I’ve been swamped lately… pun intended, because the crazy rain around here has seeped back into my basement and I am once again smashing concrete patches into the walls in a desperate attempt to dry things out before I put my house on the market.

And that’s the other reason why I’m swamped! It’s time to move! Moving may be one of my least favorite things to do, yet I do it so often. But a quick look at the old bank account (and credit card statements) has convinced me that it’s just not a good idea to hold onto all this space for just little me. It’s not an investment if you can’t afford Spaghetti-Os.** I can get a 2-bedroom apartment for less than the price of this 2-bedroom house, plus I get relieved of such onerous tasks as mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters, and patching the damn basement walls. I also save money on things like sewer and trash and water service (always included in rent) and utilities, since it’s cheaper to heat and cool less space. The most awesome bit will be not having to sock away money every month JUST IN CASE the old air conditioner finally gives out. I sooo hate having major home repairs hanging over my head.

My house is in good shape and it’s pretty. I have nice taste in decorating and have updated both the kitchen and bath since I moved in. The whole first floor has new-ish paint and lovely hardwood floors. But I still have to put a few hundred dollars’ worth of work into it before it goes on the market – MAY 26TH! So soon! I’ve been laying vinyl tile in the basement (waterproof is a good idea here), fixing drywall (ruined by rain drips), painting basement bonus rooms (which I never painted because I only ever used them for storage) and doing little things like planting flowers, replacing floor thresholds, quarter-round strips, and light switch plates.

This is all worth it because if I can sell it for the price my agent recommends, I can pay her commission and all my credit card debt and some of my student loan debt AND have a little saving fund money left over when all is said and done. God, a clean slate would be SO. NICE. No more debt to pay each month, no more extra bills each month, less rent, no more yardwork… wowza. Give me off-street parking at the apartment and put a remote-start in the car and I’ll be just fine.

The other bonus – which had BETTER HAPPEN IF HE WANTS TO LIVE LONG – is possibly living with E in the new place. His apartment now is a little one-bedroom shotgun and he’s got it quite full. I really do want to find the new place in his neighborhood because I lurve it there, and if we find a place together – HALF the rent. HALF the utilities. My shopping nerves are tickling even now. Juicy Couture jeans, I have missed you.

E is a little weird when we talk about it though, which I seriously do not understand. Why would he be up for us living together in Vegas and not here? What’s the difference? We’ve both lived alone for years and we like our space, but splitting the rent we can afford a bigger place so we can have a little room to move. We work opposite schedules so it’s not like I’d be sitting around saying “whatcha doing?” and bugging him all day.

It’s a big change, I know. It’s one that I’m ready to make. I don’t have a clue how long it will take the house to sell so it’s not like I need to rush the conversation, but seriously? I don’t get the reluctance to talk about it. Why would we do this somewhere else but not here? Obviously I don’t want to push him into anything (well, not TOO hard anyway), but really, if we live in the same neighborhood, we both know we’ll be at each other’s houses so much that one of us is basically paying rent on a closet.

Any assistance in the moving-in-together-conversation or fixing-the-house arenas is most welcome.

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** Yes, I know. Credit card = my fault. So it’s Spaghetti-Os till I pay it off. And how will I do that? Keep reading.