sigh . . .

I'm sitting here watching Russell-of-the-
pornographic-tongue lick the remnants from
a jar of peanut butter. Next to him in my
second dog crate, lies my redbone napping.
The collie mix and the pyrenees rule my back
fences.

My American Eskimo has his own pen, he doesn't
like my other dogs. Buddy the doomer dawg
sleeps in a catbox turned dog house on my
front porch.

And now a seventh dog has been dumped. It's
a girl, cowering and shivering and begging
for scraps of food and love.

Sheesh. Why can't folks take care of their own
problems instead of bringing them to my door?
I can barely afford to feed my own, let alone
take on anymore.

Seriously.

~M

Fixing the leaks . . .

Now that my leaky roof is a fading memory, I am
turning my attention to my budget. I am reconnecting
with my inner financial geek.


OOOOooooooohhhhmmmmmm . . .

I switched satellite tv providers to save $15 per month.
I pleaded with the propane company to put me on a payment
plan to avoid paying $5 per month in interest charges.

I am watching my bottom line like a hawk. I have cut my
Christmas budget by 1/3rd for the kids and cut it to the
bone for everyone else.

We eat in alot. We cart leftovers to work, to each others'
homes, etc.

I share and get a lot of ideas for free or nearly free
fun stuff to do in and around my area with the work chicks.

I let folks know that I'd love to be the recipient of
their unwanted stuff. Several girlfriends cleaned out their
closets. My boyfriend loaned me a couch. Dad gave me a
bunch of stuff just before he moved.

My budget for the rest of the year is wicked tight. I'm
trying to make grocery lists instead of winging it. I often
grocery shop with cash, and shamelessly put stuff back
when I've reached my predetermined limit.

~M

Holidays, blended families and finances . . .

Thanksgiving is next week and everyone
has been very cool about not making demands
of the kids. We're all almost too cool
about it. My bf called and said his oldest
would be up our way next Thursday evening.
Bless him for getting the ball rolling.
We decided that dinner would be at my
place, I invited my folks up and checked
with the ex about his plans before inviting
the kids. We still haven't checked with
his ex, but hopefully things will work
out.

My folks offered to bring stuffing and handle
the gravy. My bf and I will do the rest.
I'm not a stickler for everything being
homemade, I just want to enjoy the holidays.
I'll probably buy an extra turkey and put
in the freezer for Easter.

I've started Christmas shopping with the kids.
They pick out what they want, try it on and
I take it home, wrap it and stick it under
the tree. No hassles, no returns. My budget
for them is quite modest this year. I
told the bf that I can only buy a small gift
for his youngest kids, I have a roof to pay
for in 12 equal monthly installments.

And I asked him for a wheel barrow.

~M

This and that . . .

I should be doing "the feed" and getting
ready for work, instead I'm sipping a
second cup of coffee and posting here.

My boyfriend and his former son-in-law
brought me a lovely couch late last night.
Well broke in and loved on, needing a bit
of mending here and there, but awesome.
"You need furniture," My oldest said.
"The rooms echo."

My new roof survived tropical storm Ida
and it was nice not to worry about leaks
for a change. I have one moldy looking
spot that needs some attention . . soon.

My oldest daughter met my boyriends'
youngest kids, and I swear you could see
God's hands in the matter.

I've been living credit card free for
almost a month. I'm watching my money
much more closely and don't make rash
decisions anymore. (Still have debt,
but no visa other than a check card.)

I've been pondering some "what if's", I
am a doomer after all. What if my car
needs repairs, etc. And I basically need
to work on my savings.

~M

Update . . .

 

later.

~M

The roofers are here!

Despite a damp morning, the roofers showed
up and are now working away on removing the
crumbling shingles. What a relief.

I've been mending some fences this morning
and I let Secret out to graze. Her coat is
getting shaggy and fuller for winter. Penny
stood at the fence and nuzzled me. I moved
some fencing around so she can get some fresh
grass as well.

My dad is putting up a for sale sign on his
place. I had a good cry about it in private,
the bf held me while I cleansed the loss from
my heart. Such a tumultuous year, and the
changes keep coming. Yet, I'm happy.

~M

Credit . . .

Well I've done it. I canceled my last Visa card
last week. They wanted to offer me an attractive
adjustable rate linked to the prime rate and I
sadly had to opt out.

I ran the card up a bit, I bought some dog houses
and paid for some repair work on my home. Then I
made the call. Opting out of new terms means simply
that I can't use the card anymore and the old terms
will be in effect until it's paid for. My prior
arrangement was a lovely fixed rate.

So how will I cope? What if something happens?
First, I've made very simple holiday plans. I'll
be paying cash, less of it, and to less folks.

Second, I have a wee bit in savings. It will stay
there during lean times as some insurance.

Third, I'm slowly stocking up on essentials and
re-examining where/when/how I can save here and
there. I'm taking the lads to the library tomorrow
instead of the mall or a fast food place.

Lastly, I'm cultivating a "thrift is cool" philosophy.
Anyone can spend themselves into the ground, only
cool folks can have more fun, and do it on a dime.
I know wat day hiking at the park costs zilch, and
when the movie only costs a buck.

More later.

~M

Sorry for the lack of pics and posts . . .

Life is really rather busy, I rarely
see a keyboard these days outside of
work.

I've picked out a dark green color for
the roof, and am going with a 25 year
shingle. There are more rotten bits
that need to be fixed, but that may
wait til spring. The roofer is *hopefully*
going to be here next week.

The propane tank is full.

My hay barn is full, I've upped the mares
to all grain and add oil for extra
calories.

The dog houses are on their way for my
hounds, so they will have at least some
shelter when I'm not home to let them in.

I've been looking at garage doors as well.
Mine are held together with duct tape and
bubble gum.

~M

Deferred maintenance . . .

 

 

 

When we bought the place over
a decade ago, it appeared solid
enough. Little did we know what
lay ahead.

So now it's a gorgeous October
day and the sound of a hammer on
wood is wooing me. Finally, we're
getting some work done on the place.
(We = my kid, myself and our
critters.) The house was put togther
rather badly and is already rotting
here and there. The capenter is
fixing the rotten bits and the
problems that caused the decay.

Hopefully, next week the roofer
will come and finally put a solid
covering on my home.

I'm having to max out a credit card
to get ready for winter. I have yet
to buy propane and dog houses. I'm
closing the card out at the end of
the month, opting out of the term
changes.

I'm financing the roof with a one
year loan. Money is going to be very
tight for a while. But I can't help
but get the feeling that time is of
the essence, and that consumer credit
is drying up. It's now or never.

On the other "home front", my courtship
is going exceedingly well.

Cheers,

~M

Random pics

 

 

 

 

I'm having a fat day and can't
seem to blog. Carry on.

~M

Food . . .

 

 

 

 

The dust is still settling around here.
I get the eary feeling that I'm quickly
running out of time. I's going to get
harder to prep, let alone get by. I
keep feeling that the days after Christmas
may be the turning point many of us are
dreading.

It's coming.

I actually started to work on my food
pantry the other day. I found a lot of
stuff that needed to be tossed or re-
puposed. Old cans of eadibles were fed to
the dogs. I took some oats out to the
horses. I'm using old baking soda on
the cat boxes.

I took some stuff to the bf's house.
Then I bought $90 worth of groceries
from Aldi's and restocked.

$90 doesn't go as far as it used to.

I need to start making a list of what
to buy, to avoid getting too much of the
same thing.

~M

Our vacation pics are great I swear . . .

The only problem is I can't find the camera cord.

Grrrrrrr.

On the other hand I/we've been very fortunate of late.
I've had 3 girlfriends give us bags of clothes. I've
been washing and hanging stuff up for 2 days. I've run
out of hangers. This recession turning depression is
starting to make me very noodgie and having extra
stuff to wear is a blessing indeed.

My home refi went through just before we left. The foot
of rain that we got caused my roof to leak, and my ex
got flooded, about 7 feet high. He had to rescue our
daughter's cat and dog by canoe. The critters came to
stay with me and I got the cat neutered yesterday.

The winter supply of hay arrived yesterday. I got it
for about 1/3rd the price of the prior supplier. I had
the farrier out last week to give my mares a much needed
trim. I wormed the hounds and as long as everyone is
fed separately, they seem to be getting along at the
moment.

I called a gf's bf, and he gave me an excellent quote
on some "deffered maintenance". He's going to start next
week. His work is great and he took the time to explain
why things like eaves and posts rot and how he can
fix them. I got a one year loan to fix my roof. I'm
hoping to have all the repairs done in the next 5-6
weeks.

Special shout out to Jock of ye olde forum for fixing
my borrowed laptop for me. He worked tirelessly. I'm
so thankful.

Left to be done:

The BUDGET.

Get the propane tank filled.

Loose 5 pounds.

~M

Next up . . being brutal with food storage.

Water everywhere . . .

 

The refi on my mortgage hiccupped,
but happened. Thank God, seriously.
I was urged to keep looking for a
better deal, but the little voice
in my head told me that consumer
credit was drying up. It was now
or never. I signed papers, all
150 of them.

Pause to take a sip of Sam Adams.

It felt weird signing on my own.
Weird, but I made the right decision.

My poor ex had a really bad day.
Freak flooding wiped out much
of his worldly goods. Pray for
him. He rescued our daughter's
dog, cat and computer and whatever
else he could carry by canoe.
The water rose as he did this.

I have her pets at my place,
everyone seems to be settling in.
My flight is confirmed. I'll pack
in the morning.

~M

"Mom, the roof is leaking . . ."

 

 

 

We've been inundated with rain, lots
of rain for a week. That's good, we
needed it. But then we got 8 inches
in one night (and still coming down),
that's bad. Roads are impassable, the
schools are closed and no one is going
anywhere. I'm surprised I have
electricity.

My poor youngest woke up at 5am by a
new leak right over her head.

Sigh.

~M

Who's gotcher money money?

 

My doom-meter has been buzzing of late.
Matt's most recent breaking news page
certainly has me on edge. Credit is
drying up, it's getting much harder
to buy and sell. It's even getting
harder to refinance.

Here are some issues on my front burner:

1. I'm trying to refinance my mortgage.
I've been misinformed, yanked around,
and my ex has to come to closing. I'm
on pins and needles, waiting for the
closing date.

2. I got 2 letters from my active
credit accounts. They are changing
the terms and making the interest rate
variable. I have to tell them soon
that such arrangements aren't
acceptable and close the accounts.
I'll pay them off, but will have to
secure at least one new card.

3. I need a roof. Period.

~M

Part 2

 

 

 

 

~M

Kitten vs cheese-it

 

 

 

 

~M

Movie Review: District 9

Roll slavery, aparthied, and the
Holocaust into one movie, add a
dash of aliens (prawns) and some
transformers-like special effects,
and you get a very well done movie.

Brilliant! A movie for the doom
library.

~M

Kittens are better than Prozac

This li'l kitty is one of the best
things I've done this year. She's
so sweet and lovable and doesn't
mind being yanked around by the
lads.

Her only drawback is that she thinks
HE is HER boyfriend.

Giggle.

~M

Blogger ate my blog . . .

So I suppose it's time to start another one.

~M