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Archive for March, 2015

This Year's Garden and My 52 Week Challenge

March 28th, 2015 at 02:05 am

For four years now, I have been growing a garden, planting my seeds and plants primarily in a small plot at the back of my house. This year, due to an upcoming trip in late June, I decided to make my garden more simple by planting greens in several pots. I deliberately chose plants that I knew would be close to on their way out for the summer by late June and others that will be drought tolerant if it gets kind of dry while I am gone on my trip. I also know how to do drip irrigation by reusing plastic 2 liter bottles. I did the same trick last year when I went on a 3 day trip and it worked great, but I was very surprised at how well it did work. My husband has not been feeling well and is not going on the trip, so he would not be up to watering the plants. Part of my 52 Week Challenge once my plants get big enough to actually start harvesting will be to save whatever money I would have spent buying that food and put it towards my cc debt. I generally spend about $1.00 for a bunch of organic kale, $1-$2 on lettuce, and occasionally buy arugula, but do not remember the price. Sound like a good plan? Let's see how well it works. I checked outside this afternoon and my arugula, lettuce, and kale are already sprouted and are about 1 cm high. I think I have to wait a bit before I can eat it. LOL

In case you are interested in creating a homemade drip irrigation system without buying stuff or being an engineer, there are several good videos on YouTube about. I tried to cut and paste the url for one here, but SA won't let me. I even did the code, but SA just laughed at me.

52 Week Challenge and Payday

March 27th, 2015 at 12:59 am

Hi, everyone. I get paid again tomorrow, so more money will be going to savings, debt, and retirement.

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $963.48

Regular Savings Deposit $40.00
Professional Savings Deposit $100.00
Car Savings Deposit $20.00
House Savings Deposit $20.00
cc#1 payment $75.00
Slush fund deposit $22.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1200.48

Woo-Hoo!

Payday and More 52 Week Challenge Progress

March 13th, 2015 at 04:07 pm

Howdy, neighbors and money savvy friends! Well, I got paid again today and so I have already paid the internet/phone bill, gas bill, electric bill, put some money into savings, and made a credit card payment.

Old Challenge Balance: $783.48

Regular Savings Deposit $40.00
Professional Savings Deposit $100.00
Payment on cc #1 $40.00

New Challenge Balance: $963.48

Because I have had such a challenging couple of weeks, I am going to use the current paycheck to get caught up.

I Have Had the Most Amazing Experience...

March 10th, 2015 at 06:34 pm

Hi, everyone. I have just had the most amazing experience involving my car. A couple of weeks ago, my car started making a flapping kind of noise when sitting idle and I started smelling either a oil or plastic burning smell. Uh-oh. First, I took it to our usual mechanic, who told me that 2 belts, the power steering pump, and power steering rack needed to be replaced for a total of $2500. What I did not understand at the time, and still don't, is what power steering has to do with a flapping noise. After all, the car was sitting still. All of that did not seem to make sense, so I took the car to the Auto Tech department of the local college. They did a really amazing job of diagnosing it. While the power steering is causing a problem, because it is leaking, the flapping noise came from a piece of a belt that was hanging down and flapping against something else. Also, the alternator was about to die. So, to replace 2 belts, the alternator, and add some oil was estimated to be $409. Big difference. I had to give them $200 up front to purchase parts. Yesterday, I was told the car was finished and the total balance due was $181. This morning, when I went to pick it up, the balance due was $160. I was happy and a little surprised, but did not question it. I was also given some advice by one of the instructors and some students on how to keep the car running better longer. To top it off, I also had the money for the repair in savings so I did not go into any debt to fix it! I felt as if I had won the lottery!

Goals Progress!

March 2nd, 2015 at 02:20 am

It's official, everybody! My mortgage is under $67,000! Woo-hoo!