February Finances

 Income

IRAs   $6800.78

Social Security $3634.

Son 2 payment on loan $100

Business income $1316.23 (Plus transfer from Home $$) $2000

Interest earned $10.40

TOTAL INCOME $11,761.41 (not counting transfer)

OUT GO

Irregular expenses $2380.54

Down grid expenses $2677.63

Auto savings $180

Dog vet/food $174.91

Household $1923.09

Medical /OOP $2078.05

Business $1612

TOTAL OUT GO $11026.22

BALANCE $735.19 IN THE BLACK... the business stayed in the black because I transferred money from savings to cover it. 

Irregular expenses was high also due to stuff for garden and stocking up on items on sale for pantry.

STILL I have the bills covered for the rest of this month and until March 10th when the next round of bills come in.

I can take a breath now.

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

All in a week

 

with so many clouds I was surprised to be able to see these 2 evening stars... I am thinking Hubby said Mars and Venus was to be showing. He heard it on the weather news.

 It got warmish. Enough for Charlotte to want to sit outside and expected me to sit with her.

It's fine when it's 2 p.m. and she is nudging me to go take a nap with her on the bed. 

Hubby finally broke down and bought a wood splitter. He was going to buy used and I insisted on buying new. Another guy bought the used one and a month later it had broke down and needed $500 in repair. Between the cost of buying it used and the repair he could have bought a new one and had a 4 yr warranty. Hubby was glad I insisted, especially after splitting a huge tree in 2 hrs. E said it would have taken a 2 days to do it by hand. Which is why he dragged it out of his woods and dumped it at our gate at the pasture. He was clearing some paths while working the maple trees for sap aka maple water as the Amish call it.

Next Tuesday we have 2 appointments so won't be able to go to the store due to timing and distance. So we went yesterday. Took Charlotte to the vet for spring allergy shot and nails clipped, she's at 61.5 lbs. For the first time, even though she was shaking with fear, she let a cockapoo pup sniff her without her barking or growling at it. Vet said that was a good sign that she would be okay with us getting a pup by summer.

Hubby went and got fuel and took a nap in the truck with Charlotte while I did the grocery shopping. All that is left on the list is Chi Chi tortilla chips that we can only get at Menards. 

I got everything on my list PLUS a 7 lb. roasting chicken for 99¢/ lb., very seldom find anything over 5 lbs. and a pork butt for the same price. I got thick sliced bacon for $3.39/lb. instead of the price of $7.99 I have been finding. I got $2 off my pot stickers, $3 off my pizza rolls (yeah I know how bad they are for me, but sometimes I can eat them on the run). I also got $4 off Velveeta, $1.50 off yogurt, $1.75 off cottage cheese, $1 off sour cream, $1.50 off each of several cheeses, 2 pineapples for half price ($4.50)$1.50 off oranges, $2.50 off coke a cola, $1.50 off tricolor bell peppers , $2.11 off strawberries, 50 ¢ off potato chips, $1.50 off mushrooms, and $3 off because I bought $15 of meat. Total I saved $68.43. Better yet I won't be back to the store for 3 wks. the soonest so Hubby will pick up milk as needed. Junk food aka chips etc. will last 3-4 months. 

I limit "junk" food chips, pizza rolls etc. to $80 every 3 months. Chocolate is a different category, it's $60 every 4-5 months. I can stretch if I make brownies, choc ice cream, choc chip what ever. Hubby does chocolate bar with peanut butter every night other wise. 

Blessed Be

prayers for peace  

Trying to remember age of kids

 Hubby and I had a good laugh... Amish guy asked how old our kids were...

Daughter 1(late Husband's daughter) will be 51 this year, her 5 kids are 30 to 18 with 4 grandkids 5 to 2. She actually listed Hubby as her step dad on more than one thing.

Daughter 2 My daughter ,will be 44 this year, her 4 boys are 26 to 20 with soon to be 3 grandsons 7 to due in May. Her 4 yr. old grandson calls me spag sauce.

Son 1 Hubby's son ,is going to be 42 no kids

Son 2 My son is going to be 42 no kids  but his girlfriend has daughter that we claim that is going to be 14..better yet she claims us. 

Daughter 3 Hubby's daughter is going to be 40 Her kids are 20 to 14

Daughter 4 My daughter Hubby adopted, is going to be 40. Her kids are 22 to 16 and her granddaughter is going to be 3. 

THEN the guy just scratched his head and told us he thought we were in our late 50s... HUM. We get that once in awhile because of how active we are. 

IF you asked the kids how old we are, they get it wrong by 1 yr. Either older or younger LOL. 

At least we had a good laugh

do a little dance

 OH YEAH... 3 checking accounts and 2 savings accounts and we PAID off the nasty bills and February bills .. AND no account is completely broke. Hubby actually sighed. EVEN his business bills are paid.

How can she sleep like this ?  laying beside me on the couch with her head hanging down? LOL.

Hubby picked up the last of the plumbing for the solar simple pump to connect it to the pressurized tank to come directly to the house. Yesterday we had it running by solar to send water to the pond , the pump has to "set" in and that takes a total of 6 hrs. of running. We are doing it one hour a day. Since the pond is still low, it's good to run it that way. 

Still waiting on the buzz sawblades. The guy stopped here yesterday and thought they had one (we ordered 2) and found it wasn't quite right, Hubby sent the other blade with him so they could measure it correctly. The guy offered to sharpen our blade for free since the two blades are coming in almost a month after they were suppose to. It's $50 to sharpen this blade since the Amish guy that used to do it moved out of the area.

So after the sighs of relief and I am thinking we can take a breath.

Hubby brings up redoing the gardens.

So much for that breath. GEEZE.

 I told him we were going to focus on perennials and heirloom plants. I had already ordered some black raspberry starts, would love to find some elderberry starts (I get elderberry honey from friends so many they can get starts from where they pick berries) and look at more herbs that are used for medicinal. We need to set up the new beds we got for the strawberries and transplant them (I think I will just get starts off them and plant them in the new beds)  I ordered some wide Italian green beans, I will plant them in the old potato beds. I picked up some more peas as I was almost out of seed. I got heirloom this time so I can save seed. I saved the seed from the last baby butternut we just ate to plant also. 

But first it's pay the taxes. March 7th.

Little things add up

 Grandson asked how I make my toothpaste last so long.... he is by himself and his mom told him I make 1 tube last a month and I brush my teeth after every meal (yes I had braces, can you tell ? 😏) I asked for him to take a picture of his toothbrush (I had to promise to not post it anywhere, he is not much into social media) after he put the toothpaste on.... I then sent him a photo of mine... he had Mount Rushmore and I had a nice size pea. I told him to ask his dentist. Every dentist I have said PEA size not the 1 inch most toothpaste directions tell you. 

Then I got wondering how much I was spending on toothpaste (I stock that too and I grew up with using baking soda mixed with salt)

www.omicalculator.com/everyday-life/toothpaste

I used the current FULL price which I never spend when buying toothpaste. BUT coupons are getting less and less and sales sometimes are not really sales. So I went with not sales or coupons.

Numbers are based on me using the toothpaste once a day. 

Colgate Renewal 3 oz should last me 15.22 months with the cost of 44￠ per use 

Sensodyne 3.4 oz should last me 17.24 months with the cost of 35￠per use ( I use this twice a day so it would only last me 8.62 months)

Crest 3D white (since I won't bleach my teeth) 3.8 oz should last me 19.27 months with the cost of 19￠per use

Crest Densify 4.1 oz should last me 20.79 months with the cost of 24￠per use.

I spend the most $1.14 (highest amount) and 89￠the lowest amount per day. 

I am okay with that amount unlike Grandson who has been using a tube every two weeks. Since Grandson like to feel foam when he is brushing, I told him to ask Son2 as he is the same way. From the sounds of it, he now has an electric toothbrush, water pic, which toothpaste is the best for the money and Son2 sent him a photo of what the toothpaste should look like. 

Grandson asked about other things.

Dish soap is a very small amount... I use blue Dawn. I buy 56 oz bottles as I use it for other things. Helps keep bugs off Charlotte also. I also add about 18 to 20 oz of water to it before using it on anything. I use 1/2 tsp to wash my hand wash dishes. That is over 2 yrs of dish soap for washing dishes. https://mykitchenmates.com/101-uses-for-dawn-dish-soap/

I hand wash pots and pans so I don't fill both soap cups up in the dishwasher.

Shampoo and conditioner about the size of a quarter, I have thick hair to my hips.

Body wash.. bar soap last longer if you take it out of package for a week before using... use a bath pouf or wash cloth to clean more... you waste more than you think just putting it in your hand. I use a drizzle to a nickel.

Face lotion. a dime during summer and nickel during winter

body lotion about a nickel per area.

Grandpa was a barber, he said to always wipe your razor with rubbing alcohol after using. It would last longer and you wouldn't get razor burn. I have done that and found while the daughters have to replace their blades 3 times more than I do.

I have found that most people (like Hubby used to) just dump what ever cleaner/soap etc. and not really read the amount they should have used to think to try less and see if it still did the job. 

If you want to save money ... you have to think about that type of stuff... especially in this economy and if you are looking at living off social security with very little else.

Prayer for peace 

Blessed be 

January finances

 

INCOME

IRAs $6800.78

Social Security $3634

Son 2 loan repayment $100

Interest on savings $16.24

Business income $802.

TOTAL  $11,653.02

OUT GO

IRREGULAR EXPENSES $5314.59

HEALTH PREMUIMS/OUT OF POCKET $1384.40

HOUSEHOLD BILLS $2925.89

AUTOMATIC SAVINGS $180.

TOTAL $10,704.88

Balance IN THE BLACK

$948.14

It's not going to be pretty this month or next.

 Hubby has 4 large bills coming out of the business and he has had only 2 hauls this month that don't cover anything but the fuel and one smaller regular bill. The Amish have had 4 death's this past month so no one was building pallets or going to auctions to buy equipment. Maple syrup is starting with the weather that has came in so they will be in the woods gathering what they call maple water (we call it sap) to cook down to syrup so not much hauling will be done

I used the money I saved for a  large March bill to pay his business bills.  Not including paying for the taxes to be done. It's going to be a robbing Peter to pay Paul to pay Jane SIGH

I will add that we sat down and figured out how finances would be if one of us died. Wouldn't be horrible to deal with except with dealing with social security...it's always horrible to deal with them and according to my late cousin it's horrible to work for them as she did for 45 yrs.

Daughter 4 another round of cancer

 This time it's uterine cancer... endometrial type, she is having experimental surgery March 28th that will only keep her off work that week. She had to pay $900 (well, I did as she doesn't have any money saved) for her share of the surgery. Better than the $9000 her insurance wanted her to pay since they consider her cancer precondition. SIGH  The doctor that did the 1st surgery removing the ovaries wanted to take everything but her insurance wouldn't allow it.

I loaded her up with food last week, so she could save her grocery money for her April rent. I will take more to her if she needs it. Her son that lives with her said the other two kids(not living at home) sat down with him and they divided up who will be doing what during that week. If they need help they will send the SOS.

Hubby is working on getting the wiring done for the pump house. He has had a couple small jobs with the business and has a few lined up towards the end of the month. Last year there was NOTHING in January, February and most of March. OF course he forgot to put money aside during the "good" months for the 4 large legal bills that come due. Definitely bringing up the getting side track he constantly says happens when he doesn't do things when we see Doc.

We decided we would plant the gardens even the ones that are falling apart. Not sure what we can get in. I didn't grow any plants but we know where we can get plants or produce at reasonable price.

Hubby is continuing the wiring on the pump house from the solar panels. He now has everything inside and has 4 more "steps" to do to complete it. He didn't think it would be this much work to do but glad he has done it. He is videoing what he is doing to a friend that is an electrician. So far he is doing the wiring correct. The friend said the paperwork sent with the solar pump was very well written, even if you didn't understand electric, you could safely install this solar pump. 

Enjoy your day, be safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

down sick again BUT

 Look at the middle and then go on up the middle of the tree for a white ringed tail and all white chest... It's a hawk and he definitely is blending in. He goes over to E's after their chickens and he will be a dead hawk.

Hubby with E's help got the solar panels up on the pump house. He is waiting for the last of the wiring to come in to finish it up.

 E and M are going back to Indiana to see her cousin that lost their 16 month old son and the widower of her cousin that just died of cancer. The younger kids will be with E's family and the older ones will be still here... they have a couple "helpers" coming in the stay at night time (only 1 night) as it's a leave and be back in 36 hr. trip.  E asked if the kids needed help or something they could come here. Even though we have repeatedly always said yes, they do not assume the answer is still yes. E brought over a pork loin he had extra of from butchering.

Hubby has been taking messages over to E's mom B, she is having knee replacement today and it's been a back and forth message from the hospital. B sent over a loaf of bread for the effort. 

THEN I caught some bug ( I think Daughter 4 gave it to me)... and she always thinks she has to lay on me this way when I am sick. She definitely "cleaned" my knee cap LOL.

The only groceries we have bought this month is 2 gallons of milk at $3.39 each. Compared to the $3000 of stock up and some for Daughter 4 while she has cancer surgery once again. It will take awhile to adjust the finances over it. 

We have our tax stuff together and that appt is in March, we usually owe some as no one takes school taxes out and even though I have made payments on it, I think we will still owe.

Going to crash now...

How conversations can start

 Are you going to be ordering anything online (Amish husband) 

What do you need? (Hubby)

Walmart (our only store besides Save A Lot) will no longer carry the bottle nipples the Amish use and they don't want to buy new bottles if we can get them online. (Amish husband) 

I ordered them through Amazon and we got the $ for the nipples and a homemade cherry pie.

Amish guy came to fix grandfather clock that had stopped chiming... where did you get the stove (wood/coal stove) fan? Non electric and the heat from the stove makes it work. 

Hubby answers Amazon..

How much was it?  

$35

Can you order some for me for my shop? I did find the price was up to  $45.

I ordered 10 which was really good as his own died and within a week the other nine were sold... He was paying $80 for the SAME FAN. He didn't charge for the repair that would have been $40.

Another Amish guy asks Hubby if we were going anywhere near DeGraff when we were running errands... It's 2 miles out of the way of coming home. Not really a biggie. Amish needed a deposit dropped off at the bank and his driver was down sick. 

When we dropped off his receipt and he asked if we could go deliver 2 messages and handed Hubby $40 for the "errand" running we did for him. All errands were within 5 miles.

E comes over last night and asks if we had cardboard as they are butchering today and he didn't want M to have to deal with a lot of blood on her floor while cutting it up to can. We had cardboard. We asked if they had extra eggs. Daughter 4 wanted 10 dozen eggs but the price for cage free organic in her area is $8-$11 per dozen. He went back home and checked (as M does the eggs) and they will have 10 dozen for her when she comes up on Friday. $2.50 a dozen. AND then told us they talked to another Amish that was willing to make sure they would have eggs for us if we let them know on Mondays and they would keep enough back (they sell eggs) for us what ever day we wanted eggs.... it's cold, chickens don't lay much when it's cold. I have eggs in the freezer for noodles, scrambled/omelets and baking and such but Daughter 4 wants them boiled for her lunches. 

E's youngest brother came of to E's for wood that he had cut and left to cure in the woods... told E that he found 2 more trees that the other guy was suppose to get last fall and he left them to rot(this guy won't get any more wood from E) in the back side of the woods. E and his brother came over and got Hubby to show him where they were at. Hubby has more wood to cut now for free. Youngest brother got help hauling his wood to the his wagon.

Englisher called Hubby as he knew Hubby had ordered saw blades for his buzz saw. He is going to be at that place next week or so and offered to drop off the check and pick up the blades for Hubby to save us the trip. Hubby will be calling to verify the blades are in and total for the 2 blades. One of the Amish mentioned to the guy Hubby was still waiting on the saw blades. Didn't see any use of Hubby driving an hour one way to get something that is at a place he will be at every other week until April.

I called my dentist to reschedule my appt. that I had missed. When she verified my address she asked if I was close to E as they forgot to send him a reminder of the kids' dentist appts that are Friday. I said no problem and I would call them back to let them know he remembered. Since they are butchering today I knew he would be up at the house and not in the fields.  Confirmed (he had forgot but M hadn't) and called dentist back. Got a $5 credit for the message delivery LOL.

Never know where the conversation is going to go around here.

Prayers for peace 

Blessed Be