So things are for sure a whole lot different for my wife and I.
As much as we’ve been through the last couple of years, we are so thankful to have this new normal.
Of course, I think we would have both been happier to have not had the financial strains brought on by the pandemic but we figured it out. My wife and I both got sent home from the zone controlled HVAC of our respective offices. And we both got hit with deep pay cuts. This was tough as we had just purchased a house and done some renovating. There was a new HVAC unit and kitchen appliance along with new flooring and a new deck outside. So our savings was a bit diminished just when we needed to lean on it the most. That summer of 2020 we spent trying to cut every cost we could. Of course it was easy to wipe out the entertainment portion of the budget since we were cooped up inside the central air conditioning of our home. But we pushed the thermostat higher and higher that summer as we worked from home to save on the cost of HVAC cooling. By fall though, we knew that something had to give. So we came up with the idea of putting a ductless heat pump in our finished basement and renting it out. It didn’t take much for us to get the basement ready for a renter because it was already sort of set up as guest room. But the ductless heat pump and the galley kitchen turned it into a great one bedroom apartment. We are so thankful for this as it allows us some financial breathing room as we get into this new normal.