The farm and farmhouse

This week has been a whirlwind. My office boss came back from a two week vacation, so had a huge list of stuff to be done.

My web design boss has a TON of work for me right now as well, all on a short time frame.

Besides double my workload, it's also VBS week at church. Which both husband and I volunteered for. So we have literately been going there 15 minutes after we get off work, and not getting home until 9pm every day this week. Tonight is the last night, thank goodness. We've had about 24 kids in our class, and they are wild.

I've had terrible sinus pressure and headaches for the past several weeks. Well it's finally came to a peak, and now I'm sniffling, sneezing, and sick. Hopefully that means it will clear up soon though.

Tomorrow we have tickets to a play for my birthday, which is Monday. Our house is a disaster, so we'll be spending the rest of the day cleaning, and I'll be catching up on work over my birthday weekend.

I am worn out. I just want a nap. Feeling so behind on work, chores, animals, everything.

I have a more personal question. Is there any good way to discuss/teach finances with a friend?

My husband's best friend is bad with money. His family is bad with money. He was never taught, and I worry he is going to struggle his entire life.

In the past we talked a little about money with him. His credit was bad because of him putting his name on a phone bill with a friend when he was about 16 and his friend stopped paying. Doh. We talked to him about credit cards, and helped him open his first one so he could have some "good credit" history. Telling him how interest works and how he should only use it for regular bills and pay it in full each month. Things seemed to be going well.

To sum things up as best as I can. He makes about $30,000 a year, and also goes to school full time. He purchased a $12,000 car a little more than a year ago. 1st mistake. In order to save money he moved back in with his parents. That was a major mistake. His parents are super bad with money, can't hold down real jobs, etc. He has online classes and they couldn't pay their bills, so he has to keep paying their electric and internet bills to do his school. Shortly after him moving in with them, they somehow convinced him to let them put close to $5,000 on his credit card. :O With the promise they would pay it back.

He purchased a new laptop last year, financed. Now he just purchased a desktop. He also financed his school. This parents of course could not pay the credit cards, and he couldn’t make the huge payments, so he just took out a personal loan of $8,000 to condense everything. He is $20,000 in debt with not much to show for it. :/

Even scarier is that he recently talked about buying a house. He went to the bank and they approved him for $150,000!!! He literately almost bought a house for that much. (His parents encouraging him of course.) When we asked him about it he couldn’t even tell us the term or the interest rate. Thankfully he changed his mind last minute.

I’m seriously scared for his well being. It’s going to take him years to dig himself out of this debt. He can’t say no to anyone, and I bet his parents are going to continue to have him pay their bills and tack on more debt. He has no idea that this is bad debt, doesn’t understand interest, etc. He just follows whatever the banks and his parents tell him. He is already struggling paying his bills, and I don’t see how he will ever be able to move out of his parents house, get married, etc.

Husband and I joke that we need to sit down with a powerpoint and teach him finances. But seriously. How can we help him? I try to stay out of people's business, but he’s a good guy, and honestly just doesn’t know.

We are back from our trip to the south east coast! We had a good time, and got to see lots of new things. Seriously I don't know how we fit in so much on our trips, but we are pros at making the most out of the time we have.

We left on Saturday and stayed with family that was about halfway that night. Sunday we stopped to drop off goats, and then made it to our destination. The lovely family we stayed with made us some classic seafood boil which you eat with your hands, and then we packed up and headed to the beach for the sunset.

Monday we got an early start, before Charleston was "open" and got to see all the outdoor sights like the battery and waterfront park, we also walked a bit through historic downtown but it was nearly 110 degrees, so we didn't spend as much time as I had hoped for. We caught the first boat tour out to Fort Sumter, and learned some history. Then we went to a breakout game which is super fun. They lock you in a room and you have to find clues and keys to help you escape in under an hour. It was kind of weird because we were with 6 other strangers, but I would definitely do it again. It would be a real blast with friends. We drove across the amazing Ravenel bridge and ate lunch at a resort restaurant overlooking the U.S. Yorktown aircraft carrier. Afterwards we headed back to downtown and stopped at the historic city market. I splurged and bought $50 worth of pralines and goodies for myself and our two families which watched our animals while we were away. They make the most delicious pralines you'll ever buy there. (I don't even usually like pralines!) We got a Christmas ornament which is a tradition for our trips, and they were discounted if you buy 3 so we also got one for each of our mothers. That is the only souvenirs we purchased.

Then we headed back to our hosts and they ordered fried seafood to go (the best ever) I had it last time I was there and it was a special request. Then we headed out to a private ritzy island, where some friends of their owned a house and called in a pass for us. They had a guard house and everything, all gated, very expensive. I think some celebrities live there. So we spent another sunset eating seafood on the beach. Some dolphins swam very close to us while we were swimming.

Tuesday we left for Savannah and had planned on spending the day there. But once we got there and ate lunch we decided it was very crowded, and pretty much the same as Charleston only smaller roads and more people walking. So we went ahead to the park at which I had reserved a camping spot for previously. It was only early afternoon when we got there, and still blistering hot so on a whim we decided to keep driving rather than sit around in the heat. I lost out on the $34 I had paid for camping, but I think it was worth it. Wanting to see new places we took the long way home through Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Atlanta was a nightmare, and right in rush hour it started pouring rain. Their roads were horrible, with lots of standing water and hydroplaning. I was so terrified I was on the verge of tears. Worst driving I've ever been in. Thankfully my husband is a very cautious and good driver. And did his best to keep me calm.

We drove another 6 hours to a very secluded park in Alabama. We got there after dark, and we had to put up the tent and light a fire for dinner. The park ranger was very nice, and was surprised we had found them. It was such a secluded park that I couldn't even find a review, picture, or phone number online. Just an address, and the entrance road was very very long. Husband and I were joking that this is how a scary movie starts.

Yesterday we finally made it home. All told we spent:

$173.09 on gas
$122.03 on eating out and groceries
$70.62 on candy and gifts
$89.40 on the boat tour and breakout game
$53 on camping

For a total of $508.14! I had originally budgeted $500 before one of my transports dropped out, and I lost $75 last minute. So if you count that money we were only $8 short. Pretty good considering the extra camping costs, and expensive candy.

I would highly recommend Charleston. The people there are so friendly, and it is one of the most beautiful cities in the US.

Still doing the cash flow juggle.

Thankfully at this moment I only owe $200 on the credit cards. I was hoping to be at $0 before the trip, but it's not going to happen. Not due until September anyway so it doesn't really matter. Still have to pay for the cat spay on Thursday. That will be around $100. We kept my husband's favorite kitten and found a good home for the others. So we are now a 4 cat household. Up from our original 2, but down from our recent 6.

I did add a new expense. I had to purchase a new phone. :/ Mine has been deteriorating for months. First it started randomly shutting off, then it started dropping calls, maps stopped, and then it would take 12 hours to send a text message. It was extremely frustrating, and I knew the end was coming.

We made the decision to go ahead and purchase a new one before the trip since we were traveling across country, and the phone is our sole source of GPS. We didn't want to get lost when my phone died on us. Or not be able to call for help if something happens. My phone even shut off twice when they were trying to switch me to the new phone, so it really was getting to be unusable.

I have to pay full retail price with my phone company. So it was quite expensive, I am appalled and embarrassed at the price, especially since in the past you would get a new free phone every 2 years. Now the monthly bill is cheaper, but you are responsible for the phone purchase. It cost almost as much as my husband's laptop.

Oh well. I sprung for the good one. The price difference wasn't much different for it or a cheapo one, and I figured I might as well get what I want since I do use my phone constantly. I take really good care of them, and they last a long time, so over multiple years it doesn't seem like as much.

They want you to just make payments every month (0% interest), but I went ahead and put down a $200 payment because I'd rather pay up front and avoid monthly bills. The lady said no one EVER does that. Weird. I couldn't pay for the entire amount because of being squeezed from the trip. But I plan on saving up and paying it off in the next couple months. In the mean time I have to pay $20 a month on it. Which is fine since my bill actually just dropped $15 a month or two ago. So really only an additional $5 out of the budget. Not a big deal in the scheme of life, and it certainly is an upgrade. Honestly I am just thrilled that I can send texts again!

My birthday is coming up, and I am super excited this year. I FINALLY convinced my husband and family to buy me practical things I actually need/want rather than junk that is "more fun." I am getting a new bed and sheets. Just what I want! I also wanted a vacuum, but the price went up. So I have been promised it for Christmas. haha. Not many women can honestly say they want a new vacuum and bed frame for holidays! I am not materialist at all, and I prefer usable things that will improve my quality of life. A comfortable bed, and a way to suck up cat hair sounds pretty good to me.

Things are a little less crazy now. The trip went well. The party is over, and shopping is done.

The hay got rained on and ruined, so I'll have to wait until the next cut to get some. Which is good for me, not so good for them.

Mortgage is down to $46,759.80!

I got all my major deadlines completed except one, which I still have about a week to do.

Lots of running around, and craziness here. Making a 15 hour trip tomorrow, some needed clothes shopping on Sunday, party Monday. Vet trips are still kicking my butt. Poor dogs were getting eaten up by flies, so I had to buy some more flea/fly medicine. It's buy 3 get 1 free, which is enough to do both dogs for two months. Which should get us through the worst of fly season... $55, ouch.

I have vet checks for the goats next week. The goat I purchased on the other side of the country, might be falling through. Transport cancelled last minute. Oh well, I'm kind of relived. I was having 2nd thoughts. So if I can't find a way to get him here I'll be okay. That $500 would cover the cost of hay. Which surprisingly got baled early and is ready to go now. Sigh. Don't have money for it at the moment. I wasn't expecting it until later this fall.

Lots of big expenses hitting all at once. I'm scrambling to cash flow everything. Vet bills, hay, chaffhaye, license renewal, party, vacation, etc. Okay so far, just need to be tight this month until life calms down again.

I still haven't been able to find a single construction company to come out and give us even as estimate.

Which is quite depressing... Really I should keep trying and keep calling, but I'm nearly burn out about the entire situation. Part of me feels like it's time to take a step back and just wait another year.

My car has been having problems again. Also it's time to replace the timing belt as normal maintenance which I was quoted around $800 last year when I inquired.

Husband's car is very old, and it's only a matter of time before it's unfix-able. Both of us are feeling car strained. The conversation of purchasing nused cars and forgoing the remodel for now, has come up several times. It's a very real possibility that both our cars could break down at the same time, and we would be left scrambling for something. We'd like to avoid that and take our time finding a good deal, and selling ours while they still have any value.

Or we could just take a year off from big expenses, pay off the LOC, save, and purchase some smaller quality of life things like some new appliances or a couch. We are squeaking by on 20+ year old appliances, which are quickly deteriorating. For example my stove's screen is going out and I have to beat on it to see the oven temperature, set the timer, etc.

I'm worried if we decide to purchase a car then our stove or washing machine will go out, or if we get the remodel then our car(s) will break down. Ugh. I keep going back and forth, and second guessing myself. How do you ever decide what to focus on?

Sent $150 to the animal fund completing my $1,000 goal for the year! Hurray!

I will actually need to keep saving more though, because I still need to pay for testing which is around $400. Yikes. But I should be able to just cash flow it.

Got the mama cat's spay appointment set up. In July I'm making an all day trip to pick up a goat, the next day taking the cat to the vet and working, and then the next day we will leave on vacation. The day we get back from vacation bible school will start for a week. That is going to be a BUSY couple weeks.

Have several important deadlines that need to be done before July 1st and I'm feeling the crunch. To combat stress and take a step back husband and I are taking off work early today and going camping for one night. While the time would probably be wiser spent working on deadlines, I think my health and sanity need a short break. Hopefully it doesn't rain on us!

Finally got our propane budget renewal. With the new furnace this winter we used drastically less than we had been paying in every month. So for the next year our propane budget billing will only be $40, instead of our previous $115!

$75 a month in savings, that's a pretty decent jump. I'm sure the bill will go down even more when we someday replace all the old leaky duct work. That money will just get rolled into savings or debt repayment.

I've decided to use all my regular job income for our bills, and all my design income I'm sending straight to goals.

Mom talked me into keeping the buck that was supposed to go home this week, and they got one of hers instead. I'm happy to keep the goat because it was one of my favorite babies this year, but now my animal fund won't be finished quite yet. Darn.

We really have to get cracking on planning our vacation. It's coming up quick!

I was very productive this week. Got the goat house cleaned out, and sold 2 more kids. The animal fund is up to $847! The next goat is going home next week, and I will be able to finish that goal out!

Saved $100 for vacation, truck fund went up it's normal amount, and I paid $200 on the LOC. Very nice to see that balance finally going down. I'm torn between if I should be finishing out the Roth before starting on the LOC, or should I be doing both at the same time, or just sticking with the LOC? I plan on putting $1,500 more into the Roth this year and part of me thinks I should just knock that out first.

It's been 94 degrees in the house this week, and it really makes me want AC. It's nearly unbearable combined with our super high humidity.

Roof is all done, onto the next project. Which will probably be more trim, and continuing to clean out the upstairs and declutter.

Busy, busy, busy, around here. We got the roof shingled, and the ridge cap on. All that is left is the headwall flashing, and some roofing caulk in a few places.

Going to fill up the trailer for the dump this weekend, and continue organizing the upstairs. I'm thinking one trip isn't going to be enough... Also have to clean out the goat house and barn again.

It's nice to see some big noticeable projects get done on the house.

Web design is in full steam ahead mode. Which is great, but also exhausting. Really slacking on stuff at home like washing dishes and laundry. lol.

Life is a crazy mess, but good.

Worked on the roof yesterday, got the old shingles off, and the ice shield and tar paper put down. . This evening we are shingling. We ran into a problem though. We couldn't get the very old rusty, holey, metal flashing off. Any ideas? It's really nailed into the walls (under the siding), not the roof like it's supposed to be. And we can't seem to get it off without taking off the siding. Which is old aluminum, and won't come off without completely ruining it.

If we can't get it off we are probably going to just have to cut it with tin snips as close to the house as possible and try to slide the new flashing up under it. Will that cause problems in the future? When we eventually get the remodel the siding will be replaced and we can removed the old flashing, but in the mean time I don't want to have the entire bottom row of siding ripped out and missing.


I got a $5 an hour raise with the web design job! That will certainly help goals get completed, and two more goat kids are getting picked up next week.

Husband is getting really attached to the kittens and is already pleading to keep ALL of them. Oh my goodness we don't need 6 cats. Ugh. We'll have to wait and see what happens. It's going to be hard letting the little boogers go, I knew it would be. Which is why I didn't want kittens in the first place. If we can find them good homes it won't be so bad. But I care too much to just let them go to anyone. I can't understand people who trade and constantly sell/buy pets. I get way too emotionally invested, and once an animal comes here it most likely will never leave. With the exception of the goat kids. Which is hard enough, and I carefully screen all buyers and keep in contact.

All animals deserve love and respect. If I go in the goat pen I literately get mobbed by over a dozen adult goats trying to climb in my lap and fighting for my attention and two hands. My husband was laughing so hard at me yesterday because I sat down and all these 100+ pound animals were clamoring, rubbing, licking, nibbling, and pushing for hugs and kisses, nearly squishing me in the process. They are very intelligent and each have their own quirks, habits, and personalities. I've spent so much time with them that I can recognize their different voices from the house. Yet to most people they are just livestock.

I am so frustrated. We have been wanting to a do home addition for 4 years now. We kept putting it off until we were in a better financial spot, and decided this would be the year. At the beginning of the year I started calling around to contractors and construction companies trying to find someone to do it.

I was only able to get one company to come out and do an inspection for an estimate. Which was okay, they were my favorite anyway. Well they have put me off for months and I had to keep checking back. Yesterday I called again and they said they were too busy and were no longer interested.

Well that stinks. We had hoped to do it this summer, and now I wasted all this time waiting on them. I wish they hadn't led me on.

So I started calling more companies again. I called sixteen... SIXTEEN companies yesterday. No one was interested. No one wants to do home addition, only new construction, or everyone is too busy. :/

I even called the local hardware stores to ask for names and numbers. Then one of my friends messaged me that that they are getting a remodel done, and gave me their person's number. That was nice of them, but it made me feel jealous.

To back track, I've talked about her before, this friend was always low income and we got along great because we were both frugal and did cheap fun activities. Then in the past year she met and married her husband. Who is very wealthy. My frugal friend quickly turned completely opposite. She's living in a very nice house, driving new cars, etc. She is super sweet, but has been extremely busy and hasn't had much to do with me since she met this guy. I've invited her her to do things with me several times and she always turns me down or will say yes and then back out at the last minute. I know it's not intentional, but I just don't feel like I'm good enough anymore.

Add on that my other best friend moved away, and I am feeling rather lonely. I have no one that I can call up and go to the movies or out to lunch with. All of my friends have finished college and moved away, and are being successful in their new jobs. I'm the only one still driving an old car, and living in a half finished house. Sometimes it's hard not to feel jealous.

Anyway, she told me they are getting a 1,200 sq foot addition, with a 3 car garage. They already have a 4 car garage, and a big 4 bedroom house. It's just the two of them.

We've been waiting, planning, and looking forward to this small addition for years. And it's just disheartening that they are getting one 3 times bigger than ours, and have already started on it. I can't even get a builder to call me back. Ugh.

I'll try recalling a few people who didn't answer. But it's not looking promising that a remodel will happen this year.

Broke into the 46ks on the mortgage. Balance remaining is $46,880.41!

Also paid a piddly amount on the LOC, and husband's truck fund is up to $1,460.

Web design has really picked up and I'm struggling to get it all done, keep up with housework, and still have time to relax. Yikes. But it's a good thing, we can use the extra money.

Still figuring out the details for vacation but it looks like it should only cost us a few hundred dollars or less. Gas will be paid for by goats, and we are staying at a friend's house. So only expenses would be eating out, shopping, activities, etc. Not bad.

Planning on cleaning all the big junk out of the barn such as ruined furniture, old insulation rolls, lumber scraps, etc, this weekend if it ever stops raining. Also need to roof the small front porch which somehow never got done when we put the new roof on 4 years ago... We have a trailer parked and waiting to fill up, which will be taken to the dump. I love getting rid of stuff. I am not very materialist or sentimental, which is the opposite of my husband who wants to keep every single thing.

We tried to push ourselves to be productive this weekend and overall we were. I got the goat house and barn cleaned out, and sold a kid. We cleaned the house, mowed the grass, tidied outside, and even started cleaning out the boxes of junk that have been upstairs since we got married... Nearly 4 years ago.

Right now all three upstairs bedrooms are full of boxes of our old kid stuff, gifts/junk people gave us when we got married, random items we have no idea how they got there, and lots of building supplies, drywall, boards, etc.

Everything needs gone through, sorted, trashed, and organized. So it's a very large job.

It was kind of fun going through our old childhood things and sharing memories with each other. We moved everything into rubbermaid tubs to prevent future damage from the sun, mice, water, etc. We threw away two large trash bags worth of stuff, and only got about half way through one room. (The worst room)

Smidge the runt kitten is doing a lot better. I started using the sponge like several of you suggested, and it worked great! Thanks! After a couple days he stopped accepting the goat milk I was giving him, and seems to be eating well from mama now.

Today when I went to make a payment on the computer I realized it would only leave a balance of less than $90... So I just went ahead and paid it off out of my checking account cushion!!!

Woot! All done!

Glad to be back down to one (large) debt. So much easier to focus when I'm not getting pulled so many ways. Now that the computer is gone, focus will be on keeping credit cards down, saving for vacation, and buying supplies for some house projects we have been slacking on. Once I breathe a bit, the LOC should start going down.

Goal 1 out of 5 complete.

Realistically I don't think there is anyway the LOC will actually be paid off this year. But a girl can dream.

We are really fighting with the runt kitten to get it to survive. It seems... dumb. It wants to eat, but it can't seem to latch on correctly. It sucks in the wrong spot, or keeps letting go. It also won't latch onto a bottle. So I've been syringe feeding it. It is skin and bones, poor thing. It seems to be a little perkier today, so hoping it will eventually become strong enough to eat on it's own or take a bottle. My husband has named it Smidge.

Last night he nonchalantly said, "It is sure going to be sad to give away Smidge..." I said "NO, don't even think about it!" "Aww. But when you bottle feed you get attached to it."

Sigh. We do not need ANOTHER cat. 3 is enough. I told him if he wants to keep it then we have to find a home for Scrump. Which he doesn't want to do either. And I thought I was the animal enabler. lol.

My favorite goat had a bad hoof problem. I treated it for weeks as per vet instructions, but it wasn't healing properly, so I finally insisted and took her to the vet yesterday. They did minor surgery on it, and she already seems to be feeling better. Thank goodness. I was expecting to spend a couple hundred dollars, but was shocked when the bill was only $50. And that included a full bottle of antibiotic, and a jar of medicine which I can use later. Well worth it!

Got an appointment for the other dog to get her shots on Thursday, just in time to still get the discount. Then hopefully I will be done with vet bills for a while! At least until I have to take Scrump in and get her fixed. Ugh.

Another goat will be going home this weekend. Rather than put the money in the animal fund, I will probably use it to cover some of the vet costs from the past month. That is what the animal fund is for anyway. I still have 6 more kids left to be paid for and picked up, which will more than finish out the animal fund.


These animals are killing me this month. But I have been pretty fortunate really, not had many vet bills at all in several years besides the heart worm treatment, and regular vaccinations. Which is amazing considering I have over 30 pets.

I joke that my spending budget is 90% animals, and 10% junk food... That's probably pretty accurate. lol.

Computer fund is down to $242.11! Hoping that next check I'll be able to knock it out!

Unfortunately husband's laptop that was purchased with cash at the same time is continuously acting up. It's been sent back twice, and it just seems to get worse and worse. Right now I am in a battle against Dell to get them to refund our money and take it back. It's a piece of junk, and in a couple months the warranty will run out and we'll be stuck with it. If they take it back we will purchase a new, slightly better one for about $200 more. Husband has cash for this.

"Scrump" the cat, named changed from Zazzles. Had her kittens. Unfortunately she had them in the ceiling space above our sun porch. There was less than 18" height and not much more width, and she had them 20' back. Yikes! My dear, brave, claustrophobic husband wiggled up there and managed to get them out. Then had to wiggled back out, while avoiding puncturing through the drywall. I can't believe he fit and didn't have a panic attack. He is not a small guy.

4 kittens, one dead. We've got them moved into the sun porch and they seem to be doing well except one is pretty tiny. I'm not sure how well it is eating, so I'll have to keep an eye on it.

FINALLY added some money to the animal fund. First goat was picked up, and I sent all of it in. Most of the rest of the goats are old enough to go home, but I am dragging my feet a little calling the owners because I don't want them to leave yet. lol. I'll miss them terribly. Plus I haven't received their paperwork back yet, so it's just easier to wait.

Animal fund will see a lot of progress soon. I did purchase a goat from across the country, and will have to pay two transporters, health checks, etc. So that will cut a large chunk back out. I'm estimating around $450. I've sold one of the babies I had planned on keeping to help offset this cost, so it shouldn't deter the goal.

I was not able to send any to the computer, but I am still figuring on paying it off this month if no large expenses pop up.

Just returned from the vet.

My female dog went into heat last week, and I did not think it was safe to bring her to a crowded vet, and travel in the car with my intact male dog. So unfortunately I had to leave her at home, and I will miss the discounted rates. Arg.

But I did take the outdoor cat, and the other dog. I got 1 year rabies and distemper for the cat, and 3 year rabies and distemper for the dog, plus a heart worm test. I also picked up flea meds for all the cats.

My total was about $160 which I don't think is too bad. Of course it's pouring rain, so both animals were wet and stinky. Poor dog HATES going indoors or in the car, so we had to drag him everywhere. Until we got home and he jumped out and ran right back to his goats. Funny how he can be so tough at home, but take him to the vet and the over 100 pound dog is trying to hide under chairs. lol.

I got horribly sick again as an after effect of my sickness earlier in the year. I had still not coughed up any of the pneumonia so I knew it was only a matter of time. Well that time came.

Since Saturday I've been coughing or puking almost completely non stop. Severe pain in my lung, fevers, chills, sweats, and of course every muscle in tired and sore from coughing. No sleep to be had for several days for either of us. I had a round of antibiotics on hand because they expected me to get sick again, and I took them as soon as I felt myself going down hill on Saturday. I was barely able to avoid going back into the hospital.

If that wasn't enough, husband had some weird stomach pains which made him feel poorly, and we nearly had to take him to the hospital, but he is feeling better so we will wait and see. We think it is probably a stress ulcer, because he worries deeply about me, and his symptoms started a couple days after mine.

I'm happy to say that last night was the first night that I didn't puke, and we finally got some sleep. So I think I'm past the worst of it. Now that some of that junk is out of there, hopefully I can heal and feel better.

I am completely wiped out though. My throat is so sore and irritated from coughing that I lost my voice. And I haven't eaten much of anything since Friday so I've lost about 5 pounds.

I only worked a couple hours this week, but I don't care.

As a side note, the cats are all getting along pretty well now. But unfortunately I think the little kitten is pregnant. Hard to believe since she was SO thin when I got her, but her belly has ballooned up pretty big. Arg. So it looks like I will be finding homes for kittens. Poor thing is so tiny, hopefully she only has a couple in there.

Piddly changes on the truck fund and LOC.

I did get one of the credit cards completely paid off. Only about $130 on the other one, and it's not even due for another month but I just want them to be $0 for a while. I always pay them in full before the statements, but it's annoying having something on them at all times.

I also got all the goat kid registrations sent in and paid for. That is something big that is done and over with. I hate paperwork, so I'm happy that I got it completed so soon.

With finally getting caught up on the credit cards, this should put me in a good position to work on the goals, as long as the vet bills don't deter me too much and I keep spending in check.

Husbands computer is still acting up, after it's already been sent in twice. We hate it and want them to take it back and let us get a better one, but they keep insisting on fixing it over and over, which has a several week turn around. Arg. I think they are just stalling until the warranty runs out. I'll have to call them tomorrow, which means a several hour hold, and lots of arguing. I think I need to make a bigger stink.

**Gah, I wrote a huge post and didn't copy it for once and of course it got erased**

So much cat drama at my house. The cats all hate each other. The outdoor cat ran away for two days and we thought he was gone, but he finally came back.

Momo is still being a very slow eater. He is starting to act more hungry, but when you pour his food it's like he doesn't want it anymore. He'll eat canned food, and his teeth look fine. So I may pick up a new bag of food, maybe something is wrong with his one, or he is tired of it. Who knows.

Computer balance is finally below $500! Still hoping to knock it out by the end of May but that is going to be a stretch with the upcoming vet bills.

May is vaccine discount month. Both dogs need to go for their yearly vaccines and heart worm test. Rango the outdoor cat is due, and the kitten will need all her shots and the spay. In addition I just wormed all the cats for $50, and everyone needs flea meds. Yikes. It's going to be a very expensive month for vet bills.

Not sure if I should take everyone on the same day, or if I should break it up over several trips. Wrangling two 100 pound dogs who hate riding in the car, and two cats who hate each other does not sound very fun.

Husband and I have been toying around with the idea of starting a blog.

I'm a web designer, and he is a photography enthusiast. Seems like a good fit. We are remodeling a house, and live on a farm. So we have content.

But I think I am mostly worried about remaining partly anonymous.

I already have a successful goat business and website, with my contact information on it. If I make a blog which ties to that, I worry about peopling linking this savingadvice blog to the new blog, or to my goat business. I'm not sure if I am comfortable with everyone knowing my name, address, income, etc. How can I prevent this? I'm not sure how much should be kept private.

I'd love to share the new blog with you guys. But at the same time. I feel like I don't want this more private area of my life attached to my name, etc. Thoughts? Ideas on how I should go about this?

My boss gave me a $100 bonus for being a hard worker.

I've figured out that on Friday's payday I will be able to pay off the credit cards and have about $200 to send to the computer. Hurray! It seems like forever since I've been able to put money towards something besides our monthly bills.

We have also been productive around the house. The vegetable garden and the flower garden are both done, our closet trim is ready to hang today, and we deep cleaned the bedroom and living room.

We now have a new cat. Someone dumped a very very thin kitten off at my parents. I didn't really need another cat, but she is so sweet, and I felt so bad for her. She obviously needs food and care. Poor thing has ate and ate and ate since I've brought her home. She purs very loudly every time you touch her or feed her. It's so cute compared to my grumpy Momo.

She seems to be settling in well. But the other two cats are not at all happy about the new addition. Especially since she has taken over the outdoor cat's bed. lol.

We named her Zazzles, or "Zazzy." Which is from The Big Bang Theory. She is grey with a white face and feet. My husband is so good about enabling my animal habit. Within reason of course. He didn't even put up a fight, he just rolled his eyes when I asked and said "bring her over." lol.

Unfortunately she is long haired. I'm about at my wits end with brushing long haired cats. I've never had so much grooming to do. The two current cats rough house and play so much that they tangle their hair up in giant knots. I am brushing and cutting out mats daily. It's a constant battle with the indoor cat to keep fur off everything. Yuck. My old short haired cat didn't shed half as much. I have all hard wood floors and I still can't keep the hair down, I can't even imagine how it would be with carpet.

I will be scheduling an appointment to get her spayed ASAP and vaccinated. But I want to get her a little healthier before surgery, plus she is very small yet. I'll go ahead and pick up some wormer for her, and the other cats.

Momo the ragdoll has been acting off the last few days. He has a rare gum disease which hurts so I take him to get steroid shots every few months. He hasn't been eating well lately, so I was worried he is sick again but it hasn't been that long since the last shot. It's best to delay it as long as possible since he is so young and long term steroids can cause permanent damage. I looked at his gums and they don't look that bad right now. I am wondering if he is just stressed because of the new cat. I will keep a close eye on him for a couple days before I decide if he needs to go in or not. The vet is swamped right now with only one vet, and very few workers.

Well it finally happened. I have started receiving medical bills for my long stay in the hospital in January.

My mom had graciously agreed to pay all the bills for me. She just wanted me to get better, and not worry about the money issues.

But in the past week we have already received over $1,200 in bills. And the doctor hasn't sent his bill yet.

Originally we thought I wouldn't have much to pay, because in-patient care is sometimes covered 100%.

I have good insurance, with a deductible of only $635. So I'm not sure why the amount is so much. We will have to look into it some more. But I don't feel comfortable letting my mom pay it all, so it's definitely going to affect our budget. Just not sure how much yet.


Garden boxes were filled in, but it's been getting below freezing at night, and it has been raining all day yesterday, last night, and still raining today. Planting will have to wait a little while longer. Until then the plants will do fine in our sun room.

Credit card is $635 right now. Ouch! I haven't been shopping or spending like crazy, so I'm shocked it's that high. It's mostly our regular bills, bridesmaid dress, animal food, the wood for the garden boxes, and several $5 lunches.

Thankfully next week I have $320 coming from my paycheck and a goat deposit. So that will bring it down to a more manageable number.


I paid the mortgage today to bring it down to $47,209.82!

We did finish building and installing our garden boxes, and purchased the dirt and plants. Tonight we are going to fill them in, but it's supposed to get below freezing so we will wait until tomorrow to plant.

Not much progress financially. Actually I'm a ANOTHER wedding and had to put the deposit down on the bridesmaid dress, so I lost progress. Gah. (Am I allowed to say I'm sick of weddings, and how expensive they are?)

But, we've been working hard on home projects. We cut, and sanded our closet door trim. Yesterday we cut assembled and installed another raised garden bed. Just have to fill it. We only have one more bed to do, and we've already got it built, still need to bury and level it. Every year we've built a couple more, and kept increasing our garden size. But we will be finally be done making garden boxes, at least until our family grows.

Besides that I've got all the goat kids tattooed and vaccinated. Just need to fill out and send in all their paperwork.

I sent the final $300 to husband's Roth for 2015. Woohoo.

Also paid $170 on the computer. Getting so close to having that gone! Just a few more big payments. Can't wait to move onto something else.

Not much to report.

I paid off one of the credit cards with this check.

My first goat deposit should be arriving in the mail this week. They won't be going to their new homes until at least May, but I'll be sad to see them go. They are such fun, and husband has really participated this year. We go out and play with them every day when he gets home, and he even built them a play ground.

Goat money will be used to build up my animal fund cushion, pay for hay, and pay for testing.


Friday I should see a big jump on my goals. I will have about $450 to put towards something. So that is exciting! Plan to finish the 2015 Roth contribution, and apply the rest towards the computer.

Husband just had to buy a set of new tires for $350, ouch. His tires were so bad that he was having to fill them up several times a week. If you stood beside the car you could hear the air leaking out. He purchased them USED several years ago. They were bald and dry rotting, and he had several plugged holes from running over things like screws. So at this point it was a matter of safety. We were really hoping to purchased a "new" car for him before he had to replace them, but we couldn't put it off any longer, and instead he is going to try to get a while longer out of his car.

This will give us more time to save for a car purchase, and also pay down some debt / figure out the remodel first. Just hoping his 1994 car keeps trucking.