Frugal Freedom

Digging For Dogs

2009-11-22T19:36:00.002-07:00

Christmas shopping went well today. The crowds weren't too bad. I hope I can get most other gifts online or at my Christmas destination because shopping takes up so much of my weekend. Next weekend I want to stay away from all stores. People in the checkout lines were already getting impatient. Grumpy crowds are no fun.

Back at home I tried digging the holes for my dog fence. I managed to dig about 10 inches and get 2 posts in. The holes under the tree are much easier to dig. The others are going to take a bit longer.

I filled them with water and 20 minutes later they were still full of water. I can dig about an inch every 20 minutes. Slow but I'll get there eventually. I have 4 more holes to dig, or more if my spacing is too wide. Next weekend I have 4 days off so I only need to dig one hole each day. Sounds easy to me!

Saturday Dog Chores

2009-11-21T20:54:00.005-07:00

I got up early and shuttled my foster dog to her new owner. I hope it works out. My dog is a chewer. She loves chewing the paneling off the mobile home walls and pulling out the insulation. Maybe the new owner has a brick house. The guy returned another dog to me who he had adopted from the rescue but didn't work out because of potty accidents in the house. I could have delivered the dog to the rescue lady but I decided to keep him around and see if he would fit in with my dogs. He is a very affectionate dog which is good except that my other foster dog is also very affectionate and they get jealous of each other. At least he hasn't peed in the house yet. He is very thin and I hope I can fatten him up a little. I seem to be good at that.

I took my other foster dog to the vet. He has 2 hernias that need to be fixed when he gets neutered. The vet also said that he is almost fat. Yep, I'm good at that. The soonest appointment I could get is 2 weeks from now because of Thanksgiving week. Everyone is closed or on vacation.

I came home and let the dogs run around in the temporary dog yard. They really like that. I attempted to dig holes for the posts for the dog fence. That didn't go very well. The deepest hole was maybe 6 inches after much digging and watering and digging. I noticed the neighbor digging a hole too so I went over to say hi. Turns out he was digging up some posts. His hole was about 2 feet deep and he still couldn't get the post out. I hope I don't have to dig that deep. It would take forever.

And in other news, my sister had a baby today! 3 days early. I'm sure she is glad that she doesn't have to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital.

Ready For The Weekend

2009-11-20T20:42:00.003-07:00

I was looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow but I got a call from someone who wants to see one of my foster dogs. The only time he could meet was at 9am, 30 minutes from here. So I get an extra hour of sleep assuming the dogs let me sleep that long. I'll take whatever I can get.

After the dog meeting I have to bring another dog to the vet and drop another dog off with the dog rescue lady. My Saturday is getting crowded with dog chores. I didn't have any plans anyway except Christmas shopping. Hopefully I can still fit that in.

I am so glad this week is over. I don't want to go back on Monday. It seemed like every time something went wrong I got another responsibility. I have so many new tasks now it will be impossible to do anything well. That's the most annoying thing about my job, there is no time to finish anything. It is good to know that I could survive if I quit my job though. That is one thing that keeps me from getting too stressed out. I don't need them, they need me. If I can't handle all of these new responsibilities then I can tell them that I can't do it. The worst they could do is fire me but I'd be fine. I'd have less money but more time to do the things I want to do.

My Trip To The Mexican Dentist

2009-11-19T19:39:00.004-07:00

I got up at 4am today to meet up with my carpool to Mexico. I'm sure glad I don't have to do that every morning. I went to work for a few hours and then someone gave me a ride to the dentist's office. It was a nice office, simple and neat. The receptionist didn't speak much English but all I had to do was put my name on the sign in sheet. None of that pesky paperwork or medical history that usually happens before a Dr. visit.

After 15 minutes of waiting, I was directed in to one of the 4 exam rooms. There was one other patient there, a lady from the US. The dentist spoke English very well and quickly looked at my teeth. He recommended a crown for the broken tooth but also said I had a cavity in another tooth. I asked him how long it would take to fill it and how much. 20 minutes and $60 later and my tooth had a new filling.

The office reminded me of the dentists that I went to as a child. The equipment was modern but basic. He was good at giving Novocaine shots, barely hurt at all and I watched to make sure he opened a sterile needle. It was the fastest filling I have ever had and I have had a lot of fillings. The only bad part is that I think it needs to be smoothed a little more but maybe that will wear off as I eat.

For a crown I will need to go back 2 more times. I could have stayed there and let them take impressions of my teeth. He said he could have the crown ready by Monday. The cost is $140 per visit, that's $280 total.

If I didn't have dental insurance then I would get the crown done in Mexico. $280 is a whole lot cheaper than $1,100. But since I do have dental insurance right now I am going to get it done in the states for $580 (after insurance). I decided that for 2 reasons. One, the convenience factor. It takes multiple trips and the dentist in the US is only 15 minutes from my house. If I need the tooth sanded down or adjusted in some way the dentist is right here. Two, I am assuming that the Mexico dentist gets his crowns the old-fashioned way from someone who makes them by hand. The US dentist uses the latest state of the art Cad-Cam machining process. I don't know which one lasts longer but since I have insurance and the means to pay for the latest technology right now, I will buy it.

I am glad I did this little exercise in comparison shopping. I probably won't have dental insurance forever and it is good to know that I have other options.

One Dentist Down, One To Go

2009-11-18T20:11:00.005-07:00

I don't like going to the dentist so why am I going to more than one? I suppose just to find out what a mysterious Mexican dentist is really like. I went to the dentist with the fancy office near my house today. He was nice and reminded me of my old dentist that I liked so much in Yuma. I got free x-rays with the coupon that they sent out in the mail. I didn't stick around for a cleaning because I was already very late for work by the time I had my estimate for my cracked tooth.

Lucky for me that tooth already had a root canal (no wonder it doesn't hurt) and it hasn't cracked below the gum line so I just need a crown. He said he could do a temporary filling for $100 but wouldn't guarantee that it would last. A proper crown will cost me $580 after my insurance pays it's part. I was pretty close with my guess of $600.

Tomorrow I will go to a Mexican dentist and see how much a crown costs. I'm not sure I will let them do the work. It depends on my impression of the office and the dentist.

So, worst case will cost me $580. I am tempted to get a temporary filling now and take my chances until next year when my mortgage is paid off and I have more money to spend. I still need to go back for a cleaning which is covered 100% by my insurance. Good thing is I have a dentist nearby that I like. Bad thing is I hate going to the dentist.

3 Days Til The Weekend

2009-11-17T19:55:00.003-07:00

Yes, I'm counting down to the weekend again. Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I don't plan on letting them do anything except take free x-rays (with a coupon) and give me an estimate. Then Thursday I have an appointment with a Mexican dentist and I can compare their recommendations and prices. I wish the tooth would just fall out for free. I'm sure I don't need that one, I have lots of other teeth.

Not much else happened today. Work was fun because I was in our Mexico office which means I don't have a computer so I can't do any mindless data entry. But I do get to annoy people and stand behind them while they work while making comments like "are you done yet?". Occasionally I learn a new Spanish word. Today's word was "muere" which means someone died. It was on the newspaper headlines and was referring to a flu related death. I also had pizza for lunch from a US pizza chain and it tasted the same but was a lot cheaper.

The day went by fast and that was good. I'm another day closer to the weekend.

The Dental Blues

2009-11-16T20:03:00.004-07:00

I didn't actually get in to see a dentist today. The receptionist told me that there was an 8am appointment but I didn't confirm. So I showed up at 8am and the dentist wasn't there. I made a real appointment for Wednesday afternoon then went across the street and tried that dentist. He wasn't in either, it was his day to be at his other office. I made an appointment there too just to get a second opinion.

One thing that I noticed for both dentists is that their offices are very elegant and state of the art. Of course that made me think that their fees are very expensive. I asked one of the people behind the counter about prices and he referred me to a brochure on the counter. It was for My Smile Discount Plan. For a little over $100 I can sign up and pay only $800 per crown, $500 for a root canal plus $100 here and $100 there for little things like anesthesia and tooth surface preparation. They also have a payment plan. Cash negotiations are not going to work with these dentists.

There is still a chance that my insurance will cover the majority of my bill (although I have never had insurance that covered the majority). Neither dentist office recognised my insurance but promised to look in to it by tomorrow. The initial consultation should be free with one dentist and $40 with the other but I will cancel with the second one if they don't accept my insurance. If my insurance doesn't pay for most of this then I am seriously considering going over the border to a Mexican dentist. I already have a couple of names.

No Progress

2009-11-15T20:48:00.004-07:00

Today I was going to spend all of my free time working on my dog fence. One attempt at ramming a fence post in to the rock-hard ground and I gave up. I need to either wait for it to rain or hire someone to do it for me. I could also dig holes, fill them with water, wait for it to soak in, dig some more, and repeat 10 times. I don't see that getting done in one weekend...5 weekends maybe.

So, I put up my temporary fence again and let the dogs run around. That was great until I decided to try and do some laundry in the garage while they were outside. One dog wanted to come with me and that was ok because he usually stays close by. This time he wandered in to some cholla cactus and I had to chase him around to get all of the needles out of his snout. The second dog wanted out too and figured out that if she pushed on the fence then she could flatten it and jump over. I chased her around too. There was a lot of dog chasing today.

I had enough dog chasing fun so I put them all back in their dog run. Soon after that the brown and white dog from yesterday showed up and my dogs barked like mad. Good thing they were locked up.

I wonder if that dog comes over every day when I'm not here and taunts my dogs.

This week is not starting off well because I had a hair dye mishap (the old shade did not blend well with the new color but I'm too tired to re-do it. Do you think the people at work would notice if I wore a hat?) and I have to go to the dentist and find out how much I have to pay to fix my tooth. At least I can look forward to a short week next week and a 4 day weekend. I just have to get through 5 more days of work before that.

Another Saturday

2009-11-14T20:40:00.006-07:00

Another Saturday has slipped through my fingers. I don't know what it is about weekends but they give me a headache. I woke up early this morning with a headache, fed the dogs and went back to bed. I awoke after 10am to my dogs barking wildly. Two strays, a pit/boxer mix and a sharpei mix were wandering around my property causing my dogs to go ballistic.

I went out to try and lure my dogs inside with some biscuits but my pit mix was ready for a fight and tried her best to get at those dogs. After watching the dogs try and kill each other through the chainlink it made me think that there is no way I can leave the dogs un-attended in the new fenced area I am planning to built. It is not going to be strong enough to keep two pit bulls away from each other. I'll do the best that I can do but people really need to keep their dogs in their own yards. I always worry that my pit mix will get out. Just like the stray brown and white dog, she is people friendly but very dog aggressive.

After that rude awakening, I headed out to run my errands. First stop was the used building supply place(just look at that lovely sea of toilets). I was hoping to find T-posts for my dog fence. I did find some but they were either too big, too small, too bent, or too rusty. The price wasn't much better than what I saw online for new ones so I went over to Lowe's. My Discover card send me a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at Lowe's. 10 posts plus the post driver totalled up to $60. Now I need to pound them in to the ground. I'm not looking forward to that part. Maybe I should wait for it to rain so the ground will be softer.

And for my last errand I ran in to Big Lots to buy a larger collar for one of my dogs. I bought ID tags for them all and noticed that her collar is too small already. I did find a collar but somehow I ended up buying these cookies too.

I love these cookies. When I was in Europe long ago for school I lived off these cookies whenever there was something unpalatable being served for dinner. Ahh, good memories.

Easy Go

2009-11-13T20:55:00.004-07:00

I was hoping to have $1,000 of the money from my temporary job to add to my mortgage payoff plan. That would have given me a nice cushion for next year. Well, at lunch today my tooth started bothering me. I thought I had something stuck between them. That wasn't the case. At 4:30 I realized that my tooth was actually cracked. 4:30 on a Friday is a very bad time to discover a major dental problem.

I haven't been to the dentist in almost 2 years. The dentist that I had in Yuma was great. Since I've been in Tucson I went to a new dentist but I didn't like her. I've been looking for a new dentist but it hasn't been a top priority. A few months ago a new office opened closer to my home so I called them but I didn't have time to check with my insurance to see how the billing will work. Hopefully I can make it through the weekend without cracking my tooth the rest of the way and then I'll stop by the new dentist on Monday morning for an estimate. It's gonna be a big bill. Even with insurance it cost me over $600 the last time I broke a tooth. That was 5 years ago. Oh well. At least I have the money available. It's not what I wanted to spend it on but I'll get my mortgage paid off eventually. It's just going to take a little longer.

One Box At A Time

2009-11-12T20:36:00.005-07:00

Instead of watching TV with the dogs tonight I decided to get one box of stuff together to give away. The dogs thought it was great fun to check out the things in the box and I even let them play keep away with a foam cell phone holder. It got destroyed but that's ok. It served it's purpose as a dog toy.

A lot of my stuff is for crafts. Paints, paper, art kits, colored pencils, sewing supplies. I don't want to get rid of all of it but there is no way that I need that much of everything. I don't even have space or time for crafts. Another large category is decorative items that came from my house. Fake flowers and foliage, picture frames and vases, so many things that I don't have a place for right now. The hardest category is childhood memorabilia. I have a lot. I'm not even going to try to sort that right now. I have plenty to do first.

All of this sorting takes up a lot of time. Shopping for and buying the stuff took time, moving the stuff took time, and now sorting through the stuff is taking more time. I need to be more vigilant in the future about bringing stuff home. I can think of many more fun things I would rather be doing with my time than sorting stuff.

Dreaming And Planning

2009-11-11T19:56:00.005-07:00

I've been amusing myself with mobile home remodeling plans. Even though I should have my mortgage paid off in a year (or a little more if things don't go as planned) I still need other goals and projects to keep me occupied. My living arrangement with me and the cat in the RV and the dogs in the mobile home is less than ideal. I really don't like having to go outside in the morning to feed the dogs and then having to go back to my RV in the dark every night.

So I drew up my plan for adding a room to the end of my mobile home. It would be a small bedroom (but after living in an RV, I'm used to small) and a small bathroom with basically a counter top for a kitchen.

The part in green is what I want to add. This area was the original kitchen before a previous owner tore out the cabinets and installed a plywood countertop along the back wall. The red items are things I need to buy such as a water heater and pump, air conditioner and heater.

The shower pan would need to be purchased also. Toilets and used sinks are very common on craig's list so I don't consider them a big purchase. I saw a shower pan at the Habitat store for $100 today. At Home Depot they are $124 and up. I wouldn't have any appliances that require 220V so I won't need an electrician to upgrade my electric system. Getting an electrician to come out and give me an affordable quote proved to be impossible last year. I tried 4 electricians and then gave up and changed my plans. I found a wall heater at Home Depot that uses only 400 watts for $130. Sounds promising and gets good reviews. Home Depot also has an instant hot water heater for $200 which plugs in to a normal outlet. An RV website sells water pumps for park models which run on 110V instead of the usual 12V for RVs. The window AC unit plugs in to a regular outlet as well as the washing machine and fridge. The only thing that I cannot have without involving an electrician is a clothes dryer. But then clothes racks don't require electricity so I have an alternative or I can walk over to my garage and use the dryer in there. I already have a 2 burner stovetop and a 110V roaster oven so I can bake cakes if I want to.

So, that's my latest plan. I even put the dog fence in the front. Hopefully I will get that set up this weekend. I want to do all of this for under $1,500 and be moved in before next summer. I definitely do not want to be running the air conditioner in the RV for the cat and another air conditioner in the mobile home for the dogs next summer like I did last summer. That adds $100/month to my electric bill easily. I want to add extra insulation to the room addition for both temperature regulation and noise dampening. I need a good night's sleep. No barking.

The reason that I want to add a room and bathroom instead of using the existing rooms and bathroom is that the floor under the bathtub has rotted out so it would need to be replaced. Also, since the dogs are living in that part of the mobile home it is easier to work on the opposite side. Plus, those 2 rooms are full of STUFF which I am working on clearing out. Having a bedroom on the farthest side from the dog run will be quieter too.

The biggest challenge will be installing the toilet. I might just go with a composting toilet of some kind. The septic pipe does run right underneath where the toilet will go but a regular toilet uses more water than my RV toilet which I use now. Since I rely on rainwater for all of my water except drinking water I have to conserve carefully. I could install an RV toilet but I would still need to use more water to help things move along towards the septic tank. I have thought about just using a camping toilet as a temporary solution. The rest of the wastewater from the sinks, shower, and laundry will go out to water the trees.

This is not my long term housing plan although it could be long term if it had to be. This is just my first step to get out of my RV without spending a lot of money or getting a new mortgage. Then I can save my money for my next residence, whatever that will be.

Odds And Ends

2009-11-10T20:23:00.004-07:00

The wind is starting up tonight. Every time it is windy and the RV starts shaking it reminds me that I want to get out of this RV soon. After work I go hang out with the dogs in the mobile home and I look around and try to picture it fixed up. Last night I found some white cardboard and nailed them to the ceiling to cover the holes where the water leak used to be. I ran out of cardboard so I used a white trash bag and duct tape for the last hole. I know, I know, the people at work like to tease me and call me a redneck and trailer trash. I don't care. It's not a permanent fix, I'm just trying to get a sense of how it would look if I put some time and money in to it. Not too much money. Just enough to make it comfortable.

Tonight I painted over the red wall where I had painted flames on the motorcycle tank for a friend. Then I hung a picture over a hole in the wall. I didn't take a picture because it doesn't look very good. I would put new panelling up if I was really going to fix it up. I think I will try to do one think to make it look nicer every night.

Tomorrow I should sort out my kitchen stuff and make a pile for the thrift store. Do I really need 2 microwaves? I never use any of that stuff because I have a whole other set of kitchen stuff in the RV. I still find it hard to get rid of things. There's the cast iron pan that my renters put in the dish washer (it rusted but I will fix it some day...), there's the marble cutting board left behind by the other tenants, there's my blender that I don't use because I don't have room for it in the RV (but I would use it in the mobile home! Mmm milkshakes), there's the dish set for 8 (am I ever going to have 8 people crammed in there? I don't think so), there's the back-up waffle maker (do I really need a back-up?), there are at least 2 dozen glass glasses (they are pretty but I use plastic for every day use). It's time to make some decisions and finally let some of these things move on to better homes where they will actually get used.

Smoke Detector Fun and "Hot" Showers

2009-11-09T18:18:00.005-07:00

Last weekend I went to my rental house to bring the new lease to my tenants. I went inside and she invited me to look around. While we were in the hallway I heard a "chirp", the tell-tale sound of a smoke detector with a dying battery. I stared at the smoke detector to make sure that was what it was. Of course, it didn't chirp but I heard another chirp from the living room. I went over there. Then I heard another chirp from one of the bedrooms. I asked her if they have been chirping long and she said that she hadn't noticed it. She thought the chirping was coming from one of her kids video games. These are smoke detectors which are hard wired to the electric system but they still have a battery back-up. So, as the responsible landlord, I ran to the store for some 9V batteries and bought 8 of them for $24 (ouch).

While at the hardware store, I heard the clerks talking about a hot water heater shower head that some customers had brought in. They had purchased it for $20 in Mexico (it was Italian made) and were buying electrical tape and an extension cord. I guess they are pretty common there. I am always interested in new ways to provide the basic comforts of life so I asked them about it and they let me look at it. All of the clerks were very leery of it saying it looked dangerous with the wires so close to the water supply. Later when I went home I looked it up on the internet and found this article about one man's experience with them. Sounds like they can be "shocking" sometimes.

I considered this self-heating shower head as an option if I add a bathroom in my mobile home but then I decided that the $200 point of use heater from Home depot would be more practical since I want hot water for a shower, and 2 sinks. Plus, I can just plug in the point of use heater and won't have to mess with any wiring or grounding issues. I still think the shower head is an interesting idea though. I love learning how other people tackle the same problems in other countries and come up with different ideas.

Anyway, after delivering the batteries, I was leaving my rental house and the neighbor asked me if I had any more houses for rent. That got me thinking about the house that is for sale two doors down. It is selling for the very low price of $89k. If I had the money it would be very tempting. As I drove home I was trying to think up ways to scrounge 30% for a down payment as is typically required for investment property. In reality, I don't like being a landlord because it is expensive and stressful at times. I certainly don't need another rental house. I looked the house up on the web and it said it was under contract so, whew, I can stop thinking about raiding my 401k or taking a home equity loan to buy another rental house. I want less stress in my life, not more!

Is It Over Already?

2009-11-08T20:20:00.004-07:00

I got so much done this weekend. I need a dozen more weekends so that I can make some real improvements around here. Of course, after a dozen weekends I would be broke but I think my life would be a little easier.

While at Home Depot looking at wire fencing, I got side tracked by insulation, panelling, an on-demand hot water heat that runs on 110V, all stuff I need if I am going to add a room in my mobile home. The prices weren't too bad. I don't have the money to work on my mobile home right now unless I borrow from the money I will get when I sell my RV next year. I really don't want to spend another summer in my RV so I am debating the merits of the project. People I talk to say not to bother, that I would be wasting my money and should just buy a replacement manufactured home or get a construction loan and build a house. I don't like the idea of getting another big loan so soon and even a used mobile home will cost me $20k and still need improvements like a water system. I think I can add a room to my existing mobile home very cheaply. The biggest problem that I see is that one of my dogs looks like she would like to eat cats for breakfast. But if that doggie gets adopted then that won't be a problem.

I did buy a big roll of fence wire today. I have been looking for it on craig's list but only saw one item for $150. I wasn't sure if that was a good price or not so I went to the store to look for myself. They had a 4'x100' roll of wire for $72. I bought it with my birthday gift card (thanks sister!) and managed to get it unrolled and temporarily secured a few minutes before the sun went down. I let the dogs out and they had a lot of fun running around the cactus. Next weekend I need to tie it down a little better since I have it propped up with a trash can and wired to 2 tree limbs, but it did it's job for 10 minutes of doggie playtime. If I buy another roll I might be able to fence all the way to my garage. It will be like my own doggie park.

Only 5 more days to go until another glorious weekend. I'm looking forward to it already.

Hoarding Rain

2009-11-07T20:12:00.004-07:00

Two weeks ago it rained just enough to make my car filthy. I had just paid $7 for a car wash which I do once or twice a year. I paid another $7 this week because I couldn't stand my dirty car anymore. It hasn't rained significantly in many weeks. They predict a wet winter because of our lack of summer rain but no sign of rain yet.

While scanning craig's list I saw a 275 gallon water tank for $50. These are used tanks from fertilizer or other things. Usually the guy sells them for $120, which is a good price anyway but $50 is phenomenal. The reason that it was $50 was because the metal cage was rusted and someone had cut a hole in the top. Since I will be using it to catch rainwater I need a hole in the top anyway. So I bought it and dragged it home. Eventually I want to add a gutter to my greenhouse and put this tank next to it. That project isn't a priority so for right now it will be another spare tank in case my primary collection tanks are full. Of course, if it doesn't rain soon then there will be no chance of reaching my maximum water capacity. I usually only have full tanks in August.

The water tank wasn't really a "need" but when a deal like that comes around it is hard to pass up. My total rainwater harvesting capacity is now 1,800 gallon. Who needs a well? Not me.

Weekend At Last

2009-11-06T19:45:00.002-07:00

I was talking to my boss about the company website this afternoon when I saw an email pop up on his screen. It was from me and said that I quit. I looked over at my desk and saw my jokester co-worker scampering away from my desk. Well, I said, it looks like I quit so I get to go home now. My boss was amused but said I couldn't quit. I said, that's right, you said I couldn't quit until you retire so when are you going to retire? He wouldn't give me a firm date but hinted that it will be around 5 years. I don't know if I can wait that long.

The weekend is here, finally, and part of me wants to sleep late, watch movies all day, eat a big bowl of ice cream and make all of my chores magically go away. I don't think that is going to happen. The dogs won't let me sleep in too late and I have a long to-do list. The weather will be great so I don't have any excuse not to get a lot done. But I don't mind the chores too much. Just having a day off after 5 weeks of work is wonderful in itself.

One More Day

2009-11-05T20:05:00.003-07:00

One more day until the weekend. It's so close. I can make it. I have so much planned for this weekend, like chores, shopping, rental duties, cleaning, etc.... Too bad it's not a 3 day weekend. If my mortgage was paid off I would have taken a day off without pay to catch up on things around the RV.

Someone came out to look at the dogs today. He really liked one of them...at least I think he did. Maybe he just said that so that he could get away from the crazy dog lady with the should-be-condemned mobile home. Right as he pulled up 2 of the dogs got in a big fight. All I could think was "don't hurt the face!". Luckily the dogs went back to acting cute when the visitor came in. He said he would come back on Saturday and bring his girlfriend. I really hope they adopt her. She is part cattle dog and needs room to run which I don't have. Well, I have the room I just don't have the boundaries yet.

Spending The Hard Earned Dollars

2009-11-04T19:56:00.004-07:00

I have been thinking about how to spend the money from my weekend job. Today I went one step further and wrote some things down. It's amazing how fast the money disappears. After I totalled up my budget last month I was $600 over budget. That included my $150 plane ticket and the $150 for gas because of the hour commute to the second job. I also spent $100 to stock up on dog toys and treats.

So, I will pay for all of that plus I want to set aside $400 for my state taxes. Our state taxes can be donated to the school of our choice instead of paid to the state so I like to do that. Then I decided to change my plane ticket so that I can visit my family for Christmas instead of Thanksgiving. I was going to go for Thanksgiving because I had to use the plane voucher by November. It cost $200 to change the ticket. I also hope to have $1,000 to go towards my mortgage. I'm not sure if I'll have that much but that is my goal.

So let's see, $600+$400+$200+$1,000= $2,200. I think I made close to $3,000. I want to do something with the rest of it that makes my life easier. I want to buy fencing so that the dogs can run and I don't have to worry about them running away. I want to pay the adoption fee for one of the dogs. I found out today that he will only cost $60 for me to adopt him since I am his foster mom. I should probably put at least $300 aside so that I can buy at least a netbook if my computer crashes. I would love to remodel half of the mobile home so that I can move out of the RV but I don't have enough for that. I have plenty of things on my wish list but not enough money to go around. Oh well, in a year I will be able to start funding all of the things on my wish list. It's only 12 months away.

Cranky Day

2009-11-03T21:03:00.003-07:00

My carpool wanted to get up an hour early to go to the medical lab to have blood taken for our new health insurance requirements. I should have said I would drive myself later but instead I decided to save a few bucks on gas and go along. I have been wanting that hour of sleep back all day long.

Then the phlebotomist picked a small vein and had to jab around to get my blood. Ouch. Have I mentioned that I really hate my health insurance? At least they did finally pay that outstanding bill for $690. I guess it's safe to go back to the doctor again.

After that I got a call from my weekend job saying that I had saved the files in the wrong format and they couldn't open them. Darn. I was in such a rush and I was using someone else's computer. I completely forgot that someone else might not have the same software. That job is going to haunt me I think.

It would have been lovely if I could have crawled back in to bed for an hour or two, or four. Friday can not get here fast enough.

October Mortgage Progress

2009-11-02T20:04:00.003-07:00

I know it's November already but my extra mortgage payment was delayed because my renters were late with the rent. I did make an online payment last Friday but it wasn't going to be processed until today so I am not sure I can make another online payment for November. I can only make one online payment a month. I can always go in to a branch and tell them to make a payment, it's just more trouble.

Anyway, I made an extra payment of $1,136 for October. It wasn't as much as I had planned because I didn't get the rent money until today but I will add that rent money to my November payment and it will all even out. I now owe $33,102. If I don't make any more extra payments the mortgage will be gone in 5 years and 3 months. If I stick with my mortgage payoff plan I will have it paid off in 1 year and 1 month.

My boss asked me today, so, how's your 5 year plan going? Is it down to three years yet? Um, well, it's down to 1 1/2 years I said. (I added a few months just in case I need more time). Then he said, and what will you do after that? I said, then I will decide what kind of home I am going to live in and get out of my home on wheels. He just went to the local home tour last weekend so he was full of suggestions on building materials and techniques.

And a different subject, what does it mean when your computer deletes all of your information? Is it trying to tell me something? You know how I mentioned a while back that it was making this sound like it was continuously running and the light was blinking rapidly? Well, it stopped doing that today. It also go rid of all of my files. It's like a brand new computer. No pictures, no music, no favorites. So that is why I don't have the usual house picture on this post. They are all gone. It's kind of creepy.

Is It Friday Yet?

2009-11-01T20:16:00.004-07:00

My weekend job is over and I can finally look forward to the weekend again. Only 5 days to go. One of the guys asked again if I would consider contract work if it was offered. I said that I had a year to go on my mortgage but I would definitely be interested once my mortgage was paid off. Actually, I decided that I would be interested in about 6 months. That would be close enough. The jobs usually run for 5 months so it wouldn't be much of a gamble. If I took a job now and I was laid off in 5 months then I would be stuck. I also let them know that weekend jobs and work-from-home opportunities are always appreciated.

Anyway, back to my mortgage, so the guy says why don't you double up on your mortgage payments and pay it off faster? Haha...he has no idea. I think I am quintupling my payments right now and trying to do more if I can. Paying it off in a year is the best I can do without winning the lottery.

Here Kitty Kitty

2009-10-31T19:53:00.003-07:00

I am so tired today. Evidently my nocturnal cat had decided that if she isn't sleeping at night then no one else should. I don't know what her problem is lately but if she keeps it up she might need to go play with the doggies (just kidding, sort of...I mean if one of the dogs wasn't so keen on killing all squeaker toys then my cat would be safe with the dogs. The other 2 dogs would not eat her.)

Only one day left of my weekend job. Then I can sit back and relax while the paychecks arrive for another 2 weeks. That paycheck lag is annoying at the beginning but I will enjoy receiving paychecks for a few more weeks after the job is over. Soon I can amuse myself by dividing the money up for all of my wants and needs. I think I have spent the money a dozen times in my head. The hour long commute gives me lots of time to think while watching for the highway patrol. I definitely do not need a $300 speeding ticket. That is not the way I want to spend my hard earned dollars.

Dog Gone It

2009-10-30T19:47:00.004-07:00

I managed to be organised enough this morning to get me and my dog to work today. I thought the big boss wouldn't be there but he was. Luckily he likes dogs. He brought his 2 dogs to work earlier this week.

Here is my buddy. He's a black and tan coonhound/collie mix. I feed him too much. With 3 dogs it is hard to regulate who get the food and he usually gets to it first. I haven't paid his adoption fee yet but once I get the money from my second job he will be mine.

He was pretty good at work today. He only barked a few times when he wanted more attention. Someone ordered pizza for lunch and he appreciated the crusts that were handed out. He was scared of going down the stairs but overcame his fear by noon.

Having my dog at work is great but I can't say it makes me more productive. I took him for a walk every 2 hours just in case. I didn't want any puddles. I can say that it made me a happier employee so if I am happy then I won't quit and they won't have to train someone new, so bringing my dog once in a while is a good thing, right?

Another Day Gone

2009-10-29T20:23:00.004-07:00

I worked a 10 hour day at my other job today. That 1 hour commute gets old really fast. Only 2 more days of it left, Sat. and Sun. Tomorrow I will work at my regular job. We were going to dress up in house coats and curlers for Halloween to annoy my boss but he decided to take an unexpected business trip out of town. A little too convenient I think. I wonder if he found out and couldn't stand to think about house coats in the office. :)

The weather has dipped in to the 30's at night. There's even a freeze warning tonight for some elevations. They say we will have a wet winter this year. We had a particularly dry summer which was unusual. I like wet as long as it isn't destructive rain. I don't want to be stranded if my road washes away.

The cold weather makes taking care of the dogs in the morning and evening a little bit harder. It is already annoying to get up when it is dark and get home when it is dark. My office doesn't have windows so I rarely see the sun any more. In the summer I wish for the winter because it is too hot. In the winter I wish for the summer so that I have some daylight. I'm never happy. Some day I'll have a job with a flexible schedule so I can add a little balance to my life.

Tomorrow I am going to bring one of my dogs to work. I decided that if I am not dressing up and the boss is out of the office then I might as well bring a dog. I hope he does ok. At least it will make the day more interesting and hopefully it will go by faster.