I got to spend a couple hours today, learning about the new part time job here. What fun it seems......at least at this point. Not many guidelines, and it doesn't seem like people have thought things through very well. I got more questions, when I asked a question..... No one really knows much, and I'm pretty much on my own. The only real rule is to stay inside my county.

Did my normal frugal stay at home stuff today:
remembered to turn water heater off
didn't even run the dishwasher
spun laundry twice & hung outside
served fruit and a salad from the garden

I am beginning to feel like an advertisment.
Each person I talk to, I'm trying to work a few little things into the conversations all the time. First......the room for rent here at my house, then the Frugal Gardening website I'm assisting with here at SavingAdvice, and then the new speaking engagement bit for the Foster Parent deal. Oh, and let's not forget I'm trying to let everyone I talk to know about my sewing business too. People are going to start heading the other way or not answering their phones when they see it's me!

Good thing I'm comfortable multi-tasking!

It's that age old question, "do I need this, or do I just want it?"

Since I started sewing again for others....and am trying to build up a little business here, my sewing machine situation has risen to a NEED. I thought I could limp along with what I had picked up through Craigs list, but it has become apparent, I can't.

I called around yesterday & found a local repair person that has agreed to work on my machines in one day, so I can get right back to work here. Nice. One only needs to be given a regular maint. check, as it is the antique Viking machine I got for $50.00. It hasn't sewed for years, & I'm having a time convincing it to come out of retirement! The other is my serger that I have so many arguments with. If they have a rebuilt serger I'll just pick up another one; if not, he can overhaul this old one again.

I know the purchase and repairs on both of these will fall into the catagory of Pays for Itself. I can get it to move to the Makes Money catagory too, without much work. Love expenses like this one actually.

Even tho I really WANT a new sewing machine (or 2 or 3) I know I don't need them. Continuing to baby the ones I have is the way to go, just like my old van. I do NEED the machines I have to work without a hitch however, so there is money to be spent this week. The plan is to have someone else take the machines in to the shop today with a long note from me........and then I'll pick them up tomorrow or Friday, depending on timing here.

I also made a decision to buy more compost. Fine line on this expense, Need or Want. Hmmmm I want to continue gardening, I want the house & yard to look nice.......... I have been picking up van loads of free plants & putting out the word I'll take more; but planting them is such a waste without great soil. And, I'm all out. So, this expense sort of shimmied over to the need column here too. A truckload of compost is being delivered tomorrow morning! (we'll smell like a dairy farm for awhile) I just wasn't willing to put all the work into the garden, without having great dirt to work with.

Both of these Needs/Wants, Wants/Needs are going to end up being helpful to the bottom line here. I think that is the criteria for me; when looking at the long haul, is the expense going to pay off? Coupled with some serious shopping tactics, I can pay both of these bills this week, knowing they were both good decisions.

Wow, what an amazing day here. First & foremost, my kiddo is out of the house, not to return til after dinner. Very relaxing.

2nd: I've just put another van's worth of freecycle plants in the gound. Pooped, but I can't wait to see these take hold and transform a flat, plain space into a jungle of plants.

And.........I just got an email from the person I'll be working with on the new part time job... Nope, switch the words there...the person I'm already working with. They are paying me since June 10th, they said. What?? I didn't even know I was working! I just got my confirmation to the website, so I can access the data base and get going. Got a schedule of meetings I will need to pick & choose....getting myself to at least 2 a month. Woo-hoo. I'm off and running here. Now, I just need to locate, schedule and speak at a meeting a month touting my dog & pony show of Foster Parenting to one and all throughout the county.

If that weren't enough; I did have a new sewing customer today too.....and he will be a regular. I can always tell when someone HAS to use me. This man is so tiny, all his clothes will need to be adjusted to fit. Too bad for him, but regular $$ for me. Thank goodness he told me to call him when his order was finished. My plate is getting a little full this week.

Can't decide what job to do tonight!
Better get busy with something however, my free time is almost over for the day; and then I'll be back to work at my full time job.

Seriously cutting expenses here. I thought we had done that already, then some more.....and again and again. But, here we go again, cutting out the unnecessary.

Today's change......Netflix bites the dust. We haven't even noticed not watching. Forgot there were 3 movies here. So, off they go, along with an email to cancel membership.

Did just pay for annual AAA membership for myself (housemate person paid her half this time for the first time!) This is one I won't cut ......hopefully, won't have to. I've saved the cost of membership each year, and since we drive older vehicles and don't do any of the maint. ourselves......this is a good value IMO.

Checked Paypal account, should be a deposit soon from a product testing event that I just finished. Think this one is $15.00
Also finished up a product test this AM on email, another $6.00. Love these.....gives me something to do and think about other than caring for the kiddo here. And, I get paid for it. And, someone out there thinks I can still think! That's the amazing part!

The influx of boys starts again this afternoon.........all 3 here this week end. I'll be lashing myself to the kitchen and cooking/cleaning/cooking/cleaning for the next 3 days. I'm looking forward to this after the full time kiddo leaves, he is just way too complicated to then add the other 2 in to the mix and hope I have brain cells by Monday. This should be the last time I have all 3 at once. Praise God!

Time to go get busy in the kitchen....with a quick detour to the freezer to haul out supplies. Thank goodness for well stocked freezers & pantries!!!

I've had kids living with me for the last 33 years.......and today is the last day I'll have to set my schedule to match the school bus. Can't think of a celebration big enough!!!
For the last decade, I've had special ed kiddos, so I needed to be outside to put the kids on the bus, as well as in the driveway when it pulled up in the afternoon, to receive the kids. I'll bet I have spent more time on or near my front porch than most of you!!

As I logged in to my email this AM, I found another book had sold at Half.com. That finishes off a series of books I had posted. I'll have to take it to the post office today, as the schedule is going to be unpredictable until my kiddo moves, now that school is out.

Got a phone call too this AM, one of those congrats types, I have won a stereo system & a week end at my choice of 4 resorts....IF I listen to a presentation on the resorts. Since I don't have to go more than 10 miles for the thing, or spend more than 2 hours and since I know I won't buy anything, I set up an appointment. After July, I could actually go away for the 4 days they are offering.......

Got 2 more pre survey questionaires this AM......says they will contact me if I'm chosen for the product eval, as well as a paid survey. Would be nice if these come to pass.

This month will be packed with dozens of transitions for me. As I phase out of my job, which I've been doing for the last 33 years, things are coming up on a daily basis. I realized I've only got today and tomorrow to get up at the crack of dawn to get someone on a school bus......Pretty sure that habit is formed & I will still be an early riser, but to not HAVE to be linked to a bus schedule is going to be huge.

I've got my last full paycheck here on the desk today; one more partial check due the first week of July. I think I can get the income back up to speed as well as be able to cut costs since I won't be maintaining a license here & dealing with all the requirements that involves. As I pay bills this month, there are several that are for "the last time".

Transitioning leads to reflection, which isn't a bad thing. Pondering where I've ended up after working in social services for 3 decades.....not exactly rolling in cash here, but I do feel good about what I've accomplished.

The upcoming decades however, I think I'm going to practice some selfish behaviors and see that I'm a little higher on my infamous TO DO list here. After attending a retirement seminar this week, I've got plenty of new inspiration to get my assets beefed up before I'm too old to be able/or want to work. Best get to crackin'!

After 4 days at my moms, I'm rejuvinated & ready to put in some work here at my house. Her place is looking good, but mine looks like I've been on a vacation!

I came home to find my $50. G/C for Amazon in the mail.......Nice!.......as well as finding out I couldn't get online. Worked with Comcast & for the first time, they were really nice. Could have something to do with the fact the difficulties were theirs this time.....they had done some upgrades & since I have their phone service too, they couldn't automatically re set my modem without me being here. Anyway, obviously, we're back up and running.
During the same Comcast call, I found out my mom can switch to comcast phone......saving her about $20. a month and saving me $17 that I pay for her to have long distance each month. Again, a nice surprise. She'll handle the switch next week, so both of us will be getting a little break on her phone bill.

3rd surprise upon coming home was finding out my autistic kiddo is expected at the train station Sat AM for another camping trip. Was I free to take him to the train??? E-Gads, Yes. So, another couple days with him gone. I'm winding down with him, but still don't have a day for him to move out.

No news about our families new little baby, and I'm not calling their house in case anyone is getting a chance to nap. I figure they'll keep me in the loop if anything is new news. Heading up to see the little guy as soon as I'm fancy free in July.

Also in todays mail, the assessors office paperwork on the real estate values. Each piece has gone up in value approx $100,000. Not sure what numbers I should be using for the net worth, but if it's these........it just went UP!!!

Off to the gardens here.......they are looking unkept.

Found yet another benefit here....... I needed another book of checks in my checkbook, after writing the last one Wed. When I got the next book out, it had the familiar Reorder Form on the top. From habit, I dropped this into my bill folder here on my desk.......thinking I would handle it when I paid bills the next time.

But, I took it right back out when I realized the 2 books of checks I have left will last me 10 more months at the rate I'm writing checks. Needless to say, I tossed the re order form, making a note in my daytimer WAY down the road to look into some more checks.

When I meet with the financial advisor at the bank next month, I'll ask about free checks, can't remember if I've seen that offered at the new bank or not.

I've always had a thing for my checks, it is hooked to my addiction to stationary and writing utensils I believe. But, since I only write 4-5 checks a month now, I think I can drop the special checks. Just as long as I have my duplicate copy, I'll be happy.

So, with the obvious savings on postage and time........fewer checks are also going to end up giving me more money IN the account.

After spending time listing my assets & liabilities.........and knowing I needed to list the CC balances, I've come to a conclusion.

Since I've got the cc's on zero interest for now.......I'll not be racing to pay them off. Duh, I wonder what sized timber needed to hit me over the head for this decision? (for those of you shaking your heads here, try- just try living with an autistic young man for the last 4 years and see if you remember your own name???)

I do have the funds to pay off the cards, but I'll be happy to leave them in an interest bearing account until the cards need to be paid off. Until then, I'll make the minimum payment on both cards that absorbed the debt from the business/sister situation last year.

The personal cc will continue to get paid off each month. I'm still hassling over the 4 identical charges, on the same day last month.......that aren't mine. The company couldn't find the charge either, but so far, they haven't cried 'error' either. The 4 charges total a tad over $100 so I'm not giving up. I did get the trial membership charges taken off, as I had cancelled these within the 30 days. (note to self....don't do these again, at least until life here has settled down)

So, the decisions re cc's include:
-leave the big balances where they are, until the last minute, then pay them off.
-this leaves the cash in my accounts until the last minute......working at adding up interest income.
-keep a close eye on the personal cc account statements, not filing them until I have reviewed each line item.
-realized I am not a cc spender, I can actually make money with this situation.

Since I'm headed in to my bank for a complementary meeting with the financial advisor ............I thought I should review my assets/liabilities so it sounds like I know something when I go in.

I started last night and got totally waylaid with the miriad of online banking accounts. Checked in with all of them, as well as the Paypal and Sharebuilder accounts and came away miffed that ING has such poopy interest rates compared to the others. Of course, ING is where I've got the most money as well as the auto deposit. So, I made some changes.

I finished the asset info and then moved on to liabilities. Found some glitches in this area too, with the recent bill for my personal cc. Gads, what a mess. I am still being billed for a couple of the trial offers I have already cancelled. I couldn't work on them, as the whole world was closed by the time I got to this project. Will do that this AM. Also found 4 charges that aren't mine, added that number to the TO DO list for today. And, in the process of working on this one bill........found a late charge. GASP. I don't do late charges. First off, checked the online bill payer history and sure enough, the amount was there, but AGAIN, the bank had tried to put it through to my kiddos social security account (also in my name). Called the cc customer service dept & explained my saga, got the late fee waived, paid the balance of the account and felt like I had done enough for one night.

Today, I will continue working on getting charges reversed on this cc, which will give me a credit for the upcoming month. I use this card for some ongoing bills like Netflix, etc. So, nothing goes on here that isn't already in the Master Plan for the household.

I will also finish up the Income section of this overhaul, so I don't sound so lame when the Bank Person asks me my monthly income. Not sure she would think my faith based system here would hold water!!

Bottom line on my situation.........
~ I'm pleased with my emergency fund, it could handle a disaster sized emergency.
~ My investments are fairly diverse, feel like they are almost balanced, but am looking forward to having them reviewed.
~ Income needs to be beefed up. Will do this as I get closer to July 1st, when my time consuming kiddo moves out.
~ I need to schedule regular times to review the online banking accounts, or combine them, or something different. I put money in and forgot them. Not sure this is in my best interest.

Looking back through the paperwork for May, as I noted, I wrote very few checks and kept the receipts for all cash purchases. Neither brought any surprises. This month I don't think I can do any better, I will still have to pay the few bills with checks as they aren't set up to do bill payer. I will most likely spend even less with the cash, as I won't be able to go anywhere pretty darned soon.

My kiddo was supposed to go to school until the 15th (which would give me free time during the day).....but as of today, it looks like a week from today will be his last day. Can't figure out a school district that can't come up with a difinitive Last Day. Drat! Anyway, this will put me at home with him, until he moves. His mom is actively looking for his next home......but has rejected them so far (as has my kiddo). Don't tell anyone, but he's spoiled! Been here with me for 4 years.....prior to that with his mom; so it is going to be a tough sell no matter what.

I asked the housemate person for summer shoes for me.......and by this afternoon, here they were. From one of her auctions....a new pair of Birkenstok sandles. Nice. Absolutely WAY better than what I was going to buy for myself. And, FREE....my favorite word.
So, one more thing off my list here.

For June, I'm going to continue sewing for a few customers, hoping to fit them in between autistic events here with the kiddo home. And, I'll try to pack anything he will let me, so he will be ready to move. Last time, he wouldn't allow any packing to be done until the truck was in the driveway, so not feeling very optomistic on this one.

I'll have my sewing ad all ready paid for in the paper to the north of me....don't want to start that until July, as I wouldn't be able to keep up until I've got my days to myself here...but, I'll be ready for it to come out the first issue in July.

New customer coming tomorrow morning. Big job........actually easy, but big money is more accurate. She can't buy what she wants in ready made, and she needs this garment.......Glad to oblige and relieve her of some of her money!

Finished my reviews for InsiderPages and got my confirmation already (same day) of the $50.00 g/c for Amazon.com. Will watch MyPoints for any offers through Amazon and see if I can start putting together gifts for Christmas & birthdays this year.

I've added another "job" to my list here. I'm taking some items from the housemates auction stash and listing them on Craigs list. Been more than busy answering emails and showing the 'merchandise' to buyers. And, taking money!!! The best part.
No shortage of stuff to sell here; that is a good thing!

For the first time in my life, I've kept receipts for everything I've purchased this month. Also kept a tight rein on the checks written....

Paid the normal bills online, and wrote 5 checks for the month of May. Spent a total of $792.98 between checks and cash expenditures for the month. (the largest bill is the housekeeping, which I pay for my moms too) So, not bad at all. Didn't have any receipts for things that didn't have a purpose, nothing I couldn't account for.

I did learn that I need to close off the file of receipts each month, I have been tossing them in a folder on my desk for the last 4 months, and that wasn't the easiest method. I don't think I need to repeat this exercise, as there isn't any out of control spending, nor money disappearing, etc. My receipts should just go in the to be filed section, and put in the proper places during the month. It was nice to know that my 'feeling' about what I was spending, was right on.

I'll still continue to pay bills online, as that is one of my favorite things this computer does for me. I'll write fewer and fewer checks each month, as I add regular bills to the online account. And, I'll continue to cash one of my smaller paychecks each month, using that money as cash in my pocket. I always have most of it left by the end of the month........and either make a deposit with the extra or choose to not cash the next check.

I paid bills today, giving another payment to the 2 zero interest CC accounts. The balance was just over 10,000 when I started with the two (nasty leftover business/sister situation)............and todays total for the 2 cards is $8663.17 I am making progress! With the huge cut in my income this summer....I'm not going to see major changes in this total, it will still be going down, but not by much each month. Frustrates me to have something so negative hanging around....but, I see no other way.

Surprised myself and actually did some on line shopping today. Thought it was a no spend day, but had time to put one of those deals together so many here have talked about.

Used My Points to get books from Barnes & Noble, also paid for the memb. bit from there.........and cashed in my g/c I had redeemed from my points for B & N. Managed to find what I needed to get shipped, went just over the total necessary for free shipping and I think it is going to work. Shipping books to an incarcerated person, I can't ever ship things that aren't new, must come from the company, etc, etc. I was determined not to spend any more than I had to, and now I've got more points to redeem another g/c........so I think it is almost going to be a wash. Amazed myself that I got this accomplished. We'll see if it all goes to where it needs to go....I haven't been too successful in the past.

Down to 2 kids this evening, feels like a vacation!

Had a drop in visitor, another person who is willing to rent space from me & live on the back 40. We're meeting again tomorrow when I don't have 3 boys milling around asking me a thousand questions.

All my little ventures might add up to enough income to make this new retirement "plan" of mine work. (thank you to all of you who have given me encouragement to just keep waiting for the windows to open here)

The "plan" as it looks from here:
-have current house mate pay more than her share for the first time in decades so I'm not really paying for housing.
-new housemate paying rent starting 7/1
-monthly rent from parking boat
-1/2 the power bill paid from "Navy" person staying on the property
-monthly income from 2 part time clients here on week ends
-monthly income from antique booth
-monthly income from boarding the 4 horses
-brand new income from sewing customers (have no recent numbers from this, but I was always able to make as much as I wanted when I did it before.)

So, with all these taken into account, I'm only using the figures I know.....I'm less than $100 off what I will be giving up in income as of July 1st. Not bad. I just need to come up with a little more sophisiticated accounting system here, so I can keep track of who has paid what!!

Feeling quite positive tonight! Grateful I have a piece of property I can MAKE money from, as well as some talents I can get paid for.

And, just to put the whole thing over the top, the whopping 1 book sale a month from Half.com!!!!

I'm limping along here........haven't attempted to put my foot with the broken toe into a shoe yet, so still shuffling along in slippers.

Still all 3 boys today......it is looking like a LONG day to me. One of the boys is just out of sorts, started right off at 5AM-ish being horrible. I've tried almost all the distractions I can come up with, getting tired of creating new and amazing things to re direct him with.

We've been blessed with a terrific woman to share the house as soon as our full time kiddo moves out. I'm excited to see how the changes affect the household.

I notice things all the time that will be different for me & really can't imagine the huge sigh of relief that will come with this big change. No more walking on eggs.......no more horribly loud "singing", no more food/meal oddities to deal with. I can't see July 1st coming fast enough!

Discovered yesterday, our cable TV is all out of whack. At least, it is for me. I'm expecting the repair person today, to tell me it is something stupid that I did or didn't do. Honestly, I'm so short on brain cells, nothing would surprise me. My TV is acting like it isn't hooked up to cable, the main TV in the rec room doesn't pay any attention to what channel you select, it is just random but, fortunately the autistic kiddos TV seems to be working just fine....(thank you Jesus!!!)

It's housekeeper day today...... Love Wednesdays! Laundrys' on the line, dinners in the crock pot, gardens watered already & it's only 9-ish. I do get more done with the plain old cleaning chores farmed out.

Spending today...........but for things for the garden & a few more supplies for the chicken coop. So, technically, food budget I guess.....in the long run. Will be taking my autistic kiddo with me, so no chance I'm over spending, or straying from the list. He is "keeper of the list" when he goes with me, so we REALLY stay on task. Hoping to bring home a van full of veggie starts, things that work better here in zone 8 to have a bit of a head start. Also going to get more salad greens, so I can continue to plant another container each week, hoping to stretch out my almost free salad makings.

Taking library books back on the same swing through town.......skipping any new ones, as I'm all out of time to read since the garden is now in. Will keep my 'wish list' going at my library's website, just not ordering any of them until things slow down a bit.

In my quest to continue lowering my monthly bills; I have 10 I pay monthly. Out of those, I pay 9 online....so it feels as thrifty as possible right now. There will be some changes made as we get to July, but for now, all of them have been critiqued, questioned, combined, zero interest-ed (like that word?) and looked at through a microscope.
There are 6 bills paid on an annual basis, or semi annual.....none of which I can cut or lower at this point. (I tried) All of these are paid on line.

Aiming to stay cool here .........supposed to hit 80 again today. Unheard of in western WA this time of year. No a/c here either, just getting very skilled at which windows to open at which time of day.

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

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.

Depending on the circumstances here....and those can change minute to minute due to having an autistic kiddo here, I've filled in the blank with all sorts of words and feelings.

I can think change is a great thing, exciting new possibilities ahead

And, I can think this was a really stupid move, to retire before I had my act together (but, would I get it more together???)

The number of decisions seems to be immense, should I try to stay here, cutting expenses to close to nothing?, should I keep looking for another job?, should I bunch the whole affair and move in with my mom (who has graciously offered) Too many things to concentrate on and still deal with day to day life here.

So, the plan for today is:
1) place the new ad in the local paper TODAY, paying for it month by month
2) I asked for placement in a local church newsletter today, most likely, I'll advertise there too
3) placing ads on Craigs list daily, room for rent, RV parking available, and this dumb fridge I'm still trying to sell.
4) cutting back on things I can, although I need to keep many of the services until my kiddo moves. Then, I can cancel lots of things......

It looks to me like I'm deciding to try this here.........but I'm not willing to use up my savings to stay here, so......
We'll see how things look by the time the paychecks end the first week in July. Then, if I've got additional income I'll give this a shot for 3 months at a time..........

No matter what happens after my guy leaves here in June, I know I will heave a huge sigh of relief. Yesterday was a trial every time I turned around (spring break here, so he's home until Monday).
Not living life at the brink of a crisis will be amazing! We've been at this level now.....for 4 years!!!

DAILY $$ TRACKING: No spend day, cooked a huge turkey roast yesterday, so meals are a snap for a few days. Pantry & freezer holding up well.

For those who are tracking the daily
FARM NEWS: The neighbors' cow is still down, their vet just visited again, the calf is getting fed by it's human mommy.
I did get to talk to the neighbors over the fence.....asked for a phone number, they told me they would have to do that.
(not feeling optomistic on this one)

OK, here's another life lesson for me. I had my visual last week about the snowball theory & paying down cc debt.......and just in case I wasn't a true believer about the emergency fund idea.......I've got a mysterious difficulty that involves plumbing AND electricity!!!! (which translates to $$$ and more $$$)

I've been trying to get our hot water tank #2 to give us 120 degree water for our inspection tomorrow, and I've got it down to 140 now. Still not passing. I have a plumber called, we're "on his list", not sure what that means, but I'm assuming he won't be here in time for all to be fixed for the inspection. I tried his suggestion of flipping the circuit breaker to the tank, but we've still got 140 at the faucets. Obviously, the thermostats on the tank are KaFlooie!

Last night, I discovered the power is out to a corner of the house. Flipped the switch on the elec. panel, thinking the water tank was wired with the bedroom/bathroom........but no. So, we are fine in the daytime, (thank goodness the inspector is coming at 9AM) but night time is "just like camping" according to my autistic kiddo.

Have an electrician called too. I'm just waiting for the preverbial 3rd thing to go wrong here! I'm grateful I've subscribed to the emergency fund for years, and have money stashed to get both of these pesky problems handled. Was even thinking about getting one of the new water heaters, the on demand deals. I've heard they are more spendy at first, but save down the road..........will look into that. But, if i'm just needing a thermostat, will just replace and put the money towards whatever re wiring or re do the circuit breakers....no idea what is wrong there. Just terribly coincidental that I was flipping switches yesterday and then poof, out the power goes to that same corner of the house.

Another thank you this AM......I appreciate the tips, thoughts and experiences of the rest of the list here. I have happy feet this morning; I took a tip from someone & bought boys socks. I've been buying mens socks for years so they last longer, but the fit was terrible. Duh! Boys socks!! My feet are thrilled! Thanks to those of you who mentioned this tip. During my days this week, I'm trying to be mindful of the things I do differently, habits that have changed, as well as things I do without. Just since joining in January of this year, I can really see/feel a difference in my daily routines here. Thanks much!!

Finally totalled up the costs here at the new house;

mortgage: 1449.
taxes: 170.
insurance; 62.
electricity: 150.
cleaning; 300.
cable/phone/net 166.
netflix 20.

For a total of 2,317.

I've taken the huge bills (taxes especially) and divided them up so I can be putting money aside monthly.

The income is a tad variable, so I'm using the lowest number I've received since starting this new position in Oct 05
Income monthly: 6,565.

Even with my poor math skills, I can see my way clear to fund the IRA, as well as the other financial goals here. In addition, I will be able to continue making improvements on this place, increasing its' value during my stint as owner.

As I was writing this, the FAX came in with the first bid for the bedroom remodel. Just the labor is 29,000. Yikes. Numbers are funny to me, I can't ever get a good "read" on them. I have this much put away for the project, but I was blown away to see the actual number on the bid. And, since this is labor only, the cost of the fixtures, windows, etc are going to put the number quite a bit higher. I'm insanely jealous of those of you who can do this work on your own. I'm doing as much of this as I can, handling most of the demo and then doing all the painting and making my own window coverings, bedding, etc. I am waiting on another bid, but I expect it to be much higher than this one. Having trouble getting companies to bid this, remodel, small, don't know what the difficulty is. Makes me go off on another tangent; I can't stand to hear of people not being able to work, and I can't find someone TO work. Doesn't seem to make sense.

I did round up my receipts from the last couple days & have a simple filing system here set up. Hoping to keep track of monthly cash expenses.......the uncategorized stuff that I've never tracked.

Returning socks I bought.........not the right kind. I will be getting others, so the dollars should stay even. Then, off to pick up my plants from the annual county conservation plant sale. A great cheap way to add to my yard. Also getting the rain barrel "kit" to hook up to a downspout so I've got water in case the pump is out. All these have been paid for months ago, so no added money out today.

Enough rambling.......I can really tell I have no adults to talk with here at my house. The autistic ramblings around me tend to make me use this journal to get my thoughts collected. Congratulations to any of you who made it all the way to the end!!!

I've enjoyed the focus on finances and see many areas of progress here with the most apparent being my heightened awareness of all things related to money, budget, spending and such.
Steps taken this month include;
1) followed all daily challenges, with just the on line bank accounts waiting. Even checked out car insurance, can't find any cheaper quotes, so 10 points for already finding a good deal on this.
2) did my own home energy audit here, since our county charges $90.00 for it. Purchased the foam to insulate the outside wall outlets & switch plates today. Other items that fell in this area include a new front door & weatherstripping, new fridge, new dishwasher & wood stove. Turned down water heaters.
3) Changed out most of the light bulbs, got 2 outdoor floods today & will switch those as soon as I can locate the ladder.
4) Have added many small things in as habits this month; unplugging everything that can be, running everything on FULL, air drying the dishwasher, opening the closet where the hot water heater is; taking advantage of the heat from there.
5) Taken all extra weight out of the van
6) Ordered business cards to start up my sewing business again. Advertised knitting classes on line as well as the sewing.
7) Cancelled garbage service & will be doing a monthly dump run in addition to recycling the waste here.

I always thought I was squeezing all I could from a dollar, but after this month.......my eyes are wide open! Can't imagine where I'll be this time next year.