Zero Day

This is one of my favorite days of the month. The day when I check all my credit card balances, after my month-end budget requirement of paying off every last penny spent during the month, and seeing $0.00 across the board.

I've had a low-key fall and winter. Very little extra spending. The necessities of life were all I needed while I hibernated (as much as I could) and spent the winter looking ahead and planning out my hopes and dreams list.

It could be the 15th of the month before I had spent a penny. Those credit cards would sit at zero, often until their next statement date, before I started creating my next pay-to-zero-at-the-end-of-the-month total.

Spring has sprung and so has the spending. I'm ready. I have never had money left at the end of the month before EVER before in the history of my memory of budgeting. I've been squirreling away the excess, waiting for this day. The day the hopes and dreams list begin to take on a life of their own.

April was a fruitful month - getting paid for the bookkeeping job that stole a small part of my peace of mind PLUS an income tax refund entirely covered the cost of my shed-so-far. Lovely. 

It feels a little bit heavenly to spend within one's means. Balancing to zero. Squirreling away those "acorns" for future spending projects.

Zero is my favorite number. In the accounting world, balancing to zero is the ultimate goal. All of the time. Remitting a payment for one of the many quarterly or annual payments that were due and receiving the receipt with the number $0.00 in the amount owing box. Checking my credit card balances and seeing $0.00; $0.00; $0.00; $0.00 (yes! I have far too many credit cards - I blame the credit card rewards) across the board.

Paying off a debt and finally seeing the magic number $0.00 as an account balance. There is nothing quite like it.

I'm reminded of a comedian my son once quoted to me. The context of their bit was they worked so hard to pay off their debts and all they have to show for it is "zero".  Zero is good. It is all positive after that point. Or it could be. If we weren't human and already had our eye on the next item on our wish list.

Dad once told me that a person will never be satisfied. You'll think "If I could just get one [next thing] and I'll be set ... but then you'll want the next thing. And the next." It is human nature.

I'm sitting at zero today but that will change in a New York Minute. For this brief moment in the sun, I shall revel in my Zero Day.

An Expensive Quarter

I spotted a quarter on the ground as soon as I took a step off our back door deck. One rarely finds loose change these days, so I held on to it so I could tell my sister of my good fortune during our walk.

We walked and talked, and talked and walked, as we always do. Then all of a sudden I slipped on a small patch of ice and my newly found quarter flew out of my hand. I still hadn't gotten around to telling my sister my most recent good news, so it hadn't made it to my pocket yet.

The moment the quarter skidded across the icy patch, I quickly told my sister why I was holding onto it. Of course I was going to retrieve my quarter (most likely my son's quarter, but we'll figure out custody at a later date). 

My sister immediately recoiled. She thought I was going to break through the ice and land in the puddle of water which was beneath it. I was not afraid. Twenty five cents is twenty five cents. It was a lucky quarter and I went after it.

I made it back to the safety of the walking path and then I slipped. Allegedly, my head was mere centimeters from hitting the pavement, but that was lost on me. My glasses slipped and one of my lens' popped out onto the ground. 

Oh well. Easy fix. I maintained ownership of the quarter (now safely tucked into my pocket) and put the lens from my glasses in the same pocket. Still holding my disabled glasses in the same hand I'd been holding the quarter (I didn't want to take the chance of bending the frame so I didn't pocket them). 

You know where this is going, don't you?

You're right. Nearing the end of our walk, I decided to take the chance on putting the glasses into my pocket. As I did so, I dropped them on the icy ground. Undoubtedly, lens down. I'm fairly certain the lens is scratched. Hmphf.

All for the sake of a quarter. A rather expensive find indeed.

P.S. My knee feels bruised as well - but without the satisfaction of a purple and blue discolorment, all I have left, is the "ouch" of not wanting to kneel on that knee today. 

I do feel fortunate I didn't land on my face though. It was a pretty cheap tumble after all.

Budgeting verses Increasing Costs of Living

So, have you heard the price of gas went up again? This is becoming the newest well worn phrase, replacing talk about the weather.

Would you rather talk about gas prices or weather? I'm not a fan of either topic. My go-to response is "How are you coping with [insert gas costs or current weather issue]?"

My strategy is (and always has been) struggling to ensure my expenses do not exceed my income. Either cut down spending or increase income. Is there anything to be sold? Is there a more economical way to manage what we have? Using power, water and heating frugally. What spending can be slashed? 

When gas prices started inching up, I played the game well. I utilized Air Miles incentives at their sponsored gas station. All I had to do was fill up three times within a month to receive 100 bonus Air Miles. Then one can redeem 95 of those Air Miles for $10.00 off any Air Miles purchase at their affiliated stores. I have cashed in $50.00 of those miles since January and I'm one gas fill up away from my next $10.00 bonanza.

My credit cards accumulate points which can either go towards payment of the credit card balance or a purchase at the store which is associated with the card. I have recently added a new card which has offered a savings of 25 cents per litre for the first 10 fill ups using the card. I have loyalty cards where I shop the most. 

It is a game and I play it (fairly) well. At the moment, I have about $100.00 worth of points I can utilize to subsidize the increasing costs of living.

Groceries have always been my go-to budget slashing item. I have gotten lazy over the course of time and have defaulted to buying whatever I please. I shop at the most economical store I know of to ensure overall, I'm paying as low a price as possible (not always true but it tends to work out to saving $5.00 to $6.00 per $50.00 spent). Granted, due to the knowledge I'm saving money, I have a tendency to over-spend at this very store so I'm still spending more than I should.

The benefit of online grocery shopping is you can play around with the items in your cart and ensure you don't exceed your budgeted amount. The ability to add, remove, change and alter your order without physically walking up and down the aisles with a calculator in hand is a huge benefit. Something I haven't utilized. Yet. But the day is coming (or already has come and gone and I missed the memo). It may take more time but this could save money each and every time I shop.

So far, the only grocery budgeting strategy I have managed to date is due to my "intentional eating" mandate. I have stopped allowing myself to grab a bag of chips and eat in front of the TV so I can stay awake longer. No eating while watching TV is my rule. I have not limited what I can eat or how much I can eat. I simply altered HOW I eat. I must eat without distraction. I am three weeks into this resetting of my mindset and I can tell you one thing. Eating chips without watching TV is the furthest thing from my mind. I am easily saving a three-bag-a-week chip habit. Plus, I have stopped drinking my favorite diet cola beverage in lieu of water (flavored water using drink crystals which we already have, but I'm trying). I used to drink a one litre bottle of pop every other day or so. So add my pop savings to my chip savings and it equals a weekly savings of $12.36 according to today's bargain store pricing. 

My take-out food habit has been reined in by driving out to my weekend oasis location. Recent take-out spending has amounted to less than $50 per month. When I spend weekends in the city it is almost guaranteed we will order take-out food at least once, easily doubling that amount. My old spending habits easily averaged $100.00 per month or more.

Current monthly spending habits equal cashing in on $10.00 worth of Air Miles by playing by the rules of current promotions + almost $50.00 in chips & pop + $50.00 take-out reduction = $110.00 per month. 

And this ... is how I justify the gas it costs to drive an extra 250 km per week to spend time at my weekend rejuvenation destination. Unfortunately the cost to fill my gas tank (compared to last year's prices) has increased by approximately $33.00 per fill up X 4 times per month = a cost increase of  $132.00 per month so I still need to find a way to slash $22.00 monthly spending. 

What can be slashed? Do we need Netflix ($18.30) AND Amazon Prime ($11.09)? No. Do I NEED the extra channel package on my cable TV ($8.88)? Not without the ability to stay awake without eating chips, I don't. I just "found" another $20.00 I could save. 

I have slashed "going out for coffee with a friend" from my expenses. Holidays? I have one possible destination in mind but I have been saving $100 per month for just such an occasion so IF I make a decision, it has already been factored in. Thanks to previous COVID restrictions, I have lost my desire to go to see a movie, attend live theatre, a weekend day trip to meet up with someone halfway between our homes or any of my previous ideas of a fun outing. I'm saving all kinds of money by holding onto those restrictions on an ongoing basis.

The question is: Am I still living a memorable life while slashing "all of the above"? 

My answer is: Thanks to my little home away from home on the weekends, I have added value to my weekends where I am restored by spending time in my little oasis where my recreational vices are spending time/walking with my sister; cooking/cleaning/puttering around our little home; and the joy of having a cousin move in six houses from my little weekend retreat. I have found a way to justify the cost of gas and it doesn't feel like I've sacrificed a thing. 

I stepped away from this post in progress to make myself a smoothie. With each and every cupboard, fridge and freezer door I opened I marveled at the privilege I have. A fully stocked kitchen with back up supplies. The ability to replenish what we have. The precarious notion of a guaranteed income. An income stream which could change in a New York Minute.

I am trying so very hard to be vigilant with spending as I know the fine line between life-as-I-know-it and how life-could-be should circumstances change.

What are your coping strategies? Have rising costs of living stilted your way of life or have you been fortunate enough to add value to your life by cutting corners in a way where you don't feel the burden of filling up your gas tank? Have you managed to find small ways to make a difference? Or has this added fuel to the fire of a budget already stretched beyond its limitations?

Enough said. Tomorrow, I'd like to write about rabbits again. Okay?

Could this be a sign that ever goes by the wayside?

Back to 1978

I couldn't shred history without taking a sneak peek at a few statistics that interest me. 

The year I was about to shred was 1978 - the year I married and had my first child. So I stopped and pulled out a few documents:

Dad's rate of pay - $6.30 per hour

Christmas bonus - $50.00

Interest rate on a 2 year Guaranteed Investment Certificate - 10.25%

Electricity, water, telephone bill - $39.08

Heating bill - $26.13

Long distance rate - $0.46 per minute (after 6 p.m.)

Hmmm ... let's compare that to 2021 statistics I have on hand:

Minimum wage - $11.45/hr (note: a full time wage of $21.16 = annual salary of $44,012.80, which is considered the lowest end of the middle class tax bracket in Canada)

Christmas bonus - a $50 bonus beats $0.00 every time

2 year GIC (at the same institution) - 0.50%

2021 - monthly bills based on my equalized payment amounts:

Electricity - $114.00

Water - $90.00

Heat - $80.00

Telephone - $25.00

Long distance rate - $0.05 per minute any time of day

 

Dad's net pay biweekly cheque was $480.00 ($1,040 monthly)

Monthly bills totaled $75.00 (7% of his monthly wage)

His Christmas bonus was almost 5% of his monthly wage

A $1,500 investment earned $153.75 (at today's rate of interest you would earn $7.50)

Interesting math, no matter what way you spin it. How do your finances stand up to this 1978 comparison? 

Life was simpler back in 1978, or so it would seem by today's standards. We can't go back in time but it's interesting to take a peek every now and again.

The Day the Well Ran Dry

The well didn't exactly run dry but it felt as if we ran out of almost anything I touched.

The end of a toilet paper roll, the last of the frozen orange juice, the last cup of coffee, the end of cat litter deodorizer ... and the day had just begun.

Of all the things I emptied, I had a back up supply to replenish the stock. 

I had been watching my pennies very carefully and knew "today" was the day I could resume spending. I had reached the limit I could repay in full on my credit card so I just needed to get to today until I could start spending again.

The last time I ran our grocery supply so close to the wire was COVID-Friday. 

It was the day COVID became real in our world and I had let our supplies run low because I was playing the game of "no spending allowed until the credit card cut off date". By the time I made it to the store that fateful day in 2020, the stock on the shelves was depleted to a scary all time low.

As I lived that moment of déjà vu, I felt a small amount of angst but forged on with the morning.

I ordered our groceries online and picked them up without the world as I know it ending. Other than the cat litter deodorizer being out of stock for the second time in a row, all of our reserves were brought back to their usual levels and life will go on.

"This" is the very reason I like to have one extra of everything we use regularly on hand at all times. One never knows when the well may run dry and refilling those reserves may not be as easy as it always has been.

I guess this is why they suggest we should have between three to six months of worth of basic living expenses available in case of emergency. If I have so much trouble making it to my next credit card statement cut off date, you can imagine how my emergency savings fund must look.

One never knows when life-as-we-know-it could change on a dime. We have very little control over the vast majority of all that could happen. Perhaps this is why I have always had a budget. I need to feel in control of something within this out of control world. 

Paid in Full

 Another pay day, one more big bill crossed off my list-of-bills-to-pay is paid in full. Oh, what a feeling!!

It was approximately a year ago when I borrowed money from my son's savings account to paint the exterior of our home. I have been playing catch-up ever since. It has taken a year to get back to "zero" and my income has remained stable throughout this time. 

At the beginning of COVID, I was uncertain how my income would be affected. I had a back up plan but it involved incurring debt. Had worst come to worst, I would have qualified for the payments our government provided which would have been a godsend. Taking on added debt without a regular pay cheque in sight is incredibly hard to make up.

I count my lucky stars for every month where my income rolls in as expected and on time. I realize my income sources are not a guarantee and know I need to create a contingency plan for the time when this changes.

It took a year to recover from borrowing $5,000. What if my income was cut by a third? How would I manage? Contingency plans run rampantly through my thoughts as there will come a day when that becomes my reality.

Now that I'm almost in the home stretch of paying my major annual expenses (house and car insurance left to go), I must take action to ensure I'm not so reliant on every penny I earn.

It always ends up this way. The moment there is a small amount of wiggle room within my budget, I find a way to create the scarcity I am accustomed to living with. I've made do with much less in the past. I always find a way.

Back up plans, cut backs on personal spending and making do. I am grateful for the stay-at-home recommendations throughout this time. It has made budgeting so much easier to attain. 

Last July and August my vacation spending equalled the amount it took me one year to save this year. Then, I went on to spend that amount all over again throughout the remainder of the year. Vacationing is expensive!

I'm on the right track but I must admit COVID restrictions have made all things possible. Finding my way back into the black is a huge incentive to keep going this way. As my son quoted something he read long ago, when one is continually living in debt and fighting to pay it off, the end reward is, "All that hard work and budgeting and all I have, is 'zero' ". 

Zero is good. Ground zero is a very good foundation. Working up to that foundation is not without its challenges, but when you get there the tendency is to try to keep your head above water. 

Staying afloat is a life long endeavor. I am grateful for what I have, how I got here and my ability to maintain the status quo. At least for now. 

How in the world does a person ever retire when living pay cheque to pay cheque has been your reality your entire adult life? I'm sure life will teach me this lesson. 

To be continued ...

The Vacation Not Taken

In a preemptive move after last year's excessive holiday spending, I started saving the vacation pay off of every pay cheque. I started my savings on August 31st. I have just been paid to July 31st. One year's savings have accumulated. 

One year of slow but steady saving has resulted in a grand total of $1,475.92 sitting in a little nest egg with the words "vacation pay" noted on each and every deposit.

In the grand scheme of things it is a pretty small amount. But if I hadn't put it aside, this very same amount of money would have been eaten up by day to day living. I am quite certain my chequing account would not have ended up with an excess equal to this amount. In my brain, chequing accounts = spending accounts. Money simply passes through and the goal is to keep it in the black (which normally results in a balance quite close to zero). 

Yes! I have a little vacation fund!! Yay, me!!!

Here I sit in my quiet little COVID world, spending little, going out less and quite enjoying the long harvest this year. I have spent many months squirreling away my acorns for a "winter" (aka: vacation) that is not on the horizon.

Do I long for time off? Yes. Do I wish I had vacation plans? No.

My thoughts continue to swirl around and focus on our home and the bathrooms that never got updated in the Year of Renovations. I think how fast $10,000 would go if we tackled a bathroom and I am quite happy to sit home and continue doing what I am doing.

I ponder the day when my 18 year old car will need to be replaced. Never in a million years would I replace it with a brand new vehicle but again, $10,000 would disappear very quickly when looking for a newer, reliable car.

I know the world is becoming restless with social distancing advisories, ever-increasing cases of COVID-19 and coming to terms with the realization that our "new normal" is unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetime.

I also realize our economy would be in real trouble if everyone in the world was content to stay home and squirrel away any excess they may find in their already sparse budget fearing the long, cold winter which may or may not be the result of this strange new world we are navigating. 

But I'm not adding to our country's deficit and I am paying my own way. So I am playing a small part in not worsening the state of our economy.

Another year of saving may result in doubling today's figure. One year in our future, a vacation may be something I would consider. The truth of the matter is we have absolutely no idea where we may be one year from now. Who would have ever predicted today's reality?

To save or not to save. That is the question.

I love the idea of my vacation fund. This small little savings account allows me a place to dream. Just a little. The vacation not taken this year will provide an opportunity for something else to step in, in its place. 

Time Flies

I have discovered the secret to making the months fly by is to become a bookkeeper, an accountant or any line of work that has monthly deadlines. Add working from home to the mix and these COVID months have flown by so fast I am one of the rare few who wouldn't mind going back to the beginning of all of this and doing it all over again.

Why in the world would a person want time to go by so fast? In all my years of saving, budgeting and paying off debt, "pay day" was the day of the month I most anticipated. It was the day I could knock a few more dollars off my debt load, pay off the bills and bring myself back to zero, or add to my savings (the savings part goes back to my younger, B.D. - Before Debt years). 

It doesn't matter how much or how little I make; how high or low my debt load is; or how comfortable my life should be financially, I tend to find myself recreating scarcity when it comes to my finances.

When I was working full time, paying for daycare, upgrading my wardrobe, putting more dollars into car maintenance and all the costs associated with working I always felt broke. When a window opened where it seemed like I could breathe a little easier, I added retirement savings, insurance and a regular savings plan to my budgeting scheme to ensure all annual bills were anticipated and ready to pay to recreate the feeling of never having quite enough. 

When I opened my daycare, I didn't earn enough to pay the bills at first. I dipped into my RRSP to shingle the roof. I withdrew the un-locked portion of my pension to make ends meet. I did what it took to keep the bills paid. There was no room for saving but I was at home and paying the bills. I was rich in all the ways that mattered. Just not financially.

Eventually, my daycare income became stable enough to sustain our household expenses. Once again I found ways to return to the feeling of scarcity in the budget. Whether it was house repairs or simply extra-curricular spending, I always seemed to find a way to feel like I was one pay cheque away from financial ruin.

Then came The Year of Mom. The year I ran out to Mom's whenever the need or desire arose. My employment situation was flexible enough to allow for me to take time off and go on a whim. This unpaid time off was subsidized by another pension fund withdrawal. I made it work despite the hit to my income.

I should have been on easy street from that point forward but there was the Year of Fly Away Vacations, followed by the Year of Renovations. At each and every juncture I spent just a little more than I had. 

I juggled here and there to keep balancing to zero but at the end of last year's renovations I was officially $5,000.00 in the hole. 

I thought I was in a place where I could easily pay it off in five, $1,000.00 monthly installments. I was so wrong. My annual savings account where I carefully allotted a set monthly amount to cover the larger annual expenses went by the wayside several years ago. One unexpected expense after another delayed my payment strategy. Now that the months are flying by and I have no incoming invitations and life's expenses have become predictable and manageable my debt will be paid in full tomorrow. Yay!!

This will be followed by paying my taxes, then saving for house insurance and car plates/insurance BUT if no unexpected expenses arise, I could be back in the driver's seat of managing my finances by November.

This is a big "if". There are so many unknown variables. In the meantime, I'm grateful for the speed with which I turn over a new calendar page. With each page, comes the hope that I'm one month closer to financial ease. 

Time flies when you are meeting deadlines.

Thank You, Winston

I had to stock up on cat food before Christmas holidays rendered that particular chore impossible.

Our Senior Cat can only tolerate a special gastrointestinal cat food. The only place I have been able to purchase this specialized brand is from our veterinarian. It is expensive but the alternative isn't an option. I don't know if you've ever lived with a cat with diarrhea but ... need I say more?

I added this task to my errand list today and when I could only find one bag on the shelf, I asked the employee who was filling the shelves if there was a second bag in stock. "Yes and no ..." she replied.

Our vet has adopted an in-house cat who lives and/or works full-time at the veterinary clinic. His name is Winston.

The employee continued, "... well you see, Winston got into some of the bags of cat food and chewed holes in the bags. We are selling them for 10% off."

Ten percent off the regular price of this expensive brand of cat food I affectionately refer to as "Gold Nugget Cat Food" was the best news I heard all day. "Sold!"

I just laughed when I spotted the reduced pricing on the cat food. "Winston's Pick"

Thank you, Winston! You just saved us $26.33 today. I am grateful.

Back to Balancing the Budget (again)

I do believe that we unintentionally recreate our past with each forward step we take throughout our lives.

I have recreated a situation within my finances where I am falling short of what I need. I seem to need less to create more.

In short, I have been spending more than I have been earning. It is as simple as that. I have created a shortage in my funds which feels familiar and comfortable. Is this why we keep recreating our past? Because it is simply what we "know", so we keep heading down the same path over and over again?

I am not a big fan of change but honestly? Recreating the financial rut I'm facing is so avoidable.

I sat down with pen and paper this morning and wrote a list of Budgeting Goals. One year from now, I do NOT want to be where I am today. I want to have saved for the house insurance; I plan to put aside all my vacation pay so I actually HAVE some vacation pay when I take some time off; I need to save more for income taxes than I have been so I'm ready for the tax man in April.

I must get in the habit of SAVING. Just a little off the top. "Pay yourself first" is the motto my financial planning courses taught me. Apparently I am not a very good student. I forgot that simple rule.

Home renovations and maintenance have ruled my life for the majority of this year in progress. Our house had been neglected for eleven years so if I was to divide this grand total by eleven, it wouldn't seem so bad. Perhaps that is exactly what I need to do to create a "home maintenance" space in my budget. While I'm at it, I should create a "car maintenance" account too.

Here I go again. If I follow through with all of these plans I will feel eternally "broke".

Less is more, Mom always said. I'm livin' the dream!!

It's Done!!!

As I assembled the before/after pictures of our exterior renovations, I'm not surprised at the unremarkable difference. The difference is very apparent to those who have walked through the renovation process though.

It feels absolutely marvelous to be sheltered by our new shingles. I watched our new gutters and downspouts in action during a heavy rainfall and was thrilled. I often find myself gazing at our new soffit (lots of memories about that after a week with open access for the birds to start moving into the attic). The fascia seems like it was always there and the peeling paint is all but a memory. Then came the paint. And we are done!!

This picture was taken in the midst of soffit removal and after the shingles and foundation parging were done.

After ALL is said and done. Voila!! You have it - our renewed home! One side bonus you don't really appreciate in the after picture is the removal of all the low hanging branches on the fir tree in the front yard. We can now mow the grass without ducking under the branches and feeling like you are covered with creepy crawlies afterwards. P.S. And yes, that is a new front door you see there. I love it!!!

Before

After (the deck is in the process of being stained, so you can see an in-progress before/after there as well)

Before

After - many almost invisible to the naked eye, but oh-so-appreciated differences here. The bottom row of siding was replaced by a durable aluminum type of siding which will withstand the whipper snipper and replaces some of the rotting boards on the playhouse/shed. There is now casing around the windows on said playhouse/shed. The gutters are now seamless and do not leak - yay!! And Mom's wind chimes hang on the eave between the garage and playhouse. 

My handy dandy son extraordinaire took care of replacing old outlet covers and replaced the front door light, numbers and mailbox. It is the little things that bring it all together and make it a home.

All we need now is a railing for our front door. Then the bank is closed for business. Home renovations are not for the weak of heart.

The change is subtle but it is very, very real.

It feels SO good to be done.

Accountability

With Great Spending, comes Great Accountability.

Oh dear.

That is all I can say.

Painting + upcoming house insurance (I forgot to account for that) + upcoming holidays = "Houston, we have a problem"

There is nothing I have created that cannot be solved. Long story short, I cannot wait until this Time of Great Spending is behind me. I am very much looking forward to living my quiet, modest little life, spent sitting in or outside our home and simply admiring all that has been accomplished.

The exterior painting of our home was long over due. It was the tipping point and the one expense I should not have added to this year's budget. But it had to be done. It was the right thing to do.

I have booked holidays when my financial state of affairs were in far worse condition than my present day situation. Sometimes you simply have to act on what feels right because that particular opportunity will never arise again. I have never regretted any holiday spending I have ever allowed myself. Never. I am certain this will be the case once again.

The house insurance? I can't believe it fell off my radar. I will plan for this expected expense next year. This was my bad.

It all works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, it is not yet the end.

It's all good. I will be held accountable for all I have spent. No one has done this to me. I have done this myself.

This Time of Great Spending has been fun. But it must end. And that's all I have to say about that.

Back on the Home Front

My thoughts have been consumed with things bigger than myself lately. As I told my boss as I breezed into work later than I had hoped to arrive last week, "House renovations, going to see Oprah and a dying ex-husband are taking up a lot of my head space lately. I'm here and will do my best but I must forewarn you ... I'm just a tad distracted at the moment."

Our house maintenance project was running right on schedule. Until the rain began one day prior to the scheduled date to install our eavestroughs. Three days of rain later, our eavestroughs are installed and ready for whatever weather comes our way.

And a peek at the soffit - it looks as good looking up, as it does looking on..

Yes, the eavestroughing crew worked quickly and efficiently to get the job done. On a Sunday! 

More soffit, halting bird nest construction in its tracks.

What a great feeling to have this all behind us.

Only exterior painting remains. When I last spoke to the company who will be taking on this exterior painting project, they were right on schedule. I'm not certain how the rain will impact our date to paint but it is the last item on this summer's renovation list. 

It's all coming together. Add a little rain to our brittle, dried up grass and things are looking pretty good around here. I couldn't pick a better place to live.

New Season, New Thoughts

With the onset of spring, comes the thought of exterior house maintenance. Home ownership and I have waged our battles over the course of the past 25 years. I don't know which side is winning because just when I think I'm ahead of the game, regular wear and tear takes its toll and I'm back at the beginning again.

Our interior, main floor renos went so well I am looking outside and seeing all that needs to be done (and should have been done several years ago). Shingles, soffit, fascia and painting. It sounds simple, doesn't it? Simple doesn't necessarily equate to cheap.

We lived here nine years before I bit the bullet and had the exterior of our home painted and replaced the shingles. I remember saying at the time "The next time the house needs to be painted, I'll replace the soffit and fascia. The time after that, I will get maintenance free siding."

Well, it is sixteen years later and it's time to live up to my long overdue promise. Paint with a side order of soffit and fascia please. Oh, and for fun let's just toss in some new shingles. Shingles are actually where we need to begin.

I'm no fool. I know this will trigger more costs, more spending and more updates.

I gazed at our the rusty railing on our front door step and asked my son's opinion. Paint or replace? I was speaking of the railing only. He looked at the doorstep and stated he thought the entire step should be replaced.

One doorstep at a time.

First the shingles. Then the eaves. We will work our way down and see what is left at the end of the money.

I think I will replace our mailbox and house numbers though. Those are additions I can live with.

Spring has sprung and it has unloaded a heavy burden on my budget. As exasperated as I feel at this moment in time, I uttered the words "I'll get the house all fixed up, sell it and retire to a cheaper housing market ".

It's food for thought. But the more the house is updated, the more I like it. I will probably stay. At least until the dawn of a new season.

It's the Little Things

As our Great Renovation Project of 2019 is winding down to a close, I am truly revelling in all the little things this renovation has brought into our little world.

We are down to the finishing touches which make a big impact as everything becomes one cohesive picture of the vision we had in mind as this project took on a life of its own.

Yesterday was the installation of the lights. All the lighting upstairs is new, complimentary and updated. The living room blinds are on "delay" as we await a sale before ordering them, which gave me a sneak preview as I drove up the driveway at the end of my day.

I saw it. The new light in the living room. It looked pretty great from my limited view (the light wasn't even turned on). I couldn't wait to step into the house and try out all the new lights. They are perfect. They complete the look.

There seems to be an unending list of little things to tie up before we can officially call this renovation project complete, but one by one, everything is coming together and I am hopeful that today will mark the end of the work my son has taken on.

It has been a huge undertaking for my son. From the vision, to the demo, to the work that began behind the scenes as he painted all the new doors and closet doors in his own home before spending his days (and several nights) here. He has never laid laminate before and he took the task of the entire main floor of our home. He has hung all the interior doors and closet doors. He has installed all the baseboard and trim...

None of these tasks are as simple as they sound. The tweeking, the caulking, the patching, the "making it work", the touch ups, the clean up, the endless amount of painting, reassembling closets, moving the heavy furniture back upstairs ... not to mention fielding my thoughts and concerns along the way. I must admit the "sweat equity" I added to the project has consisted mostly of emptying, dusting and refilling the main floor of our home.

Yesterday, I was given a job. My son suggested I replace the old registers with the new ones. Sounds simple, but I still needed the help of my son as we have a few ducts which have been tampered with, thus creating a too small opening for the standard sized register.

It's just another one of those little things.

As I wandered through our home flicking on our new lights and appreciating the refreshed new look and the mere fact that the light switch did its job (changing lights in our home is yet another thing that was a bigger job than it should have been due to some creative wiring of a previous light installation), I found Jet savoring the moment as well ...

He was cozied up, enjoying laying on our new register. The cats are loving rediscovering our home as things evolve on a daily basis. In fact, Jet enjoyed hopping onto the boxes of the new light fixtures. He is intent on leaving his scent on everything coming into our renewed home.

I just smiled when I noticed Jet atop the new heat register. He likes "new" too. Then again, he may simply be cold. This cold snap has invaded our home and is reminding me that our insulation is in dire need of upgrading.

It's just another one of those "little things" to add to the cost of home ownership. Those little things sure add up in a hurry.

Bathroom Renovation

The season of spending on a little project I like to call Renos 2019 is starting to wind down to a close. There are a few final expenses to add to the total but I have a running estimate to give me an idea of the grand scheme of spending. 

Money goes pretty fast in this Land of Renovations. Even though I have done my best to reign in my wish list and keep it manageable, my savings account is taking a beating. 

We left the bathroom out of the Renovation Equation, thinking we would just see what expendable cash was left over after all was said and done.

My reno guy is very sensitive to my need to watch the spending doesn't get out of hand. Thus, when I told him the story about how we need a pair of pliers to turn on the shower because the knob kept falling off ...

Out with the old!

... we came home one night to find this practical and affordable solution:

In with the new!

He drilled a small hole in the shower puller outer thing and placed a small ring in it so we can ditch our pliers and just pull on this handy dandy little shower puller.

And that is about all we can afford to spend on our bathroom right about now. A practical solution to a decades long problem. This is something Dad would have done.

My reno guy watches his (my) spending at every turn and has made this renovation thus far as affordable as a full on main floor renovation could be.

Add my Second Son to the equation and he is finishing off where my reno guy will leave off. My son's ideas, attention to detail and awareness of the budget is another glimpse of Dad which has been brought into our home.

This renovation would have, could have and probably should have brought my stress levels to an all time high. But it hasn't.

Our home is in good and watchful hands. I feel the essence of Mom and Dad waft through this process. Mom would have enjoyed this. She always preferred "refurbishing an existing home" versus "buying something brand new". Dad would have given his nod of approval to the shower fix and I'm certain my son has already incorporated many of the ways Dad would have added his touch to our home's maintenance, now and all the ways he has done so in the past.

A week from now, things are going to be looking pretty good around here. I have enjoyed this process. Good things come to those who wait. Our home has waited a very long time for this. I can almost feel it smiling ... 

A Day of Rest

I worked hard yesterday. It was a day where one thing led to the next, the next and the next. All. Day. Long.

I found two of the things I thought were gone forever. I KNEW I wouldn't throw these items away but I was afraid they may have ended up in a giveaway box during my time of great culling. It felt like Christmas!! I was so delighted to find these lost-to-me items.

I must admit I am slightly concerned about reshuffling the contents of our entire main floor. How will I ever find anything again unless I am strategic and methodical? Thus, I put all office supplies into one multi-drawer storage container. Like things were all amassed together so they are all in one spot.

I hope I have en-grained these new spots in my head. Now that all like things are together, if I've lost one, I've lost them all.

I have a give away pile, a pile to go to the dump and one pile to donate. These piles are not as big as they should be. I didn't get into a sorting and culling mindset. I didn't have the mental energy to touch each item and decide whether said item brought me joy or not. I'll do that as these belongings make their way back upstairs again.

The state our home is in at the moment reminds me of when we cleaned out Mom's home. After our first weekend, everything looked the same. But the cupboards, closets, drawers and all storage areas were cleaned out. It still felt like Mom's home. This still feels like our home.

Life hasn't changed. Yet.

It's coming ... the unbecoming is a time and energy consuming task. The becoming will be the fun part. Too bad the "becoming" is so costly. I suppose this is good. It means there will be an end date. End dates are a good thing.