Upgrade, Downgrade

It's definitely going to be a year about upgrades in our family, but luckily we've been able to find opportunities for downgrading items and services that aren't essential. Just like anyone we're on a tight budget (I'm much more strict than Ørjan when it comes to money), but we've still managed to be slightly indulgent this year, and plan to take advantage of some extra money that we have. Usually I like to hoard away money and save it for emergencies and the future, but I have a serious weaknes for lavishing and spoiling my loved ones and indulging on accessories and items for my home.

This year's downgrades:

• Cancelled several satellite packages - Since many of packages we subcribe to include channels that we don't really watch, we decided to cancel them and look for other options. I'm not suggesting that satellite piracy is acceptable, but I will say that Canal+ stations are easy to find.
• Did not renew a few magazine subscriptions - A few home decor mags that I've been subscribing to for the past couple of years have just become too expensive, and I found that I probably only looked through them no more than twice. With an increased price and more ads than anything, I'm now saving hundreds of dollars a year by just cancelling two subscriptions.
• Online shopping - I decided that I needed to stop the impulse of online shopping. I used to see it as a necessity to buy clothes, home items, and stuff for the kids at least once every 3 months, but now I only stick to buying when there are massive sale promotions.
• Less baking - This isn't just about money, but it involves our health. I used to test out new recipes for cakes, breads, cookies, and other sweet treats every other weekend. I always look for the best possible ingredients and if a bar of baking chocolate with 70+% cocoa was costing me around $5.00, and I used 3 bars for making brownies, that turned out to be one expensive brownie! Since I also made husband my official tastetester/guinea pig, I realized I needed to stop pumping him full of sugar and cocoa and get him back on hummus and veggie lasagnes. So that's it - I only stick to baking when it's a special occasion, or company is involved.
• Mobile maddness - At one point we owned 4 mobile phones. Why? I have no idea. Now we own two with better plans, and only revert back to the old ones when it's necessary. (Switching the sim cards over due to low battery or other technical issues.)

The upgrades:

• The house - We needed a bigger house for our growing family. There's nothing more to explain.
• The kitchen - The house we're moving to already has a functional kitchen (and a dishwasher!) but we're still going to tear everything out. The cabinets are a bit old, the countertops have seen better days, and the entire kitchen is dated. It's going to cost us around Kr 40 000, but it will all be worth it in the end. We're also custom-designing this kitchen so it will suit all our needs and it will have the exact pieces that we want.
• Electronic equipment - We opted to get a more powerful wireless router due to our larger house and property. It's not like we'll be sitting on the toilet catching up on news feeds, but it would be nice to have a higher speed/rate in other rooms of the house. I'm also looking to buy a new camera. I'm leaning slightly towards a Nikon instead of a Canon this time, but with the lower prices of the model I wanted last year, I just might invest in 2 cameras!

There's alot of money being passed around and spent, but with the sacrifices and investments we're making I believe it's totally worth it.