All is well at MIL’s house. The tree that supposedly fell on the roof did no damage. Based on my son’s pictures, we can’t help but question if the tree even fell on the house. Nasty SIL wanted that tree removed, and we think this may be her way of making us pay for it. More furniture items have been removed from the house. I can’t say that came as a surprise.
The attorney Hubs and good SIL hired sent an email to the nasty SIL’s attorney. Hubs and good SIL received a copy. Now it will be more waiting. Sad, but I think settling this estate will likely come down to it being her way or no way. All Hubs and good SIL want is a fair settlement. Nasty SIL is all about greed, a sad way to live life.
I’ve been thinking about some money-saving challenges. Last night I watched several YouTubers counting jars, envelopes, containers, etc., full of different denominations of bills. While “somewhat interesting,” I didn’t hear how they saved the money. Was this money left over from cash envelope systems, or did they perhaps pull money from their household accounts? I couldn’t find any answers. Some of the YouTubers were pushing buying printables, etc. No thanks. I don’t need to buy a printable to track my savings. Even if I did, there are plenty of free ones available. I’m not faulting them for trying to make a sale. Good for them for having a small business.
As I was snow blowing our driveway today, I gave some thought about what I might try this year to save more money. I’ve always kept our change, most of which comes from Hubs. I have yet to cash in what we saved last year. I’m hoping there is enough to cover the unexpected expense of the tree removal from MIL’s house. So, we will continue with our change container.
When I was downstate in November, I spent a few hours with one of my closest friends, who I have long called Ethel. We talked about the days when we would save our “E” and “L” dollars. On dollar bills, the first letter indicates which bank issued the bill. So, we both decided to do that again. My current count is $13. At the time, I also decided to add saving “G” dollars, with that current count at $17. While I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with the “E” and “L” dollars, the “G” dollars will eventually go towards my unofficial goal of paying off our car loan by March of 2023. For the math nerds, I realize that holding onto money doesn’t make financial sense. Given the very low-interest rate on our loan, I’m good with that. At the end of the year, I’d just like to have a “bonus snowball” to throw at our loan.
Another thing I thought of today was my need for a new computer. I’ll keep this one going for as long as I can, but it will need to be replaced at some point. With that in mind, I decided to add saving $5 bills as part of my money-saving challenge. I had five $5 bills in my wallet, so I’ve set those aside.
Now for how I’ll come up with the money I intend to save. The change is pretty straightforward. The “E’s, “L’s,” “G’s,” and $5’s will come from change received when I shop. Whenever possible, I still use cash for groceries, gas, miscellaneous purchases, etc. Paying cash for gas has become more challenging as many stations now require you to prepay or pay with a card, so I don’t always use cash at those stations. I’m also doing a “low-spend” year, so it’s hard to say how much I’ll end up saving. If anything, this may be a fun twist to budgeting.
As for my “Too Much Stuff” Challenge, I am getting rid of a canister set. I’ll count that as one item. Only 72 more things to go!
I used to save change in a big jar years ago.But, I hardly ever use cash anymore and so it’s rare to be able to dump some change in the jar (which I still have LOL). For years dh saved quarters in a glass Mr Peanut jar. We finally used a whole bunch of them up at the local self car wash last summer (which took cards to pay, too).
Hubs rarely uses anything but cash, so it helps our change cause. Lol As for saving certain bills, that will be for me to do. Hubs wouldn’t pay any attention. That glass peanut jar might just be worth some rea cash money now. Haven’t most switched to using plastic? Lol
That’s tough having one heir not playing nicely with her siblings. My brother and I split a seven figure estate my parents left to us and it was completely congenial. Not a single argument or issue. Same way on my wife’s parents, although it was not a large estate it did include a house and a few hundred acres of farmland. Three sisters in that family and the children of the brother who had died young in a farm accident. Not a single argument or even any mild disagreements. If anything we all gave the son of the dead brother much of the land for only a token payment he insisted on paying, we’d have given it to him for free. But all of the siblings in both of our families are financially independent and very good decent people. I can’t imagine what it is like if there is a manipulative and greedy heir in the bunch. Hang in there!
Manipulative and greedy, you hit the nail on the head by describing nasty SIL that way. She is far from being a decent human being. For Hubs and the good SIL, none of this is about money. All they want is a few personal items from the home and for the financial part to be settled fairly. If the nasty SIL were destitute (she isn’t ~ she owns millions in real estate), they would give it all to her. Why, because like what your family did for the dead brother’s son, that is what decent people do. I feel thankful and blessed that my parent’s estate was settled similarly to your parents and your in-laws.