New Pool, MS Home : Part II

Few months ago while down at the MS home, decided to drop in a pool with the new home.  I wrote about that decision here: New Pool:MS Home.  We wrote a check on the 13th of September to get on 'the list' hoping it would begin construction in Jan of '22 but ....  by mid October they were digging.  Here we are a month later and they poured concrete for the massive deck around it yesterday.  By January, this will be 100% complete.  That's when they were supposed to start!

What started off as a fair budget for a nice pool (20x40' with a deck), has taken on a life of it's own.  Added a wall on the back side with waterfalls.  Added a heater for the winter swims. Added electronics for Wi-Fi connectivity.  Added travertine tile for the deck.  Increased the size of the deck.  Adding a high end fence around 1/2 the property.  The list goes on and on.  Hell, I find myself thinking I should have made this thing at least 20% bigger.  Lets just say... the cost as I type this is literally 3x the base price of the pool at the starting point.  All self inflicted! God Help Me when we start getting the 'Polywood' pool furniture and gas fireplace/pits for this thing!  But to me .. it's all about quality of life.  Always been my my motto.  Now, I doubt we'd even get this pool had we not sold the Galveston Homes' earlier this year.  But, with the way that worked out, I'm all in here.  Heck, just finished last week upgrading the underneath of the MS home, that I'm still grinning about.  Again, Galveston enabled this.  This home to me is not an investment, just want to ... Live my version of the Dream.  

Well, now the concrete dries and we wait for a subcontractor to finish off the deck with the tile.  Somewhere along the line they will install all the pumps and heater and the final piece next month ... the plaster and it fills with water after that.   I'll have to put the yard back together but that sounds like a Spring project?   

Now the question is .... what's my gas bill going to be in the winter with all the water beckoning to be warmed up?