Gathering information

We have seen here and there of comparisons of recession in 2008 when we lost 2 houses and about half our income and Daddy lost over 50% of his retirement (IRA) and had to start living on his social security alone. It's really not a surprise but a heads up. We are looking strong at the budget and seeing what we can cut to only live on social security which means not paying extra on the mortgage to start with.

We have friends that their work place payroll got hacked... they didn't get anything for almost a month and now are getting about 1 day a week for 5 days work. The company hopes to be back on schedule and everyone's pay be caught up by April. Another company that Daughter 4 was working for got hacked also. Her paycheck came in 2 wks later for less than what she made by hour even though she worked 80 hrs. They said that wasn't a full pay check (gee really?) but just a test to see if things were working. She had already put her notice in as she got back in to the company she had worked for a long time ago. They had called her and are paying more than where she was working AND it's closer to home and more stable hours.

Hubby's business has decreased by 50%. He is still making his bills as long as he doesn't take any wage, no profit, but worries about any big out lays with repairs. He does have a business credit card but prefers to pay it off in full and not waste his money on interest charges.

I had a credit card hacked... the credit card company caught it and denied the charges so at least I don't have that headache. Been there and done that. I had to go in and change the auto pays I had on that card. Might be a blessing as the card I use (that I got the in the mail the day of the hack) now gives more cash back on than the card I had on the bills.

We had an audit of the home to see if it would be worth getting solar power. Three different estimates, first on the barn roof and then just out in the yard, all 3 showed it would not be a break even point on the money side for 15 yrs. At our age, that's not worth it. It did show there were a few places that needed caulking and that replacing the windows and adding more insulation(wrap insulation if we were changing the old siding) would help. But for electric use we are on the low end for 2 people even with a grow light cart and heat mats. 

We are on the low end of using water also which the softener company told me we were saving about $16/ month between saving on salt and saving on changing the whole house water filter. Since our outside water is NOT ran through the softener that saves even more. 

We are on the low end of using propane for the size home (including pump house heater) we have. 

We only have one internet company in our area and they just lowered their rates by 5% without me calling and asking.