Comments on thrifty little blog: (Mostly) Loving the Merge

My boyfriend brought a grand total of 2 giant plas...

2010-01-04T14:23:35.555-06:00

My boyfriend brought a grand total of 2 giant plastic storage containers, 1 laundry basket, and 2 trash bags of clothes. He's just not a collector of things; whereas I have TONS of crap. So while I didn't get any sweet photographic or really nice pans I did get an awesome roommate who is a master of taking out the trash and recycling!

Congrats on the big move-in, it's a big change and I'm sure y'all will have lots of fun together!

@chacha~ Thanks for the tips! I learned my lesson ...

2009-12-31T10:39:31.501-06:00

@chacha~ Thanks for the tips! I learned my lesson about not asking you for advice before starting a project :). Luckily, Nate got a circular saw for Christmas so that should get us off to a good start!

Congratulations on the merge! I guess you'll h...

2009-12-31T08:58:11.567-06:00

Congratulations on the merge! I guess you'll have to figure out if you need to keep everything or maybe have a yard sale later on :o)

Side note, Tips for shelving, you ask? Well, it was actually an easy project aside from the painting taking forever. Certain tools will help, you'll need at least a a hand saw and circular saw (cheap, like $40 - $50 bucks, or you can rent one but it's like half that). We ended up using a circular saw, table saw, and compound miter saw. You can get away with a circular saw using clamps and a guide scrap of lumber (to run along so you cut a straight line). Email me if you have any questions :o)

My favorite part of the merge was living with him....

2009-12-31T06:40:45.168-06:00

My favorite part of the merge was living with him. His stuff? I pretty much hated it all and his gigantic burgundy 'wood' desk pretty much made me cry.

No, I'm not kidding.

How exciting! I remember when Rob and I decided to...

2009-12-30T14:19:50.650-06:00

How exciting! I remember when Rob and I decided to move in together. The first thing we did was go to his place and get his cat Embree. So I'd have to say she is my favorite thing that he brought with. It was also really fun to merge our furniture and keep some of mine and some of his and get rid of the rest. We were able to combine our personal styles into something cohesive. It was really fun.

Don't worry Kasey, I felt super lame at first ...

2009-12-30T12:18:58.896-06:00

Don't worry Kasey, I felt super lame at first too. I felt like I wasn't doing one of the main "woman chores" when I wasn't cooking..but then I found out that my husband loves doing it, so I almost always let him do it now. We do have a deal worked out though..if he cooks, I do the dishes and vice versa.

When I first moved in with my boyfriend (now spous...

2009-12-30T12:08:26.689-06:00

When I first moved in with my boyfriend (now spouse), the best part was getting another pet! He had the most adorable kitty on the planet, and we merged my cat with his.

In addition, he had a much larger kitchen, bigger couch (heck, he had a couch, and I just had a futon), and a garage. No more street parking!

Have fun living together and experiencing all those things that couples do (and never thought they'd know about each other). It's a wonderful adventure!

Good question! I had already acquired most of the ...

2009-12-29T18:47:45.830-06:00

Good question! I had already acquired most of the "homey" things before my hubby and I lived together. If it weren't for me, our house would probably be pretty barren. :) I do know that when we merged, we had multiple TVs, stereos, computers, etc. and not enough room for all of them!

Merging has had it's ups and downs for my hubb...

2009-12-29T15:11:04.207-06:00

Merging has had it's ups and downs for my hubby and I. The chaos of wedding presents, his stuff and my stuff in a cluttered mess was hard for me. We have different organization styles too. I throw/give everything away after a time; he holds on to it in case he needs it. So, we had a garage sale and made a profit from those things that we didn't need anymore. Gave somethings away to friends and Goodwill. And loads of things are in the attic and a rented storage building. It's a work in progress.

Hmm, honestly, the only nice 'thing' that ...

2009-12-29T14:44:25.752-06:00

Hmm, honestly, the only nice 'thing' that Shaun brought with him was a full size bed for the guest room. Otherwise, he really didn't bring anything worth mentioning. Except his good looks and sparkling personality! haha

When we first moved in together, we both purged li...

2009-12-29T14:39:13.206-06:00

When we first moved in together, we both purged like crazy first. We lugged a lot to both Salvation Army and Goodwill. The biggest purge was selling off his 1000+ graphic novels!

The best thing he brought with him? Probably his tee shirts, boxers and pj bottoms. Gosh, I love that stuff to sleep!

My hubs brought the good gadgets - TVs, speakers, ...

2009-12-29T13:53:15.189-06:00

My hubs brought the good gadgets - TVs, speakers, etc. Ugh, and a load of sports junk - which doesn't fit well in small spaces or go with responsible adult decor. Boo!

Good luck. You'll get over the hump. And at some point you'll come to accept the things you won't be able to change. It doesn't mean you won't keep trying though. ;)

@Jessica~ Uh, oh... a few billion Nascar cars?! Do...

2009-12-29T13:21:58.632-06:00

@Jessica~ Uh, oh... a few billion Nascar cars?! Does it make you feel better to know that some of those boxes are filled with baseball cards?

Merging is HARD. My favorite thing is seeing our t...

2009-12-29T13:17:53.708-06:00

Merging is HARD. My favorite thing is seeing our two aesthetics blend. We have different tastes, so it's fun to see what kind of things we pick out together.

Hahah OH, DEAR. Can I admit I don't have one t...

2009-12-29T13:16:31.964-06:00

Hahah OH, DEAR. Can I admit I don't have one thing I enjoy from merging homes with my husband?? :) All he brought were a few billion nascar cars and a giant stuffed turkey. Hmmpf.

My hubby brought a dog... to add to my 2. LOL How...

2009-12-29T13:05:38.839-06:00

My hubby brought a dog... to add to my 2. LOL
However, the best thing he brought... his handyman skills right there in my house... at my disposal.
Good luck on your merge.
~Amy

My husband is from Scotland, so he basically just ...

2009-12-29T12:23:10.585-06:00

My husband is from Scotland, so he basically just brought over clothing and his favorite CDs, because anything else would have been far too much hassle and expense. Considering that we currently live in less than 500 square feet, that's a good thing! It's also making me clear out the clutter, because he is...well, Scottish. He fits the stereotype of being frugal and having few possessions. It's made me realize just how much useless crap I have that I don't need.

Cohabitating with someone who adores me has had some great perks--I don't have to do dishes anymore and he walks the dogs! Ah, love.

I got...a storage unit. :) My boyfriend sold a l...

2009-12-29T12:03:13.251-06:00

I got...a storage unit. :)

My boyfriend sold a lot and rented a storage unit for the rest of his things (he's much more sentimental than I and saves every birthday card he gets!). I've been able to send a few bins over to storage so my closets are a little less crowded.

@The Brick Cottage & Kate~ I'm thinking th...

2009-12-29T11:39:51.798-06:00

@The Brick Cottage & Kate~ I'm thinking that Goodwill is going to get a few truckloads of goodies in the upcoming weeks ;).

@Micah & Carly~ I feel so lame with the cooking thing! So far, everything I've contributed to dinner has been via microwave. As long as he doesn't mind cooking, I'm happy with it!

My husband and I merged well, but his main contrib...

2009-12-29T11:38:11.603-06:00

My husband and I merged well, but his main contribution was a collection of CDs (he has HUNDREDS) that he had accumulated in his lifetime. He loves music, so I can't hate, but those CDs still haunt me. I just want to organize them and house them all and we're still buying/making shelves!

I'm glad you enjoyed Food, Inc too. And I agree... I felt horrible for the farmers and the mother who's son died from eating the bad meat.

My husband owned the house we live in now for 2 ye...

2009-12-29T11:32:40.610-06:00

My husband owned the house we live in now for 2 years before I was here..so it was great to get married & automatically have a house. On top of that, Cody had a much better TV than mine and some GREAT cooking skills! Decor wise..not much stayed lol

The best part was that we were able to buy a house...

2009-12-29T11:27:03.577-06:00

The best part was that we were able to buy a house and have a lower payment than what we'd been paying separately in rent! My hubs had been renting a room in a fully-furnished house, so he didn't have a lot of cool stuff to bring with him... other than an extensive DVD collection! But it was nice to have so much variety in movie-watching!
(However, as someone else mentioned, his "stuff" from his parents' house has trickled in box by box over the years. Do we really need some random trinket he got for his 13th birthday? Apparently.)

Easy---cooking skills! I very rarely cook, and my ...

2009-12-29T11:22:12.744-06:00

Easy---cooking skills! I very rarely cook, and my husband is quite good at it!

I'm sure that rent check is a nice little bonus!

My husband and I were students when we moved in to...

2009-12-29T11:21:44.982-06:00

My husband and I were students when we moved in together so we literally had NOTHING. I think we started with a mattress and a small TV when got a place.

Over time though our parents "gifted" us with a lot of things, many times duplicates. Just keep the best and give away the rest. If either of you are comfortable with selling your extra stuff that's always an option ... and there's always storage units!

we were able to almost fully furnish an apartment ...

2009-12-29T11:07:47.612-06:00

we were able to almost fully furnish an apartment that was over 2xs the size of the smaller apartments we'd each been living in. i think my favorite part of the merge was going through everything and deciding how to mix furniture and decor to make a home that was us. we've been living together for almost 4 years now so we've also been able to upgrade some things and it has been fun to pick them out together. (well, except the new mattress, i hate hate hate shopping for mattresses!)