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Archive for May, 2006

Mondays plans

May 8th, 2006 at 03:40 pm

I'm off to pick up a dresser from Freecycle this AM.......it is supposed to be a "project" dresser the ad said. Just perfect for what I want. Freecycle; better than any mall in my opinion. If I was a gambler, this would be a great substitute for my vice...it is a gamble of sorts when I reply to a post; will I get it or not??? Hopefully, I can clean this piece up and haul it in to the antique booth as a display piece for my antique linen "dept". I have them scattered about now, but they look so much better sort of spilling out of drawers.

Since I have to go out for the dresser, it is automatically "errand day" also. A run through the bank and library are on the list.....and a hardware store to continue my quest for the little peg things to hold up shelves in a book shelf that somehow lots its pegs during the move. I need somewhere to store my books I have listed for sale online and the huge bookcase is still peg-less...no help at all organizing my stash.

Still need to do my customers order for this afternoon..........heading to that project right away. Usually keep things about a week, giving me time to work on them, but I'm leaving for 3 days this week, so crammed her in today. Being able to leave is such a different thing for me; haven't been able to do this for decades.

Lots on my list today; none of which gets done when I'm sitting here!!! Off to work!

Pay Day today & weighing decisions

May 8th, 2006 at 02:59 am

Down to just 2 boys now..........one leaves tomorrow night. As todays kiddo left, his dad & I got a moment to talk finances. I finally figured out what it is he is paying me per week end......and he gave me a check today. So, now I'm able to count on a specific amount from this $$ source when I am trying to make $$ IN match the $$ OUT. This is the kid I would love to have more than just 2 week ends a month.

Looking forward to getting paid tomorrow for my first sewing job. I've come across a couple of my yearly calendars I used to use for sewing appointments.....and I am reminded about how many people I could pack into a day. Sometimes I can't remember why I quit........but then one of the kids comes up for his 452nd "ug" (his word for hug) in the day......and I remember, I can't get much else done with these guys. Nor, could I have customers here with them....

I think I've decided on not re-fi-ing the house, to absorb the 2 cc's. They are at zero right now, so it seems rather stupid to do that just to make them not cross my desk monthly. I get pretty cranky with them as a constant reminder of a bunch of stupid business decisions with my sister. But, it would make me nuts to see the balance of my mortage go up too. Think I'll stay as-is on this one.

RE; the cable modem however........I'm leaning way to the dial up side on this decision. I can't think of a single good reason to pay through the nose for Comcast when I could get something for under $20 a month. I'm using moms dial up a couple week ends a month and it's not bad.....the money saved would be considerable, and that usually makes me like whatever the option is. Smile I plan to drop Netflix when my full time kiddo moves out too.... Added up, the bills I CAN lower or eliminate, will make a sizeable difference monthly.

I learned over the week end our local power co is going to be announcing in June, the details of a zero int, energy loan package again. If so, I'm going to jump on this one and get the heat pump replaced here. (found out the one here doesn't work at all, too old to repair, pronounced absolutely dead) I did this with the windows and insulation at the rental & it was a terrific deal. That will add to the electric bill, but the new renter is going to be paying half of it anyway, so it won't impact me directly.

Just reviewed the length of this post............I can tell I've been with kids all week end. No one to talk to!!!



working, cooking....working, cooking

May 7th, 2006 at 07:26 pm

That is it for this week end. With the 3 guys here this week end (all with special needs) it has been non stop cooking, then cleaning up and planning the next meal while still up to my elbows in the kitchen sink.

One leaves this afternoon, giving me a break....then I'm on the downhill side and it gets easier.

Found an almost done meal in the freezer; cooked, seasoned turkey taco mixture.....hamburger buns too.....which equals Turkey Taco Burgers for dinner. The kids are wow-ed. Doesn't take much imagination to float their boat!! Lunch is leftover spaghetti & meatballs with Italian Dunkers (toasted garlic butter hot dog buns!!) Can you tell I've found all the odd bits in the freezer for the week end??

I'm melting dipping chocolate now, going to dip a bag of pretzels for dessert.
Mixed up a quart of Cream of Whatever soup mix (I don't buy Cr. soups for recipes)
As long as I've got to be in the kitchen anyway, I'm going to make my time count. I've searched the freezer & pantry this week end and come up with quite a few meals & projects.......I always get a frugal shot in the arm when I do this, so it's good for me!

As soon as the meals for today are on auto pilot, I'm headed to the garage to do some re-claiming work. I had my sewing room pretty well functional.......but other peoples things have been encroaching.

Looking forward to Wed, Thurs & Fri.....heading to my moms again, for our ahead of schedule Mothers day visit. (I have to work next week end too) I'll be working on her house & yard, but she does all the cooking so I get a delightful break from the kitchen duty.

barn sale profits & other tidbits

May 6th, 2006 at 04:24 pm

Wow, I'm duly impressed. My housemate person made just over $600. at her barn sale here yesterday. Plus, has an 'after sale' this morning and again tomorrow. People had to go to the bank, as she decided not to take any checks. So, there will be more.........she is selling a washer/dryer this AM and a baseball card collection tomorrow AM.
She did a much better job of advertising this time, pretty much a steady stream of vehicles coming in. Over half however, didn't buy a thing. Not sure why.........perhaps because she had too much stuff & nothing was priced? She's not the type to tweak anything to increase profits, so I'm not going to make suggestions.

The homeless gentleman has moved on, however his truck & trailer are still in the driveway. Pretty sure he doesn't have permission to park it anywhere else at this point. His excuse, he needs a ride back here to pick it up. (he has 2 vehicles........could only drive one)

Groomed one of the horses yesterday, with my autistic kiddo. What fun. I get my horsey fix and actually get paid for it (albiet, a bit late....she paid yesterday for April) But, it has solved an entry on my lifes wish list.....Have a horse. I tweaked this a tad, and yes.........I "have" 4 horses in the pasture; BUT........I'm not the one paying for them, rounding them up when they get out, repairing the fencing, buying the feed, paying for the vet or the farrier........ This system is much better; definately feeling older & wiser than I was when I put Have a Horse on my list. (last known actual list here is from 1982..... there were over 100 entries on my list then, I'm doing pretty good chalking them off!)

Working hard this weekend, all 3 boys here full time. And, I just got an email from my teen helper person......he's not able to come. (his mom is the culprit this time!!) So, my autistic kiddo is on the edge, since this helper comes just to spend time with him. Drat & fooey. Anticipating a LONG day here.

Have my food all planned out, which makes life easier......looks like it is going to rain, which makes life harder (no one can/will go outside). It will be a no spend day; there is no way I would put these 3 in a vehicle and even go to the end of the road for the mail!

I've been racking up the freebies in the mail, seems like there is something fun every day. And, what's with the free cat food? I've been surprised by how much there is out there. (and my cats are looking quite satisfied too!) I haven't missed a day for ages in checking the list here....sending for all that would be appropriate for us.

I have received a couple emails from companies that had offered freebies, apologizing that they couldn't honor the request, do to their info being posted on freebie sites. Thinking on this lately. Not sure what my feelings are; I can understand the companies situations, but honestly it has been great to try out smaller sizes of things, as well as not have to pay for that. Will have to ponder this a bit more.

on line banking mess up

May 6th, 2006 at 12:07 am

I'm just too frustrated to type sensibly. I've been using bill payer services from my bank for years, and just switched to a new bank when I moved in Oct. All was working well, other than I had to become familiar with new processes, etc..........

But, within the last 2 weeks, I discovered 2 little utility payments had been taken out of my clients account that I'm payee on. I reversed those, and called the bank. They told me about a manual little deal I had to do when paying bills, that I had to choose which acct to pay from. (thought I hadn't had to do that before, but figured she must be right)

Well, today I was going to pay a bill, from my account, and discovered 2 more bills from my clients acct.........as well as 2 refused bills.......my house pymt and the mort on the rental house. Yikes!! That meant they hadn't been paid at all.

Called the mort. co..........got that resolved, paid by phone. Faxed them the print sheet from the bank with the mistaken business from the wrong acct.

Spent unknown minutes on hold today with cust. service at the bank....... Was told there were some bugs in the system (no kidding) and they had just done the re do of the website 2 weeks ago. (so, I wasn't imagining it when I hadn't been doing the choosing of which account)

Now, I've got the clients acct hidden, so it isn't going to be an issue. Will just have to go dig for his acct to balance his acct monthly.
Otherwise, I think I'm now up to speed.

But, gads..........what a pain in the neck.

"horse lady" just came in and paid for last month.......am heading out to help her groom horses so I'll have to talk with her about this months rent. Yuk, hate this.

Autistic kid hanging over my shoulder, I'm definately done here..........

and the work paid off

May 5th, 2006 at 08:53 pm

Success. Ta-Da.........and all that!!

I just came from the antique booth and I made money this month. After paying rent, and the taxes/fees........I cleared $100 and change. Made the bank deposit, along with 2 pay checks on the way home. And, mom called, her first gift payment has just been added to my account too.........so it looks the healthiest it has in ages! (my $20 challenge still isn't in the black, but it feels better than going further in the red!)

As usual, when something starts to pick up, I get more than a little jazzed. So, I'm setting up my painting area to get some of the assorted little tables done up and ready for the booth. Apparently, I can still sell any sort of little table affair.

I have made a conscious decision to drive 5 miles below the speed limit on a regular basis.......been reading blogs with the calculations of how much gas a few more mph adds on. I don't think I ticked off too many other drivers today.
I don't drive much, and I've never been a fast driver, so this isn't much of a change for me. But over a month, it can't hurt.

Other frugal things for the day:
remembered to turn off the water heater (getting easier)
cooked an ovens worth of bacon at once, should last over the week end
made up a huge batch of pancake mix, making some really cheap breakfasts
Have laundry on the clothesline

barn sale, drama, antiques & me

May 5th, 2006 at 04:12 pm

Going to be a busy day here at our little ranch. There is a huge one day sale planned here, (the attempt my 'room mate' is making at coming up with money to pay here way here). So, the place will be full of cars & extra folks all day.

I had to give my homeless gentleman notice to move out last night. He didn't take it well........started being almost nasty. Hopefully, this morning will cause him to look at my letter differently. I don't know if the sale today will diffuse his attitude or cause him to have an audience. Hoping for the former.

And, if all goes smoothly with #1 & #2, I have my van packed to head to my antique booth. Time to pay rent and see if anything actually sold last month.

So, I won't be making any money today, WILL be spending some for my booth rental and it will be a crazy day here no matter what. My occasional week end kiddo comes this week end too, so I'll have all 3 boys home the whole week end. Gads! This is definately my Monday!!

If I can scrape up any spare time today..........I need to head to the garage, where I have attempted to set up half of it as my sewing room. Funny thing with empty space.......Stuff multiplies, things crawl in on their own accord, and all sorts of odd items are now cozying up to my sewing area. I won't want to work out there if it isn't all cleaned up......

Found a couple needs

May 4th, 2006 at 10:22 pm

OK, after my first new client here, I found another expense item (or 2).
I will need the plastic film bags, like dry cleaners use.........as well as hangers. Forgot those in my planning here. Been awhile since I've done this, I won't need to have them all at once, but do need to add them, as it makes the finished product look nicer. There is a full length mirror somewhere here, so that is just needing to be found & hung, not a cash outlay.

Will search out the bags locally, as shipping would kill me, a roll of those weighs an absolute ton.

I forgot how much I really enjoy sewing for others. My first customer will be a forever customer. She really can't get her clothes to fit. Too small of a waist. Size 2 are too big, there aren't many 1's out there she says. She will be great advertising too, as she cuts hair in a local shop.....(guess where I'm going for my next hair cut?)

The job will take maybe 15 minutes, so 45 figuring the fitting and the pick up time......... And, the total will be $20.00 + tax. Priced low enough she will be able to return, and enough so I can see some income. If she starts sending me clients, I'll be happy to do her things for half. Cheap advertising!

Feeling very energized, which is good, I've got 10 minutes left til the bus drops off my kiddo. Have a 6 hour "shift" with him now........not nearly as much fun as sewing!!

New Business Starts Today

May 4th, 2006 at 03:37 pm

Feeling confidant my first customer will be here at the appointed time today....
I used to sew for a living, and am hopeful this will make up the difference between the part time income I will have and the monthly expenses it takes to stay in the current home here.

I love staying home, I like being creative and I am so spoiled about working when I want and how much I want....so this just might work. My only expense will be the continued advertising. Customers bring everything else. I do have a couple things I will need to do as appointments pick up. I didn't bring my full length mirrors (had them permently attached to the walls at the other house), so I will need to get something set up here. Also might need some signs once people get to my address, to direct them to the proper door.......... But, for now, I'm set.

The idea of not having my full time kiddo here is making me almost giddy with anticipation. He can use me up and wring me out in something like 10 minutes. Day after day of that level has me pretty much done in. Spending time in my sewing room, listening to music (of my choosing) and looking out the big picture window to the horse pastures and gardens sounds pretty close to heaven at this point. Gads, I can make money doing all that!!! Too fun!

paycheck week

May 3rd, 2006 at 07:35 pm

I've already called in the totals for the month, so May's check could be in the mail today. Next check comes this Friday, then the rental check on the 10th. Makes me love the first of the month!!

I do need to talk with the "horse lady" here. She didn't get her money in for boarding in April, and the May payment will be due by the 12th. I am horrible with this kind of thing. Not a huge amount of money, but at this stage of things here $125 a month would handle a bill of some sort.

Happy Dancing Here.......... Just answered the phone and it was my first appointment for alterations. Tomorrow!! The ad has been in 1 month now and I've finally got someone on the calendar! Since I love to sew and it costs me no money to do this it is a definate win, win for me. I'm getting way too excited for my own good here re; this. I remember how much money I used to make sewing .......It was always my travel money, I sewed my way to quite a few other countries~

My mom told me she was planning to deposit interest from one of her investment accounts into my account monthly. Amazing gift. I will continue to visit her every other week, staying over a few days each time, so I can earn my "gift". I would do it anyway, but now it is more of an arrangement.....at least to me. She is just glad I'm no longer going to be dealing with my kiddos meltdowns and the constant on edge feeling there is here at my home.

Had a talk with 'john', the formerly homeless gentleman, sharing my new retirement status here........he told me he would start providing me with rent for his space this month too. Not confident this will actually happen, but it was a nice thougtht.

Grateful I have so much.........grateful I have so many options to make this new stage in my life work. And, grateful for so many safety nets if all my plans don't work out. Feeling pretty blessed today.

the promise of a garden

May 2nd, 2006 at 06:38 pm

My first seeds put directly into the garden are up! I went away for 2 days and here they are...........same theory as a watched pot I think. I watched for sprouts daily and nothing. Left for 2 days and everything has popped up through the surface.

Lettuce in 2 big container gardens on the front porch sidewalk area.......looking great. Soon we will have salads on the cheap. Considering the seeds for the lettuce were under a dollar.....a very good value. I resisted planting the whole packet at once, my usual behavior.......and only put in 2 containers of greens. Will repeat in a couple weeks, for a longer period of fresh greens.

The tomato seedlings indoors are starting to look like plants, I'm going to purchase starts also, as I'm not confident these are going to be mature soon enough to produce much. Our growing season here in WA is pretty darned short. The squash seedlings are going to need planting within 2 weeks, this is new to me too........I've always bought starts for my veggie garden. Going the cheap to free route this year, I started my own from seeds I was going to toss into the compost pile. (feeling very frugal here)

And, my grass seed has also come up. Can't wait til all the patches are repaired......the lawn looks so bad with the big dirt patches.

Started the morning off with 2 loads of laundry hung outside, hot water tanks off, dinner just ready to be re heated.
A no spend day here......easy since I work here at home. Researching free or low cost online programs here, since working on moms dial up over the week end, I can't justify the cable modem here.... Way too spendy & nothing I do needs to happen faster.

a week end off.......unheard of

May 1st, 2006 at 02:56 pm

I've escaped to my moms again this week end. (getting better at this dial up bit here too!) Smile

She has been doing all the cooking, as she knows I hate it. When I'm working, it seems that is all I do. So, nice break here.

I did bring one of my week end kiddos with me, but he is a gem of a young man & loves coming to "grandmas". Plus he is alot of help. We worked outside most of the day yesterday & made great progress. It is fun to work in someone elses yard that actually has plants!!! Since the place has been a rental for 2 years, there is plenty to do. Even if the renter was a grandson, he just never got into taking care of anything. We designated an area to concentrate on and I think we're going to be able to finish that up this morning.... Nice to be able to help mom out too.

I've patched up the dings in her new walls.....she had things painted, then had the floors re finished. Will touch up all my spots prior to leaving today too. We can really see the difference our week end sessions have here... Nice.

Just gas to get here as money out this week end. And, the planned for free plants are ready to load up to take home. Nice bonus!

Hard to believe it is May already....time seems to be zooming by. I attempted to get my credit report today, following the Daily Tip...but the combination of dial up, and me not remembering I had an account apparently, left me without anything but a message saying I needed to pick a new log in name. So, I'll try that again when I get home. I know the credit report has errors on it this time, as I've heard about them from my mortgage folks. I have the OK for the re fi if I want to do it, and we had to get the credit report for that. So, I guess the goal needs to be .....get this stuff cleared up. It is the same stuff that came up last fall, I thought we had it taken care of then. Nope. Here it is again.

Other May goals:
1) Persist with advertising for new business....even tho it feels awful spending money & not bringing in any yet
2) continue advertising to rent space or a room
3) Tie room mate person up so she will sit down and meet with me re; household expenses & her share.
4) get the big veggie garden in and on it's way to providing much of our food through summer & on into fall.


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