Wes and I would fly to Florida once or twice a year to look for land, now that we decided we weren’t going to buy a house in Colorado. On this last trip, we found our land! See below!
Where do we begin?
I know were we began… in the town of Lakewood, CO.
My husband, Wes; my son, Skylar and myself are living in a 800 sq. ft., 2 bed, 1 bath apartment. We fit, we had a routine, things were nice! Then we decided to have another kid and you all know what happens when you add another person to an already shrinking living space! Wes and I decided that we needed to get into something that had at least one more bedroom for the baby.
The biggest issue that we ran into was the price of housing here in Colorado. Wes and I had noticed that since about 2015, the cost of houses had been steadily increasing. How do we get the down payment, while still paying rent, to put on a house in the Denver Metro area?? We have a couple of options:
- Sell one of the cars and save money on car payments and auto insurance. But then how do we both get to work and get the kids where they need to be with one car. I’m sure some families are able to do this, and it is a logical choice for some. For us, it didn’t make sense. We would spend more money in gas and waste more time trying to get everyone where they needed to be on time.
- We could sell our possessions and live a minimalist lifestyle. Which wouldn’t be a problem at all, but our possessions don’t cost much and we were already living minimally. We didn’t take extravagant vacations, we didn’t buy expensive clothing or jewelry, all of our furniture was mismatched cause we usually bought what was on clearance or we found deals on craigslist or letgo. A good plan, but not going to get us where we need to be.
- Move in with a family member and save money! This was our best option. My parents are the most loving and accepting people you will ever meet. They are always there for their children and for those in need of help in one way or another. My dad is the type of person that will stop by your house on the weekend and spray your weeds if that is the chore he is working on at the time. My mother is the type to crochet blankets for anyone about to have a baby or make prayer shawls for those in hospice.
Once we decided to move in with my parents and they accepted our idea, we needed to work on our budget in order to see how much we could save, how long would it take and how much of a house we could afford. Stay tuned for our next steps in this process…
The Clepper Coop
Welcome everyone to the Clepper Coop! My name is Beth Clepper and this blog is an attempt to share our personal journey from apartment renter to living with family in Denver, CO to building our own homestead in Wesley Chapel, FL.
This is my first time blogging so please be patient with my ability and speed to get up and running. I plan to include how tos, specific detail, photos and videos to help you feel a part of the journey!
Thanks for joining us!
Making the Move… Finally!
After we bought land in Wesley Chapel, FL in 2017, we still had to figure out how much of a home we could afford, find the home of our dreams and how we were going to accomplish all this while still maintaining our jobs and moving across the country from Colorado to Florida. This took time, 3 years to be exact. We bought the land in 2017 and made our move in 2020!
2020 has been a rough year for many people, but my family and I have been fortunate in that we haven’t lost our jobs or become ill during this pandemic.
March 2020 – Skylar was in 6th grade when COVID hit and was forced out of school to begin a remote journey to finish out the school year. Wes’s position (Lead Information Tech) as well as my own (HR Manager) were moved to a remote setting in an effort to prevent the spread of this virus. Both our companies have been so supportive of this remote effort and us moving to Florida. We wouldn’t have been able to make this dream come true if it wasn’t for the companies we work for.
Remote work and remote learning was difficult at first. Wes needed an office that was quiet, without distractions. That is almost impossible with a 3 year old in the house! Skylar needed a desk that was somewhat quiet with less distractions so he could focus on school work. I needed a desk as well, so we created a little work space for us all!
June 2020 – We move to FLORIDA! We had already paid for a shipping container to move our belongings ahead of us, so the only thing left to do was to make that 26 hour road trip! The best part was that my parents were able to caravan down with us!
The Clepper Coop 