New home

So we finally moved!  It's been almost 2 weeks since we've been here.  Some info about our new place:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
10 miles from W's work and my school
9 miles from my work
No washer/dryer
No microwave
We rented 2 covered parking spots (necessary for winter)
Our rent with the parking is $807/month.

We cut our commutes in half, so it takes me 15 minutes to drive to school or work.  We live behind a Walmart, to give you a sense of the neighborhood.  It's also geographically in between the two places I shared about in a previous post.

To be honest, at first it was a difficult adjustment, downsizing from a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage, with washer and dryer.  We used to live in a newer single standing home, and now we live in an apartment unit.  Things like the noise of neighbors, a smaller space, and the lack of amenities is taking some getting used to.

BUT, there are some things I'm really enjoying.  Mainly, simplifying our lives.  In terms of furniture, the only new thing we had acquired was a $75 desk from IKEA, so all of our furniture came to the new place.  But I got rid of a bunch of kitchen stuff, clothes, books, and random stuff because we don't have space for things we don't use on a daily basis.  It's amazing how much we had accumulated in the last year.  We got rid of 9 large shopping bags of stuff.

Also, we don't have a washer/dryer in the unit (or in the building), and we don't have a microwave.  And you already know we haven't had a TV in 2.5 years.  We contemplated renting a w/d for $35/month, but decided against it.  And I didn't think we could survive without a microwave but so far we've been able to (we'll see what happens in the winter).

It has been very freeing to simplify life, save on rent & utilities, drive less and even live in a smaller space.