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Some updates

July 11th, 2018 at 08:37 pm

WOW. So much going on.

I sold the leather couches I bought 18 months ago from a house sitting client for more than I paid and was able to buy a new Ikea corner sectional and ottoman (ektorp) for the family room. I wanted a really nice couch but since I am sill interviewing roommate potentials I decided having really nice furniture will have to wait for when I am debt free and no longer having roommates. It took me 5 hours to put together the sectional and tear own the boxes on Sunday. 5 hours! And most of that time was getting it unboxed.

Roommate interviews continue. These people are crazy. One wanted me to have all guests only use the master bathroom so she could have a private bath. Um...no. One offered $1600 to rent the master bedroom (mortgage is only $1450 so that would be nice) but if the average 1 bedroom apartment is $1000 a month why not get your own space? She had really bad credit and 80k in cc debt. So...nope. Several came smelling of pot and while legal I am a non-smoking non drug property as said in the ad so...nope. One was a great match and we were moving forward and then he was diagnosed with cancer so he decided to go back to his parents. I have three more this week that look good on paper. I am asking for $700 a month ($500 rent and $200 utilities.)

I fired my gardener and bought a lawn mower with the extra money in my utilities account. Because it is so hot the grass is not growing fast so cutting it twice a month seems good. I bought loppers and cut down the miniature peach tree. I also plan to cut down the 4 hedges I have that are over 6 feet to make them about 3.5 feet. Easier to maintain because right now I could not. I fired them because they raised their rates, brought in a new crew and they did not do anything I asked, ate lunch on my patio (I was fine with this) but they left their trash – three weeks in a row. I showed the owner the video tape and he still claimed it was not them – hello – they walked away and went back to work and left their trash all over my patio table. Nope. Done.

I have a new budget with the renter income planned so I know what is going to be paid off first. If I rented a room for 4.5 years all cc debt and student loans are paid off. Then I would save more toward retirement and toward paying off the house. I could have the house paid off around 58-60 which is when I want to retire so that would be nice.

I did not get the two jobs I interviewed for (made to third interviews though)but they promoted from within so that is good. I was asked to apply to several other promotional positions – which I’ve done now waiting for interviews. I really hope one of them comes through. With the state pension it would be beneficial, the extra income is nice, one has me traveling about half time so I would save money by living on the travel per diem which is great. I would have to close the house and pet sitting business though because emergency travel could occur at any time. I’ve significantly cut back on my house sitting the past two years and only work with a few favorite clients. They trust me and know my back up person is my sister or mom but I think it is time to close until I retire.

Going to a friends wedding in Canada this fall. Friends got me a studio in their time share for $550 for the week. The cheapest hotel in this area at the time of the wedding was $250/night. The hotel where the wedding will be held is $600/night American for the room so $550 for the week is great! We will cook breakfast and pack lunches and only have dinners out. We've planned some activities during the week but will play it by ear to see what else comes up. All this was money already saved in my vacation account. Amazon will deliver our food to the timeshare place the day we arrive - great service! We are each putting in $50 for food for breakfast and lunches and snacks (There are 4 of us staying at the same resort.) We've planned the meals already and who is responsible for cooking breakfast for 4 mornings. One morning is the wedding and that has a brunch right after and the last day is breakfast out as a wedding party then we fly home the next day. Looking forward to two weeks off at this time: one for the wedding and one after the wedding.



2 Responses to “Some updates ”

  1. rob62521 Says:
    1531338905

    The folks you are interviewing sound like real doozies. Egad, what crazies! I don't blame you for not wanting any of them!

    Hope you find some good roommates and that you find a great job from those interviews you were asked to consider.

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1531363741

    I can imagine it'd be difficult to find someone quality. Hope you find the right one soon!

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