HUBBY RANTING

 This is NOT normal !!

He called his IRA guy 6 wks. ago and asked about maybe changing how he was invested, how the account was handling the withdraws etc. Guy told him everything was okay, don't panic etc. As the account was lower than we liked we were iffy about things being okay... after all we LIVED through 2008 when Daddy lost 75% of his money and had to go to living on Social Security (which wasn't much after Medicare came out).

Last week we got a call to schedule coming in. Didn't think much of it since my IRA guy had already scheduled my bi yearly appt. 

Talk about someone being in a panic attack. Hubby's finance guy was " you need to change how you are invested since you are at 85/15 ... pulled out the papers and found Hubby had suggested 75/25 and the guy TOLD him 80/20 would do us better for what we were trying to do and then he cranked it up to 85 (at one time it showed 90). We were pulling far too much .Hum, it's our money and we are okay if we run out of that acct. and made that clear when we went in. AND then suggested I move my IRA to them.... 

I firmly told the guy No never. I was staying with who been there for my dad for over 30 years including 2008. My acct. was making money, even with how the market was doing. He said I was too comfortable and confident in my people. The young man did suggest then we move Hubby's acct. to ease dealing with two accts two hours away. Mine is 30 minutes. We didn't think about distance as we focused it was closer to our son who would be handling the acct. when we died.

Hubby told him he had things to think over. I could tell he was doing his best to keep his mouth shut. 

As we got in the car to drive an hour to our chiro (and again to drive home from chiro) he cut loose.

We see my guy on Tuesday for my bi annual meeting. He is asking what it will cost to move his money in Dec... or should he move it sooner. 

He has lost confidence in the company. Called the guy who recommended them as he was with them and his parents were also. He said he was changing (to the same people I go to) due to how they were all about employee and not about clients. 

Mean time I am looking to see if we can live on Social Security only in 2023 instead of 2024. 

Going back to The Prudent Homemaker and reading How to Cut expenses when you think you have nothing left to cut.

What can I do today to save?

 Has became the daily question.

Saturday we found pork butt and pork loin marked down. I sliced the loin into pork chops and froze them. The pork butt is now in quart jars in the canner...the scraps and bones in the oven roasting. I'll pick what ever meat is left and use it this week when the temps hit above 90 and heat indices are in the 100s again. We also got some smoked sausage links the size of hot dogs. Works nice for a quick sandwich that Hubby can take with him while working or sliced into 123 pasta (one onion, 2 cups of protein and 3 cups of veggies with 1 lbs. of pasta... sauce is what ever).  Those are now in the freezer .  We haven't turned the AC on since Thurs when the heat wave went down to 85. That will change probably tomorrow.

I harvest peas, lavender, mint, dill , onions, cherry tomatoes, turnips, radishes, lettuce, spinach and basil from the gardens. PLUS a few red raspberries that  the rest should be turning by this weekend along with the blackberries. Some of the potatoes are getting blooms.

The electric bill dropped $15. I think that is because we are making sure the fans are not running when we are not in the room and opening the windows in the morning until it's 80 before Hubby turns on the AC. He also agreed to set that temp at 78. He prefers a bit cooler but since we are saving for the wood/coal stove he is willing to be warmer. LOL

We have started our mornings on the kitchen porch with coffee so often Charlotte now goes out and get a seat and waits for us. If we don't come out she comes back in and woofs softly then goes back out. We now have 3 chairs for the 3 of us LOL.

I have been using the laundry of the day to block the sun out of the kitchen

I did have to add an old shower curtain to block the very end. It is lacy so we can still see through it. 

M sent over 2 1/2 dozen eggs. I beat them up and put in freezer in 2 egg measurements. Apparently her chickens are running her family of 11 over in eggs.

We found country style pork spareribs on clearance. I let them sit in homemade BBQ sauce and a bottle of coke over night, turning the bag they were in when I thought about it. Hubby grilled them and we had 3 meals from 6 ribs. We had "salad" from the garden every other day. 

We haven't gotten rain since last Monday so I will be out tonight watering the gardens.

For what ever reason she has decided she needs to lay in this potato bed. She isn't on the plants them selves so I am at least thankful of that. Hubby will be adding straw to it in the coming week so maybe she will stay out of it then.

But she's done this since we put it out and planted it. She won't sleep in a dog bed. She is weird LOL

GRID DOWN

Not ours but our family. 

Central Ohio has been without electric since Monday night between storms, tornados and the heat wave with feel like temps 105 to 115. It has been horrible for those going through this. Some still don't have electric and it's a maybe for tomorrow. A lot of nursing homes, assistant living  and hospital are on emergency power and can't open windows for what little breeze there is. 

Hubby's brother and sister lost everything in their freezers and refrigerators. I can tell you that is a financial hit big time for his sister who is already on a strict budget on low income. His parents are on generator on their propane so the frig and freezer are okay but they can't run their AC on it. They were thankful they grew up without AC and knew what to do to keep the house cool. Gave advice to several of their grandkids. ( Our kids didn't grow up with AC).

Most home insurance policies will not cover much of lost food unless by fire. Some won't then. SO you might want to check your policies. 

Hubby's parents thought we were stupid for preparing for the grid to go down... they don't now. BUT I did point out to Hubby I needed to be canning more of our meat. I have froze snow peas, peas and strawberries though the majority of the berries are in pie filling and jam. I am now dehydrating the last of them. I should have the last in the dehydrator today.

It made us stop and think if we were preparing enough to be off grid.

This is Charlotte at 7 A.M. as I was putting laundry out and Hubby was making sure E's two cows' water barrel was full.

One of the ways I am keeping the house cooler so the A.C. doesn't run as much.

side purpose is to dry the laundry. ;)

Tonight is salad with what ever we can use without me turning on the stove so no boiled eggs or pasta. 

I will admit

We are both dragging butts. BUT we knew this week we would be under a heat warning so hauled butt last week through the weekend to get the outside work mostly done. We can work inside the house this week since we are moving furniture around due to wood stove coming in during August... figures crossed as you never know is something is going to come in when they say it will.

Hubby bartered the use of his small trailer for a cord of seasoned hard wood.

I only bought what was on my wish list (actually it's a need list but not immediate need) when it came on sale and I have points I could use. 

I pulled the snow peas and garden peas that were dying. I have 4 more varieties of peas yet blooming.  I harvested strawberries... we might have one more round to pick it the bunny and birds haven't gotten to what few were left over Sunday. Lettuce leaves are daily now, a few radishes left and we have plenty of scallions. I don't have tomatoes but the Amish around the corner does so I will be pit stopping there to get some for this week. I have blooms but not tomatoes at this point.

I finished planting the summer crops and most likely will run myself over at harvest time. I do have 6 square pots I want to plant with "salad" stuff to try to keep it on the table through the heat of the summer. I just need to figure out where I am going to put it. I am watching the sun light in the area between the house and the deck ramp thinking it might be a good place.

I checked the IRAs, check where we were for saving for grid down stuff. Checked about replacing the garden boxes that are falling apart and got our propane contract early and was pleased to see it less than $3/ gallon. I decided on 1500 gallons for winter contract and will pay for a summer fill if we need it.

I am really trying to limit the propane use from the main tank by using the electric water kettle for hot water instead of running water until I get hot water. We don't pay for water as we have a well but we do pay the electric to run the pump to get the water. I was still able to drop the electric bill another $10. I think it's mostly that we are outside  so not running the ceiling fans. Curtains open in the evening so not turning on lights. I imagine it will go up when the AC is on this week with 110 heat index. 

 Then I had a sit down with Hubby over finances. I pointed out how much his IRA has lost (mine hasn't that much as I am more conservative than him) and that at this rate he would be through his IRA in a couple years (I had this talk before). I SHOWED him what we could do to not draw as much (like 1/3rd of what he is drawing now) and be okay. 

No we would not pay extra on the mortgage for the remainder of this year or any next year. 

No we would not be buying willy nilly. Like the whole house insect system he just wanted at $1500. 

No that does not take in any income from his business or me earning it from the gardens or work. It's not something we can count on. 

We would have to use the slab wood for making new garden beds or save it from extra income if it is there. We would be sifting a lot of dirt to reuse, I have some fertilizer that we can add to it to improve the soil. I am sure E would give us manure if needed. 

BUT it would give time for his IRA to recover since he is changing how it's being invested this month.

Charlotte

 

One way to stay out of the sun , is to lay under the lilac bush.

Spying on the Amish neighbor while he runs his saw mill just incase he has his dog Pepper with him that she hates. She is standing on the back of the old love seat that we call the dog seat as all the dogs used it to either sit on or sleep on. Hubby is sitting at his desk doing paperwork.

Sweet baby needs a nap and made herself a bed on my bed AFTER keeping me up half the night due to rain (not storms) coming in. I think if I had a cot and slept with her in the basement she would settle. Wilbur used to do that with her.