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Home > Archive: March, 2014

Archive for March, 2014

Updates and Goal Completed!

March 31st, 2014 at 03:13 pm

I put $250 in my Roth today to complete my first 2014 goal!!! Whoot!

I paid myself back another $50 for the cabinet. $50 to go.

I paid down my credit card below $100 again.

I was finally paid a very small amount from one of my freelance jobs. Less than 10% of what I am owed, but I am just happy to see any money. Hopefully more will be on its way soon.

My car is sitting at a shop, still trying to figure out how/when it it going to get fixed, and how much it is going to cost me. Estimates are about $1,000 right now. Frown

My parents talked to insurance. The barn was not covered under their insurance because it was too old. So they are stuck with all the bill. The fire call alone was several thousand dollars because they live outside of city limits. Frown

The electrician came out and we finally finished the last bit of wiring in our house! It is so exciting to have light in a room that has been dark for two years! lol. Not looking forward to the bill though.

Outdoor clean up has begun, trying to get the yard and animal pens cleaned up and maintained for spring. Lots to do!

Prayers for Family

March 28th, 2014 at 02:32 pm

My family could use some prayers.

Yesterday morning one of my parent's barn burnt down.

It was a giant over 100 year old barn. It was gone in only a few minutes and all that is let now is about 8ft deep of ashes.

It was so windy that it caught the surrounding park's field on fire, traveled 1/2 mile to the neighbor, and nearly caught their house on fire. They called in 3 fire departments, and managed to put it out right at the neighbors fence line, praise the Lord.

Thankfully the wind of blowing the opposite direction than it usually does. So it blew it away from the other barns, and my parents house. The barn that burnt was where they kept all their hay, it had no animals in it, so my goats are safe.

They lost all their hay, their lawn mower, motorcycle, and smaller items like wagons, wheel barrels, and some old farm equipment.

The barn was not insured because it was too old. Frown They are praying that the insurance will at least cover the fire call which will be a couple grand, and the replacement of the lawnmower and motorcycle.

They will also have to pay for the debris to be removed because there is no way to move all the ash by hand.

It could have been a lot worse, so they are counting their blessings. But it is still sad, and they are worried about financial problems.

Slow Going

March 24th, 2014 at 03:07 pm

This Payday I managed to pay $200 on my credit card. Bringing it down to $100 not due until May. Whew.

I got my EF back to where it was. I also paid myself $50 back that I owed from the cabinet I bought. Still owe myself $100.

Next Monday I HOPE to finish the IRA and put some money back for another car payment. It would be nice if the freelance clients would pay me. *grumble*

I Was Bad

March 19th, 2014 at 03:28 pm

I was very bad.

Despite owing way too much money to too many people I bought something yesterday.



It popped up on my facebook feed on a sellers club and I had to have it. It matches my kitchen perfectly, and we were in desperate need of some cabinet space.

We have literately only 3ft of cabinets and counters...

When we go shopping we have to just stack our food on the table because it just wont fit.

We also had our silverware and our cups sitting on the table, because there was no drawers to put them in.

Our kitchen was a disaster with no organization and no storage.

The night before I bought this husband was ranting about how we HAD to have some more cabinets in our kitchen. Then the next morning I saw this and I took it as a sign.

I only paid $150 which I think is a steal! Its the exact color of my kitchen, it is made out of real wood, it is heavy and a very nice piece of furniture. Nothing cheapo. Plus it has nearly no scratches or anything on it. Perfect condition.

We had to do some rearranging in the kitchen, but I think it works out nicely. A little snug, but much more cozy looking. Now I have more than enough cabinet space, I wasnt even able to fill it up!

It is way bigger than it looks in the picture. Its almost 7ft high, and over 4ft long.

I am super excited, and cant wait to finish decorating it, and organizing.

And yes if your wondering, if you squint hard you can see lots of pigs! My kitchen is green, with pink pig accents!

Payday Update

March 17th, 2014 at 06:27 pm

Well after lasts week craziness I hope starting this week it will settle back down.

With this payday I managed to pay all our bills as normal, and pay $300 on the credit card. So only leaving less than $300 not due until May. And I put back around $70 into my cushion/EF.

Grandpa finally gave in and took my lower offer for the Neon, so that is essentially $200 less I owe.

As for the Neon, I am getting used to driving it. It is not horrible, but I honestly really miss my Cobalt. Frown

The Neon seems to have a tiny gas tank? Grandpa said it held 12.5 gallons, but I just was on the red mark and filled up and it only let me put in 7 gallons...

Which is only about 200 miles. So that means I will have to fill it up about twice a week. Gr.

This is the 3rd time I have filled up in the last week already.

Maybe the gas gauge is just messed up, and it actually had another 5 gallons in there, but I dont know if I want to risk it.

Husband had lots of overtime, and possibly more this week, so we should be able to pay down our debts and get back on track soon.

Stressful Days

March 12th, 2014 at 03:03 pm

I am about to the end of my mental and financial rope.

Car is broken. Timing chain major problem Father-in-Law thinks. Car is parked and not able to be driven in my work parking lot. Called the mechanic... $800 to fix it. Frown

So I had to scramble to get insurance and plates on the Neon so I could drive it to work the next day.

I had to pay $611 for 6 months of insurance up front. I could have paid for only a month + a fee, but it was over $100 difference not counting the fee.

Of course I didnt have that much money on me, so I had to borrow $500 from my mother.

Then I have to get it titled and plated, and that cost $240. Frown

I had put the propane bill on my credit card, and had the cash in the checking account to pay for it. But I had to use that money to pay for the plates. So now,

I have over $500 on the credit card.
I owe my mother $500.
I had to take $100 out of my EF.
I owe my grandpa $3,000.
My car is broken down in a parking lot and has to be fixed to the tune of $800.
I have to put $250 in my IRA before April 15th.

This is the most debt I have ever had. It is really stressing me out. I went from $0 debt to close to $5,000 in just a week or two.

Father in law is throwing around the idea of taking on the timing chain himself. It would only cost $200 for the parts. I am a little weary to let him do it.

Praying everything with work out, and I will be able to catch back up quickly.

Car Problems & Some Good News

March 10th, 2014 at 02:12 pm

Some good news is the car parts only cost $75 instead of $100.

The bad news is, he fixed it yesterday, and it still died on me, and the rattle is worse than ever. It was so bad while I was driving to work, I dont think it is safe to drive at this point. He is leaving work and coming to take a look at it. Something is very wrong.

Probably needs the timing chain replaced now. Which is upwards of $500+.

I am not so sure I want to invest any more money in this piece of crap. I may be titling the Neon sooner than I thought.

ARG!

Now some good news. My two does had kids on Saturday while I was running an errand. 4 healthy babies. They had them at exactly the same time, so they are all confused and the mommas are just sharing the babies and they just eat off of both of them. They are so cute!



Here is the little boy I am keeping. The rest are girls and I will sell them for $250+ each. Hurray, hurray!

Putting the propane on my credit card today, and will pay it off next Monday. So glad that will be done.

Now I just have to rush to finish the Roth and continue paying down the Neon.

My freelance jobs need to send me a payment, that would help a lot.

Parked

March 7th, 2014 at 04:00 pm

So the Dodge Neon is officially parked in my driveway. Grandpas new car came in and he wanted the Neon out asap. I do not plan to get it licensed or drive it yet.

Still debating with him on price. I doubt I will be able to talk him down. But it was decided that I need the car either way. My Cobalt died on me again.

I am giving him a $500 down payment today. I am still sad that I have a car loan. My other two cars I paid for with cash. At least it is interest free I guess.

I am hoping to pay it off asap. I feel weird owing my grandpa.

We got a quote back to fix the rattle on the Cobalt. $500!!??

We said no way. Father-in-law is going to try to do it himself for the cost of parts. $100. So that at least is saving me some money. He is working on it tomorrow.

Money is going to be a little snug until my car is sold and I am out of this loan. I also still owe the propane company $272. Scrapping that together, and should have it by next Monday.

Still have to send $250 to ROTH before April 15th.

I am due some money for my side jobs, but havent heard anything. I pray they pay me soon. That will help a lot.

New Gun & Mortgage Payment

March 5th, 2014 at 03:08 pm

Mortgage payment hit. My new balance is $50,702.12! I do love seeing those numbers go down.

Another long night of listening to the baby monitor. I did get more sleep than before, but I am still exhausted. It is slowly warming up. We are in the 20s today, by Friday we are suppose to hit the 50s. The goats just need to hold off a couple more days and they will be fine with or without my help.

Husband works at a gun & ammunition warehouse. Everyday he gets to handle all types of guns. He has wanted one for a while, but didnt know which one. So for the last 8 months or so he has been saving his money and handling all the guns he can and asking questions to the gun smith.

Well he finally picked one out. A Smith & Wesson 9mm A&P. It retails for around $600 but he gets to buy them at whole sale price because of his job so that saved us $150.

Well when he ordered it yesterday, they gave him another 35% discount for being an employee, so he only had to pay less than $400 including tax and everything! I love his job!

Now he has extra cash on hand, that he can spend on ammo.

The funny thing is, he was out of checks so he had to use mine. Which are pink and have Pooh Bear on them...

Everyone who works there is a red neck complete with camo and a beard... They call him pretty boy because he is good looking and most definitely not a hick, which I think is hilarious. He was complaining all day that they will never let him live this down.

Needless to say we are going to get more checks on Saturday.

Haha.

So Tired

March 4th, 2014 at 08:56 pm

After losing the goat kids yesterday I am paranoid.

I tried to get my dog kennel back from my mother so I could lock the last two pregnant does in the big barn. She was using it and wouldnt give it back, so we went to the farm store and she bought me another one.

I got the goats locked in the hay barn and they are having the time of their life eating all they want.

I hooked up the baby monitor and took it to bed. But all night all I could think about was them having babies in the night and them freezing to death. So I stayed awake all night just staring at the baby monitor.

They were so quiet (they were sleeping, duh) that a few times I was paranoid that it was not working, so I got up and put on my coveralls and walked out to the barn to find them sleeping.

Ugh. One of them is due on Monday (husbands birthday) the other I dont have an exact date, so it could be any time.

I can tell I am not going to get any sleep until these babies are born. I think I need a nap.

Another Sad Day

March 3rd, 2014 at 08:05 pm

I lost two more baby goats this morning.

It has been in the 50-60s for a while now. But suddenly we got a cold snap and a bad ice storm. Temps below zero or single digits. Figures it is the week babies are due.

Found two this morning, they froze to death.

I feel like such a failure. I have never lost babies goats until this year. I am so upset, and feel so guilty for the little ones. I have already bawled my eyes out.

Of course the babies were sold. So another $600 down the crapper.

I only have 2 more does left to kid. I am going to the farm store today and buying a dog pen that I can set up inside my big barn, hopefully they will be warmer in there and the babies will have a chance of survival. I also am hooking up a baby monitor so I can tell if they kid over night.

It is suppose to warm up within a week. Pray the last two can hold their babies in until then.

Frown Frown

I set another $100 to my IRA.