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S5E4: Mastering the Art of Real Estate Staging & Interior Design with Ruth Krumbhaar

Real Estate Staging & Interior Design

Real Estate Maven Ruth Krumbhaar Shares Her Winning Formula for Staging and Interior Design

Today, Ruth Krumbhaar returns to the podcast to generously share her real estate investing wisdom and unique staging and interior design insights with us. As you may recall from our last episode, Ruth is a successful therapist, coach, and part-time real estate investor who’s built a reliable source of passive income through her investments.

However, while our last conversation focused on many of the technical aspects of real estate investing, today’s episode explores the softer side of real estate as we dive into the world of design and home decorating. Specifically, Ruth is here to share her distinctive approach to sprucing up investment properties, including Airbnbs, long-term rentals, and homes she intends to flip.

In this episode, we discuss the balance between budget, trend awareness, and tenant preferences that forms the cornerstone of Ruth’s process. We also delve into the importance of knowing your audience when it comes to decorating a property. In addition, Ruth explains how a touch of whimsy can transform an Airbnb property from forgettable to memorable.

And if you’ve ever wondered where to find the best decor or how to balance high-end and affordable items for a cohesive aesthetic, Ruth has you covered. Indeed, you’ll gain insider knowledge on how to shop savvy, mix and match classic pieces with modern accents, and curate a unique look that stands out without being generic.

Later in the episode, our conversation shifts to the practicality of design. Because good design isn’t just about how a space looks, but also how it functions. For example, Ruth and I talk bathroom renovations, room refreshes, and the vital importance of a welcoming entryway. We also discuss the value of investing in quality pieces, the significance of an elevated element in every room, and the benefits of staying in your own Airbnb to gain a better understanding of your guests’ needs.

Lastly, Ruth shares her thoughts on how to undertake a themed decorating project without overdoing it. The key, according to Ruth, is finding the right balance and knowing when to pull back.

Ruth’s philosophy is that your home should bring you joy—and she’s here to help us discover how to do just that. Whether you’re a seasoned real estate investor, a curious novice, or simply interested in decorating tips for your own home, I think you’ll find this episode to be a treasure trove of creative insights and practical advice.

With that, I hope you enjoy mastering the art of real estate staging and interior design with Ruth Krumbhaar.

Episode Highlights

  • [00:04:00] Ruth shares her decorating philosophy and why she always starts with a blank canvas when designing a space.

  • [00:14:06] Why every room doesn’t necessarily need a showstopper when it comes to home decorating.

  • [00:20:09] How Ruth determines her decorating budget and where she shops to find cost-effective, quality items.

  • [00:27:51] Tips and tricks for decorating an Airbnb for functionality and style.

  • [00:38:12] Why flipping a property requires a slightly different design approach than decorating a rental property.

  • [00:50:20] Ruth’s advice for handling home renovation projects, such as updating a bathroom or kitchen, and why a good contractor can make a world of difference.

  • [01:01:32] Tips for updating a space where you’ve grown tired of the décor, and why hiring a style consultant can be a worthwhile investment.

  • [01:07:35] What Ruth believes are the most important items to invest in when decorating your home.

  • [01:15:59] Why practical designs can actually boost your return on investment with an Airbnb property.

  • [01:20:30] The importance of understanding local real estate laws when investing in a rental property.

Links Relevant to this Episode & More Tips from Ruth

Windows: MilGard is a good and a reliable company offering a range of styles.

Hardware: Emtek sells high-quality products at a reasonable price.

Faucets/Fixtures: Grohe fixtures are stylish, high-quality quality and less expensive than designer fixtures.

Railings: AGStainless railings are gorgeous and don’t rust.

Doors: Eto Doors offers great designs at an affordable price point.

Countertops/Tile:

  • Lower End: Granite Expo, Best Tile, Uni Stone and Cabinet, and Floor and Decor (be careful not to buy the cheap, trendy tile; you will see it everywhere).
  • Medium: Floorcraft
  • High End: Galleria Tile near the Design Center

Favorite used furniture resources:

Fun resources in Los Angeles:

Other inexpensive ways to add style to your home: 

  • Plants
  • Bohemian pieces like the African JuJu hats
  • Forage for wild grasses and then spray them with hairspray so they don’t create a mess
  • Go to book sales and buy old books for your shelves (and to read)
  • Treasures from trips (I always buy textiles when I travel and use them as table cloths, decor, blankets, pillow covers, etc.)

Enjoy the Full Episode

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S5E4 Transcript: Mastering the Art of Real Estate Staging & Interior Design with Ruth Krumbhaar

In this episode, host Cathy Curtis and special guest Ruth Krumbhaar discuss real estate design and interior decorating best practices.

[00:03:32] Ruth Krumbhaar: Hi, nice to see you.

[00:03:34] Cathy Curtis: Good to see you again, too. I’m really excited to talk with you again about, this time, all things decorating homes and residences and rentals, etc. For our listeners, you and I spoke a couple weeks ago about buying properties. You have a lot of experience. You started doing it as a single woman and you’ve built a nice portfolio for yourself.

[00:04:00] Ruth shares her decorating philosophy and why she always starts with a blank canvas when designing a space.

[00:04:00] Cathy Curtis: And of course, when you buy properties, you have to decide what you’re going to do with them once you either move in or decide to rent them or flip them or whatever your goal is. So I’m excited to talk to you about how you think about that. In general, an overview how you start thinking about it. And then we can get into the details of each type of property. So why don’t you talk about your philosophy about home decorating?

[00:04:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s come to me over many years and many missteps, and I have a formula at this point of how I approach properties. And the formula is one that’s, it’s easy. It’s basically, I have a particular white paint that I love: Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls. Warm white, it’s got a touch of yellow, so it looks, it’s warm, but you could paint the whole interior of the house that color, and different rooms will take on slightly different feels.

[00:05:03] Ruth Krumbhaar: So I always like to start with a really blank canvas, and just…  

[00:05:08] Cathy Curtis: I’m gonna ask, because this white thing is so important. So truly, the Cotton Balls, even with rooms facing different ways and all that, it looks good? And you don’t have to paint the walls to see what it looks like in different light?

[00:05:23] Ruth Krumbhaar: It always looks good.

[00:05:25] Ruth Krumbhaar: I, at least I think it always looks good. It’s warm, but it’s not cream. It’s white. And so it doesn’t have that cold sort of sterile feeling that sometimes an all white house can have.

[00:05:40] Cathy Curtis: I know exactly what you’re talking about because I’ve picked bad whites before where they look chalk and you do not want that.

[00:05:47] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. So I have found that this one, it just works over and over again. It works in modern houses, it works in old houses, it works upstairs, downstairs, you name it.

[00:05:57] Cathy Curtis: What a great tip, okay.

[00:05:59] Ruth Krumbhaar: So I generally use that everywhere to start off with and then I add color as I get to know the spaces. So maybe I’ll do an accent wall or maybe I’ll paint the powder room in one of my houses.

[00:06:12] Ruth Krumbhaar: I painted the powder room like this dark rich brown, which sounds awful, but it’s so incredible to go in. You feel hugged by the color.

[00:06:22] Cathy Curtis: Nice. Now, do you, and you wait to do that then? You paint it all white. And then you start decorating or? What phase do you start repainting?

[00:06:34] Ruth Krumbhaar: Generally, I like having mostly white walls.

[00:06:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: I’ve learned I’m different, like you’ve got that beautiful red wall behind you. And so that room must be so intense and beautiful. If that’s how you’re approaching the home, and I’ll get to that in a minute. It’s so important to maybe not do the white, not do Ruth’s formula, but to actually go in and pick a series of rich, beautiful colors that are going to be more personal to you.

[00:07:04] Ruth Krumbhaar: And if somebody else has a different formula, they should go with that. And I think in a primary residence, it’s so important to tap into what is truly right for you.

[00:07:16] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, I can see that differentiation where the white makes so much sense for rental.

[00:07:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, and we’ll get to the primary residence in a little bit, but I generally love that Cotton Balls.

[00:07:32] Ruth Krumbhaar: I generally like thicker baseboards, nice thick ones. I think it feels, even in an older house, you can do more antiquey ones in a modern home. Just square, boxy one.

[00:07:44] Cathy Curtis: You always add those if a home doesn’t have them?

[00:07:47] Ruth Krumbhaar: I don’t always, but I like to. I find that it’s a really wonderful way to have something feel finished.

[00:07:53] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s smart. It’s smart. And then, and especially if you can, if you’re doing the whole house, if you just are consistent throughout the whole house, that also makes the house feel more unified. And then I have certain floorings that I love. So for like cheap properties, I have vinyl, kind of wide plank, grayish vinyl flooring that I think most people, at least today, find appealing.

[00:08:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: And then I’m just putting it in one of my houses, a sort of medium plank, like a softer, lighter wood and a kind of more of a tan color, really warm and pretty. And it has a little bit of variation, but it’s also a manufactured wood.

[00:08:33] Cathy Curtis: Okay. And where do you source these kinds of things?

[00:08:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: For the cheaper ones, it’s just Home Depot.

[00:08:40] Ruth Krumbhaar: You can just go there, and they generally have pretty trendy things. You can find a lot of good things at a Home Depot or Lowe’s because they are staying current with the trends. So I wouldn’t be afraid to do that, and especially in a less, less expensive property or a rental property that’s going to have a lot of wear and tear.

[00:09:01] Ruth Krumbhaar: But the house I’m doing right now, it’s a little more high-end, so I’m doing it a really nice manufactured wood, which is easy to install, because it is a rental. And so just in case something happens, I want it to be something that isn’t going to cost an arm and a leg to take out, so I’ve done a floating floor there.

[00:09:25] Cathy Curtis: Describe the floating floor.

[00:09:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: The floating floor is when they don’t actually stick the floor onto your foundation or the base. Okay. They actually float it and they put a liner there and then they put the floor on top and then they put the baseboard around that. Okay. It’s easier because if it gets destroyed or distressed, you can pull it out easily or you can pull out part of it easily and reinstall.

[00:09:53] Cathy Curtis: Okay. And you wouldn’t do this in a residence, you would do this in a… Rental in a rental.

[00:09:58] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. Or I do it in a residence that I wasn’t planning on living on in a long for a long time. Some people, you probably advise some of your clients who are interested in this and keeping something for two years and then selling it and you get the tax deduction.

[00:10:16] Ruth Krumbhaar: For selling the primary residence. I know people who move every two or three years. To upgrade each time because in that case, you would do it. But in a residence that you are going to live in a long time, I would do a different kind of flooring.

[00:10:32] Cathy Curtis: Okay.

[00:10:34] Ruth Krumbhaar: Trying to think what else. I generally I love a colorful front door.

[00:10:41] Ruth Krumbhaar: So I think that’s a place to add some fun and some whimsy and it doesn’t cost a lot. It could be repainted, but it’s great. It’s fun for a primary residence. It’s fun for a little, even a cheap little rental property. I just rented out a place that has a bright blue, turquoisey blue door on it. It’s a white house.

[00:11:01] Ruth Krumbhaar: And the gal who rented it said, I wanted to rent it because I like the front door.

[00:11:05] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. Interesting. We just got our house painted all over outside, and we hired a colorist to help us because I don’t feel confident picking colors and she recommended it’s not red. It’s like a, it’s like a deep burgundy door and the rest of the house is variations in tan.

[00:11:26] Cathy Curtis: It looks fantastic.

[00:11:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: Oh, that’s, and that’s such a great investment that you did because painting the outside of the house is such a, it’s a big deal.

[00:11:36] Cathy Curtis: Oh, it’s a huge deal. And she had an eye, she looked at what we had in landscaping, we have a plum tree, and we have some other plants that are purple in them, and it just tied it all together.

[00:11:48] Ruth Krumbhaar: Oh, that must be gorgeous. I definitely think investing in people like color consultants when you’re when you’ve got a nice property like I’m sure yours is or a primary residence that you want to invest in. That’s a great thing to do.

[00:12:08] Cathy Curtis: I’ll put the name of the woman in the show notes because she’s fantastic and she, I think she’s pretty well known, at least in the East Bay for doing this kind of consulting.

[00:12:19] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s great. Yeah. Happy with how it turned out?

[00:12:21] Cathy Curtis: Super happy. And you don’t want to make a mistake in our house, we have a big house, lots of square footage to be covered.

[00:12:30] Cathy Curtis: What if we didn’t like it? Then you’re driving up to a house that you don’t like the color. So I didn’t want to chance it. I thought that was a good investment.

[00:12:40] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, other things I love are Grohe fixtures. They’re German and of good quality. They don’t break easily and they’re nice.

[00:12:54] Ruth Krumbhaar: They’re not the nicest, but they feel good in your hands. They feel like good quality and they’re not that expensive. You can buy them sometimes at Costco. They have a lot of deals.

[00:13:06] Cathy Curtis: Okay, which fixtures?

[00:13:07] Ruth Krumbhaar: Faucets for the bathroom or kitchen. And again, they don’t do super trendy or real showstopper pieces. But for a regular house that’s going to have some wear and tear like a rental property or even a primary residence, if you like the design, they’re all right.

[00:13:28] Cathy Curtis: But especially it’s a way to save a few dollars. If you’re not looking to have bold designs in these fixtures. Okay, good to know.

[00:13:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, exactly. And I think the other thing that I have a really good friend and we talk about design a lot, is you don’t want to gild the lily.

[00:13:45] Ruth Krumbhaar: You don’t want to have a showstopper here and then a showstopper there. If your kitchen is very simple and beautiful and you want one sort of fancy thing, having that fancy faucet in the kitchen might be a great idea. It can be the showstopper. Everything else can be more quiet.

[00:14:06] Why every room doesn’t necessarily need a showstopper when it comes to home decorating.

[00:14:06] Cathy Curtis: So, do you think every room needs a showstopper?

[00:14:09] Ruth Krumbhaar: Not necessarily. Can it also leave space for fun cushions and rugs and things like that? Not necessarily. And I think I’m trying to think of other formulaic things. I see a lot of houses; the kind of houses that excite me are those like ugly modern houses. They’re modern but they have traditional fixtures in them and they’re beaten up maybe from the ’50s or the ’60s. Those kinds of houses, I love the idea of doing a modern makeover, bringing them back to what they really should be.

[00:14:52] Ruth Krumbhaar: And so a lot of like iron railing, modern iron railings, or even glass railings. A lot of really simple, beautiful sort of planes, lots of texture, but keeping everything very simple and quiet. I love thinking about those kinds of houses.

[00:15:10] Cathy Curtis: Where would you source those things, like the railings, and where do you generally go?

[00:15:15] Ruth Krumbhaar: Usually I’ll go to an iron worker. Have them manufacture something. You can find pictures on Pinterest or online and you can just go to them and make them. There are also, I know I bought some premanufactured ones through a contractor and I forget the, who made them, but they’re beautiful. And they were there at my property on Telegraph Hill.

[00:15:40] Ruth Krumbhaar: They were actually made for marine around marinas. So they’re very durable, they don’t rust, and I’ve had great luck with those. I can get the name.

[00:15:50] Cathy Curtis: Okay, that’d be great. And just a broader question about this, when you decide that you’re going to have something made versus buying something manufactured, and I know some of it is budget.

[00:16:04] Cathy Curtis: But are there certain things that you think are worth having made for you specifically?

[00:16:12] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think railings can be, but you have to be, you have to make sure that they understand really how to do it, that they’ve had experience doing it. Cause I’ve had experience where people get it the first time and it’s perfect.

[00:16:25] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I have experienced people tried three or four times and they keep getting it wrong. So you have to be sure that you’ve, you’re working with someone who really knows what they’re doing. But it can be a really great way to actually save money to do iron railings in a more modern sort of aesthetic. But again, making sure that you have the contractor who knows, really knows how to handle the situation.

[00:16:49] Ruth Krumbhaar: How stairs turn, how they, that they have experience with that.

[00:16:54] Cathy Curtis: Okay. And so do you take out whatever railings there are already and just change it to iron railings?

[00:17:04] Ruth Krumbhaar: I, in almost, not every house, but most of the houses I’ve worked on, I have taken the railings out because I have a thing against those sort of traditional. I love beautiful old railings, stair railings, if it’s in a really old house.

[00:17:20] Ruth Krumbhaar: Newer ones with a nod to the old, the sort of faux colonial ones. I have a thing about those. I can’t stand them. Yeah, they go out.

[00:17:31] Cathy Curtis: So that is part of your formula. I bet that gives an instant boost to the space.

[00:17:36] Ruth Krumbhaar: Really does. Yeah. And even for a space that’s not totally modern having one modern touch like a cool iron railing or cool glass railing can really Add a bit of that modern feel, even if you don’t want to go all the way, maybe a little drama to a space.

[00:17:53] Cathy Curtis: Yeah.

[00:17:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: So it’s just a nice way to take things up a notch. And so I’m thinking about other formulaic things that I do. Or pet peeves that I have. I know that one of the things that I find really important for rental homes, Airbnbs, primary residences, and you spoke to this earlier with your house, having that beautiful front door, a beautiful entrance, a beautiful lid.

[00:18:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: Numbers visible, maintained area when you come up to a home, it makes such a difference.

[00:18:32] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, I agree. It’s like a welcome mat, a nice welcome mat.

[00:18:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, yeah. And so having good lighting, having that front door, beautiful color. Having simple and easy to maintain landscaping so that unless you’re a gardener, you can have a ball, but most of us don’t really have a lot of time to upkeep our garden, so keep it a nice, simple, classic design.

[00:19:00] Cathy Curtis: Nice numbers, you can get some cool house numbers that add an instant boost.

[00:19:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, yeah, and allow people to find your house more easily. It just. There’s something, and I also think like having a little bit of a wider path up, if possible. Not, it’s not always possible, but having a little bit of a wider path up to your home and an ample space to stand in front of the door if there’s not a big porch.

[00:19:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: Extending that as much as you can, not having it feel crowded and cramped.

[00:19:32] Cathy Curtis: So I think those are great tips. Thank you. Thank you. I want to talk to you about, because I know you think about decorating differently when it comes, of course, when it comes to the space you’re going to live in yourself versus you have rental properties in Indiana.

[00:19:50] Cathy Curtis: And in San Francisco and one, one other. Oh, and Maine. Yeah. And I, and you use some, you use yourself and then you rent part of the time. Others are full time rentals. Generally, though, when you’re thinking about decorating a space, you’re going to, let’s say a full rental. Let’s just break it down.

[00:20:09] How Ruth determines her decorating budget and where she shops to find cost-effective, quality items.

[00:20:09] Cathy Curtis: Residential. We’ll talk about residential first because that’s fun. You get a rental. And of course, the first thing you’re going to think about is, I don’t want to spend a ton of money on this and it’s probably going to get some wear and tear. And so how do you budget for it and where do you go to find good items?

[00:20:28] Ruth Krumbhaar: I recently did that with an Indiana house and really it was, I took a look at the floors, and they just weren’t that great. They were all scratched up. There was a little hole in one area. And I spoke with the contractor and got a good price on installing just the cheap vinyl flooring.

[00:20:46] Cathy Curtis: And when you say cheap, but you’re saying cheap, but you still think it looks good, right?

[00:20:53] Ruth Krumbhaar: It does. Yeah. It looks cute. I don’t think I would want it necessarily for my home, but for a rental house for, say, a young person, the woman who is renting it is getting her PhD, she’s a soccer coach, she’s got a dog, she just wants something that’s easy to maintain and manage, that her dog won’t scratch the floors, and she’s young, so she likes that trendy feel.

[00:21:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: A lot of like light fixtures that were fairly inexpensive that I got at either Ikea or Home Depot that had that farmhouse look. So I tried to make the house fun and appealing and consistent. But not expensive light fixtures for 30 a pop.

[00:21:40] Cathy Curtis: Okay, great. And the, and how, and the flooring, what does it cost?

[00:21:47] Ruth Krumbhaar: The vinyl? I can’t remember, but it was like on super special. I. A friend of mine was also redoing her rental and she picked the tan and I picked the gray. My place rented first, so I was like, we were arguing over should you do tan or gray. I said gray is trendier. Those young kids, they like the gray.

[00:22:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s the, this is their aesthetic.

[00:22:09] Cathy Curtis: How do you keep up with the trends?

[00:22:09] Ruth Krumbhaar: Sometimes I’ll watch HGTV, or I try and look at what, like for this one I was thinking, what do young people like? And so I would, I looked at some of the pictures of HGTV that I thought were more appealing to younger folks And maybe I wasn’t right, but mine did rent first.

[00:22:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: And that’s really about knowing your audience. We’re really looking at what is your goal? My goal was to get in a good, solid renter who was going to stay for a number of years, who’s going to care for the place. So I wanted it to be nice enough that it didn’t feel like a flop house for a bunch of students to mess up.

[00:22:50] Ruth Krumbhaar: I made it as pretty as I could and appealing to this sort of younger demographic.

[00:22:55] Cathy Curtis: Okay. What about windows? Do you ever change out the windows if they’re…

[00:23:04] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, and again, that’s a big budget item. So, my partner is working on a house in Redwood City, which is more high end. It’s a 1960s house that had old windows, and one of the first things we decided to do was replace all the windows.

[00:23:23] Ruth Krumbhaar: Because in that house, it’s going to be a flip. We want to make sure that the windows are really high quality and good enough for that area.

[00:23:31] Cathy Curtis: So, it really depends on a lot of things. For example, the Indiana place, I think you said it’s near a university. So, students are your renters professors or students?  

[00:23:44] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, professors.

[00:23:45] Cathy Curtis: Okay. So, let’s say they’re old sliding windows, but it would cost several thousand dollars to replace them. You don’t necessarily go ahead and replace those in that case.

[00:23:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: No. And the windows that are there are like the cheap vinyl, but they’re new. So, they keep in a place like Indiana where there are big storms and it does get cold, they have to be really good functioning windows, but they don’t have to be fancy or expensive.

[00:24:11] Ruth Krumbhaar: And the ones there were just fine. They worked just fine.

[00:24:14] Cathy Curtis: How do you, because I think it would be easy, especially as a new real estate investor, to rent, to buy a place to rent and then think you’ve got to make it look pristine. Yeah, perfect. Yeah. I could see where you could put a lot of money in that will really hurt it as an investment.

[00:24:32] Cathy Curtis: Do you agree? Have you ever experienced that?

[00:24:34] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes. Yes. And it also depends on how long you want to hold onto it. So, another friend who just recently did two rental properties and he’s… he just couldn’t help himself. He overinvested. They’re beautiful, they’re so nice. They’re much nicer than any other house in the neighborhood by far.

[00:24:54] Ruth Krumbhaar: But his thinking, his rationale is, “I’m going to have these for a long time.” So for him, it made sense. I, for me, I’m a little more cautious about spending money. And that’s why I say the farmhouse, the cool farmhouse style light fixtures that are $30, are just fine. Cute. And people like them.

[00:25:17] Ruth Krumbhaar: There’s no need to spend more money there.

[00:25:19] Cathy Curtis: Okay. In the case of your friend, do you think he is able to get any more rent because the decor or the surfaces or the windows are nicer? Than in another apartment in the same building, let’s say, that doesn’t have those upgrades?

[00:25:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think sometimes that is true. What I think he accomplished is he rented it very quickly. So, it was appealing. Somebody had to have it. And so, then he could just start getting his income going sooner.

[00:25:56] Cathy Curtis: And maybe you keep tenants longer. Yeah, who knows? I know that’s all hypothetical, but it seems like that would make sense.

[00:26:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I have to respect that he’s got his formula and I’ve got mine. Mine is more cautionary.

[00:26:12] Cathy Curtis: Plus, don’t you have to crunch the numbers? Like when you go to buy a place, you look at it and you go, “How much money can I afford to put in this place to still get the ROI I want or reach whatever financial goal I want?”

[00:26:28] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I wanted 10%. So I only invested up to that number. I went a little bit over; I went like maybe $5,000 over, but I knew that’s where I had to, I just had to stop things like on that Indiana property. I wanted to make a certain amount of money, and I wanted to spend a certain amount of money, so there are a few things I didn’t do to the house.

[00:26:54] Cathy Curtis: Like for example, what didn’t you do?

[00:26:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: There are some electrical lines that hang a little lower than I would like in the backyard. So, I was going to have an electrician put them up on a pole on the roof to raise them up. Yeah, I didn’t do it. I would have liked to have had a garden crew come in and really do a good job on getting the yard and the garden squared away.

[00:27:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: Didn’t do that either.

[00:27:18] Cathy Curtis: That makes sense. So, sometimes it’s better not to go see the property and just, if it’s a rental and your goal is to create passive income, the numbers have to be right. Like you said, you haven’t been to see the property in Indiana, is that correct?

[00:27:41] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s correct. I have a video and photos, and a great contractor. And I’m more concerned there with just having a fridge that works, a washer and dryer that work. It just needs to function.

[00:27:51] Tips and tricks for decorating an Airbnb for functionality and style.

[00:27:51] Cathy Curtis: Yes. That really does make sense. Okay, so I’d love to talk about Airbnbs a little bit because they’re so popular. I just went to Europe and we rented three Airbnbs. I’m fascinated with how people decorate them or pay attention to detail, things like that, and not everybody does. Or I have a suspicion that either they don’t pay attention, or they’ve never… I think people should stay in their Airbnb and experience what it’s like.

[00:28:25] Ruth Krumbhaar: Absolutely.

[00:28:27] Cathy Curtis: To know what people really want when they rent an Airbnb because there’s… you don’t have to be perfect, but there are certain things that are going to make people pretty darn happy. Just as an example, we stayed in an Airbnb where the shower had no place to put soap. It’s like, where do you put it?

[00:28:49] Cathy Curtis: Besides, don’t get me started on French showers, but you turn it on and… Anyway, that’s a French thing, but there was no shelf in the shower to put shampoo or soap or anything. Who designed this? Or no towel racks or not enough hooks. But there are so many things about an Airbnb that could make an experience better.

[00:29:16] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, and really there are two things. It’s like form and function, and you’ve got to have both of them. It’s got to be functional in order for people to be comfortable. They’re coming in from a trip, they’re traveling, they want to just land and have everything work and be easy and approachable. They want a little place in the shower to put their shampoo.

[00:29:37] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, I actually have an Airbnb, a Tahoe cabin that is listed on Airbnb and other platforms. One thing that we did is we totally tricked out the kitchen as far as kitchen utensils and gadgets go. It’s like better than a lot of people’s own kitchen. Every comment we get is, “Oh my gosh, the kitchen is so well equipped.” People love that. And now, it is in Tahoe and people barbecue, which is appropriate for that area because people are going to be cooking. It has to be appropriate for where you are, but I’m surprised how many comments we get about that.

[00:30:20] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s great. That goes back to knowing your audience. People are going to be doing some cooking, so it’s so important to think about that. A little teeny studio apartment in a great old building in Paris. You’re not going to necessarily be wanting to cook all the time. You’re going to be wanting to go out.

[00:30:40] What you really want is a good coffee maker. And if they provide capsules, bonus points. You don’t have to go out to the grocery store your first day. And speak another language and try and find the coffee capsules.

[00:30:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes. Yes. Agreed. That’s so funny.

[00:30:56] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. Have you Airbnb’d any of your places?

[00:31:00] Ruth Krumbhaar: I have. I have. An Airbnb gives us a chance to be a little more whimsical because, yes, the pictures do have to sell the experience, and it is an experience staying in someone’s Airbnb. Maybe the experience is a classic Tahoe home, but maybe the experience is a groovy San Francisco pad with a little neon on the wall where you can take a selfie. It’s a chance and an opportunity to be a little whimsical in whatever way is calling you. And I definitely love to encourage people to be a little fanciful in those.

[00:31:43] Cathy Curtis: I agree with you. It’s more fun for the person renting.

[00:31:48] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, and the pictures will sell it too, more easily. The other thing that I’ve noticed about Airbnb is they get a lot of traffic.

[00:31:57] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. I don’t know if you agree with me, but I think you need to go a little bit higher quality in the decor. Not necessarily the gadgets, but the decor, because it gets used so much—rugs and towels and… Either that or you replace them all the time. I don’t know what the best way to outfit an Airbnb is.

[00:32:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think either way is important. You also want it to feel fresh. And I’m definitely environmentally minded, so getting cheaper things and throwing them away isn’t what I would necessarily recommend. But sometimes, maybe with a rug or with little throw pillows or whatever, you do want to be keeping it feeling fresh by doing that. And then have more substantial furniture or something to balance that out so that it does feel fresh and has some pop.

[00:32:55] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, are there any places where you shop that you think are particularly good for that kind of home decor, like pillows or things like that?

[00:33:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: I actually think Home Goods is still pretty good. You don’t want to make sure it doesn’t look like a Home Goods setup, but if you’re careful, they always have fresh-looking, well-priced pillows and little knickknacks and things.

[00:33:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: But again, I wouldn’t do all of that. I would mix that in with some flea market finds or some more character items so that it doesn’t look like you just went to Home Goods.

[00:33:38] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, I love the flea market idea. Or thrift stores, where people give away nice things that you can’t believe they’re giving away, but they work perfectly.

[00:33:49] Cathy Curtis: We do that a lot in our Tahoe place.

[00:33:51] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, in my main house, I have a very low window between two twin beds, and I’ve been looking and looking for the right bedside table to put between the beds. And finally, my friend, who’s a designer, said, “Get two galvanized buckets, turn them upside down and put a plank on top, and you’re done.”

[00:34:12] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I was like, “Yes, of course. That’s perfect. It’ll look cute. It’s a guest room with two single beds. So it’s probably where kids are going to stay, and I think it’ll be a little fun.”

[00:34:24] Cathy Curtis: That’s a great idea. Now, this is the Maine property. Yes, it’s on an island, and you use it sometimes for yourself, and then you rent it word of mouth. Okay. And I bet that was fun to decorate.

[00:34:41] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. So much fun. So much fun. And it’s very eclectic. A lot of old pieces mixed in with new, a lot of paint, painting old furniture and old chairs. We just had a lot of fun with that one and it’s come together.

[00:34:56] Cathy Curtis: What do you think about theme decorating? Is that too cheesy? Like beach house decor or?

[00:35:03] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. In some places, it can be nice. This house is in Maine. I’ve got a sort of a Maine feeling, but it’s also a little bit of being near the water. So it’s got paintings of sailboats and I actually have sailboats on my plates. So there’s a little of that going on. My partner makes sure I don’t go too far in that direction.

[00:35:23] Cathy Curtis: When we bought the Tahoe place, it was a rental, it was a second home for the person that we bought it from. Oh man, she had it outfitted with so many bear motif things. It was… And my husband likes bear motif a lot more than me, but so just systematically over the last couple of years, I removed one bear at a time and replaced it with something else.

[00:35:53] Cathy Curtis: But we still have bears in there. It is Tahoe. It was, it can get overdone.

[00:36:00] Ruth Krumbhaar: It can. It can. And that’s where having some fun is good. But it’s like jewelry. I remember a friend who’s very chic. She said, “Oh, when you go get dressed to go out, put on all the jewelry that you want and then take off one thing.”

[00:36:14] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. I’ve heard that. That’s great advice.

[00:36:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s the same for homes. And also, for your wardrobe, you want a bunch of really tailored, beautiful pieces, and then some sort of cheaper, fun things to toss on with them. And that’s how you can approach your home as well.

[00:36:32] Cathy Curtis: Exactly, that is a good money-saving technique because you invest in quality pieces. And then, if you want to be on trend, which is fun to do, you don’t have to spend as much money. Because those things don’t last as long, like the toss pillow that you decide to go all bright pink. In a year or two, you get sick of that, or whatever.

[00:36:52] Cathy Curtis: Keeping in mind the environmental aspect, I agree with you, I’m not into throwing things away or into fast fashion. But that is a good way to think about decor so that you can make it economical.

[00:37:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: And Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, you can go to those websites if you’re open to using furniture or furnishings that people have used before. It’s a great way to get some good deals and things that you wouldn’t naturally find in a store.

[00:37:23] Cathy Curtis: Interesting. I’ve never once used Facebook marketplace. Is it good?

[00:37:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: Oh, it’s so good.

[00:37:28] Cathy Curtis: Okay, that’s a good tip. And are you using a local Facebook marketplace or is that… Because I know on Craigslist, you could look in your local area to see if you could pick up something.

[00:37:41] Ruth Krumbhaar: You can do it locally. I think you can do it like Craigslist within a certain amount of miles. Actually, no, Craigslist is more region-specific. Facebook is more about how many miles away.

[00:37:52] Cathy Curtis: Okay. That’s good. So instead of going out on Sunday to garage sales, you could do it from your computer.

[00:38:00] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. I’ve gotten some beautiful things on Facebook.

[00:38:03] Cathy Curtis: Ah, okay. Okay.

[00:38:05] Ruth Krumbhaar: Beautiful old lamps and rugs and various things. Plants.

[00:38:12] Why flipping a property requires a slightly different design approach than decorating a rental property.

[00:38:12] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, because people move, and they don’t want to move their plants. Okay, great. What about, and I don’t know if you’ve done a flip. I think you have, or your partner has.

[00:38:22] Ruth Krumbhaar: My partner does a lot and I help him with the design.

[00:38:26] Cathy Curtis: Okay. So that’s a whole different ballgame.

[00:38:28] Ruth Krumbhaar: Completely different. And it really depends who your audience is. Again, know your audience.

[00:38:35] Cathy Curtis: Okay, how do you approach that?

[00:38:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: We’re doing one right now in Redwood City, which is a very nice suburb here in the Bay Area on the peninsula.

[00:38:45] Ruth Krumbhaar: And the property is gorgeous. It’s an old, actually, the property is beautiful with old trees. The house is basically a square box that no one has done anything with for many years. So there’s an opportunity there. That’s a beautiful swimming pool. We have simplified the landscape by having the trees pruned, some of them taken down because it was a little too oppressive.

[00:39:13] Ruth Krumbhaar: To lighten it up and make it a little more airy. We’re just keeping…

[00:39:17] Cathy Curtis: Which is an expense, right? You had to factor that in.

[00:39:20] Ruth Krumbhaar: We did, but we know that we can sell this for much more than we’ve put in. So we know there’s a profit margin, so it’s worth it. And I think the buyers will feel that difference.

[00:39:33] Ruth Krumbhaar: But we left, we actually ground up a bunch of the trees and we created mulch from the ground-up trees and we spread that all in this whole area under the trees. We didn’t have to buy mulch. We didn’t have to landscape it. It just feels more rugged and rural and, but still nice and polished.

[00:39:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: All of that at the same time. And then it was a very narrow path walking up to the house all alongside the house. You have to turn to get to the front door. So it felt awkward. We think about people wanting a nice wide path that you feel invited in. And we’re going to do a fountain across from the door and do a sort of cutout.

[00:40:19] Cathy Curtis: Okay. So this goes back to your kind of formula: make the entryway really nice and inviting.

[00:40:28] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes. And in this case, because there are all these trees and the wood chips, I wanted to have water, the sound of water too. So we’ll have a little fountain. We were just talking about that before I came on this call.

[00:40:42] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, we have different ideas about what the fountain should look like, but something modern will be right across from the door. So also when you’re exiting, you see this beautiful fountain, and then the landscape just fades and becomes nature. And so that felt like a really good way to add a feeling of luxury and a feeling of welcome and also something for them to remember when they leave.

[00:41:10] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. Okay. So the fountain, where will you go to source that?

[00:41:15] Ruth Krumbhaar: I just went on Amazon and there are enough decent fountains. This is not a high-end fountain. This is just to sell the house. We’re looking at about 300 for a modern, good-enough fountain. And then creating a little nook for it. And then what we did was we really focused on windows and doors and floors.

[00:41:39] Ruth Krumbhaar: So all the main surfaces of this house.

[00:41:44] Cathy Curtis: Which is totally different when you’re looking at a rental for Airbnb, right? Because you’re looking to make a profit on this place and sell it quickly. And that, people look at those kinds of things.

[00:41:59] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. Because the house is so simple and lacks architectural interest, we felt that we needed to add a little more substance to it. The doors are really cool, modern ones with some cutout windows that will also let light in. We made the same design choice on the garage doors as well.

[00:42:17] Ruth Krumbhaar: So there are some sort of fun design elements that we can bring in through the doors.

[00:42:23] Cathy Curtis: Okay. Where did you find the doors?

[00:42:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: I will let you know, because I did not order them. However, my partner has a great local source for doors, and he has lots of opinions on windows too. So, we really focused on those pieces, the entry, and the landscaping.

[00:42:46] Ruth Krumbhaar: We ensured that we chose good, really good windows and fun, yet substantial doors. A door handle that feels really good and solid in your hand is a wonderful detail that you don’t skimp on.

[00:42:59] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, that makes sense. After all, it’s the entry to the home. It’s the first impression sort of thing, like a handshake.

[00:43:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, exactly. And then we’re going to paint everything Cotton Balls. Of course, we’re selling this house. We want it to be simple, but warm and inviting.

[00:43:21] Cathy Curtis: Did you use that company, Grohe, for the fixtures?

[00:43:24] Ruth Krumbhaar: We haven’t gotten there yet, but we probably will.

[00:43:26] Cathy Curtis: Okay. Did you spell that as G R O H E?

[00:43:33] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, that’s right.

[00:43:49] Ruth Krumbhaar: We’ve noticed some trends, for example, ridged wood surfaces. So, we got two vanities for the two bathrooms with that kind of surface. They weren’t that expensive, but they feel designer. We’re trying to create a theme there. In one part of the house, due to the open floor plan, we’re actually going to mimic that with some floor to ceiling thin pieces of wood.

[00:44:28] Cathy Curtis: Interesting. May I ask where did you source those vanities from?

[00:44:34] Ruth Krumbhaar: We had to hunt and peck for them, and I will again send you where we found them. I think we may have even found them on Houzz or Amazon.

[00:44:45] Cathy Curtis: Okay. Can you buy things on Houzz?

[00:44:49] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, you can.

[00:44:53] Cathy Curtis: And a lot of people go to Houzz for ideas, right? It’s like Pinterest but for home decor. Do you rely on it a lot?

[00:45:02] Ruth Krumbhaar: I use Houzz, and I use Pinterest. I also read magazines – everything from watching HGTV to my favorite magazine, which is World of Interiors, a more European and ethereal style.

[00:45:19] Cathy Curtis: I didn’t know about that. Okay, World of Interiors. That’s great.

[00:45:43] Ruth Krumbhaar: In terms of color and choices around tile and counters in this house, we’re doing everything in tans, whites, and a little touch of gray, accented with black. So, all the door handles will be black. It’s almost like the little black touches are like the eyeliner and everything else is more natural.

[00:45:54] Cathy Curtis: Are you using elevated materials for the flooring and things like that?

[00:45:58] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, for the floors. When looking at countertops, because we don’t have to live with it, we can just look and see what fits our design, budget, and what’s in stock.

[00:46:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: You get what you get and you don’t get upset is our motto when we’re doing projects like this.

[00:46:27] Cathy Curtis: Where do you go to find countertops and things like that?

[00:46:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: Part of our sourcing happens in South San Francisco. There are also a bunch of places in the Bay Shore area of San Francisco. We basically give ourselves two days, cruise through all of them, and make a decision within that timeframe.

[00:46:49] Cathy Curtis: See, that stresses me out. Some people are better at that than others. Have you heard of Granite Expo? It’s in the East Bay. I have a friend that tells everyone in the East Bay who is doing remodel jobs and needs tiles and things to go to Art and Tile on Broadway. It’s a bit high-end but they do great stuff. However, my friend suggests going to Granite Expo for cheaper prices.

[00:47:22] Ruth Krumbhaar: There is a place in the East Bay that we’ve gone to, I’ll think of all our sources. It’s great to go to the expensive places to get ideas.

[00:47:36] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, really great customer service. If you have the budget and you want to make it easy on yourself, by all means, that’s a good choice. They often have good contractors to recommend. It’s a bit more of a white glove experience. If you want to be a bit scrappier or if you have a great contractor that you know, these other places are where you can find beautiful materials.

[00:48:03] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s just that you have to look a little harder.

[00:48:05] Cathy Curtis: And do you think you end up spending less when you do it? So, you really can save money by doing some of it yourself and foregoing the total white glove thing?

[00:48:20] Ruth Krumbhaar: For example, in Maine, we ended up getting beautiful marble countertops. I won’t bore you with the story, but we had three places that we were going to go to. We knew that we had to get them within a certain time frame, and our backup was to do wood, like butcher block counters, which are expensive, but still attractive.

[00:48:43] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s a suitable choice for a summer house or for one part of your kitchen. It saves money.

[00:48:49] Cathy Curtis: That’s interesting. That’s a great idea. A backup, yeah. Yeah, excellent.

[00:48:53] Ruth Krumbhaar: And this place in Redwood City, the owner wanted to fill in the pool because he didn’t want to deal with it. I said he can’t. So, we’re doing some very inexpensive concrete around it. We’re actually creating some patterns within the concrete so that we can have moss growing in between.

[00:49:09] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’ll be a high-end feeling but not super expensive.

[00:49:23] Cathy Curtis: And concrete can be very attractive. It doesn’t have to be the ugly old asphalt or whatever.

[00:49:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: There are techniques where you can put salt on the surface to make it pucker a little bit, and there are different finishes and stains you can use on concrete.

[00:49:42] Cathy Curtis: Interesting. So, what’s the timeline for putting it on the market?

[00:49:49] Ruth Krumbhaar: Hopefully, September.

[00:49:50] Cathy Curtis: Okay. Is that because all this is going to take that much time due to the contractor’s schedule?

[00:49:58] Ruth Krumbhaar: It is, and it’s also because that’s a good time to start selling. That’s when people are ready to focus back on that kind of thing.

[00:50:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: During summer, people are more distracted.

[00:50:11] Cathy Curtis: So, you’re going to put it on sale at peak time to get the best price.

[00:50:17] Ruth Krumbhaar: Hopefully. It’s not a great market right now.

[00:50:20] Ruth’s advice for handling home renovation projects, such as updating a bathroom or kitchen, and why a good contractor can make a world of difference.

[00:50:20] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. I heard prices are dropping a little. Sounds like a fun project. Let’s switch over to residences. I am going to start this because I have a project and I want to hear what you say about how to handle this project.

[00:50:35] Cathy Curtis: I think a lot of people are in the same boat. My master bath has not been redone for years. It really needs to be gutted. It’s a fairly large room. So, I had a contractor come over and look at it and measure. He gave a quote for the gutting. Now, I’ve been advised to find everything, pre-order it all, and have it ready for when they come. Do you agree with that?

[00:51:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: If that’s what your contractor wants, then that’s the way to do it. Some contractors will say, “Give me the list of what you want and I’ll order it,” because they don’t want it sitting around at the job site.

[00:51:22] Ruth Krumbhaar: The con, if you have a good contractor whom you really trust and like, is that they have their process, so working with them in their process is a good thing to do. The other reason why they’re probably saying that is because you’re a homeowner; you’re gonna have an attachment to certain things, like a particular tile or whatever.

[00:51:44] Ruth Krumbhaar: And if he’s halfway through and you’re like, “Oh, but the tile that I wanted isn’t available anymore. I don’t know what to do,” he doesn’t want to have to stop halfway through and wait for you to figure that out.

[00:51:56] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, and in the meantime, your bathroom’s all torn up.

[00:51:59] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, yeah. So he probably has some experience with this and feels like it’s better to have it all there, sitting there and not have to worry about things not coming in on time.

[00:52:09] Cathy Curtis: Okay, that makes sense. And then me, who I love home design and I feel like I’m a creative person. I don’t know what it is, but the thought of redesigning a big bathroom just… and I procrastinate so much. I just cannot get started. So, what is your advice to somebody that is faced with this? That really wants their bathroom to look great. What are the steps you would suggest to come up with ideas and come up with a design?

[00:52:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think it all depends on your contractor, actually. Is your contractor someone that you trust their judgment and their sort of direction? Because some contractors, because they’ve done this so many times, they really understand how the bathroom functions.

[00:52:58] Ruth Krumbhaar: And they have actually really good ideas about how you might want to set it up. They’re not going to pick your tile for you and things like that. But they’ll have an idea of if you do the countertops here, you’re going to save a lot of money because you’ve already got your plumbing here and if you do, if you want to walk in, shower, you could do it here and you could actually fit a freestanding bath over here.

[00:53:19] Ruth Krumbhaar: They’ll possibly have some really good ideas. So I think that’s a great place to start. Start that conversation with your contractor, bring them in for a meeting in the space.

[00:53:32] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, and say, “I want a beautiful design that doesn’t cost ridiculous amounts. So I want to use what I can with the space,” like you’re saying, the plumbing.

[00:53:44] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, it makes sense.

[00:53:46] Ruth Krumbhaar: Or where window placements are, doors and things like that. The other thing is that if you have to get a permit, you may need to submit drawings, and so you would need somebody who can do that for you. If that’s the direction you’re going. Some people submit permits, some people don’t.

[00:54:07] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s generally a good idea to do it.

[00:54:09] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. I know I have that. I debate that with people all the time.

[00:54:12] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. And then the other, in terms of design and function, is what do you want? What is important to use? For some people, it’s important to have the toilet have their own little room. For other people, it’s they must have that double vanity with lots of space.

[00:54:30] Ruth Krumbhaar: For other people, it’s a walk-in shower and a freestanding tub. Thinking about how you want to use that space.

[00:54:36] Cathy Curtis: Okay. What’s important to you. Okay, that makes sense. And then the daunting thing to me is picking out the tiles and things and the countertops, because you’re not, you can’t envision it until it’s done.

[00:54:56] Cathy Curtis: So how do you go about doing that?

[00:54:59] Ruth Krumbhaar: I always, when I’m confused and unsure, I just go classic. You can never do too badly when you choose classic things. Like a sort of a marble, a grey and white marble. It may look, ho-hum, regular, uninspired, but hopefully you’re doing it in such a way that you’re adding in some fun details where you can.

[00:55:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: But classic always looks good. And so I would go on.

[00:55:31] Cathy Curtis: There’s some colors that I know this is true. In the 50s, it was all olive green and pink. I know there’s always trends. And I guess that’s not so important if you’re not planning to sell your house, but are there trends right now in bathroom colors?

[00:55:50] Ruth Krumbhaar: The ones that I see and respond to most are neutrals – just all neutrals. However, I’ve been working with a friend who’s obsessed with Moroccan tiles, which are trendy now. She wants to have the green square Moroccan tiles in her shower. I said, “If you do that, you have to have an arch doorway. Go for it!”

[00:56:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: That approach will get you a Moroccan light fixture. It can be fairly flush to the ceiling. Go for it. Because of that conversation, I’m seeing a lot of green. There are a lot of earth tones, interesting, almost clay-like, kind of pinky-brown clay-colored tiles, and a lot of beautiful tans.

[00:56:42] Cathy Curtis: What about wood-looking tiles? I’ve started to do a little exploring on Houzz and Pinterest, and I love that kind of earthy, outdoorsy feel that you get with wood. But of course, you don’t want wood in the bathroom.

[00:56:57] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think going that way is great. If you want to go earthy, I would take it a step further. Maybe do the pebble floor in the shower, just to bring natural elements or that kind of feel into the whole bathroom.

[00:57:13] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, okay. So maybe start with a theme. I like the natural elements look. It’s like you can make this an outdoor bathroom or something.

[00:57:24] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, then go for it. Go from there. And that’s where having a primary residence that you’re going to stay in for a while is important. You want to follow trends and be smart to a certain extent, but it’s also a chance to do something very personal for you. You’re going to create something that you’re going to enjoy for years to come.

[00:57:49] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, okay. From a budget perspective, do you think it’s a good idea to hire a bathroom consultant?

[00:58:07] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, I do. It’s like having a color consultant. A bathroom is a big deal and it’s a big expense, so you want to feel confident going in and like you have a plan. You don’t want a lot of changes happening as you’re doing it because your contractor will become more and more expensive.

[00:58:32] Cathy Curtis: So you don’t need an architect when it comes to redesigning?

[00:58:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: It really just depends, but I think getting a bathroom consultant is a good idea. I would speak with your contractor. If you have the budget, get a bathroom consultant who might be able to draw up the plan and make sure that you’re not overspending on your bathrooms. Generally, the projects that I’ve been privy to, and my mother is a landscape designer, she tells me every single project goes one third over budget. My partner is a contractor and it’s the same thing – every single project is one third over budget. So if you can keep in mind, only budget for two thirds of what you can afford. Leave a third extra of your budget for all the things that you’re going to discover along the way.

[00:59:34] Cathy Curtis: Yes, I know. I see it all the time. The clients did a lot of remodeling during COVID because people were at home. Home became a huge priority. I don’t even know if a third covered the overruns. It just got very expensive for people. They’re all very happy with it though. People love remodeling their homes and getting their spaces to reflect who they are. Like you said, if it’s going to be your residence for a long time, and most of my clients are planning to be in their residences, why not? The cost amortizes over time. If you do it well, maybe you won’t have to do it again for another 10, 20 years.

[01:00:17] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, exactly. And that’s where getting good fixtures, especially faucets and shower fixtures, comes in. You don’t have to go all the way to the super expensive ones, but you should get a good quality one.

[01:00:32] Cathy Curtis: Right, and knowing what the good quality things are. I guess that’s where you’re going to share some of your resources. You just have to do your research and talk to people. I’m sure bathroom consultants know where to go for good quality.

[01:00:48] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, and contractors will know as well. Some contractors are really up on that too.

[01:00:54] Cathy Curtis: Yes, it sounds like a key person is your contractor.

[01:00:59] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes. So, I would almost speak with them before the bathroom consultant, because they’ll have that kind of understanding of the space, and you can brainstorm. For example, if I wanted to move the vanity over here, how much more would that cost?

[01:01:14] Ruth Krumbhaar: Get a sense for the kinds of choices that you feel prepared to make and pay for.

[01:01:19] Cathy Curtis: Okay. And then just generally speaking about res, so you’ve done a lot of decorating. Do you do decorating with friends too, besides your own? Yeah.

[01:01:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. Yeah.

[01:01:32] Tips for updating a space where you’ve grown tired of the décor, and why hiring a style consultant can be a worthwhile investment.

[01:01:32] Cathy Curtis: So any, you’ve talked about your philosophy, general philosophy, but any other tips that you can give when you’re thinking about, let’s say, you’re completely tired of your living room decor? Like my living room decor has been the same, gosh, for 15 years.

[01:01:50] Cathy Curtis: We did it we got some really high-quality core pieces of furniture, but like I have a sisal rug. I’d love to get a real rug. How would you, what do you think about that? Updating like a room, refreshing let’s say.

[01:02:03] Ruth Krumbhaar: Oh, I think it’s great to do. I think it’s great to do. And maybe that sisal rug can find a home somewhere else in your house too.

[01:02:12] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. It doesn’t necessarily have to go on the curb. One of the things that I’ve had a lot of fun with is working with friends doing updating, say, a living room, and they’ll say, maybe they’ll come to my house and be like, “Oh, I love your living room. I really want mine to look like yours.” And then we’ll go to their house.

[01:02:32] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I’ll realize their style is totally different than mine. It’s never going to work. And so it’s fun to help them really home in on your style. What is your style? You want a clubby, cozy, rich feeling. You don’t want an airy, ethereal, bohemian. Or you love that English countryside look. Go for it.

[01:02:56] Ruth Krumbhaar: And it’s so fun for me to explore other people’s tastes. My mother, for example, we’re finding fabric, she’s got a, in her kitchen she’s got this big banquette, like seating area, and a big table, and these big armchairs, and it’s all pink and green. Which, I can’t stand pink and green. Personally, it has been so much fun getting into her head and into her style.

[01:03:22] Ruth Krumbhaar: I have found the best pink and green fabrics for her. It’s been so much fun. I really think it’s important for us to connect to ourselves and connect to what we love and what makes us happy. And if you have a friend who’s good at design to get the design juices going or hire somebody to come in for a consultation.

[01:03:46] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, I know, I have friends that use designers, would never think about, I have a friend doing a refresh right now, has used a designer from the start, but she herself, my friend has really strong ideas of what she wants, and she finds it looking through Houzz and magazines and all that.

[01:04:06] Cathy Curtis: I think she uses a designer mainly for the sourcing. Yeah, and that’s finding these pieces that she really wants because she doesn’t want to have to do that leg work.

[01:04:16] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, and designers are really good for that because they get a discount and so they can either make their money in time or in reselling you the pieces at regular prices and they or both.

[01:04:29] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, which high-end designers do both.

[01:04:32] Cathy Curtis: I know that hourly and getting a cut on whatever pieces are sold.

[01:04:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. And that’s where also working with designers, a lot of designers are wonderful, but some of them are going to try and push you to get more expensive things so they can make more money. So really making sure that you stick to your budget and stick to your guns around.

[01:04:53] Cathy Curtis: I had that experience when we first decorated this house. We hired a designer who showed me a dining table that was like a third of our budget for the whole top floor of our house, and I’m like “Were you not listening to anything I said about our budget?” We really had a budget. Yeah. Do you know what she said?

[01:05:14] Cathy Curtis: She said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Most of my clients don’t have a budget.”

[01:05:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: Ooh, that doesn’t sound like the right…

[01:05:22] Cathy Curtis: My husband said, “Let’s not use her.” And I was so deep into the project already. I thought I just couldn’t, but he was right. He was right. That kind of comment clearly indicated she wasn’t the right designer for us.

[01:05:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, especially for your profession. You’re helping people manage money.

[01:05:41] Cathy Curtis: Yes. So, you have to find the right person. And then, I decorated our master bedroom at another time, found the perfect person who went out of her way to stay within the budget and found some wonderful things for even lower prices.

[01:06:02] Cathy Curtis: And I… I would have never thought that because she was so focused on that. So, there are all different kinds.

[01:06:10] Ruth Krumbhaar: And it’s just like your contractor. Making sure you have a good contractor. Making sure that if you hire a decorator or designer of any kind, you see eye to eye and they’re creative.

[01:06:22] Ruth Krumbhaar: Some designers are very resourceful. Like the one you mentioned, they go on websites like Cherish, which is a wonderful website. Another tip. There are so many cool websites that have wonderful finds that are unique or antique. And they know how to find these unique things. That make your home really feel…

[01:06:48] Ruth Krumbhaar: Like an extension, an expression…

[01:06:50] Cathy Curtis: Of yourself. Exactly. And what I loved about her, she was more excited than me when she found a great deal. It was fun working with her instead of anxiety provoking like it was with the original people that we worked with. It was extremely anxiety provoking. Oh my gosh.

[01:07:10] Cathy Curtis: Beautiful things. Who doesn’t want a beautiful oak $15,000… But yeah, so I learned my lesson in that one. So speaking of, we’re going to go back to the personal finance aspect of this. There is investing in pieces, and then there’s knowing that you’re buying something that you love, but probably won’t last long.

[01:07:35] What Ruth believes are the most important items to invest in when decorating your home.

[01:07:35] Cathy Curtis: What do you think are the most important things to invest in when you’re decorating your home?

[01:07:41] Ruth Krumbhaar: I was just talking with a designer friend and she said it’s the rugs and the window treatments for her. And for me, I was like, really? I think it’s the sofa.

[01:07:53] Cathy Curtis: I think the sofa is really important too.

[01:07:56] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think… I happen to, I’m looking in my living room right now, I have an expensive sofa that I probably paid way too much for, but I love it, and it is the showpiece of my living room. I’ve got a very inexpensive rug that’s maybe $250, really inexpensive. But it looks good. So sometimes we can find these cheap things that look okay.

[01:08:23] Cathy Curtis: I know. It’s really true. Is it a big rug?

[01:08:28] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s huge. And I can’t even believe how inexpensive it was. I bought it online on something like rugs.com for another room. And when it arrived, it was so nice. It’s not, if you touch it, it’s not going to feel like a really high-end rug, but it, and then my expensive sofa works very well with it.

 [01:08:50] Cathy Curtis: See, it elevates the whole room. That, I like that.

[01:08:53] Ruth Krumbhaar: So, I think it’s… People have their philosophies about what to invest in. I do think window treatments, good window treatments are… You can really feel the difference between custom curtains and off-the-shelf curtains.

[01:09:09] Cathy Curtis: And other… Not to say that you couldn’t find a good off-the-shelf curtain. Your rug is a great example. It’s just not as easy.

[01:09:18] Ruth Krumbhaar: Exactly. And there’s some… I think Pottery Barn has some like lined linen curtains. This is my go-to for people when they can’t figure out what they want, but they want it to look soft or summery or… It’s just a good standard. This is a good placeholder and you might have it for the next 10 years and it might just be fine.

[01:09:39] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. That’s not expensive. You know what my favorite, one of my favorite pieces in my home that came from working with the original designers is these reed shades in our living room. Oh my gosh, I love… I still love them. I’ve had them for 15 years and I look at them and they make me happy. And they were expensive.

[01:09:58] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. And I just… That was such a good investment.

[01:10:02] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. I have some curtains that I bought years ago for an old house that I lived in a long time ago. And they’ve traveled with me. I make sure that they work in every house that I’m in because the fabric is so beautiful and the… quality of how they were put together is so beautiful. They elevate every room they’re in.

[01:10:21] Cathy Curtis: In fact, I’m going to put the name of the designer of my shades in the show notes because they still… You would probably know the name. I forget it, but… So beautiful. But you know what? Then again, I know that there’s a lot of quality copycats now that you can get a lot cheaper. It just depends on your budget and how much time you have to search out things.

[01:10:45] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, but I do think if you want your house to feel elevated, every room should have something that feels really substantial. Whether it’s a headboard, or in my guest room, I have a beautiful headboard and some beautiful fabric on the bed. Then I have a cheap desk that I might have gotten at Ikea. It’s just a guest room, so it doesn’t need to be super elevated. But I wanted the bed to feel really sumptuous and it has beautiful cushions.

[01:11:15] Cathy Curtis: I agree with you. We’re talking about residential right now, but even Airbnb’s need this. One of the Airbnb’s we stayed in on our trip was a really nice space.

[01:11:25] Cathy Curtis: It was big. It had a kitchen, but it was decorated completely in HomeGoods standard. There was no elevating element to it at all. It was adequate, it was comfortable. It was fine. But, I couldn’t help thinking, “God, I wish they had just spent a little bit more money.” And it was even from the things hanging on the wall, everything.

[01:11:53] Cathy Curtis: I thought, just maybe a few hundred more dollars. I couldn’t help thinking that, to your point, even if they had just picked one nicer element, it would have elevated the whole space.

[01:12:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, it makes a difference. People feel it, even if they don’t know what they’re feeling. Like in that Airbnb that you were in.

[01:12:17] Cathy Curtis: Exactly. I think about that with our Tahoe space. I’ll give a good example. We were in Tahoe recently and I went to a shop that had original art. The art wasn’t that expensive. I found a piece and I thought, “Oh my God, that would look so good in one of our bedrooms.”

[01:12:38] Cathy Curtis: And I thought, “Yep, I’m getting it.” We didn’t have the right piece. But, when I put that on the wall, just the fact that it’s an original art piece, even though it’s not that expensive, elevated the whole room.

[01:12:52] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s an important aspect of decorating. Going back to my little house in Maine, I have the upside-down buckets with a piece of board on it, but on the wall, I have a series of antique floral framed pictures in old frames that are beautiful and have that elevated quality.

[01:13:24] Cathy Curtis: That works because you’ve got both elements. Another thing we noticed in a lot of Airbnb’s, which seems to work, is using baskets for decor like hanging a series of them on a wall. It works if there are other elements that aren’t baskets.

[01:13:51] Ruth Krumbhaar: In fact, I have here something I’ve traveled with. It’s a big rattan kind of basket-like thing.

[01:14:00] Cathy Curtis: Could you bring it a little bit closer? There you go.

[01:14:02] Cathy Curtis: Wait, a little bit back. We could see it at some point, but I see what you did.

[01:14:09] Ruth Krumbhaar: Anyway, it’s something that can go on a coffee table, or it can go on a wall. It was like, I don’t know, $40. Because it’s earthy, it doesn’t feel cheap. It’s like the baskets.

[01:14:24] Cathy Curtis: Exactly. And because it’s earthy, I don’t think people should move away from basketry. It really is a nice design element. Maybe you don’t like that look in your home, but if you have an Airbnb or VRBO, I wouldn’t hesitate to use it as a design element.

[01:14:45] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s a really inexpensive way to bring a little more design in.

[01:14:50] Cathy Curtis: Juxtapose that with a piece that’s maybe a little bit nicer.

[01:14:54] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, I do have a lot of baskets in my house in Maine, actually.

[01:15:00] Cathy Curtis: Do you? Okay, what’s your resource for that? HomeGoods? I’ve asked you that 20 times already.

[01:15:08] Ruth Krumbhaar: I have to admit, that’s a great place.

[01:15:11] Cathy Curtis: HomeGoods? Yeah, HomeGoods. Okay, that would be a good place for baskets. Remember Cost Plus used to be such a great place.

[01:15:26] Ruth Krumbhaar: I don’t know, I haven’t been there. There was one near here, or are you thinking of Pier 1?

[01:15:32] Cathy Curtis: Oh, Pier 1. I think they’ve shut down too. Those used to be my go-to’s, but you’re giving a lot more ideas for where to look, which I’m excited to see.

[01:15:46] Ruth Krumbhaar: And Etsy is another wonderful place. I just ordered a tablecloth from Etsy, which is beautiful. You can find so many different things of varying quality on Etsy.

[01:15:59] Why practical designs can actually boost your return on investment with an Airbnb property.

[01:15:59] Cathy Curtis: You’ve given some great notes too. I want to make sure we covered some of your main points. Oh, I know, about rental and Airbnb, the practicality. We haven’t really discussed practical designs very much. Designs that are easy to clean, easy to maintain.

[01:16:20] Ruth Krumbhaar: So you don’t want to do something like I did in Maine, unless you’ve sealed it a bunch. Having marble countertops in a rental is probably not a great idea because red wine could spill on it and stain it.

[01:16:35] Cathy Curtis: Oh, okay.

[01:16:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: Want to have surfaces. And oh, I had candles that dripped. You want to have dripless candles. Things like that. You need to consider, imagine messy people being in the space and how the housekeeper is going to clean it easily.

[01:16:58] Ruth Krumbhaar: And how are you going to maintain it easily? So, making choices, whether they’re cheaper things like the board on the galvanized buckets or smooth surfaces that can’t be destroyed, is key. Some of my furniture in Maine, for example, is painted, but it’s also a little bit of that. It can be chipped and a little worn because that’s the sort of feeling of a Maine summer house.

[01:17:24] Ruth Krumbhaar: So, I don’t care. But if it was a different kind of feeling, maybe the painted furniture wouldn’t go so well.

[01:17:31] Cathy Curtis: One of my pet peeves is bathroom surfaces that are dark. I don’t know if it’s slate or what, but it shows all the toothpaste stains. You cannot keep it clean no matter what. It’s a mistake to have in any kind of place that is an occasional rental.

[01:17:51] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, yeah. You really have to think through that kind of thing.

[01:17:54] Ruth Krumbhaar: You really do. And think through what also of yours can you tolerate having other people touch or use.

[01:18:04] Cathy Curtis: Yes. And the cleaning person thing you brought up. So critical to help your cleaning person be able to clean quickly and efficiently, especially if you’ve got a popular place with constant turnover where they’ve got to come in and maybe have someone come in that same evening when someone leaves. Thinking through that, maybe not so many knickknacks or the surfaces you choose for your floors in the kitchen and bathrooms, all those kinds of things are so important.

[01:18:35] Ruth Krumbhaar: It’s so true. That’s so true. Having enough sets of sheets so that if some are in the dryer, the cleaning person can get the other beds ready.

[01:18:44] Cathy Curtis: It’s a real art and a science to run a place. And to run it well.

[01:18:48] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. And that’s why with the Airbnb’s that I’ve had, all the sheets are the same color.

[01:18:55] Ruth Krumbhaar: So if you have a pillowcase here, even if they’re slightly different, you could, everything’s white or everything’s blue or everything is in the same theme so it can be mixed and matched.

[01:19:07] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. I agree. Keeping it as simple as possible is, especially if you have multiple bedrooms, it just makes so much sense. And all the beds being the same size is helpful too. Yeah, if you can do it. But all these things save time, and they save money. They do. You make your cleaner’s job easier, she or he is going to spend less time in the place cleaning it, you’re going to have a lower cleaning fee, things like that.

[01:19:36] Ruth Krumbhaar: And so, I think with those kinds of properties, keeping it again, simple, keeping the design simple, keeping the garden simple as easy to maintain as possible. One of the things at my place in Maine. The front step. It’s an island where there are granite quarries. So it’s got these massive granite slabs as steps, but they were off-kilter and the whole house felt kind of funky. I had a guy just correct it and oh straight and pushed it back into place, which was not an easy thing to do because they’re humongous. The whole house feels different.

[01:20:17] Ruth Krumbhaar: It feels so good. And also, it’s safer. Because if somebody trips on those stairs, if they were a little bit off, maybe they could sue me. So you have to also think about that.  

[01:20:30] The importance of understanding local real estate laws when investing in a rental property.

[01:20:30] Cathy Curtis: Okay, that’s another great topic. So, this is for rentals. You have to know the local laws about keeping the property safe.

[01:20:42] Cathy Curtis: Yes. If you have a tenant especially. Can you talk to that a little bit?

[01:20:46] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, it’s really important. When I owned rental properties in San Francisco as a landlord, I don’t have a lot of rights. I have fewer rights than I would like so that’s something really important to consider. In Indiana, I certainly don’t want to do anything to upset my renter.

[01:21:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: I love my renter, but I have more rights in Indiana than I do here in San Francisco. And that is appealing…

[01:21:13] Cathy Curtis: About that on the first podcast, that you could do a lot more things than you can do in San Francisco. And just how much easier would that be? It’s just so much easier.  

[01:21:24] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. This is less, there’s so many elements that come into this.

[01:21:29] Ruth Krumbhaar: Because you have to make sure your insurance is good for it being a rental and…

[01:21:34] Cathy Curtis: Can you give an example of something you can do in Indiana that you would never be able to do in San Francisco?

[01:21:40] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think I can kick my renter out more easily. And again, not that I would want to, because I love my renter.

[01:21:48] Cathy Curtis: But no, I know, but that’s a real issue for landlords.

[01:21:51] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes, in San Francisco, I was considering selling my property and approached the renters and it was going to cost a hundred grand to move them out.

[01:22:02] Cathy Curtis: Yeah, that’s happened to friends of mine. It’s horrible.

[01:22:06] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, so it’s important to think about that. And as I go to re-rent my property in San Francisco, I have to consider the renter, if I want to sell it in say three years.

[01:22:19] Ruth Krumbhaar: I either need somebody who I think will leave in three years, or I have to be prepared to buy them out.

[01:22:25] Cathy Curtis: Are there any other, you mentioned knowing other local laws or ordinances and wherever you do buy and rent.

[01:22:35] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah. I’ll use Indiana. The mayor of the town where my house is. He’s real estate friendly.

[01:22:43] Ruth Krumbhaar: He’s actually just trying to help the town get back up on its feet. And so he wants people to come in and fix up houses. He wants great rental housing because three new factories are moving in. So he’s trying to make it easy for everybody, the workers and the people who need housing, but also the people who are supplying the housing.

[01:23:05] Ruth Krumbhaar: And I love his attitude. I don’t, I can’t recite all the nuts and bolts, but in listening to him and reading some of the articles about him and the initiatives that he’s got going. He’s really favoring developers, he’ll sit down and meet with you and talk to you about what you want to do in terms of development and try and make it happen.

[01:23:26] Cathy Curtis: Did you know this when you, after you bought or before you bought?

[01:23:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: Before, before. A friend of mine…

[01:23:32] Cathy Curtis: That would be, that’s a really interesting element to know about when you’re going to buy a rental in a city.

[01:23:38] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yes. And so you want to go on any sort of board, even Reddit is a place where you can get some information.

[01:23:47] Ruth Krumbhaar: You don’t want to rely on that solely. You should read the local newspapers. That’s a really good way to learn, talk to some banks about lending practices and what’s going on, and do a drive around the area, talk to your realtor. Look at, I think we talked about a lot of this in our first podcast, look at places like Muncie where my house is, three new factories are coming in.

[01:24:14] Ruth Krumbhaar: Actually, I think it’s really promising for our future. I think that it’s important to do your research around what’s happening locally. You don’t want any surprises.

[01:24:26] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. We want as few as you can manage because there’s always going to be something. Yeah. It’s always going to be something.

[01:24:35] Ruth Krumbhaar: Yeah, you can make a property as pretty as you want and you can have it as buttoned up, but there are always things.

[01:24:43] Ruth Krumbhaar: One thing that I think my partner is running into in Redwood City is when you do a transaction there buying or selling a property, you have to upgrade the sewer lateral, which is a huge expense that a lot of people aren’t aware of. So I think that’s common.

[01:24:55] Cathy Curtis: I hear about that a lot and it’s expensive.

[01:25:03] Ruth Krumbhaar: It is. So just making sure that you do your research.

[01:25:07] Cathy Curtis: Yeah. You need to be like a forensic scientist when you’re digging into all the details. That makes a lot of sense. Great. I have enjoyed this conversation so much. Is there anything else you’d like to add that you think our listeners would enjoy hearing about? When it comes to decor, and I know, just so everyone knows, we’ll share a whole bunch of resources on the podcast page once this is published.

[01:25:37] Ruth Krumbhaar: I think just connecting to what makes you happy, what brings you joy. If you are a maximalist, go for it, at least in your own home. If you are a minimalist, go for it. And then also, I think, just follow your heart, be you. Yeah. Or make your home represent you, make it be an extension of your personality and expression.

[01:26:04] Ruth Krumbhaar: That’s in your own house. And if you have rental properties or you’re interested in doing Airbnbs, see if you can establish a formula because it’ll make it a lot easier. Have one paint color that you always go to, that feels like the safe bet. So you don’t have to scurry around and wonder what color you painted that rental property or that rental property.

[01:26:27] Ruth Krumbhaar: And just have fun with it. Design is fun, and it’s inspiring, and it says a lot. And it’s a great way for us to express ourselves, but it’s also a great way to welcome people and allow other people to feel good. So that, and then in terms of finances, that sort of two thirds, one third is possibly a rule to stick with.

[01:26:52] Ruth Krumbhaar: If you have your budget is, say, $100,000, see if you can whittle it down to somewhere like $75,000 or $70,000. You can work within there knowing that you have a little bit of extra wiggle room if you need it.

[01:27:06] Cathy Curtis: That’s great advice. And then you won’t be so surprised. And hopefully, you’ll have the money to be able to do it.

[01:27:15] Ruth Krumbhaar: Exactly. And then, of course, as we talked about, having every room have that something elevated.

[01:27:22] Cathy Curtis: I think that is really good advice. Yeah. I love it. You can’t go wrong if you do that.

[01:27:31] Ruth Krumbhaar: All right, this has been so much fun. It’s wonderful fun. And I love talking about design and real estate and finances with you.

[01:27:40] Cathy Curtis: I do too. Thank you so much. And we’ll be publishing this very soon. And I’d love to say we’ll do a third one. So maybe we’ll come up with another topic for the future. Yes. Okay, Ruth. Thanks so much. Take care. Bye. Bye.

For more information and resources related to this episode, please visit the show notes.

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Single Women and Longevity Risk Part 3: Planning for Expenses in Retirement

Planning for Expenses in Retirement

In Part 2 of this three-part blog series on single women and longevity risk, we discussed the importance of investing to supplement your income in retirement and minimize the risk of outliving your financial resources. In Part 3, we’ll explore why planning for expenses in retirement—both expected and unexpected—is essential when it comes to managing longevity risk.  

Estimating Your Expenses in Retirement

Failing to consider and plan for the various costs you’re likely to incur in retirement can lead to a savings shortfall, increasing the risk that you’ll outlive your assets. Thus, creating a retirement budget is necessary to ensure you’re saving enough and investing appropriately.

Of course, there are always uncertainties when it comes to planning for the future. Nevertheless, with the right guidance, it’s possible to project your retirement expenses with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

For example, basic living expenses like food, housing, utilities, and clothing tend to remain relatively steady in retirement and are therefore easier to anticipate. Yet other items like healthcare, travel, and entertainment often rise significantly once you stop working.

In fact, a recent report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that in 2018, 12% of the median retiree’s total retirement income went toward medical expenses. Moreover, since 2000, the price of medical care has increased at a faster rate than the overall inflation rate.

Meanwhile, with more free time on your hands, you may wish to travel more and take longer, more expensive trips in retirement. Plus, you’re more likely to spend money on other types of entertainment once work no longer demands so much of your time.

No matter your retirement plans, it’s important to consider how your lifestyle goals will impact your budget and plan accordingly. This can help you determine what size nest egg you’ll need to retire successfully and mitigate longevity risk.  

Planning for Unexpected Expenses in Retirement

In addition to the expenses we can reasonably project, others can crop up as we age and our homes, children, and spouses age along with us. Unfortunately, unexpected expenses can mess with the best-laid plans when you’re living off savings and fixed sources of income like Social Security.

Therefore, it’s best to expect the unexpected and prepare for these expenses as best you can. Here’s a list of unexpected expenses you may face in retirement:

Home Repairs & Maintenance Costs

Many Americans own their homes when they reach retirement age. (When I say “own,” I mean they own their homes outright or are still paying down their mortgage as opposed to renting.)

It’s easy to overlook or postpone home maintenance, especially if everything looks fine on the surface. But homes age just like we do, and putting off necessary repairs can become a significant financial expense down the road.

A recent personal experience drove this point home when a routine paint job turned into a major dry rot mitigation project costing tens of thousands of dollars!

When it comes to planning for unexpected expenses in retirement, here’s a best practice to prevent a surprise cost like mine: hire a professional to inspect your home for hidden problems such as dry rot, termites, mold, foundation issues, leaks, and outdated plumbing and electrical systems. Then, develop a multi-year plan to fix the problems and schedule ongoing routine maintenance.

Remodeling Expenses

In addition to the unglamorous fixes a home occasionally needs, it’s not unusual to grow tired of your home decor over time. You may decide to buy new furniture or appliances or update the exterior of your home in retirement, all of which can be costly.

In some cases, you may simply want your home to maintain its value if you plan to eventually sell it. For example, kitchen and bathroom styles tend to change every 10-20 years, prompting homeowners to make major updates.

Or you may need to alter your home so you can age in place comfortably and safely. While no one likes to think about the possibility of losing mobility, it’s one of the realities many of us must face as our bodies age.

Regardless of the impetuous, remodeling costs are common in retirement and can be substantial. Thus, it’s best to expect them and manage your finances accordingly.  

Unexpected HealthCare Costs

The first time many retirees realize Medicare isn’t as cheap as they thought it would be is when they receive a notice from the Social Security Administration about IRMAA. IRMAA, which stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, is an extra charge added to your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums if your income exceeds a certain threshold.

When on Medicare, you pay monthly premiums for Part B, which covers doctor services, outpatient care, and preventive services, and Part D, which covers prescription drugs. But if you’re a high-income earner according to your tax return from two years ago, the government says, “Hey, you can afford to contribute a little more.”

So, they add an extra charge (IRMAA) to your monthly premiums. And the more you earn, the higher your IRMAA charge will be.

Also, Medicare doesn’t cover all healthcare-related expenses in retirement. You’ll still be responsible for co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurance, as well as long-term care, dental, hearing, and eye care. These out-of-pocket costs can add up quickly if you have a significant health issue or need extensive care.

Again, proper planning is essential to mitigate these costs. To avoid IRMAA, you can work with a financial planner to develop a retirement income plan that keeps your taxable income below the threshold.

In addition, you may want to consider buying a Medigap or Medicare Advantage policy to defray the healthcare costs Medicare doesn’t cover.

Medigap policies fill in the gaps in original Medicare coverage, including medical care when traveling outside the U.S. Just keep in mind you’ll still need a separate prescription drug plan (Medicare Part D).

Alternatively, Medicare Advantage (Part C) offers an “all-in-one” alternative to original Medicare. However, these plans are generally in HMOs or PPOs, which may limit your access to certain healthcare professionals or facilities.

Long-Term Care

Another common misconception is that Medicare covers long-term care costs. It doesn’t. This can be problematic, since most older adults will likely need long-term care during their lifetimes.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 70% of those turning 65 this year will eventually need long-term care. Meanwhile, women are more likely to need long-term care than men and for a longer duration, according to data from Morningstar.

These services can be costly—typically thousands of dollars a month in expenses. Unfortunately, long-term care insurance is also expensive, and the rigorous eligibility requirements put it out of reach for many.

If you qualify for long-term care insurance and can afford it, you may want to consider your available options, including hybrid policies that include a life insurance component. Otherwise, self-funding long-term care by saving and investing enough money during your working years is likely your best option.

Family Obligations

It’s not uncommon for adult children or other relatives to need financial help occasionally. These requests can be tough to negotiate, especially if your loved ones don’t understand the strain an unexpected loan or gift can have on your finances in retirement.

Although discussing money is taboo in many families, it’s wise to be transparent about your financial circumstances and create boundaries around financial requests. If this isn’t a viable option, be sure to include potential loans and gifts when planning for expenses in retirement.

Losing a Spouse

Morningstar estimates that 90% of women will manage assets on their own at some point during their lifetimes. Many women experience this for the first time in retirement due to the death of a spouse.

Losing a spouse can be emotionally devastating, no matter your stage of life. Yet failing to prepare financially for this possibility can make an already challenging situation even worse.

If you depend on your partner financially, there are steps you can take now to safeguard your financial independence if you unexpectedly lose them. For example:

  • Consider purchasing a life insurance policy to replace lost income or cover funeral costs and other outstanding expenses.
  • If your spouse has a pension, explore your survivorship options before retirement to ensure continued payments.
  • Understand Social Security survivors benefits, especially if your spouse has the higher earnings record.
  • Consult an estate-planning attorney to ensure your estate plan is current and organized for a seamless transition of assets.

With Proper Planning, Single Women Can Minimize Longevity Risk and Thrive Financially in Retirement

Planning for expected and unexpected expenses in retirement is crucial for maintaining financial stability and peace of mind. Yet minimizing longevity risk requires more than managing your expenses. Meeting your savings targets and investing for your long-term goals is also essential.

Remember, the earlier you start preparing financially for retirement, the better off you’ll be long-term. Moreover, you don’t have to go it alone. A fiduciary financial planner like Curtis Financial Planning can provide expert guidance and help you implement the right strategies to secure your financial future. To learn more, please explore our services and free financial planning resources.

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S5E1: Overspending? Here’s How to Get Your Spending Habit Under Control This Year

Spending Habit

Take Control of Your Spending Habit Once and For All

In this episode, Cathy shares her tips and strategies for getting your spending habit under control once and for all this year.

Welcome to Episode 1 of the 5th season of the Financial Finesse podcast!

Today I’m going to talk about spending—specifically, how to get your spending under control. Many of my clients told me that one of their goals for 2023 is to get their spending on discretionary items under control. (In other words, the things you really don’t have to have.)

And they may not have a spending problem per se. But they know their spending is probably one of the things that’s keeping them from reaching their longer-term financial goals, and/or it’s just making them uncomfortable. They don’t feel right about their spending habits.

I have to admit, I can relate to this because I have a little bit of a clothing infatuation. I love anything new, and I love clothing and accessories. So, I’m going to be right there with you in working on getting my own spending habit under control this year.

Episode Highlights

  • [02:11] What do habits have to do with spending?
  • [03:23] Identifying your biggest spending weakness or weaknesses.
  • [06:05] What are your spending triggers?
  • [08:45] Setting your new budget for the year ahead.
  • [10:32] How to find ways to support yourself in reaching your goal.
  • [16:23] Determining your values and aligning your spending accordingly.
  • [17:33] Download our free e-book, How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year.

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How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, Part 4: Budgeting and Tracking Your Spending

Budgeting and Tracking Your Spending

This article is part four of a four-part series to help you reduce your spending this year. In part three, you identified what triggers your overspending habit. This week, I’ll share tips and tricks for budgeting and tracking your spending.

Budgeting and tracking your spending can provide benefits beyond simply saving more money. It also allows you to invest more, pay off debt more quickly, and even retire earlier in some cases! Plus, it can offer a sense of control and accomplishment and reduce financial stress.

Setting a New Budget

Previously, you identified how much you spent in the last 12 months on your spending weakness. Now, it’s time to set a new budget for the next 12 months.

Of course, it’s helpful to choose your new spending goal within the context of a comprehensive cash flow and financial plan. However, to keep the task smaller and more doable, I suggest setting a budget of at least 25% less than you spent the previous year on your spending weakness.

For example, if you spent $10,000 last year, set a budget of $7,500 for the next 12 months. Reduce by a more significant percentage if you feel like your spending was way out of control last year!

Depending on your spending weakness, it may be helpful to set a monthly budget instead. For example, if clothing is your weakness and on average you spent $1000 a month last year, your new budget will be $750 a month. Setting a monthly spending limit rather than a yearly goal may help you stick your budget longer term.

Tracking Your Spending

Once you’ve decided on an amount, you need to create a system for tracking your spending.

You can accomplish this task either digitally or manually; the most important thing is that you do it on at least a monthly basis. If you wait until the end of the year, you lose the benefit of being able to modify your behavior if necessary.

One idea: Save all your receipts in a folder (online or physical). Then, at the end of each month, add them to a spreadsheet and subtract the total from your total budget. Another idea is to download an app like Mint or Goodbudget that tracks and categorizes your spending.

How to Stick to Your New Spending Plan

Budgeting and tracking your spending are indeed important steps. Yet it takes focus, patience, and perseverance to actually stick to your new spending plan.

In other words, changing your behavior is hard. To get your spending under control once and for all, you’ll need a set of tools and resources that support you in achieving your goal.

Here are a few ideas for changing your behavior and creating new, healthier habits:

  • Find a replacement activity for shopping. When you think about going to a store or hopping on the internet, read a book, call a friend, or watch a movie instead. Choose something pleasurable and stimulating that doesn’t cost money.
  • When you go to a store, be prepared. Make a list of what you want to buy and stick to it. This preparation will help you avoid impulse purchases.
  • Delay your purchase. Take a day or two to think about whether you need it.
  • Avoid peer pressure. Don’t shop with friends who encourage you to buy things you don’t want or need.
  • Don’t tempt yourself. Plan different routes when you are out and about to avoid your favorite stores and unsubscribe from email lists that entice you to spend money.
  • Find a new hobby that doesn’t involve spending a ton of money. For example, play a new sport, start a creative project, or learn to play a musical instrument or speak a new language.
  • Keep your goals front-of-mind. Add a sticky note to your laptop with your budget goal, or read books and articles or listen to podcasts or audio books about habits, conscious spending, and personal finance.
  • Practice self-awareness. When you are angry, tired, sad, or frustrated, go for a walk or meditate instead of shopping. Keep a journal about your experience and emotions while trying to change your behavior.
  • Repurpose your discretionary funds. Take some of your savings and donate to your favorite charity.
  • Hold yourself accountable. Tell your friends that you are trying to cut back on your spending and want their support, or hire a coach or financial advisor to help you reach your broader financial goals.
  • Visualize your future self. Think about what you’ll gain if you get your spending under control. Then, create a vision board depicting what you see and how you feel.

What Will Motivate You to Stop Overspending?

In addition to changing your behavior, you may need to adjust your mindset around spending altogether. Otherwise, it’s easy to slip back into bad habits.

One thing I’ve found helpful when trying to create a new habit is to identify my “why.” In other words, why is it so important to you to get your spending under control? What are you giving up by overspending? What’s the opportunity cost?

Some of you may want to retire early, but your current spending is keeping you from doing so. In effect, your spending habit may be keeping you from spending more time with your family, pursuing your lifelong dream of writing a novel, or just feeling more at ease on a daily basis.

Or maybe your why is to get out of credit card debt. Instead of putting hundreds or thousands of dollars each month towards your credit card balances, you could be contributing that amount to a retirement account, HSA, or donor-advised fund. You may also sleep better at night knowing you’re debt-free.

Take time to journal about what why you want to stop overspending and what it would feel like to get your spending under control. Then, ask yourself these questions: What would I do with the time and money I save? What could I accomplish instead? How would my attitude about myself change?

Budgeting and Tracking Your Spending for the Long Run

Lastly, people tend to be motivated by what they value. Ask yourself if your current spending aligns with your values. If not, this can be a powerful motivator when it comes to budgeting and tracking your spending.

If you aren’t sure what your values are or need some prompting, consider downloading The Happiness Spreadsheet. This free eBook is full of exercises to identify your values and align your spending with what matters most to you. It also has a list of other helpful resources to guide you in getting your spending under control.

If you’ve been following this blog series, I hope you now have a strong foundation to create healthier spending habits in 2023 and beyond. You may also find the other resources on my website helpful as you continue your personal finance journey.

Lastly, remember we’re in this together. Please feel free to connect with me, keep me posted on your progress, and ask questions.  

Good luck, and here’s to a prosperous 2023!

Download my FREE E-BOOK: How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year

Love this blog series? Download my free e-book, How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, for tips and strategies you can quickly put into action to get your spending habit under control.

If you found this information interesting, please share it with a friend!

How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, Part 3: What Triggers Your Overspending Habit?

What Triggers Your Overspending Habit?

This article is part three of a four-part series to help you reduce your spending this year. In part two, I took you through a simple exercise to help you identify your spending weakness. This week, we’re going to determine what triggers your overspending habit.

People overspend for many reasons, even when they know it’s detrimental to their finances. Unfortunately, overspending can become a habit. And habits only break if you want them to.

Breaking any pattern can be challenging, but you can change your behavior with persistence and a plan. Here’s your next step for getting your spending under control in 2023.  

Figuring Out Your Triggers

Oftentimes, something else triggers our habits, such as an external stimulus, an emotion, or even another habit. If you tend to overspend, chances are something is triggering this habit.

You may or may not be aware of what triggers your overspending habit. If you don’t, take some time to reflect on and journal about when your overspending habit started, what triggered it, and what continues to activate it.

From my experience working with women clients, here are a few common scenarios:

  • They have a good income or resources but have unrealistic expectations about how much they can spend. This situation frequently happens with women who experience a “sudden-money” event, such as a large inheritance, bonus, a big raise, a new highly paid job, or a liquidity event. Once the spending starts, it’s hard to stop.
  • They use shopping to deal with negative emotions such as loneliness or anxiety— or shopping as “retail therapy” to numb themselves instead of confronting what is bothering them.
  • They’ve stopped keeping track of their spending, don’t have a budget, and have yet to learn how much they can afford to spend while still reaching their other goals.
  • Shopping, which started as a pleasurable pastime, has slowly become more like an addiction. The excitement of buying something new and better (online or in a store), and the camaraderie with friends and shop owners, all combine into a positive reinforcement loop that can get out of control.
  • A life-changing event happened, such as divorce, the death of a spouse, a new home or relocation, and they haven’t adjusted their spending to their new reality.

Taking Control of Your Overspending Habit

Contemplating and writing down your reasons for overspending can be a helpful step in getting your spending back in alignment with your financial goals. Take your time and dig in as deeply as possible to determine what triggers your overspending habit before going on to the next step.

In part four of this series, we’re going to take action by setting up a budget and a system for tracking your spending. In the meantime, I invite you to check out these free resources to help you better understand and take control of your personal finances.

Download my FREE E-BOOK: How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year

Love this blog series? Download my free e-book, How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, for tips and strategies you can quickly put into action to get your spending habit under control.

If you found this information interesting, please share it with a friend!

How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, Part 2: Identifying Your Spending Weakness

Identifying Your Spending Weakness

This article is part two of a four-part series to help you reduce your spending this year. In part one, I shared a simple hack to help you create healthier spending habits. This week, I’ll take you through an exercise to help you identify your spending weakness.

It’s common wisdom that the way to complete a big task is to break it down into smaller parts and then tackle each task one at a time. Otherwise, overwhelm can set in, and nothing gets done. I’ll suggest a similar approach to tackling the “big task” of overspending.

What Is Discretionary Spending?

We all spend money on a lot of things, necessary and discretionary. For this exercise, we’ll define discretionary spending as spending on items you could survive without if you wanted to.

Examples may include an extensive collection of clothing, art, household knick-knacks, jewelry, shoes, accessories, make-up, books, or electronics. Alternatively, you may overspend on discretionary experiences such as excessive travel, entertainment, or dining out.

First, Identify Your Biggest Spending Weakness

Your first task in cutting discretionary spending is to identify your biggest spending weakness. For example, if you feel shame (or at least discomfort) about the amount of money you spend on something, it’s likely your spending weakness.

Most of you know your spending weakness, so choosing will not be difficult. However, for those who need more clarification, analyzing your past expenses can help you find your answer.

I encourage you to choose only one spending category at a time to keep things simple. (Breaking down a big task into smaller tasks helps get things done, remember?) That way, you are more likely to make progress. Of course, if you want to, you can add more categories or items and follow the next steps for each.

Next, Calculate How Much You Spent Over the Last 12 Months

After identifying your spending weakness, the next step is to write down how much you spent over the last 12 months on this item. While you can estimate this dollar amount, it’s better to look at your credit card and checking account statements to determine your actual spending. Otherwise, it’s easy to rationalize and make excuses when you’re guessing.

Got your number? Congratulations. I know that confronting money issues is hard, especially if it brings up uncomfortable feelings like regret, remorse, or shame. So let the feelings happen, but then let them go. Thank yourself instead for starting this journey to get back on track.

Continuing Your Journey

In the next article, we’ll go through an exercise to help you discover what triggers your overspending.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out these free resources to help you better understand and take control of your personal finances.

Download my FREE E-BOOK: How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year

Love this blog series? Download my free e-book, How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, for tips and strategies you can quickly put into action to get your spending habit under control.

If you found this information interesting, please share it with a friend!

How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, Part 1: Reduce Your Spending by Creating Healthy Habits

Reduce Your Spending by Creating Healthy Habits

This article is the first in a four-part series to help you reduce your spending this year. I’ll be sharing the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the last 20 years creating financial plans and guiding women to take control of their finances to help you develop healthier spending habits.

I know many people scoff at the idea of New Year’s resolutions. But I don’t. I believe it’s an opportunity to try and jump-start new habits.

Yes, you can start a new behavior in March or September, but something about a new year motivates me—and maybe you, too. Plus, it helps if the habit you’re trying to change causes you distress, so you’re motivated to work on it throughout the year.

For example, many people want to reduce their discretionary spending. They intuitively know that their spending is getting in the way of achieving their financial goals, but they don’t know what to do about it.

In part one of this series, I’m sharing the simple mindset shift that can help you reduce your spending once and for all.

January is an excellent month to begin a new spending plan.

You may have noticed that I’ve been using the word “habit” a lot. But what do habits have to do with spending?

Many of our behaviors become habits. Overspending or unconsciously spending is a habit, which is actually good news if you’re trying to reduce your spending.  

Many experts—for example, James Clear, who wrote the book Atomic Habits—have shared their wisdom and strategies for breaking bad habits and replacing them with new ones.  We’ll be leveraging the wealth of information available on this topic, as well as my own experience as a financial planner, to help you get control of your spending in 2023.

What does it take to develop new habits?

If you want to change your habits and reduce your spending this year, living in denial isn’t the answer. Your brain won’t like that. It will fight back too hard.

Instead, you’ll need to make thoughtful decisions about where to allocate your resources moving forward. Eventually, cutting back on spending will be something you want to do because you know it will get you to a better place.

Ready to reduce your spending? Let’s get started.

Each blog post in this series will focus on getting you to think and then take action. You will be writing, so get a pen and paper out, or boot up your laptop. By week four, you’ll have a new attitude and plan in place to help you reduce your spending and get back on track towards your financial goals.

Are you ready to get started? Great. In the next article, we’ll work on identifying your spending weaknesses.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out these free resources to help you better understand and take control of your personal finances.

Download my FREE E-BOOK: How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year

Love this blog series? Download my free e-book, How to Take Control of Your Spending This Year, for tips and strategies you can quickly put into action to get your spending habit under control.

If you found this information interesting, please share it with a friend!

How to Stay Within Your Budget: Monitor Your Budget Busters

Monitor Your Budget Busters

We originally published How to Stay Within Your Budget: Monitor Your Budget Busters on February 20, 2017, and have refreshed it for 2021.

It’s not that difficult to create a budget. What’s hard is sticking with it over time. One way to increase your success is to track what you spend. Unfortunately, very few people have the discipline to track every expense. The good news is that you don’t have to do this to be successful.

Most people don’t overspend on everything. Instead, there are usually a few items—let’s say clothing, dining out, or travel—that bust the budget. Monitoring and controlling these budget busters can help you reduce your spending without tedious bookkeeping.

How to Monitor Your Budget Busters

To stay within your budget, monitor your budget busters. You know what they are. Perhaps you go to your favorite clothing boutique and can’t say no to the latest seasonal fashions. Or you find it impossible to browse a bookstore or Amazon without stocking up on the latest bestsellers.

Indeed, it doesn’t help that online shopping has made it all too easy to spend more money without any effort at all. And the pandemic only exacerbated this trend. In fact, consumers spent $791.70 billion online with U.S. retailers in 2020, up 32.4% from 2019, according to Digital Commerce 360.

Though online spending is up in general, the things we overspend on are as individual as we are. Identifying the culprits is the first step to creating a spending plan that will work for you.

A Simple Process to Stay Within Your Budget

  1. Make a list of your budget busters – you know what they are.
  2. Tackle one at a time, or if you are extra motivated and organized, all at once.
  3. Track your spending by employing the techniques below.

The envelope system involves placing your monthly budgeted amount for each item into an envelope in cash. For example, label the envelopes “clothing cash,” “shoe cash,” and “dinner-out cash,” and stash them in your wallet. When the cash runs out, stop spending until the next month when you will refresh the cash.

You may be thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to carry that much cash around.” And of course, there are those airline miles to accrue! In that case, write down your budget busters in your day planner or on a piece of paper that you post somewhere visible. After each purchase, subtract what you spent from your budget. Stop buying when you reach your limit.

If you gave up your day planner years ago and lose every piece of paper you write on, try booting up your favorite tracking software. For example, PocketGuard and Mint.com let you upload transactions from your credit cards and checking accounts to keep track of your spending. Each month, log in to see if you were able to successfully stay within your budget.

Learning to Spend More Intentionally

Alternatively, you can find a trusted advisor or friend to “buddy up” with and help you stay on track. Accountability is a powerful motivator.

Finally, try monitoring your budget busters instead of every expense for a few months and see how it works for you. I think you’ll find that it’s an excellent behavior modification tool. Moreover, you’ll become increasingly aware of spending habits that aren’t in your best interest. Over time, you’re likely to find it much easier to stay disciplined and reach your financial goals.

Do you want to manage your money (and life!) better?

Download The Happiness Spreadsheet and learn how to align your spending with your values for greater happiness.

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Life After Lockdown: Creating a Budget Post-Pandemic

Creating a Budget Post-Pandemic

For the past few weeks, I’ve been teaching a personal finance class at Mills College. The first class covered cash flow and budgeting, so I asked my students to create a budget for homework. To help them get started, I suggested reviewing their recent credit card and bank statements to estimate their discretionary spending habits. One of the students brought up a great point: “I wasn’t spending like I normally do during COVID, so the last 14 months may not be representative of my spending from now on.”

As it turns out, her statement is true for most of us. For example, 64% of Americans say their spending habits have changed since the pandemic started, according to a Bank of America survey of more than 2,500 adults. In addition, a separate Bank of America survey found that 46% of affluent Americans have been getting their financial lives in order during the last year and expect to reach key financial milestones sooner than their parents did. That means many of us not only changed how we spend our money, but we also developed more financial discipline during the pandemic.

Indeed, our spending will likely look different as the world reopens and life returns to normal. Of course, just how different depends on the person. It’s tempting to splurge on the things and experiences we missed most in lockdown (for instance, we finally have a reason to buy new clothes again!). However, I think it would be fantastic if some of us could maintain the money habits we developed when we had fewer options. Creating a budget that reflects those habits can be a great way to do that.

How the Pandemic Changed Our Spending Habits

Life in lockdown forced us to reevaluate many aspects of our daily lives. As our circumstances and priorities changed, so did our spending. Gyms and restaurants closed, and travel was all but nonexistent for the first part of the pandemic. So, where did our money go?

Self Magazine surveyed 1,300 Americans to find out how their spending habits changed during the pandemic. Of the female respondents, 62% said they used time in lockdown to cook more creatively and spent a lot more money on groceries as a result. In addition to our growing grocery budgets while at home, a CIT Bank survey conducted by The Harris Poll found that spending on food delivery was also up 25% during the pandemic. 

However, food wasn’t the only thing we spent more on in lockdown. According to data provided by budgeting app Mint last August, consumer spending on investments, pets, education, and home expenses was up significantly year over year.

While some of these trends may continue, others will naturally return to more normal levels in a post-pandemic world. It may be helpful to keep this in mind and adjust accordingly when creating a budget for the future.

Good Habits We Developed in Lockdown

Despite increased spending in certain categories during the pandemic, more than half of Americans said they spent less and saved more than usual overall, according to the same CIT Bank survey. Thanks to government stimulus and new spending habits, many people were able to save more and pay down debt.

Notably, CRS reported that credit card balances declined about $76 billion in the second quarter of 2020, the largest quarterly decline on record. In addition, data from Experian shows that on average, Americans’ credit scores increased and payment habits improved in 2020.

Yet good habits extended beyond those experiencing financial difficulties before the pandemic. Of more than 2,000 affluent adults (households with investable assets between $100,000 and $1 million) surveyed by Bank of America, 81% said they took the money they’d normally spend on entertainment, travel, and dining and set it aside for savings and emergency funds during the pandemic.

The Pandemic’s Impact on Women

These statistics certainly paint a rosy picture, and many of us have been fortunate enough to come out of the pandemic in similar or better financial shape than we started. Unfortunately, however, many women experienced unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, setting them back even further on their path to retirement.

For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported women’s unemployment has increased by 2.9% more than unemployment among men since the start of the pandemic. In addition, data from Washington University in St. Louis showed hours worked by mothers fell four to five times as much as hours worked by fathers. Many women had no choice but to leave the workforce to care for aging parents or children. Female participation in the workforce has not been this low since 1988, according to one NPR analysis.

It’s no secret that women have long been at a disadvantage when preparing for retirement. This is because we tend to invest less and hold more cash than men, contributing to our savings shortfall. However, the main driver behind this shortfall is our lower lifetime earnings due to gender pay gaps and caretaking responsibilities—a trend that only worsened amid the pandemic.

Morningstar reports that 55% of all jobs lost in 2020 (2.3 million jobs total) were lost by women. And 32% of women ages 25-44 say they’re not currently working due to childcare demands, compared to 12% of men in the same age group.

If you’re facing any of these challenges yourself, creating a budget for post-pandemic life might be the last thing on your mind. However, closing the retirement savings gap is more critical than ever. Even one small step in the right direction can help you take control of your financial future.

Creating a Budget for Your Future

My suggestion to the student who spoke up in my class was to look back to 2019 as a spending guide. You may find this advice helpful as you’re creating a budget for yourself post-pandemic. However, if you want to continue the good habits you developed during COVID or create new habits to better prepare yourself for the future, be sure to incorporate these changes into your new spending plan. Remember: small, consistent actions over time often lead to big results.

If you’d like to work with a fiduciary financial planner to help you feel better about your money and prepare for the future, please schedule a call to see if we’re a good fit. In addition, you can check out The Happiness Spreadsheet, a fresh, inspiring approach to budgeting that can help you maintain good money habits and develop new ones.

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Curtis Financial Planning