15Jun / 2009

My New Place in Steveston

As those of you who either follow me on twitter or facebook know, Marnie and I recently purchased a place in Steveston and take possession on 25Jul. Being that it’s our “first” home (we rent, so in theory we already have a home), we’re pretty stoked and are currently trying to figure out what we need to do before the big day.

steveston

My New Backyard – courtesy of abundantc

And that’s somewhat the dilemma. I know there are probably more pressing things surrounding our move, such as settling on a moving company (we’ve called those listed in Richmond and the BBB) and getting packed and ready to go, but I can’t get my mind off of all the things I want and see myself doing at the new place.

Like the new LCD TV for the bedroom. We currently have a 37″ or so CRT which is freakingly big and heavy – heck, I’m surprised the thing hasn’t crushed the IKEA tv stand I have it resting on – so I’m looking to “downsize” before we move to our new place. The problem I’m having is deciding on what good value is. I picked up a 37″ ViewSonic LCD from Costco years back and have been happy, but the price was right at the time and I can’t seem to replicate the dollars.

Then there’s the bike. With the outdoor lifestyle available to people in Steveston, I’m dying to pick up a bike to ride with the masses along the dyke and throughout the village. Although I don’t need anything special, most bikes I’ve looked at cost some decent dollars and with all the costs involved in our move, it’s an even tougher purchase to justify.

And don’t get me started about the furniture options. Marnie and I have relied on hand-me-downs and inheritances to this point, but with us moving to a somewhat smaller place, we need to downsize and figured it was time to step it up and get our own stuff. We currently have a 3 piece sectional that we enjoy, but due to the constant un-upholstering our cats have been working on, it’s pretty much in a shambles. So where do we go from there? And how do we do it on a budget.

Any suggestions?

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Permalink 13 Comments

  • http://www.iseevines.com Ivy

    IKEA TV stands are amazingly durable. We’ve had ours for over 13 years and it’s still the same – with our 29″ CRT TV. We’ve kept saying we’re going to get a plasma or something but the quality hasn’t gone down at all.

    But since you’re downsizing to a smaller place, it is nice to get a new TV along with the new home. It does make the home much nicer without the bulk of the TV.

  • http://www.daydreamz.net Aidan

    I dont own any LCD’s TV’s. Just the cool big old school ones. They do me just fine :) (except I would love some HD awesomeness). You can always hold off buying one until perhaps Boxing Day sales, or just keeping your eye out for excellent deals

    The whole furniture thing, I cant help you out. As I also have loads of hand-me-downs. Though the boyfriend and I bought a beautiful 7 piece dining set when we first moved in together.

    Have you tried looking on Craigslist? Keep your eyes peeled for deals, and even check thrift stores. They might have a bike that is not in terrible shape. I did spend a pretty penny $500 on my BMX (I lucked out and it was 50% off!) – I ended up driving all the way out to Langley to Caps Bikes for it.

    You will love Steveston!

  • http://www.sobko.ca Ivan

    I had a bit of the same dilemma when I moved. For the TV , after massive research I decided that a brand name does not mean quality, and since I don’t need any fancy features I for me and 1080p RCA from Wal-Mart it was just over $800 all in (tax and enviro-levy). So far I am happy with it, value for the money, the contrast ratio in colour is not huge compared to brand names (I think mine is only 7000:1) but the brand names on “sale” which are about 2 years old have very similar specs and only 720p for the same price. another value brand that had good reviews was Vizio (apparently they use same parts as Samsung or LG.. I can’t remember).

    for the bike… well ever since we moved to Canada 11 years ago, we bought our bikes on garage sales, they are usually a fraction of the cost and in decent condition… as long as there is no rust, fixing up a bike is pretty easy if need be.

    That’s my 2 cents.

    Congrats again on the new purchase!

  • http://www.revnyou.com Julie Broad

    Hi there! Netchick sent me!!

    Good luck with the move … can’t say I have any good advice for saving money or buying things. All I can say is that if you do decide to buy furniture from a furniture store … PAY WITH CREDIT CARD!! We bought our stuff from North Shore furnishings which then proceeded to go bankrupt … thankfully Visa was on our side and covered the deposit.

  • http://leftcoastbydesign.ca/ Chris

    @Ivy: The IKEA stand has been great – I’ve had it now for close to 10 years. Unfortunately, I think it was never built for the 37″ CRT in mind. Anywho, one of the people I recently trained at work still works at London Drugs, so I’m swinging by this weekend to see if I can pick up a new TV at a decent price. Thanks for swinging by!

    @Aidan: LOL – you do realize I work for the local provider and therefore always have the itch to have the best of the best, right? I’d love to wait until Boxing Day, but don’t think I can. I’ve also been keeping my eye on Craiglist for either a TV or bike, but haven’t really used it before and therefore I’m wanting to be super duper cautious.

    @Ivan: Wow, I think you’re stalking me or something. First it was soccer, then facebook, and now my website? It’s all good though – keeping signing up for services! Hmm… a garage sale. You’re probably right – I should keep my eye out for a bike there.

    @Julie: Thanks for swinging by! Netchick’s good like that, ain’t she? I’ve already been polishing up the credit card for those type of purchases. I’m a big fan of the guarantee that comes with using a credit card at times, I just need to be more vigilant in paying off the balance before my interest free time is up.

  • http://navy-blue-jeans.blogspot.com Jean

    There’s so much to do about moving – more so, when it’s a new house (not to speak of the expenses involved!).
    Have fun, the photo looks amazing – I am sure you won’t be sitting inside any time of any day.

    Tanya sent me.

  • http://www.VancityAllie.com VancityAllie

    Congratulations on the new place! That’s a huge step.

    And I know eh, getting the place is only half the battle. Then there’s the furnishings, the decorations, the food, the parties etc etc… ahhhh! I feel your pain, and I’m just renting! :)

    My only suggestion to you is to take it slow… upgrade over time… it’ll ease the pain ;)

  • http://www.VancityAllie.com VancityAllie

    And oh yeah. Craigslist. For everything. Especially furniture.

  • http://www.queerchef.com Charles Ravndal

    Congrats on your new place! The backyard looks lovely.

    When we first move we just bought most of the necessary stuff like bed and etc. from IKEA. Then we just slowly filled the entire apartment piece by piece with furnitures we see on sale from time to time.

  • http://www.leftcoastbydesign.ca/ Chris

    @Jean: I agree, the picture of the dyke pathway along the Fraser is mint. It is a quick 5 minute walk from my place to that location, but that was one of the selling points on the area.

    @Allie: Thanks Allie! Have you given any thought on possibly getting a place of your own at all? Marnie and I have been renting for 4 years now and just figured it was time that we paid into our mortgage instead of our landlords. And craiglist – I’m sure it’s probably the route to go, but I’m scared of craigslist. ;)

    @Charles: Thank you for stopping by Charles! My fiancee and I are definitely IKEA supporters – heck, our current place is filled with all sorts of swedish wonder. Add in the $50 gift card we found while packing and I’m thinking we’ll probably resupply once we move.

  • http://netchick.net Tanya (aka NetChick)

    Congrats on the new home, Chris and Marnie! :)

    I was in the same dilemma as you — I decided to hold off on the furniture, and fix some of the things around the place that need updating. And, now that it turns out that I won’t be living here nearly as long as I originally intended (engaged n’ all) I’ll be leaving behind my furniture to rent this place furnished.

    Bike? Well, mine was just stolen from my new place, so I’ll be buying a new/used one off of CraigsList I’m sure. With all this expense, I might as well get a half decent used one, because I’m sure it’ll be gone again.
    .-= Tanya (aka NetChick)´s latest blog post: And, now back to regularly scheduled blogging… =-.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/abundantc abundantc

    Congrats, and thanks for using my Flickr photo (with attribution). Steveston rocks!
    .-= abundantc´s latest blog post: (Untitled) =-.

    • http://www.leftcoastbydesign.ca/ Chris

      You’re welcome! I’m still playing the CSS to get the credit to link to the flickr image, but I’m all about respecting the CC licence. Thanks for stopping by!

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