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Viewing entries forView all blogs (popular) | Personal finance (popular) | Real estate (popular) | Investing (popular) | Visit Items 71 - 95 of 152
    Saturday, May 3, 2008 From Frugal Freedom - view blog entries - visit this blog
May 3, 2008 at 7:43 pm ET I emptied my second water tank today. Since I am trying to rely solely on rainwater I am carefully calculating how many gallons I have left. The monsoon season starts around the second week of July. I believe this year the monsoon will officially start on a certain day instead of waiting for 3 consecutive dew points of a certain number like they used to do. I am hoping it rains sooner than the second week of July but that is the date I am using for my water plan.I have 10 weeks to go but one of those weeks ... (more) Friday, May 2, 2008 Got My Rent Check! (23 clicks)
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May 2, 2008 at 10:16 pm ET But I am a pushover. I called them to remind them that the rent was due and they jumped in their car and delivered the check to my work. I was so happy to get the check I didn't mention the $50 late charge. I know, I know. I am a bad landlord. I can't wait to get out of this business. I am thrilled to be able to put another month of my mortgage repayment plan in motion though. I deposited the check after work which will allow me to pay another $1200 extra mortgage payment. Even if my ... (more) Thursday, May 1, 2008 Where Is My Rent Check? (19 clicks)
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May 1, 2008 at 10:44 pm ET Once again the first of the month is here and I don't have a rent check from my renters. I shouldn't have to call and remind them every month. Maybe I should send a bill. The contract states that there is a $50 late charge. I need to enforce that. Of course, this is one of the things that I hate about being a landlord. I don't want to be their mother. I don't want to have to remind them. I don't want to be responsible for their actions if they do something bad. I don't want to clean up ... (more) Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Not the Right Time To Sell? (5 clicks)
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April 30, 2008 at 11:06 pm ET I read an article today and now I can't find it again. I hate that. I found it at work and now that I am home it has disappeared. I don't know if it was on a blog or in the online newspaper. Anyway, this article was talking about how people are selling their things on Craig's List, ebay, and other sites to make money to pay for the ever increasing prices of food and gas. It said that Craig's List 'for sale' items were up 70%. The bad part was that there are so many things for sale that ... (more) Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Getting Hotter (2 clicks)
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April 29, 2008 at 9:52 pm ET It's getting hotter here in Arizona and that makes me tired. I had to turn on the AC this evening. Pretty soon I'll have to leave it on all day. I am not looking forward to those electric bills. Since I am paying for my rental house's utilities the bill will look outrageous but hopefully I charged enough extra rent to cover it. I didn't expect 8! people to move in to the house though. The spring and fall months should offset the summer bills. If not, this will be an expensive lesson and I definitely won't try it again ... (more) Monday, April 28, 2008 10% Extra Sounds Too Good To Pass Up (14 clicks)
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April 28, 2008 at 10:59 pm ET This article at All Financial Matters talks about the retailers who will add 10% to the Tax Stimulus Rebate check that many of us will get soon. It sounds interesting. An extra $60 or so for groceries would be very nice since that is my biggest expense besides gas. I wouldn't just blow the money either. I would still stay within my monthly food budget and add my rebate check dollar amount to some other category like RV repairs. That is one category that needs some funding. When I came home today I noticed that the glass panel on the ... (more) Sunday, April 27, 2008 Money Free Weekend (3 clicks)
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April 27, 2008 at 10:47 pm ET I think I would like that title better if it said "Free Money Weekend". It is the last weekend in April. Time to add up the monthly budget and see if there is anything left. I had quite a few unbudgeted expenses including a new water pump, 2 lunches with coworkers, new pants and a $20 trip to the dump. Adding it all up I am $83 ahead! I am sure this is a result of staying away from the grocery store. I was given some food by people who were going out of town so I made do with ... (more) Saturday, April 26, 2008 How Much Space Does One Person Really Need? (24 clicks)
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April 26, 2008 at 9:54 pm ET Part of my 5 year retirement plan is to build a house on my property to replace my mobile home and RV. If I am still on my own in 5 years I won't need to build a traditional 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. I don't need all of that space and I don't care what they say about resale value. I am going to build what I want and can afford. Building a larger house would just make me tied to my job longer. Plus, if I need a larger house some day I can build one and ... (more) Friday, April 25, 2008 I Think Qwest Just Likes Attention (13 clicks)
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April 25, 2008 at 9:45 pm ET Qwest sent me a check for $53.22. I assume it is a refund for overcharging me last month but they didn't include any kind of explanation. I would have been happy if they had just credited my account. I don't like to deposit checks. I either have to spend a stamp to mail them in or go out of my way to drop them off at the bank. My bank moved farther away from me after I signed up so it isn't very convenient at all. I am waiting for a bank to be build near where I live so ... (more) Thursday, April 24, 2008 Something I Do That Is Pretty Much Just Cheap (12 clicks)
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April 24, 2008 at 10:37 pm ET I started going grey at 17. I'm 35 now. I'm not ready to accept it yet. I had been buying boxes of cheap hair dye in the $3-$4 range every month, but now I think even that is too much. Besides not wanting to spend the money I don't have enough water to wash the dye out of my hair. Yes, I wash my hair regularly but I usually use twice as much water to make sure all the dye is rinsed well. And also, I only need to touch up the roots and my bangs monthly. Whole head dye ... (more) Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Gas Prices Are Crimping My Budget (6 clicks)
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April 23, 2008 at 10:19 pm ET The budget is getting tighter and tighter. Gas is $3.33 right now, the highest I have seen I think. I had a job a few years beck that paid for my gas. Boy, I wish I still had that job! I put in 16 gallons for $45. The pump was excruciatingly slow although the dollars still rang up quite quickly. I believe this is going to be another tight month. I keep changing my mind about how to spend my tax rebate check. Now I think it will just go towards gas. I live in a rural area so I ... (more) Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Analysing My Minimum Budget (18 clicks)
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April 22, 2008 at 9:21 pm ET I'm in the mood to retire now, right now. I was hacking my budget down to the bare minimum again trying to see if I can quit my job any time soon. It didn't work. No matter how I look at it, I can't get my budget small enough. The least I can live on is $680/month with a high deductible health insurance policy. I could make that much with a part time $10/hour job but there aren't a lot of those jobs available and any unplanned purchase would sink my budget. Plus I still have the big elephant around ... (more) Monday, April 21, 2008 What's Growing In The Mini-Garden (1 click)
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April 21, 2008 at 10:24 pm ET So far my little container garden is doing well. I started them off in my green house and moved them out to the kiddie pool when it got too hot. The peas didn't do too well. I think it is too hot for them already. The tomato plant really took off. It must be four times the size in just a month, and there are little tomatoes too. The sunflowers are good so far but they wilt if I don't keep the water level up. I fill the pool with 3-4 cans of recycled washing machine water twice a week.The ... (more) Sunday, April 20, 2008 Another Chore Off My List (6 clicks)
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April 20, 2008 at 10:24 pm ET I had some leftover river rock from my backyard landscaping project at my rental house a year and a half ago. I hauled it out to my RV and stored it in some trash cans. If I ever had to live in my RV permanently (like now) I would use it to make a path so that I don't track in mud when it rains. I have put this project off for a long time. One of the trash cans I was using decided that it couldn't hold it together anymore and split in two places. Everyday more and more ... (more) Saturday, April 19, 2008 From Frugal Freedom - view blog entries - visit this blog
April 19, 2008 at 7:49 pm ET I have been needing to make a trip to the dump for many months now. I had an old stove, washer, and fridge plus misc. trash and no way to get rid of it. Finally I arranged a trip with a neighbor today and I am trash free! It is so exciting.It took 2 trips to get rid of everything and it cost $10 for each load so I spent $20. The dump was a scary place so I am glad that someone went with me. I had never been to a real dump, only small transfer stations where trash ... (more) Friday, April 18, 2008 Another Weekend Is Here (9 clicks)
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April 18, 2008 at 9:50 pm ET This weekend sort of crept up on me. I don't have anything planned. I guess that means I can do some of the things that are always on my to-do list like organizing the stuff in the storage room (when I moved out of the house I just dumped everything together) and of course, find things to sell on ebay. I am thinking about selling my serger because I don't use it. This would be a good time to sell it since Mother's Day is approaching. Last year I sold my embroidery machine around this time and I got a ... (more) Thursday, April 17, 2008 Whole Life Insurance Pushers (4 clicks)
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April 17, 2008 at 11:38 pm ET My insurance company, State Farm, likes to call me a couple times a year and push whole life insurance. Not only do they use up my cell phone minutes but they act like I am totally crazy for not having whole life. I don't like it. I have my own term life insurance and I am perfectly happy with it. I am following Dave Ramsey's idea of building my own wealth so that I will be self insured by the time my term insurance runs out. The agent asked me if I had children. ... (more) Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Another Use For Sharpies (1 click)
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April 16, 2008 at 10:03 pm ET I usually wear liquid eyeliner on the top lid and regular pencil eyeliner on the bottom. I don't know why I started doing that but now it's a habit. Sometimes the liquid liner dries and flakes off especially if I touch my eyes at all. I don't carry extra make-up in my bag although I suppose I should. It is really just a lunch bag. I hate purses because I forget them places and I don't like to carry things. Usually I just carry my wallet in my pocket. The other day the liquid liner was being troublesome while I ... (more) Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Water Pump Woes (3 clicks)
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April 15, 2008 at 11:18 pm ET I don't have a picture of my new little water pump so I will have to describe it. It is one of those sump pumps that I could use to drain a pool or basement. I just stick it in the water and it pumps the water out through a hose. The last water pump used a hose that went in to a bucket and then the water drained through another hose. I thought this new pump would be easier because I could just drop it in to my water tank and I wouldn't have to mess with buckets.So, I ... (more) Monday, April 14, 2008 Lunching On Leftovers (5 clicks)
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April 14, 2008 at 10:34 pm ET Actually, they aren't all leftovers. I made chicken Alfredo with spinach specifically for my lunch. I made 3 servings which just enough so that I won't get sick of it. Plus I have a leftover serving of spaghetti so I should have enough lunches for this week.I also cut up a seedless watermelon, strawberries and a cheesecake in to individual servings so that my lunches aren't boring and I have something to look forward to.For snacks I bought honey wheat pretzel sticks, dried fruit, and granola bars. It is tempting to eat all of the new snacks first but I ... (more) Sunday, April 13, 2008 Practice Makes Perfect, Working On My Hobby (2 clicks)
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April 13, 2008 at 8:28 pm ET I've been working on my airbrush hobby again. might as well keep practicing while I still have all of the supplies. Plus I promised to paint "realistic" flames on this motorcycle cover so I guess I have to keep trying until I get close.The first try wasn't so good. Not realistic at all. I watched a how-to video and changed the needle on the airbrush (never knew what those other needles were for) and tried again.Second try was a learning experience. I learned a lot about air pressure and how to use the templates. Still looks too orange and I ... (more) Saturday, April 12, 2008 Saturday Chores And A Little Retail Therapy (3 clicks)
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April 12, 2008 at 8:31 pm ET Today started off well. I got up at 8, watched some cartoons (3-2-1 Penguins), ate breakfast and then headed off to conquer my chore list. First stop...Emissions testing for my truck. It went well, the line was short and the truck passed. $12.25 and I was on my way. Next errand...Home Depot to buy a water pump. I had previously looked them up online so I knew how much it should cost if it was actually in stock. I saw one for $62 on the display but couldn't locate where it was on the shelf. The next size pump cost ... (more) Friday, April 11, 2008 Making A To-Do List For The Weekend (5 clicks)
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April 11, 2008 at 9:18 pm ET Ah, the weekend chore list. I wish I didn't have chores but then how else would anything get done? I just hope I don't spend much money.Let's see...it's car registration time which means a trip to the emissions testing center. I'm always afraid my car will fail. I don't know why, it doesn't spew black smoke or anything. I have the car registration and emission testing fee in my budget so that won't cost extra.Next, organize and mail my state taxes. I finished them, I just need the last step of actually putting them in the envelope and sending them ... (more) Thursday, April 10, 2008 More Mortgage Musings (2 clicks)
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April 10, 2008 at 9:36 pm ET When my job is slow and boring I like to scheme different ways to pay off my mortgage so that I can have job freedom. Today I was adding up anything that I could sell or cash-in to add to the principle. If I sold my misc. stocks worth about $5,000 (they were worth that last year, this year is another story), and sold my RV worth around $8,000, and sold anything that I didn't need anymore...I'm estimating $4,000, plus borrowed $5,000 from my emergency fund (without a mortgage I could pay it back quickly, right?), it would STILL take ... (more) Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Planning To Visit Family Again (2 clicks)
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April 9, 2008 at 10:12 pm ET This time I hope nobody is sick (unlike the Christmas trip when we all got the stomach flu...fun!) I am planning a trip in May and I bought my plane tickets today. Surprisingly they were still a reasonable $240. Maybe I should buy my Thanksgiving tickets now!Travel is one category that I actually budget for separately. I had $400 in my fund before my purchase although I don't have any plan for paying it back. I usually have a little bit of extra money around this time but not this year. My budget is much tighter because of my mortgage ... (more) Items 71 - 95 of 152
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