Just Call Me Mario...

the plumber!!

In addition to the snow and the car....the next biggest bane of my existence is probably the plumbing.  How does it know that G-man isn't here, and I don't know anything about it?  In the almost 3 months (yes, it has been almost 3 months already!) since he left, I have:

• Unclogged both toilets with a plunger (on more than one occasion)
• Unclogged one toilet with a snake (twice!)
• Fixed the separated pipes under the kitchen sink (which included a trip to Home Depot) **and in full disclosure, this actually happened 2x, but the second time I just couldn't get it, so I ran over to the neighbor for help
• Dealt with a broken float in the tank and leaking pipe **my friend's husband actually fixed both of these, but I got to go to Home Depot...twice....for parts (why couldn't both pieces malfunction at the same time so I could just go to the store once??)

and the newest notch on my bedpost....

• A leaking valve (which I proudly used the pliers to tighten the nut and stopped the leak)

Fortunately, none of the repairs were major.  The total cost was about $13 for the 3 parts I had to replace (the washer I need to fix the sink was free).  But all of these little adventures has highlighted something:  the need to know some basic home repair!!!

I know a little about A LOT of things.  I know a lot about a few things.  Plumbing was not on either list.

I am an "end user" on this subject...as in I don't know, or really want to know, how it works....I just want the end product (aka, working units).  I don't care how the toilet actually works, I just want to go potty, flush, wash my hands, and leave.  I don't WANT to know that the float drops to the bottom of the tank when you flush and as the tank refills, it "floats" up and has a stop to prevent the tank from overfilling.

But I do know this now.

I think alot of people don't learn much about the stuff that their significant other deals with....because THEY deal with it so you don't have to.  But I am telling ya from first hand experience....not knowing anything SUCKS when you have to deal with it.  I have had my crash course in plumbing, which has lead to putting plumbing in the "know a little" category.  Do your loved ones a favor.....

1. Teach them something about subjects that they don't normally deal with 
2. Make sure they know how to access information (to bring this back around to finance....make sure they know how to find the accounts and passwords!)
3. Realize there is a learning curve in all of this
4. Celebrate the new found knowledge

This "I am woman, hear me roar!" stuff is getting old.....I am ready to hand the reigns back to G-man on this subject!!!

Replacement Costs and Schedule

In case you haven't figured it out....I am a planner.  It will be the death of me, since I have the tendency to try and plan for things that are so far in the future, the situation will probably change.

Which brings me to today's topic....our hot water boiler.

A few weeks ago, it went wanky.  We reset it, and it was ok.  But our little ears went up and said "oh no...is this thing going to die???"  At 50 years old or whatever ancient boiler age it is....it is an advanced senior citizen.

We decided when we replace it....we would like to convert to gas.  Much more economical.  We can get an energy star rated system.  In the long run, it would be better.  Additionally, when the houses across the street were renovated this spring, they converted to gas, so tapping into the line won't be an issue.

The conundrum?  WHEN to do this.

We called the gas company....and it is a 4-6 week wait to tap into the line and will cost about $384 (possibly less depending on the number of taps in the house).  We also discovered that back in the early 90's, our house did have gas.  This makes no sense at all....we bought the house in 2001, and it had an ancient oil tank (which we had to replace in 2007 due to an oil leak).  Why would someone go backward????

Anyway, our preliminary research indicates that it will be between $3,000-$7,000 (installed) to convert the system.  My friend's hubby works in construction (management, not labor), and he knows people who are licensed that do "side jobs."  Of course, that requires cash....and we wouldn't be covered if there is a problem.

We have to be somewhat proactive if we are going to convert.  Because of the wait time to tap the line, we can't wait for the boiler to completely die.  I am leaning toward doing the tap sooner than later, and then it is waiting for us when we are ready to do it.

We talked about funding this project with another Lending Club loan.  It will take us forever and a day to save up for this (in addition to all the other stuff).  And I am confident that the boiler will die before we have completely saved up.  We had great success with Lending Club before, and feel that might be a good route.

We also figured out that even if take a loan for the max end of the estimate ($7k), the loan repayment amount per month plus the gas bill will be just about what we are paying for oil per month now.  So financially, on a monthly basis, we just about break even.  Once the loan was paid off, we would be have a positive cash flow of roughly $200 a month.

AND....someone at work is looking to replace her oil tank.  G-man and I talked about it, and if we sold it to her for $1,000 (they run $3500 to $5000 new), and she paid for move, it would still be a win-win for both of us.  And that would give us $1,000 to use toward the project, repay the loan, etc.

All of this assumes it works out nicey-nice.

We could wait until spring....which would mean another year of oil....so that money that would be going towards a better option if we did the project sooner than later...would literally go up in steam.  I am not thrilled with the idea of taking on more debt.  But I also know that there is a method to the madness.

Right now, we have a half tank of oil.  If we did it now...by the time the whole thing was done, the tank would be empty (we would decline a refill), and we would have a decent credit with the oil company (there is a charge for breaking the contract, but we would still get a refund).

If we wait until spring.....we would just have to time things so we had a near empty oil tank.  Or we just wait it all out and deal with it when the boiler dies.

All of this is still in the talking stages.....no decisions have been made.  Just playing out the scenarios.

Thoughts, oh my wise bloggy friends?

Murphy....you better not stay!!

OK, who sent Murphy to me?  Kim?  Was it you????

In the past week, Murphy has decided to be a devilish little fella, and has infiltrated a few things.  While I appreciate it isn't a full on attack, I am still not thrilled that he is here at at all.  C'mon dude....my house isn't that nice...you really don't want to stay.

1)  My tire.  A few weeks ago, my digital read out in the car rang off "low tire pressure."  Ok...I went on a search for a air pump (not as easy to find as I would have thought), and one tire was in the low 20's.  Yeah, that is low.  OK....moving on.   A week later, same thing.  Same tire.  This time I noticed a gash in the side.  It is about 1.5 inches long.  No idea what it is from.  Since it is on the side of the tire, I am guessing something from the road kicked up.

G-man put the spare on (it is a full spare, not a donut).  So we need to save up to get a new tire.

2)  Washing machine.  We have a front loader.  In the drum, there are these "shelf" things. They help with keeping the clothes balanced and tumbling.  I have since learned that they are called baffles.  One came off.  G-man looked into it, and apparently on our model they didn't use very secure tabs to mount them, as other people have had the same issue.  At first, we were just going to let it go.  But the clothes aren't spinning right, and the raw edges are snagging the clothes.  I did some laundry yesterday, and several pairs of socks got trashed, as well as one of Sassy's favorite shirts.  So we had to order a new baffle.

3)  Door shelf on Fridge.  Our fridge was manufactured in 1994.  Stuff is going to wear out.  And periodically, the bracket on the door shelves decide to go ka-put.  When we open the door, the bracket will come loose, and the shelf contents go tumbling.  We have replaced 2 sets so far.  Well, make that three as of yesterday.  The same place we ordered the baffle has these....so we ordered a new bracket.

So far, the cost is only $36, since we haven't done the tire yet.  I can live with $36.  But let's not make a habit of all of this.

Nasty Numbers

I have mentioned before that we are required to do a financial disclosure for G-man's job once a year.  (One of these days I will do it as we go instead of having to go back and look at stuff....wait....I am doing that for this year!  Yea me!).

This packet is a PITA.  The basics of it are starting and ending balances of ALL accounts (CC, mortgage, car, investments, banking); how much we paid over the year, large purchases (like the car).  This year is particularly a PITA because we have the refinance of the house, paying off G-man's car, purchasing my car.  All of this has to be documented.

I started working on it last night (it is due in mid-May), and it wasn't pretty.  I knew it wouldn't be....but it REALLY wasn't pretty.  By going through 12 months of statements I discovered 

• We paid $13,814.84 on our credit cards combined.
• We paid $5,105.16 towards Lending Club.

This is a total of $18,920.  This number includes interest we occurred, payment towards purchases (including car repairs, PTA stuff I fronted and was reimbursed for, and any other purchases).  This does NOT include the balance transfer we made, which just rearranged the money.

But the truly sick part....

• Overall starting balance for those 5 accounts - $34,634.94
• Overall ending balance for those 5 accounts - $36,408.94

That is an increase of $1,774.  We paid almost 19 THOUSAND dollars, and increased the debt load.  What this means is that we paid off everything we used the cards for, minus the $1,774.


To those who want to be a hater and tell me how little progress we made...go right ahead.  This is not an open invitation to bash me....just that I am not in the mood to fight today, so say what you will.  I am not going to argue with you about it.  I will agree that the numbers will support your argument, but the numbers don't tell the whole story, and you know it.

I am so looking forward to hitting the reset button soon.  I need to put 2011 behind me for good. 

Three days In and.....

The financial debate escalates.  We haven't even had a paycheck in the New Year (it is tomorrow) and it is starting.  The item up for debate?  Our mattress.

image from Photobucket

G-man woke up in a FOUL mood.  He was stomping around, throwing things in the sink and onto the counter.  Yelling at the kids for nothing.  Childish would be an understatement.  And this isn't the first time this has happened.

I pulled him into the other room to talk, and he was pissy with me.  He was TIRED, and his back HURT.  OK, so I have been hearing this for YEARS.  He blamed our mattress.  So we switched out the mattress we were using for the one that used to be in the guest bedroom (which had minimal usage on it).  And that quieted the matter for a bit.  And then it started up again.  We bought a topper.  And it quieted again.  But not for long.

If you don't count the minimal use that the mattress had before we switched them out, this mattress is about 3-4 years old.  It wasn't super high quality when we bought it, but it wasn't super cheap either.  I would say it was around a 6.5/10.

I have refused to get a new mattress for a few reasons:

1. The expense
2. We totally disagree on what to look for in a mattress
3. And....until our marriage was better....a new mattress stood for more commitment than I was willing to give

Now he is "blaming" me for being tired and such.  Because I refuse to get a new mattress.  He says "it is fine," yet I am the one that has to listen to all of this jazz.  This morning I said....Fine.  We will get a new mattress...but you have to figure out where the money will come from because it isn't going to be a credit card, and it isn't going to come from our regular budget.  And he pouted.

Yes, he pouted.

We have $500 built into the budget for something...but we are a long way off from saving that.  I am not going to dip into EF.  I am not going to scrape together all the extra stuff from various places.

What would you do? 

I think I figured out part of the problem

We have spent some extra money this week.  Pretty much the entire lot of purchases were not necessary.  Emotional spending.

Yesterday, we were talking about new living room furniture.  We took the slipcovers off to wash them, and WOW, our couches were bad.  I forgot to take pictures before we put the slipcovers back on, but the material on the cushions is DESTROYED.  Everytime you sit down, you feel it rip.  The attached backs are only partially attached.  Threadbare doesn't even describe them.  And because the slip covers are a chocolate brown, the dye from them has rubbed off over time onto the material, which makes them look that much worse.

If we hadn't been in grubby clothes at the moment, I think we would have bought new furniture.

I think for us right now....we have hit a wall of existence.  That is all we are right now.  Existing.  We meet the minimum qualification for things...food on the table, roof over our head, clothes on our back....but we don't LIVE.  Our house is not a place we come HOME to.  All we see is the old, falling apart CRAP.  We have been together almost 15 years....and our stuff has been around just as long.  It is worn and done....and we can't do much about it.

Using the current situation....we don't see any of this changing in the next 5 years.  Even 7 years. 

We are in constant CRISIS mode.  We need to get into a different mode.  We can't just live to fix the next problem.  It is wearing us down. 

Will buying new furniture fix the problem....nope.  Will it make it easier to live with the problem....maybe. 

All I know is that while I do believe in Dave Ramsey's idea of  "Live like no other so you can live like no other," that will only work if it is for a finite period of time.  If you know there is something better at the end of the tunnel and that tunnel will take 3 years to get out of...you can deal with it.  But when that tunnel is so long and dark and filled with spooky stuff....you can't stay there indefinitely...you will lose your mind.

So that is where we are at.  We have identified part of the problem....now it is finding a reasonable fix.

I know you missed hearing about the pool ......

These things are literally sucking the life energy from me.  Everytime I talk about it, I can feel my hair turning gray.  It is almost palpable the stress in the air.  GRRRRR.

If you are new to the blog and want to read about the pool drama, check out here, here and here, oh, and don't forget here.  (does anyone else think it is sad that this is my 5th post about the pool since mid-May???)

And our next installation of Pool Drama......the pump burnt out.   It decided to burn out the day before I left.  G-man had been having some problems with it, but each time managed to get it working.  He turned it on last Tuesday night, with the intention of letting it run overnight.  Wednesday morning, it wasn't working, and it was hot to the touch.  It died.  No reviving it.

I realize that nothing lasts forever, but apparently our pool hit its threshold this year.  *sigh*   G-man couldn't find a local store that carried the pump, so we had to order it.  $233 later, we were the proud owners of a new pump.  It shipped very quickly and arrived Saturday.

G-man had taken the pump off and put it on several times before, so this fix SHOULD have been quick.  But when is anything quick in our house.  It ALL has to be a project.

The little "foot" of the pump that screws into the base....well, the weld broke and it came off.  Now there is now way of attaching the pump.  I don't understand why we can't epoxy it (granted, it is brand new, but I just want this over and done).  But for some reason we can't.

There was no one available over the weekend, so yesterday G-man called to get the return authorization, and OF COURSE the person was out.  So take two today.  The warehouse is local (they are wholesalers for the pool company, which is why we couldn't order it directly from them), so we are going to ask if we can drive down and just exchange it; if not, they will ship us a new pump, and we will ship back the broken one.

So there went half of the overtime that was on G-man's paycheck this week.  And with the water for filling the pool and chemicals....brings our grand total for pool expenses to just under $1000.  While I am thankful that G-man had worked the overtime and we had a few "extra" dollars....the intention was to put it toward debt. 

Just wait.....more car news to come!  Did you really think that the car saga was over?  Silly rabbit....

R.I.P. Coffee Maker

Nothing like waking up to find out that your coffee maker has gone to the big appliance junkyard in the sky.  It was about 5 years old, so I guess it lived its life, considering we use it every day.

Now I have to find some money in the budget to replace it.  Don't worry....I am not going all fancy dancy.  It needs to have a timer to set it up the night before, and it needs to make coffee.  That is all it needs to do!

Car Update....Pool Update.....

We had G-man's car towed from Garage 1 to the Dealership yesterday morning (it was supposed to be Monday night....but that is a whole other frustrating story).

Dealership couldn't look at it yesterday, so they will look at it sometime today.  Hopefully by this afternoon we will know whether we are fixing this car....or getting a new one. Additionally....we asked about a loaner car while our car is down....and we got the "well, we do offer that, but we don't have any loaner cars available."  You are a car dealership and you don't have a car????

G-man is getting a rental car (at $45 a day....he is 6'4", so a compact car is a little squishy for him to drive).  We only need it until Friday at the latest.  If his car is fixed, then fine.  Otherwise, he can take my car Saturday-Monday, then he is off of work on Tuesday.  So even if the car is dead in the water....we have another week built in to figure something out.

Meanwhile, my car is still limping along.

**
The pool liner is FINALLY in.  Our pool is slowly being filled, and maybe by mid-July it will warm up!  End costs:

Liner - $216
Installation and tax - $451
Water - still unknown.

The outstanding OT also made it on to this week's paycheck....so we have the cash to cover the bill.


Now if we can just figure out the car.....

Pool Drama Revisited

Have I mentioned how much I can't stand the pool?  I did?  Ok....just checking.  I have already droned on about the pool, but feel free to refresh your mind to the story here and here.

We finally received the refund from Company 2 last Friday.  So that is taken care of.  On to Company 3.  *sigh*

We found another company, and they seem to have their act together somewhat better than Company 1 and Company 2.  It did take them a few days to return a call that we placed on Friday, but they did.  As of right now, they are set to come either Thursday or Friday to take care of the liner.

G-man is draining the last of the water from the pool today.  So hopefully by the end of the weekend, the pool will be "swimable" although it will probably be freezing.  The temperatures here are just not warm enough to bring 30,000 gallons of water up to temp.  Heck, it is still in the 50's at night.

The water will run us about $100 to refill the pool.  The materials were $216.  And instillation is $435.  In total.....$751.  Money we had planned to put towards debt.  GRRRR. 

Lesson in all of this.....it is important to save for home maintenance!!!!!  But that will be another post.

The Continuing Pool Drama

First off...thanks to all the commenters yesterday.  As my day continued to turn into a big pile of poo, it helped to know someone out there has my back.

On to the pool....I really don't get how these companies stay in business.  Pools are a luxury item, and I have to think that over the past several years their business has declined.

Company 1....we called, no return call.  Called again (because something was off with their voicemail system), nada.  Call 3, if we don't hear from you by COB, we are taking our business elsewhere.  What do ya know...they called.  Said they would have the pool crew call and schedule.  Nada.  He did call a week later, but by then we had moved on to....

Company 2.  Seemed on top of things, until they got our contract.  They wanted a $400 deposit before they would schedule the job.  We said the job was only $450, and they said ok...we can do $300.  We agreed (at this point I just wanted the stupid job done).  Well...they charged $400 to my credit card.  And still couldn't schedule the job.

G-man called them AGAIN about the schedule, and said since we are having problems getting it schedule, the mistake on the charge...would they knock the final $50 off the bill.  The schedule girl said she had to talk to the boss.  Go ahead honey....go talk to your boss.  She called back and said no.  G-man asked to talk to the boss.  He wasn't there.  OK, have him call us.

So yesterday schedule girl called us back and said "boss is too busy on appointments to talk" and he said "either we pay the $50, or we can just cancel the whole thing and refund the money."  WHAT???  The boss is TOO BUSY to talk to a customer who is having an issue???

At this point G-man and I talked, and we said, forget it.  Let's find another company.  He called back and said 1)  We want the refund, and oh by the way...technically you made an unauthorized charge because we authorized $300 not $400, and that is illegal.  2)  The boss can't talk to us?  Not acceptable.  3)  We are reporting you to the Better Business Bureau.

The girl was all flustered and was trying to defend the mistakes.  Don't care.  Give us back the dough.

So we are waiting to see the refund back on my credit card.  This was 5:00pm last night, so I am hoping that it will show up today.  And now...we have to find another company. 

Oh, and in the middle of all of this, I was dealing with a pre-sale yard sale person ($20!!), and G-man burnt dinner.  We ALMOST ordered out....but we didn't.  Our June No-Eating-Out Challenge is still in tack (half way there!!!)

Bummin' hard today

Frustrated doesn't even begin to cover my feelings right now.

The paycheck/OT/direct deposit mess created it's own problems.  I am slowing figuring all of that out.  But it is taking alot of concentration.  G-man and I talked about it last night, and all he said was "sorry."  He still doesn't get the anxiety this all causes for me.

I had REALLY thought we would be below 60k debt by my blogiversary.  But that wasn't accounting for the almost $700 it was going to take to fix the pool.  All of the OT that G-man had and will have in the coming weeks was all supposed to go to DEBT, not the pool!

Gas prices are finally coming down (a little).  But the damage is done.  We have been paying about $600 a month for gas.  That is almost $200 more than the original budget.  A few months of that....and it adds up.

It seems that our therapists have changed their billing cycle, and are only billing to insurance monthly.  So it takes almost 2 months from the time we write the check before we get reimbursed.  Again, it causes some problems when you are paying almost $400 a month in co-pays.

I should be glad that we aren't using our credit cards for everyday purchases.  The rise in the card balances in the recent weeks is from the pool, and 1) the OT screw up, thus not having the money to pay it off right away, and 2)  having to wait for payday when the OT was worked almost a month ago (G-man's payroll is offset by 2 weeks).  The dental bills...it happens.  Those don't stress me out other than I just hate that our dental coverage stinks.

I am failing to understand how we redid the mortgage, which freed up $200 a month, paid off the car, paid off one student loan.....and we are where we are.  I am bummed.  I am not sure why this is SO hard.  I expected it to be hard, but this is insane.  I feel like I am constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.  I really don't like missing a goal....but I am finding it hard to see how we are going to pay $5000 in the next 6-7 weeks.

*sniff*

How do you save for it ALL?

Let's just put the saving while in debt debate aside for a minute.  We all know there are things we WANT and if you save for them...then great, have at it.  But what about things that you NEED, and you need to save for it ALL????

Home maintenance is pricey.  I think the statistic is something like 5% of your home's value per year.  For us, that would be about $9,500.  I think that is a little on the high side yearly.  But I would say that $3-4,000 isn't totally off the mark at times.

All of the things that need replacement aren't dead and broken....YET.  They are all senior citizens, who aren't quite at round the clock care, but definitely in an assisted living situation.  Legitimately, they all have lived out their lifespan.  It isn't unreasonable to think that they need to be replaced.

The problem...trying to save for it all at once!!!

I sooooo wish I was more money savvy when we bought the house 10 years ago.  There are so many things that I would have done differently as a whole.  But one HUGE thing would have been starting a home maintenance fund.  And then when things wore out, I would have a cushion.  But no...we couldn't afford to save (how can you afford to NOT SAVE......ugh, lessons learned).

Things that need work around here (in no particular order):

1. Pool liner (in process....the current liner was placed in 1993)
2. Deck boards (also circa 1993)
3. Stove/Oven (circa 1998)
4. Refrigerator (circa 1998)
5. Carpeting in Bossy's room (um, no idea on age, but I am guessing that you aren't supposed to see the floor boards underneath through the worn holes)
6. Carpeting in Sassy's room (eh....it is really ok, but if we have an Adventure in Carpeting (starring 80's teen star Elisabeth Shue!), we might as well replace hers)
7. Furnace (circa 1950's....still works but is highly inefficient)
8. Windows (circa 1911...original to the house....again, works, but is inefficient)

Additionally, there are household items that are also worn out, or getting there.  These have moved way down on the priority list, but at some point will need to be addressed.

1. Living room couches (circa 1997)
2. TV in our bedroom (circa 1994)
3. Closet system (for the larger of the 2 closets we have...where 3 of us share it for all our clothes, and it just isn't working)
4. Digital camera (circa 2004; we did get a newer one, and it doesn't work right and we hate it)

It is completely overwhelming.  Where do you even start to save???  What if you aren't able to do it one thing at a time, and multiple things go at the same time?  What if a larger ticket item goes sooner than expected??  ARGH!!!

Back to the saving while in debt.  Yes, we have an emergency fund, and the majority of things on the list aren't emergencies (kitchen appliances and furnace really are the only true emergency items).  But I don't want to deplete the EF, and then struggle to rebuild, all the while with debt and other things looming.

Right now, the I call the plan the $115 plan.   This is the amount that gets transferred from our checking account to ING savings per paycheck.  It is the go-to money for larger savings goals.  Camp was funded this way.  The kids' birthday party (almost funded!) and Christmas will be funded this way.   Once each of these accounts is funded, then the $115 will go towards saving for the extra stuff, until it is time to start saving again for Camp and Christmas.

Piggy back this with gift cards and such from other savings programs (My Points, Swagbucks), and we are cobbling it together.  Not a great plan...but it is the only one I have at the moment.  If we can make some MAJOR headway in the debt snowball, maybe I will slow that down a little to allow for more savings for the items.

And maybe in Fantasy World...we will get to take a vacation someday.

It must be sympathy pains....

I am convinced that household appliances and goods have a secret life.  It is almost like the Freemasons....they have rings and meetings, and rituals that are so secretive that the lay person doesn't know what they are.  But they exist. How do I know?  Because as soon as one of them breaks down....they all start to break down.

I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls over the weekend (I was sick in bed with Strep throat again).  And one line from the movie (without spoilers for you have not seen it yet) was something like "their collective conscienceness is more powerful than the individual."

I can deal with one or two things needing to be replaced...but we are now starting to get into more coin than anticipated.  And while we have our emergency fund, and still have $1,000 from our refi money that is sitting untouched.....plus a whole lot of overtime coming....I really wasn't planning on spending all of that just replacing stuff!!  I had dreams of actually repaying debt.

I mentioned that our pool liner needs to be replaced.  We researched it, and decided that this is not a DIY job for us.  We have found a place that we can get the liner for $158 (and that is the thicker lining, and free shipping!!), but instillation will be about $450, plus chemicals and water.  And that is if we are lucky.  If there is a problem with the interior of the walls of pool once they remove the liner....that means $$$$$.

Now our oven has decided to get in on the act.  A few days ago, it decided to stop warming properly.  G-man looked at it and the bottom element isn't working right.  We have already replaced that once, and if that is all it is....then we will be darn happy.  If it turns out to be the thermostat, then we are screwed.  Our elderly stove...well, they just don't make parts for it anymore.  The thermostat was discontinued, and we can't find one that would work.  Thus....the range would have to be replaced.

And the refrigerator....it doesn't want to be left out.  The crisper drawers have decided to go wanky, and freeze anything that is in it.  We tried adjusting the temp...but then the body of the fridge isn't cold enough.....and it is still freezing stuff in the crisper.  Right now we are just not using the crispers....but it could be signs that a new fridge will be in our future.

I shouldn't complain TOO much.....the manuals for the oven and for the fridge indicate that they were purchased in 1992....so they have lived a long life.  But do they have to die together....like an old married couple?  ETA:  If we escape this with a relatively inexpensive fix, we have already decided to start saving for new appliances.....so don't tell me to do it!

Pool....oven.....fridge.....really????

ETA, 1:15pm - The oven is fixed!  G-man found a burnt wire and was able to fix it!!  YIPPEE!  But now I guess I have to start saving for when it really goes ka-put.

The cost of owning a pool

When we decided to buy a house, we were NOT interested in owning a pool.  I am not much of a water person to start with.  Add in the time and energy it takes to keep up a pool, and we just weren't interested.

Then we started shopping for a house.  After looking at a dozen homes...we found out that the homes in our price range were dumps.  D-U-M-P-S.  We looked at houses that had sheetrock falling off the wall.  The house that had so many pet stains on the hardwood, that it was almost rotting.  The house with the black carpet.

We were just about to give up and bump up the price point when we found our house.  Unfortunately....it DID have an above ground pool.  Additionally, the upper level of the deck was built to be flush with the top of the pool, so if we removed the pool, the deck would just be floating there....PLUS, the cost of collapsing the pool, digging out the sand level base, and then having to redo the yard....we decided to just keep the pool.


OK...it isn't bad when it is super hot.....but for the first several years of the kids' lives, we never used it.  We did have to still keep it up, and add chemicals, and clean it.  But we didn't GO IN IT. 

In the time we have owned our house (almost 10 years), we have had to replace the sand in the filter, replace the cover, replace the solar cover (twice).  Patched it a few times.  Buy new scrub brush. A new vacuum hose. Buy a new skimmer.  Plus the chemicals.  And the electricity to run the pump.  And the water to refill the pool from evaporation and from lowering the level for winterization.

We have to weed all around the pool, and then put mulch down (or deal with the weeds).  The outflow part when you vacuum the pool floods part of the yard.

I really don't like the pool.

Now...the liner has sprung another leak and it will have to be replaced.  This means draining the pool, removing the old liner, and laying a new one.  Not sure if we can do it ourselves and get a good result, so we may have to have someone come in and do it.  Last thing I want is to install it incorrectly and negate the warranty.

Isn't this all super?  Oh, and we need ANOTHER solar cover too.

So this weekend we have to research all of this and figure out the cost.  We know the liner is a few hundred dollars, and now we have to figure out the installation part (US vs THEM).  I think the little "extra" we had is going, going, GONE.

If we are ever able to move...I will not even consider LOOKING at a house with a pool.  Don't care how great the house is.  WILL NOT DO IT.  Nope.  I have never figured out the total cost of what we have spent on the pool....but I can guarantee you that it is way more than the enjoyment we actual get from the pool.

Now that the kids are going on 9...they love the pool.  And that is the only reason we are fixing it.  If the kids weren't in the picture, I would consider collapsing it and doing all that other stuff.  But for the kids...we will fix the pool.

We better have a HOT summer. 

I totally jinxed it....

The washing machine pump is acting up.  Probably be about $125, and G-man will be able to replace it himself. 

Not horrible....but GRRRR.

When the parts are more than the whole

We are perpetually amazed at the cost of fixing a PART of an item.  Through normal wear and tear, things break.  No need to throw the baby out with the bath water....just fix the small part and keep on trucking...right?

Here are a few examples of the ridiculousness we have run into to:

1)  Kitchen window.  The bottom sash rotted...$150.  Then G-man broke the glass in the top sash....$300!!!! (which we didn't fix by the way).  To replace the 2 broken pieces....$450, plus materials and labor. 

2)  Microwave handle.  No idea why this keeps breaking.  We replaced one a few years ago on our old microwave (which has since gone to Electronics Heaven).  But this microwave....they want $70 plus shipping for JUST THE HANDLE.  We only spent $200 on the entire unit!!!

3)  Bathroom window.  We spent $50 on a new crank when the old one stripped out.  Now some little piece isn't allowing the window to close completely.  They want $25 for that piece!  This little plastic piece......$25.

and my new favorite.....

4)  A screw.   G-man needed a screw for a fishing reel he is selling.  After a little research, the company he called did indeed have the screw.  $0.24 for the screw.....BUT.....they charge a minimum of $5.00 for an order, plus shipping.  WHAT???!!!!!  You are going to charge us $5.00 for a $0.24 screw?????  No thanks.

Anyone else run into this stuff.....or are we just lucky???????

Posting from my new computer!

Greetings from the world of a computer that works!

As I mentioned here....we bought a new computer.  Had the car complication happened BEFORE the computer...I doubt I would have done it.  But it is done, and it is here!  It is a bulkier desktop model (technically, it is a business computer).  It didn't come with a monitor, so we have our old monitor that takes up half the desk sitting here.  Not bad for $380 with shipping.  It isn't as sexy as what most of you probably have.  But I like it.

But it is so much faster than what we had before!  I used to click on the internet....walk away....get a cup of coffee....walk by it to see if it loaded yet....do something else....and THEN it was done. Now it is just a click away and the world is at my finger tips.


In light of other things, I am pretty sure this will be the last "major" purchase for awhile.  That makes me a little sad.  But other things need to take place.  I was glad we had the money (minus $30) to pay for the computer, and it makes me happy that it wasn't an impulse buy, or over the top crazy expensive.

Thanks to my bro for looking out for his sis and finding the deal for us!

This is getting silly now

This bookcase has become consuming.  I am so embarrassed that I have let it get this far in my psyche.

We got a medical reimbursement today.  $216.  We have already paid the bill, so this is truly reimbursement.  Almost enough to get my bookcase. 

Why is this happening?  Why am I obsessed with this?  Let me have it, folks!!!

Crisis Averted!

Here in the Northeast, we are having a heat wave.  While G-man and I are from the south and really don't know what everyone is complaining about....we will concede that inside our house it is an oven.  The other night, at 11pm, the house was reading 90 degrees.  Not ideal sleeping temps!

We have a larger (10000 BTU) window a/c downstairs, and smaller units in the bedrooms.  We considered getting another larger unit to cool the entire upstairs.  But it wasn't in the budget, so we said we will consider it for another year.

Last night, Bossy's a/c decided to blow hot air.  Perfect!  I bunked him in with Sassy (and when I checked on them later, they both had fallen asleep in her bed).  But that was a temp fix.

The knee jerk reaction was "we need to buy a new a/c."  I really didn't want to....I said let's make the kids share a room for the summer.  G-man thought that was a bad idea.  We toyed with buying the large unit.....but I wasn't all in for spending that money either.

Well, we figured out the problem....something with the thermostat.  The unit is 15 years old, and doesn't work great....but at least it is better than nothing.  I am hoping to snag a new one on clearance at the end of the season.