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.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Furnishing your home on empty pockets
Most people know they can find things at thrift stores but I can tell you even cheaper than that! After losing everything and then getting this house we didn't have anything to put in it at first but my husband's job save us. See my husband now works for an apartment complex and he got our furniture there.
See when the evict people then the people's stuff is put on the side of the road. This you can't touch but most of it is stolen anyways. That's not where my husband got our things. He got our things out of the abandoned items. This is when people move out and just leave the things they no longer want for whatever reason. They are given so long to come back after it and if they don't the apartment complex throws these items away. So I advice people to go to local complexes and talk to the rental manager and explain their situation and see if they will call you the next time they are throwing things away. This is how we got our sofa and two non matching side tables. There are all kinds of things left and if you get in good with an apartment complex and haul their things away free for them then you can go through these items and even start selling them at a flea market. I don't do this but know of those who do.
So now you decide you need paint. I can give you a helpful hint in saving money there too!! I'm surprised hoe many people don't know of this but have you heard of opps paint? This is the paint that was mixed wrong for whatever reason and they couldn't sale. They will take the messed up color and tweak the color a little more so people don't screw them and then they sale the paint 1/2 off. You can find opps paint and Home Depot and Lowes just ask where it is at the paint counter. You can't find it at Walmart because they send theirs to claims. Then only problem with opps paint is it limits your color choices. A thing to remember is say you need 3 gallons of paint but they only have 2 opps cans in that color. Well you have two choices, you can get them to color match the third can at full price or you can find a color that's close to it. As long as it's close to it you can dump all three cans in a five gallon bucket and mix it so that it will all match. I've done this so many times over the year it's crazy!
Now you've decided you need new fixtures. Once again I don't pay full price. This is where you need to look for reclaimed stores in your area. I know they have them in Atlanta. Sometimes they're called builder's salvage. Depending on the place they will have either overstock, discontinued items or the can even have salvaged items out of old homes that was donated to them. Some of the donated things can be amazing like the light fixtures and cabinets.
Now you need lumber and I can tell you how to get that free also, if you are willing to work to get it. Pallets! Pallets are needed when transporting cargo. Large companies will sale these pallets back to the manufactures but small companies and little local business can't do that because they don't have large enough amounts. These businesses will sometimes gladly give them to you for free and pallets are made of hardwood, not pine so it's good wood. All you need to take them apart is a sawzall with a demolition blade to cut the nails. Don't try prying them apart it's not happening.
See when the evict people then the people's stuff is put on the side of the road. This you can't touch but most of it is stolen anyways. That's not where my husband got our things. He got our things out of the abandoned items. This is when people move out and just leave the things they no longer want for whatever reason. They are given so long to come back after it and if they don't the apartment complex throws these items away. So I advice people to go to local complexes and talk to the rental manager and explain their situation and see if they will call you the next time they are throwing things away. This is how we got our sofa and two non matching side tables. There are all kinds of things left and if you get in good with an apartment complex and haul their things away free for them then you can go through these items and even start selling them at a flea market. I don't do this but know of those who do.
So now you decide you need paint. I can give you a helpful hint in saving money there too!! I'm surprised hoe many people don't know of this but have you heard of opps paint? This is the paint that was mixed wrong for whatever reason and they couldn't sale. They will take the messed up color and tweak the color a little more so people don't screw them and then they sale the paint 1/2 off. You can find opps paint and Home Depot and Lowes just ask where it is at the paint counter. You can't find it at Walmart because they send theirs to claims. Then only problem with opps paint is it limits your color choices. A thing to remember is say you need 3 gallons of paint but they only have 2 opps cans in that color. Well you have two choices, you can get them to color match the third can at full price or you can find a color that's close to it. As long as it's close to it you can dump all three cans in a five gallon bucket and mix it so that it will all match. I've done this so many times over the year it's crazy!
Now you've decided you need new fixtures. Once again I don't pay full price. This is where you need to look for reclaimed stores in your area. I know they have them in Atlanta. Sometimes they're called builder's salvage. Depending on the place they will have either overstock, discontinued items or the can even have salvaged items out of old homes that was donated to them. Some of the donated things can be amazing like the light fixtures and cabinets.
Now you need lumber and I can tell you how to get that free also, if you are willing to work to get it. Pallets! Pallets are needed when transporting cargo. Large companies will sale these pallets back to the manufactures but small companies and little local business can't do that because they don't have large enough amounts. These businesses will sometimes gladly give them to you for free and pallets are made of hardwood, not pine so it's good wood. All you need to take them apart is a sawzall with a demolition blade to cut the nails. Don't try prying them apart it's not happening.
Free Food
I says free food but truly is anything free in this world?
The next big purchase I recommend is a pressure canner. This is one I would buy because you don't know what you're getting in a thrift store or how good the seals are and you don't want this sucker blowing up on you. You are going to need that canner and freezer after my next post.
Would you like free apples, peaches, oranges??? Do they grow them in your area? If they do it's time to talk to your local grower because if you didn't know, once the fruit hits the ground they can no longer sell it. Because of this a lot of them will let you come in and pick up the ground fruit for free. Now mind you this fruit isn't pretty and is most likely bruised but when you're freezing and/or canning it it doesn't matter, you just cut that part off. Now all farms don't allow you to do this for free but they still may allow you to do it at low very low cost.
Now onto free meat and I'm not talking beef people. This time you need to contact the police department to see if they have a road kill list. NO I'm NOT joking!!! When people hit deer with their cars the police come out to do the paperwork for the insurance. So there's this big slab of venison on the side of the road and if you hit it they are going to ask if you want it. Id not they will call the next person on the road kill list or they will call whatever department is needed to come haul it away.
As long as the deer's gut hasn't been ruptured then the meat is fine. I can't stomach cleaning the deer myself but my husband is a hunter so he does that part. One thing to remember is you aren't used to venison is make sure you cut off any blood shot meat. This is the bruising from the impact. Also when cutting up the meat make sure to remove all the fat you can. Deer fat is what gives it that gamey taste that so many people complain about. Once you have it cut off the bone you can freeze or even can it. We prefer to can ours because it lasts longer.
If you enjoy canning you can find even more free food as small grocery stores and farmer's markets. Ask them if you can have there throw aways. This is the produce that is starting to rot. My mother in law was given 7 flats of strawberries one time. We sorted threw them and were able to save and freeze about 60% of them. The rest went to her hogs.
The next big purchase I recommend is a pressure canner. This is one I would buy because you don't know what you're getting in a thrift store or how good the seals are and you don't want this sucker blowing up on you. You are going to need that canner and freezer after my next post.
Would you like free apples, peaches, oranges??? Do they grow them in your area? If they do it's time to talk to your local grower because if you didn't know, once the fruit hits the ground they can no longer sell it. Because of this a lot of them will let you come in and pick up the ground fruit for free. Now mind you this fruit isn't pretty and is most likely bruised but when you're freezing and/or canning it it doesn't matter, you just cut that part off. Now all farms don't allow you to do this for free but they still may allow you to do it at low very low cost.
Now onto free meat and I'm not talking beef people. This time you need to contact the police department to see if they have a road kill list. NO I'm NOT joking!!! When people hit deer with their cars the police come out to do the paperwork for the insurance. So there's this big slab of venison on the side of the road and if you hit it they are going to ask if you want it. Id not they will call the next person on the road kill list or they will call whatever department is needed to come haul it away.
As long as the deer's gut hasn't been ruptured then the meat is fine. I can't stomach cleaning the deer myself but my husband is a hunter so he does that part. One thing to remember is you aren't used to venison is make sure you cut off any blood shot meat. This is the bruising from the impact. Also when cutting up the meat make sure to remove all the fat you can. Deer fat is what gives it that gamey taste that so many people complain about. Once you have it cut off the bone you can freeze or even can it. We prefer to can ours because it lasts longer.
If you enjoy canning you can find even more free food as small grocery stores and farmer's markets. Ask them if you can have there throw aways. This is the produce that is starting to rot. My mother in law was given 7 flats of strawberries one time. We sorted threw them and were able to save and freeze about 60% of them. The rest went to her hogs.
Save money at the grocery store
Food is where we spend a TON of money. Especially if you have big eaters in your home. I found one of the best ways to curb the over eating and therefore save money is to eat at the dinner table. At the table you can either have serving bowls and people will see how much food there is to go around and eat their share first before going back for seconds or you can fix everyone's plates and no one is dishing out more then they need that will most likely go in the trash.
When I grocery shop on a budget I ALWAYS make a list and eat some crackers before going to the store. People always buy more than they need when they shop hungry. I also pull out my notepad and plan the meals for the week. That way I can see what we have and use it before buying more things to cook.
Next you need to look at the weekly grocery store ads and any coupons you might have. This can now be done online also to save you time and the cost of the paper. One of the most important things about saving money at the grocery store is to forget brand recognition. I can tell you that Kroger store brand cereal is made by General Mills. Most store brands are made by large brand companies. I know this two ways, one I worked for Kroger before, and two I was a truck driver for awhile and picked up those store brands from the large companies.
This doesn't mean you need to switch to all store brand but you need to understand it's an option. When it comes to coupons the paper is not your only source. There are many places on the internet that offer coupons or you can go straight to the product page of the coupon that you want. If they don't have a coupon listed know that you can sometimes send them a message or comment and they in appreciation will send you a coupon. Also don't use all your coupons at once. Only use the ones you need and hold on to the others. Then you can save more if the things go on sale. If not then you can still use them before they expire.
Also know that you can stack coupons. I know you're thinking what the heck is she talking about! Stacking coupons is where you use the manufacturer's coupon, like the one's in the paper and online, then you also use a store coupon for the same product. You can do this because it says only one "store" or one "manufacturers" coupon. It doesn't say you can't use these coupons together. If you are truly gifted you can learn how to do extreme couponing also but I don't have the funds to start that at this moment.
On an average week with a family of four I can spend as little as $30 for all my groceries but I also stock pile sale items. If you have the resources I advice everyone to buy a deep freezer.See if I budget $75 a week for groceries and then spend $30 that means I still have $45 to go into my stockpile. This is great for when they have big sales on meat and frozen veggies because all those things you buy now on sale means your budget will be better another week when you might not have enough money for extra groceries.
There are other great resources out there to lower your food costs but I'll put that in the next post.
When I grocery shop on a budget I ALWAYS make a list and eat some crackers before going to the store. People always buy more than they need when they shop hungry. I also pull out my notepad and plan the meals for the week. That way I can see what we have and use it before buying more things to cook.
Next you need to look at the weekly grocery store ads and any coupons you might have. This can now be done online also to save you time and the cost of the paper. One of the most important things about saving money at the grocery store is to forget brand recognition. I can tell you that Kroger store brand cereal is made by General Mills. Most store brands are made by large brand companies. I know this two ways, one I worked for Kroger before, and two I was a truck driver for awhile and picked up those store brands from the large companies.
This doesn't mean you need to switch to all store brand but you need to understand it's an option. When it comes to coupons the paper is not your only source. There are many places on the internet that offer coupons or you can go straight to the product page of the coupon that you want. If they don't have a coupon listed know that you can sometimes send them a message or comment and they in appreciation will send you a coupon. Also don't use all your coupons at once. Only use the ones you need and hold on to the others. Then you can save more if the things go on sale. If not then you can still use them before they expire.
Also know that you can stack coupons. I know you're thinking what the heck is she talking about! Stacking coupons is where you use the manufacturer's coupon, like the one's in the paper and online, then you also use a store coupon for the same product. You can do this because it says only one "store" or one "manufacturers" coupon. It doesn't say you can't use these coupons together. If you are truly gifted you can learn how to do extreme couponing also but I don't have the funds to start that at this moment.
On an average week with a family of four I can spend as little as $30 for all my groceries but I also stock pile sale items. If you have the resources I advice everyone to buy a deep freezer.See if I budget $75 a week for groceries and then spend $30 that means I still have $45 to go into my stockpile. This is great for when they have big sales on meat and frozen veggies because all those things you buy now on sale means your budget will be better another week when you might not have enough money for extra groceries.
There are other great resources out there to lower your food costs but I'll put that in the next post.
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