Cost of the First Year of Home Ownership

Amanda at Frugal Confessions mentioned her costs of the first year of home ownership in this post and my reply made me realize how lucky my husband and I really got.

Apparently, the average first year spending on a house built after 2004 is $12,332.  I could totally see that based on what our house contained in that first year, but most of what we had were hand-me-downs, gifts, or things we brought from our apartment.
 
Thanks to all of that and patience (it's still patience, even if it because you feel broke...), we only spent a total of $735 on our house in that first year.
 
We bought:

• Garage Door Opener and Installation - $225
• Lightbulbs - $50
• Ceiling Fans - $175
• New locks - $60
• Miscellaneous little stuff like handles for the cabinets and whatnot - $125
• A/C compressor that busted - $100

We were gifted or given:

• All appliances were house-warming gifts from my parents (and cost $2300...I was there).
• Sealy Posturpedic bed for our wedding was a gift from my parents ($700...I was there too).
• Leather couches are/were hand-me-downs from my parents.
• Our two recliners are/were hand-me-downs from my husband's grandparents.
• Kitchen supplies are/were wedding gifts from almost everybody...I love my 4 slice toaster and our primo stainless steal pots set and Chicago Cutlery knives!
• Patio furniture was a hand-me-down from his grandparents too.
• Office desk is/was a wedding gift from my aunt, uncle, and cousins.
• Office chair is/was a hand-me-down from his parents.
• Office couch is/was a hand-me-down from his grandparents as well.
• Guest bedroom bed was my husband's college bed that his parents bought from Ikea.
• Throw rugs were the same ones we had in our apartment.
• Kitchen table was a hand-me-down from his aunt and uncle.
• Blinds were a housewarming gift from the in-laws.

We had everything else that we needed and waited a year or two before we added wood laminate flooring ($2200 a year later), paint and new fixtures ($430 a year later), lawn scaping ($150 a year and a half later), and a new Tempurpedic bed and wooden bedroom set ($6000 last year).

Wow...put like this, I really need to thank our family some more!  All of that would have easily have cost us at least an extra $6000 and that is only if I found great deals on the used stuff from Craigslist.  Thanks again to our generous family and friends!

Do you remember how much you spent the first year you owned your home?  Do you know how much you spend each year now?  Do you have any suggestions on how to keep costs down for the current and future-homeowners in our group? 

If I get enough tips together, I'll make it into another post and link to you too...bribery works, right?