We finally got a new roommate in the master bedroom and have two different people asking about the second bedroom. This will help us get caught up on some bills. Also looking brighter that one stepchild will be turning 18 this weekend. She still gets child support till the end of the school year but it's nice to know we get to stop supporting the ex wife soon. We will still give money to his child when she needs it but it will go to her and not her mom. This will also help with budgeting and getting ahead, climbing out of the debt hole we are in. The second step child turns 18 next year so we will probably continue to pay the same amount until then since we got behind when my husband got hurt on the job.
I had so much fun decorating the front bedroom with thrift store and yard sale finds that I'm now trying to talk my husband into letting me decorate the back bedroom also. It's a smaller room so I was thinking of putting a full size bed in there. There are also built in shelves in the closet so instead of taking up room with a dresser I was thinking of putting some nice storage boxes or baskets on the shelves instead. The biggest cost would be the bed so I'm on the look out. I can't decorate while it's rented out but I can store the items I find in the outbuilding. By furnishing the bedroom and can get an additional $100 in rent so it will pay for itself in the long run. The only problem I see is if someone brings in bed bugs. That would be a nightmare. Thankfully we don't have carpet so they shouldn't travel to the other rooms as easy but it's still a nightmare. It's part of the reason we are being picky about who we rent to.
The garden idea is coming together. I'm not going to have a lot of extra money for canning jars this year but thankfully the freezer is empty so I'll use that this year and can what I can. We've pretty much decided on what to plant and my husband found a local place with fruit trees on sale so this will be nice. He also discovered that Home Depot rents a tiller! We would really like to put out an orange and grapefruit tree and so many in the neighborhood have them here. We would also like to put out a few blueberry bushes. My husband's favorite fruit. My husband is also thinking very hard about getting two stands of honey bees.
As far as produce that we will plant we've decided on green beans, tomatoes (of course), carrots, onion, squash, two types of pepper, and potatoes. Just looking at it listed here makes me want to go make some vegetable soup. I've still got a lot to learn because people here also have winter crops. Something that strange to me coming from where nothing grows in the winter but it's all coming together nicely.
Hopefully if we can keep the rooms rented for the next year then we will be able to replace the pickup that my husband lost and pay off the cheap car that I bought also. Then maybe we can look at replacing some of the things we lost last years when we lost our home and had to pawn everything not glued down.
I've also started a wishlist of things I would like but when you living with such limited income I feel greedy just thinking about it. However in the grand scheme of things the items on my list are for the betterment of the house in general. I want to replace the dishwasher that I'm currently using for Tupperware storage. I would like storage shelves in the laundry room for all the items I plan to can. I would also love some new curtains in the living room. The ones my husband found in the trash are nice but they don't split up the middle so they can't be opened to let light in and they are way to long. I know sew them right? These things are so thick and heavy I couldn't do it on my sewing machine and if I have to pay to have them altered then I rather just replace them.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Planning for the spring
I'm planning on putting in a garden this spring. Nothing too large because physically I can handle it but enough that I can can some things and help with food cost. I've been trying to tie my husband down to helping me plan on what to plant but he's refusing and is grumpy because he's so tired. He's now the lead person at his job and has to do double what the others do then on the weekends he's been helping our elderly neighbor do repairs on his home in exchange for a little money, not much, just enough to put gas in the car and buy a few groceries.
So in the past the only things I've grown have been tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries and that's been in Georgia red clay around Atlanta. This is going to be all new to me growing in sand. I've got a lot of learning to do. Everyone tells me I need to get a soil test to figure out what to add. Seems odd since in Atlanta 10 10 10 was good enough.
As for things to grow I really want to try my hands at potatoes and carrots. I would also like to try beans but I'm not sure I have enough room. Then of course there will also be tomatoes, squash, peppers. I'm not sure what else. I don't want to get into melons this year but we have been talking about putting in some fruit trees and maybe two or three bee stands.
We don't plan to sell any of these things. These are all going to be for personal use and the fruit trees won't be producing for a few years.
Anyone used to growing in sand please feel free to give advice.
So in the past the only things I've grown have been tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries and that's been in Georgia red clay around Atlanta. This is going to be all new to me growing in sand. I've got a lot of learning to do. Everyone tells me I need to get a soil test to figure out what to add. Seems odd since in Atlanta 10 10 10 was good enough.
As for things to grow I really want to try my hands at potatoes and carrots. I would also like to try beans but I'm not sure I have enough room. Then of course there will also be tomatoes, squash, peppers. I'm not sure what else. I don't want to get into melons this year but we have been talking about putting in some fruit trees and maybe two or three bee stands.
We don't plan to sell any of these things. These are all going to be for personal use and the fruit trees won't be producing for a few years.
Anyone used to growing in sand please feel free to give advice.
Working on the master bedroom
To makes things work we are going to rent out the front bedroom but most people that have asked about it want it to be furnished. This is a problem because we only have a bed for the room and one bedside table. Then yesterday I went to a local thrift store and found a dresser for $20 because the drawer pulls were gone and it was rather dirty but the dresser is a beautiful classical design so I snatched it up. To make it work for now I crocheted some drawer pulls and it doesn't look horrible but I would like something nicer when I can afford it.
Then today another blessing! My next door neighbor is trying to declutter and had a sad looking bedside table that had been on his carport for a rather long time and at some point it was covered in stickers. I would love to spank the little kid that did this because it took over an hour to get those little buggers off and it scarred the top. It didn't help that this was a high pain day with my fibromyalgia and I paid for all the work I did today. That's okay I now have a dresser and two side tables for the bedroom and I put a pretty pillowcase over the damaged table to hide the scarred wood. The other table is an antique magazine table and looks great in there. Now I just need the little touches; pictures, lamps, clock. These will be easy as soon as I can come up with some money and I can probably find all this at the local goodwill and salvation army store.
The neighbor was also kind and gave us three restaurant style chair and one matching table. There were easy to clean and I placed them on the carport where we like to hang out when it's warm. This will give anyone that rents the room a place to go smoke or eat. We've really turned the carport into a hangout spot with a swing out there and the fridge that came with the house. I love sitting out there.
We've also been working to lower our expenses by getting rid of the truck. The payments were eating us alive. Instead we bought a very cheap older model car. This way we can pay it off fast at a much lower payment. Then we are hoping we can afford more and get another truck. Until then our wonderful neighbor says we can use his truck when we need to.
We are still trying to rent out the back bedroom also but we don't plan to furnish that room. We aren't even pressuring ourselves to rent that room and have talked about making it into a little den so that I can have a quiet place to go and hide when my bipolar is bothering me.
Then today another blessing! My next door neighbor is trying to declutter and had a sad looking bedside table that had been on his carport for a rather long time and at some point it was covered in stickers. I would love to spank the little kid that did this because it took over an hour to get those little buggers off and it scarred the top. It didn't help that this was a high pain day with my fibromyalgia and I paid for all the work I did today. That's okay I now have a dresser and two side tables for the bedroom and I put a pretty pillowcase over the damaged table to hide the scarred wood. The other table is an antique magazine table and looks great in there. Now I just need the little touches; pictures, lamps, clock. These will be easy as soon as I can come up with some money and I can probably find all this at the local goodwill and salvation army store.
The neighbor was also kind and gave us three restaurant style chair and one matching table. There were easy to clean and I placed them on the carport where we like to hang out when it's warm. This will give anyone that rents the room a place to go smoke or eat. We've really turned the carport into a hangout spot with a swing out there and the fridge that came with the house. I love sitting out there.
We've also been working to lower our expenses by getting rid of the truck. The payments were eating us alive. Instead we bought a very cheap older model car. This way we can pay it off fast at a much lower payment. Then we are hoping we can afford more and get another truck. Until then our wonderful neighbor says we can use his truck when we need to.
We are still trying to rent out the back bedroom also but we don't plan to furnish that room. We aren't even pressuring ourselves to rent that room and have talked about making it into a little den so that I can have a quiet place to go and hide when my bipolar is bothering me.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Omg.....
I haven't posted in a while because life has been a roller coaster of drama and headaches. Nothing you want to talk about while you are trying to live through it. Life's been hard living on empty pockets so we decided to get a roommate which in this area is hard during the off season. By off season I mean the non summer months because I live in a vacation town.
So before Christmas we had a lady move in and it was one headache after another with her not having the money when she was suppose to and keeping windows open while the heat was on, to her taking food and not replacing it. There was much more drama but we won't go there but we are parting ways tomorrow. However I have to say I learned a lot from the experience and it hasn't deterred me from trying to find another roommate.
Let me pass on my learned knowledge incase you too want to get a roommate to help with the living expenses. First off ask a lot of questions and I mean a lot. Nothing is too nosey if you are opening your home to a stranger. Also charge money and do a background check. You can do these online for like $20. Find out how long they have been at their current job and what they did before that one. Find out where they lived before and how long and ask for previous landlord's numbers for reference. Don't accept what they give you in writing. They could have typed that on the computer themselves. Also don't accept employer references. They've never lived with this person. Also make sure you get family members names and address encase of emergency or if they skip out on you.
Next you are going to want to draft some type of rental agreement and include house rules, cleaning schedules, and expenses. Assign areas in the kitchen for yours and their food. Try not to put the food in cabinets side by side or you might find things walking off.
One thing that stopped my roommate from taking food was writing it down when it went missing and putting it on the fridge that she needed to replace these things or pay for them before borrowing more. I find this rude but my roommate was eating me out of house and home. She also liked to invite herself to large meals I prepared without asking until I told her if she was going to keep it up she was going to have to take turns cooking large meals too or help with the cost.
I also found it helpful to write a list of commonly used items like dish soap and garbage bags and write who bought the last one. We had to do this because she refused to help with the cost of those items either although it was in the rental agreement. Also don't let them get away with buying Dollar Tree trash bags that won't hold 5 pounds of garbage.
You might want to set a quiet time in your agreement also. I wish I had when my roommate at 2 am decided it was time to listen to loud music or scream at her mother over the phone. Also have some type of agreement about the yard, like my roommate wanted a garden area and compost heap and I found she was placing fish parts in the compost and my dogs got into it. It almost killed my chihuahua. This is an oversight I won't make again.
It seems like a lot of work and in some ways it is. Just because you need the extra funds don't settle on letting just anyone into your home. Be picky because they will be living with you.
So before Christmas we had a lady move in and it was one headache after another with her not having the money when she was suppose to and keeping windows open while the heat was on, to her taking food and not replacing it. There was much more drama but we won't go there but we are parting ways tomorrow. However I have to say I learned a lot from the experience and it hasn't deterred me from trying to find another roommate.
Let me pass on my learned knowledge incase you too want to get a roommate to help with the living expenses. First off ask a lot of questions and I mean a lot. Nothing is too nosey if you are opening your home to a stranger. Also charge money and do a background check. You can do these online for like $20. Find out how long they have been at their current job and what they did before that one. Find out where they lived before and how long and ask for previous landlord's numbers for reference. Don't accept what they give you in writing. They could have typed that on the computer themselves. Also don't accept employer references. They've never lived with this person. Also make sure you get family members names and address encase of emergency or if they skip out on you.
Next you are going to want to draft some type of rental agreement and include house rules, cleaning schedules, and expenses. Assign areas in the kitchen for yours and their food. Try not to put the food in cabinets side by side or you might find things walking off.
One thing that stopped my roommate from taking food was writing it down when it went missing and putting it on the fridge that she needed to replace these things or pay for them before borrowing more. I find this rude but my roommate was eating me out of house and home. She also liked to invite herself to large meals I prepared without asking until I told her if she was going to keep it up she was going to have to take turns cooking large meals too or help with the cost.
I also found it helpful to write a list of commonly used items like dish soap and garbage bags and write who bought the last one. We had to do this because she refused to help with the cost of those items either although it was in the rental agreement. Also don't let them get away with buying Dollar Tree trash bags that won't hold 5 pounds of garbage.
You might want to set a quiet time in your agreement also. I wish I had when my roommate at 2 am decided it was time to listen to loud music or scream at her mother over the phone. Also have some type of agreement about the yard, like my roommate wanted a garden area and compost heap and I found she was placing fish parts in the compost and my dogs got into it. It almost killed my chihuahua. This is an oversight I won't make again.
It seems like a lot of work and in some ways it is. Just because you need the extra funds don't settle on letting just anyone into your home. Be picky because they will be living with you.
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