Prioritizing Wants

In today's post over at 2000 Dollar Wedding, I delineate our financial goals for both the short- and long-term (and mention a financial blog that I have started reading from start to finish--thanks to a suggestion in the comments!). One of our long-term goals is to live in an eco-friendly, comfortable, and fun house. We're homebodies much of the time, and we want to create a home that feels like a retreat, a sanctuary. We want to create the home that Henry (and hopeful his sibling) bring their friends to. We want to have casual parties and impromptu gatherings. I want our home to be the center of our lives in many ways, which is why I'm fine making it a financial priority both in the short- and long-term.

I've talked some about what kind of yard we want to have. It includes:

• A large deck for eating, relaxing, reading, entertaining. We will need to purchase patio furniture (a table for guests, as well as loungers), procure some plants or build some kind of beds with benches to make the space feel more intimate and not too expansive, and likely hang some sun shades to mitigate the intense Central Texas sun.
• A swimming pool for nearly seven months of water fun. This will be expensive! I wish, wish, wish we could fold it into our mortgage, but there's no way we could afford it.
• Raised beds for growing food
• Fruit trees
• A chicken coop
• An herb garden (maybe this could go in planters on the deck?)
• A fire pit
• A grassy area for playing
• A large fence around the perimeter so Hoss and the kids can roam freely
• A welcoming path to the front door 
• A zero-scaped front yard 
• Rain barrels 
• Solar panels
• Potentially steps down to the creek with a cleared out area for hanging out and relaxing
• Maybe a Bocce ball court (I know we could just play on grass, but it's easier to take care of a rectangle of crushed granite rather than grass!)
• Maybe a wood-working studio some day
• Hmm...what if we build a studio apartment in the back and rent it out to someone who is interested in community?

 Inside we're going to need:

• A king-sized bed 
• Bedside tables
• Closet shelves for every closet
• Bar stools 
• Sectional couch
• Giant rug for the living room
• Tiled backsplash in the kitchen
• Washer/dryer

We're definitely going to have to purchase these things in stages, since we won't be able to afford it all at once. We'll have to make a prioritized list, so that we purchase the most important things first. There's a lot to think about!

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