The hardest decision of our lives

So, we couldn't afford to live in our house anymore. After 3 years, 2 new children and countless home improvements, we came to the difficult decision to leave our beloved home. What's worse is we reluctantly decided to move in with....... my husband's mother!!! I had so many reservations about this idea that Chris and I had to literally write down all the pros and cons of moving in with her. Ulimately what it came down to was that we no longer could afford our $700 a month rent payment and she needed help with her mortgage.

On the down side, I personally didn't want to move in with her. She's difficult to tolerate, her house is tiny and needed MUCH repair. My son would have to change schools, I would have to leave my finally matured garden, new fence my husband put up around the house, custom wood blinds and all the fabulous projects we did at our house.

But on the upside, she lives on a cul-de-sac, within walking distance of the school. There are many kids in the neighborhood that my kids can all play with. We also thought about as much as we like to do home improvements, we we would be sinking money into a house that would eventually be ours and not losing it into a rental like we were doing. Our monthly bills will significantly be reduced. We will be able to save money and afford to live.

All in all, finances are the major reason in our decision and I think we made a good one. So now we have our work cut out for us. Her house was in deep dispair. His grandmother and mother lived her for 30 years or so and smoked inside the house. Everything in the house was stained with nicotine. She agreed to smoke outside but we still have to paint the entire house and air it out. Shampoo the carpets and go through all the belongings of his grandmother who passed away last year. We're supposed to do all this and pack up our old house and be out in a month. Sounds like more than enough time but we have so much to do in Kim's house. Clean, kilz and paint. Phew!