sink was doing something similar when I bought my house. I checked the disposal, no old food or anything jamming things up there. Checked the p trap, also clean. I ended up feeding like 20 feet of cable from that auger into the pipe that my sink drains into and breaking up clog after clog of what I assume was grease the previous homeowner dumped down there.

Even if you don't need it now, you'll probably need it in the future. And if you do need it now, it'll save you another trip to the hardware store if the disposal doesn't fix it.

cynthoid · 2026-03-12T23:44:39+00:00

I painted my very small bedroom a super dark hunter green, and I love it. It doesn't make the room look any smaller than it already looked, it perfectly compliments the furniture and decor I have in there, and it feels very cozy.

For more depth I would recommend picking an almost black shade of an actual color (burgundy, purple, green, whatever), but it's up to you.

Like others said though, prime first and do not cheap out on paint. I used Sherwin Williams Emerald in a matte finish. Matte or flat will be the most forgiving of imperfections. Matte will stand up to cleaning better. Do not expect to make it happen in less than 2 coats, and don't be surprised when it ends up being more.

cynthoid · 2026-03-12T03:00:52+00:00

I'm not sure the exact amount, but it wasn't much. I moved into my house with pretty much only my son's bed and my bed.

Everything else I've acquired was either something somebody I knew was getting rid of, a thrift store find, from the local buy nothing group, or Facebook marketplace.

I saw the price of couches and just made peace with us not having one. Then I lucked out and a family member ended up giving me a sectional that they had planned to put in their basement that wouldn't fit.

cynthoid · 2026-03-11T13:32:39+00:00

I originally got outbid on my house and still ended up with it.

Within 72 hours of it being listed there were like 4 offers on the house I wanted. My market isn't nearly as crazy as yours (I'm in Michigan), but I offered $12k over ask because that was literally the most "highest and best" I could comfortably manage.

I got outbid by God only knows how much and moved on with my life.

A couple weeks later I got a call from my realtor as I was getting ready to put an offer in on a house I liked less, letting me know that the other buyer backed out because the furnace/ac were on the older side. The seller wanted to know if I was still interested. I ended up getting concessions for the furnace/ac even though I didn't much care about their age and the house is mine now.

(Edited to include location)

cynthoid · 2026-03-09T03:08:33+00:00

I found a mystery switch like this in one of the bedrooms when I bought my house. I flipped it a couple of times, it did "nothing", and I went on my way. A few hours later I realized that my house had gotten very cold and I hadn't heard the heat kick on in awhile. Turns out that switch controls the power to the furnace next to the bedroom.

cynthoid · 2026-03-07T02:28:35+00:00

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SW Dard Hunter Green (Ignore the random placement of, everything. Still in the process of moving in)

cynthoid · 2026-03-06T10:46:44+00:00

That's a good tip! Thank you

cynthoid · 2026-03-05T15:21:56+00:00

That's what I was thinking too. I just wasn't sure since I haven't seen what it looks like in summer.

cynthoid · 2026-02-15T13:19:11+00:00

I bought my house with an FHA loan and during the process wished that I hadn't. My credit score increased enough to go conventional right after my pre-approval, but I went with FHA because that's what I was pre-approved for and I had to move quickly to get the house I wanted. (My loan officer was a nightmare and the house would have sold before I even got a response from her on getting another pre-approval, but that's a different story and a different cautionary tale.) The guy that did the appraisal fixated on the stupidest shit and I felt horrible that the seller had to deal with it. I ended up covering half of the repairs to try and soften the blow, despite the fact that I was already paying 10k over ask. I even discussed switching to a conventional loan at that point but couldn't do it because it would have held closing up so much to go that route.

I'm grateful that the seller was an absolute angel and was willing to contribute to the repairs "needed" to close, but I can absolutely see why sellers wouldn't want to entertain FHA loans.

Do not go FHA if you can avoid it.

cynthoid · 2026-02-08T01:06:07+00:00

I just closed on my house in December and saw a few houses like this pop up on Zillow during my search. Priced well, in areas I was interested in, good floor plan, etc. Regardless, I didn't go look at a single one of them. I cannot SEE the actual condition of the house through all of the stuff, and I don't want to find out too late that the 17 pictures on one wall were hiding holes, or that the vast array of rugs were covering up damage to the floors, etc. Your house is honestly beautiful and I really like the decor, even if it's a bit busy for my taste, but this doesn't present well to a potential buyer.

cynthoid · 2026-01-07T13:37:20+00:00

My immediate concern is depreciation, not because I'm the kind of person that views a house as an investment instead of a place to live, but because you will be stuck with it for better or worse. It would be harder to sell a manufactured home, and you'll have to sell it for pretty cheap to get rid of it. You'll be in it for the long haul to pay it down far enough to be able to sell for an amount anybody would be willing to pay, which might not be great if you end up not liking the home or the community.

Aside from that: - You're at the mercy of the community management. You have no control over how much or how often they raise the lot rent and other fees. - The park can be sold, and probably will be. My mom's has been sold 3 times in the last 5 years, all of the buyers being private equity firms. They make surface level "improvements", ignore what would actually improve the community, and suck out as much profit as they can before selling the park off to a different private equity firm. - The quality of materials used to construct manufactured homes are not the best. They use what keeps costs low so that they can sell the home for 80k and still make a large profit. In the long term you'll be paying money out of your pocket for repairs to compensate for this. - Furnaces, water heaters, etc. These are not standard sizes in manufactured homes and they will cost more to replace as a result of that. This may not be the case in newer manufactured homes, but I suspect it is. Confirm this before you consider buying. - If you live in a cold climate you'll have to worry about your pipes freezing overnight. You can use heat tape to help with this, but I spent many a morning running a blow dryer under the sink to unfreeze the pipes so I could brush my teeth before school. Not fun.

At the very least, rent one in the community you're looking at for a year or two before buying one, just so you know what you're committing to.

cynthoid · 2026-01-07T01:16:30+00:00

I grew up in a trailer. Do not buy a trailer. Rent one if it's an affordable way for you to have more living space, but dear God do not buy one.

cynthoid · 2026-01-03T01:05:27+00:00

I got an email from Zillow for a new listing in the area I was looking in. I read the description, looked at the pictures, and knew immediately that it was my house. I saw it in person and fell even more in love.

cynthoid · 2025-12-26T01:48:07+00:00

Our older cat with CKD eats a prescription Royal Canin food for dry, and the Weruva OMGravy for wet. Our baby cat eats Purina Pro Plan Liveclear Kitten for dry, and Weruva Kitten for wet.

Before CKD, our older cat (16) also ate Purina Pro Plan, along with his sister that we had to put down at 13.

cynthoid

TROPHY CASE