Budget for 2020 and major projects still do to 209

I will start with the major projects still to do

caulking of 12 rooms

air barrier in 2 attics

deck railing (I want to grow herbs on the deck) and ramp

Awning over French doors on deck

more gravel to extend and widen the driveway and add to the parking area for the trailers

Build a removeable box for flat bed trailer (be nice if carrying things that shouldn't get wet)

front porch needs leveled, new posts, railing, banister at concrete steps( or ramped) and wood floor replaced along with painted

kitchen porch needs leveled, new posts, railing, banister at concrete steps and wood floor replaced along with painted. Two ceiling fans already bought need installed after painted.

back stoop to the mudroom door needs widened as you have to step back to open the door to come in.

gate at fence to enter ramp on the deck needs installed

basement ramp and the drainage pipe at that area needs redone

Redesign the gardens

replace 16 windows

side entire home

side barn porch

install lights in dog kennel area of barn (that dogs very seldom go in but if I had to take my daughters dogs for some reason they would love it)

install lights in garage section of barn where the tractor, lawn mower etc is stored

install closets and storage items in house.

continue to clear barn of boxes and extra furniture

We chose the following for this year:

caulking of 12 rooms ( I have half the caulking bought)

air barrier in 2 attics (just need staples)

deck railing with a note I want to grow herbs on the deck railing (I have part of what is needed for the railing)

gate at fence to enter ramp on the deck. Need to buy post and gate.

basement ramp and the drainage pipe at that area needs redone. All needs bought

Redesign the gardens.(need potting soil for grow pots and sq ft and boards for sq ft gardens

install closets and storage items (98% is in barn)

continue to clear barn of boxes and extra furniture.(freebie just tons of work and time)

We are doing cost estimates for these projects to know how much we need to save to get them done.

Now for the budget. Hubby turns 62 this year. Thoughts of living on only social security *which is really only meant to replace 40% of your income during retirement* is what we looked at.

Five times in 2019 I have changed the budget
1/1/2019 $8794
8/1/2019 $6123
9/12/2019 $5883
12/1/19 $ 5062.50

I went on social security and pulled what Hubby would get at 62 and then at the beginning of next year myself . Living on the budget I set for this coming year. We would be short the medical and would have to pull that amount from the IRAs' and that is a lot less than what we are pulling now and would make it last 3 times as long as now. Hubby would like to have his truck paid off or at least half off before pulling SS.I don't see that happening  along with the projects.

It also lets me know how much must be in the savings to cover us between him starting SS and me starting SS.

 That really is not a bad scenario since we don't count on his hobby to pay anything He has declined several jobs as he doesn't want a business, doesn't want the headache of paper work even though he has to keep track of some of it for a hobby, just something to have purpose in his days. He enjoys the travel but limits that as he wants to be home to sleep in his own bed.

I think the no spend month with written down exceptions is going to continue in to 2020 but with the line of do you want to draw SS or keep drawing the IRA  ? to push us to be more conscious of our choices.

Dec 8th thru 14th no spend, eat from pantry

Dec 8th
The day of rest was spent at home doing bedding and hanging outside on the porch clothesline to dry. Probably won't see another day good enough to do that that doesn't freeze dry the clothes. Ate leftovers from the frig as we also moved the the black frig down to the basement FINALLY and put the Christmas tree where the frig had been.

Dec 9th

Did laundry and got it on the drying rack before leaving for appt and errands. Made a note of what we were having for supper so if Hubby got home before me he could start it.

I had follow up appt with my GI  that is 2 hrs away. Got that done, pit stopped at Son 2's house,the stopped at store for the non food items needed  and the last of the unsalted butter. I had some odds and ends in the frig so used them to make a casserole for supper.

Hubby went over to deliver a message to E and he asked if we could get them dried milk as they use it in their summer sausage that them were going to make the next night.

Dec 10th.
I did laundry and hung on drying rack before leaving.

Primary doc appt for both of us. Good news is my blood work was great. Even my calcium and Vit D was were great which made doc decide the loss of bone density had to come from the steroids I was on the last 2 yrs. Diet is changed along with having to add more walking. I average 3 miles a day, looking to increase to 5. Hubby and I already had priced out local gyms/YMCA's since we don't qualify for silver sneakers yet. Decided to set up a "gym" in the basement. I have an area that I can clear (was going to get rid of most of it and no that wasn't in the pantry pics) for Daddy's exercise bike and the elliptical we will buy in Jan. I picked out 2 on Amazon as everything around here is running over $800.I need to do yoga also... going to ask Son 2 where he got his mat as it is nice and long.

Went to chiropractor and was adjusted. The pain I was getting in my left side of chest was actually from my right shoulder being out of place. Since Doc had just ruled out it coming from my heart it was kind of like "What now" feeling. Glad to find out it was my shoulder that I had operated on a few years back.

We ate out between doctor appts. Hubby paid for it using his spending money ($50 for each of us.) We got the senior citizen discount and left a 20% tip and still was under $25. We brought home leftovers for our supper that I could add veggies and fruit to.

Stopped at store to get dried milk for E. Got dried milk for us, not sure how I missed we were completely out. Got the last of the stuff for Christmas dinner this weekend and a few of the veggies that doc wants me to eat (broccoli and cauliflower that I do not have in the freezers as they didn't grow this year). We won't be having fresh salad for Christmas dinner. Too many recalls.

We stopped to pick up the 4-5 bone in prime rib I ordered and paid for.That is our standard Christmas eve dinner (Son 1 is coming this year). Hubby came out and put a huge roast in the truck. Before I could say any thing he said. "The order got messed up and it came in boneless. They gave us $3 off a pound so I decided to take a whole boneless prime rib roast since the price was the same. You can do 2 roasts, some rib eye steaks and shave some for philly steak pizza and philly steak subs."  Personally I would have taken the money but that actually comes out to paying $3/ lb for the meat. We finished our leftovers from lunch for supper

Dec 11th
I did laundry and since there was a good breeze I hung the clothes on the porch line to freeze dry. I brought them in when it started to snow and hung them on the drying rack to finish.

We had French toast (using up the last of loaf of bread that had been in frig for awhile and a good dozen of eggs) ham slice and hash brown patties. We used blueberry pie filling for the French toast and had 8 oz of V8 fusion (1 serving  each of fruit and veggies). We will eat the rest of the French toast for bfasts the rest of this week.

It was nice to have the day at home so I could straighten the pantry (and take pics and post on blog). Check recipes of what I want to make for the dinner party on Saturday and do a bit of decorating. I pulled the meat off the two turkeys I had roasted and put 1 lb in each bag. Have 8 more lbs of turkey meat in freezer. I put the carcasses to simmer to make broth.

Dec 12th
laundry is on the drying rack.
We got the lights on the outside Christmas tree.
I have the fat off the first batch of broth. There is 5 qrts in the canner.
I got 4 swags put together for the fence line by the front porch.
Dish washer is running with stuff that was from straining the broth.
Carcass meat will be next after it is done as it has the pitchers that I strain broth into to refrigerate over night to get the fat to raise. I got 4 more lbs of meat for the freezer. Broth is is pitchers in the frig.
Dinner was leftovers

Dec 13th
I baked a pandoro cake ...it's a yeast cake for the dinner we are going to tomorrow. I also put together a bean party snack (not hummus) but will have to stop and get tortilla scoops for it ( I am using my spending money).

I did not do laundry as I was running the dishwasher 3 times today and too much water going into the septic line at the same time can cause issues.

Dinner was potato soup as I had 4 potatoes in the frig that I had brought home from Son 2's house that he had bought and had not ate...that was Aug. The potatoes was still good and made enough soup for our dinner.

Dec 14th
Hubby unloaded the dishwasher and put what wasn't dry on the drying mat before leaving for a last minute hauling job.

I started finishing the decorations. Keep taking breaks at the weather system has triggered my fibro and arthritis. I still have to decorate the cake and cook the cauliflower stuffing (actually it's a dressing as you do NOT put it in a bird) and get dressed for the holiday meal ..stop and get tortilla scoops (reminder to myself).

Half the laundry is washed and the drying rack is full. I will put the rest in later and set the delay start to start tonight so when we head home the washer should kick on so I can hang that laundry when I get home after the Christmas dinner tonight.

Enough of the clothes on rack was dry so I finished the laundry and got it hanging to dry.

Finished the cake and the dressing. Hubby got boxes to transport everything and we are both thankful he is no longer deep frying turkeys for this dinner.

We will check out Christmas lights on the way to the dinner and then take a different route home to see more lights.

Have bad weather coming in late tomorrow which means I will be in pain in the morning, need to remember to take something before bed to help head that off.