Oh my. What a busy week we just had. Hubs was home for an entire week, and we were on the go pretty much non-stop. This time he flew back and forth, which for me, also meant making two trips to the airport. No complaints as he is well worth it!
I was thankful that our weather warmed up a bit (temps reached the 50s) so we could finish getting ready for the upcoming winter season. We got all the patio furniture put away, mowed the grass one last time and took care of the leaves. We also winterized both mowers, brought more wood to the garage, changed the oil in the snowblower, put Hub’s kayak away (he had kept it out hoping to get another opportunity), put up a snow fence, and also winterized our summer car.
The past week was also an expensive one:
- Our winter car needed $614 worth of repairs. Ouch.
- One of our dogs also had to see the vet for an ear infection. An ear swab and two medications later, another $104 was spent.
- We bought and installed a doggie door for the mandoor leading from the garage to the pen. We had just been leaving the door cracked open, but we’ve had issues with squirrels coming into the garage. Cute as they are, they aren’t so cute when they are chewing holes in our garbage can. 😡 Another $55 spent on the new door. A new issue now is that our geriatric dogs (they are both 15) are now confused about the second door. Solve one problem, create another one. 🤦♀️
- As I mentioned above, we also installed a snow fence. Most of our property (we have 4 acres) has a lot of trees. We do, however, have one area coming off the lake that is not and that tends to get a lot of drifting. Hopefully, the new fence will prevent some of the 4+ft drifts we often get. Of course, this meant another $100+ spent at Lowes for supplies.
I am pleased to say that all of our extra expenses were cash flowed! I’ll take that as a win! Hold on, though. I have an even bigger win. The car is now officially paid off. Woohoo! I wish I could say it ran better, but we needed to switch the battery to our Winter car. The battery we installed only a little over a year ago left me stranded twice. Ugh! Of course, the warranty conveniently expired less than a week prior. Lesson learned. Don’t buy a “value” battery. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Yep, always something. But, I’m sure once it gets a new battery (or we just play the battery switching game!) the newly paid for car will run even better than before!
In other news, we threw the first snowball at our Citi credit card. On account of all our extra expenses, it wasn’t as much as I’d hoped, but still, it is a start. Stay tuned for the new totals as I’ll be updating in a day or so.
Open enrollment for work benefits is also fast approaching. This past weekend, I was able to see what changes we are facing. I was beyond relieved to see nothing major. The plans offered are the same, with only slight increases in costs. Our medical will increase by $144.04 for the year, and our dental will go up by $29.90. Vision remained the same, but I am thinking about dropping it for 2019. Since Hubs and I are both due for eye exams, we will get that done before the end of the year. This way I feel comfortable skipping it for the coming year. We can get the insurance in place again for 2020 and this way, provided we see our optometrist early in the year, we are only going about 14 months between exams. Not like that hasn’t happened before. Doing this will save us $152.62 for the year. The end result? $144.04 + $29.90 = $173.94 – $152.62 = a total increase of only $21.32. I’m good with that! I still need to give a little more thought to our FSA. I will likely decrease our contribution as I’m not anticipating as many expenses. I so hate to gamble with hard earned money!
The first few nights after Hubs leaves out are always a bit of a letdown. The house feels strangely empty and quiet. It is times such as this that I become even more laser-focused on paying off our debt. I long for the day when Hubs won’t need to chase the money to pay for the mistakes of our past. Yes, being in debt does steal your freedom.
Not the most attractive thing to look at, but nor is a massive snow drift across the driveway…especially when I’m the one who has to clear it! Lol
I think it’s great that you’ve been able to cash flow SO MANY PROJECTS! Yep, a win for sure! And an even bigger win for paying off the car! Wise words: being in debt steals your freedom. (Why didn’t I know that back in my 20s? Sigh.)
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…9 Happy Freebies!
Oh, the things we would do differently if we could go back in time!
I was wondering what a snow fence is! That’s smart to just skip the vision insurance for the year. And technically you wouldn’t even have to go two full years in between. Get the exams by the end of this year, like you said, and could go back at beginning of 2020, when it’s back in place and only a little over a year in between exams.
Funny, but even though I know we are all from different parts of the country, I tend to take it for granted that everyone knows what I’m talking about. Lol We have a side entry garage and the apron (cement area in front of it) gets hit with a crazy amount of drifting. Very true about the eye exam. Neither one of us have had major changes in our vision, so I honestly don’t feel it is completely necessary to do this every year. Even with insurance, glasses are crazy expensive.
I also had no clue what a snow fence was…..but we are still in the 80’s, so it isn’t like I’ll EVER need to know that……sigh.
WOO HOO on the car being paid off – we are right behind you and hoping to have ours paid off by the end of the year!!!!! THEN we can deal with the credit cards…….another sigh…….
I think you are safe from needing a snow fence. Lol We seldom see the 80s, even during the Summer. The end of the year isn’t very far off. I’m eager to hear about your car being paid off, too! Paying off credit cards is an incredible feeling. Breaking free of those chains once and for all!
I will pray for your brother. Hub’s brother has been in serious trouble with cancer. But after several months of hell he has been given a cancer free diagnosis. I love how you said Hub’s was chasing money. that is exactly how I feel. If our house was paid off I would not have to chase money. Between our house payment and car it takes almost all of Hub’s resources, so I must chase…….
Thank you. My brother has a tough road ahead of him. Having lost a sibling to cancer in her teens, the “C” word has always been one we tend to fear.
I look forward to the day we no longer need to chase money.
Glad your husband was able to get home for a week. Before you know it you will be debt free and can go visit him sometimes.
Marybeth recently posted…November 2018 Goals
Thank you. Having more time with Hubs is what helps keep me going.
Those car repairs sound painful. Big hit
Yes, but at least we were able to cash-flow them!