Dinner, dishes, chairs, refunds and whatnot

It’s not every day that you get invited for dinner and leave with a full set of dishes and four chairs.  That is what happened to me on Saturday.  The dishes are a discontinued moose pattern that matches my home well.  One of the items left by the previous owner of our house was a pitcher and bowl set from the same collection.  My neighbor had a complete set of the dishes left for her from the last owner of her home.  Anyhow, to make a long story short, the couple who was visiting them brought her another set, and since my neighbor didn’t want/need it, they then offered the dishes to me.  I’m thrilled!

As for the chairs, those are the result of them cleaning out their garage.  The chairs are the beach kind that are very low to the ground.  With the okay from my friend, should I decide not to keep them, I am free to pass them along.  I’ll likely ask my kids if they want them and if they don’t, will pass them along to my brother, who is building an enormous lake house. My brother and his wife do a ton of entertaining, so I’m sure they’d appreciate some extra chairs.

Today I was cleaning out my budget binder and came across a February statement from our propane company.  At the time, I paid $26.50 for the rental of our tanks.  Per the description, I was good until the following year.  This statement made me wonder why they billed me yet another $53 for equipment rental.  A couple of phone calls later, I got it straightened around and also received a credit of $26.50.  It was their mistake.  The previous owner of our property installed the tanks six months apart.  The rental fee of $26.50 is per tank, but the company bills according to coincide with the installation date.  So, we will get a statement from them every six months, but it should only be for $26.50.  Why they can’t prorate this and get it on the same schedule is beyond me.  I’m just happy I saved the other statement and caught their mistake.

Yesterday I went to town and had a decent shopping trip for my Amazon business.  What I bought was mostly clothes, which can be a pain to prep, but the resale value is good.  I’ll drop the shipment off to UPS on my way to work tomorrow.  Got to keep feeding the beast!

While I was in town, I also stopped in at Lowes and splurged on another hummingbird feeder.  The birds have been going through so much food that I’ve been having trouble keeping up with their demands!  I’ve been making double batches of nectar (8 cups water with 2 cups sugar) daily, and the feeders still run dry.  When this happens, the birds don’t hesitate to let me know it, either! When I’m outside, they will buzz around me.  When I’m inside, they will buzz around whatever window I happen to be near.  What have I started?  I filled the new feeder last night (it holds 32 ounces), and it is now nearing empty.  I enjoy watching them, so feeding them is worth it to me!  Another month or so and they will head out until next spring.

Our Discover card statement came today.  Although I use it for big-ticket items (think auto insurance, propane tank fills, etc.) and for my Amazon freebie purchases (for writing reviews), I pay it whenever I charge something, so there was a zero balance.  What it did come with, however, was enough cash back for me to redeem for $150 worth of Lowes gift cards.  Those will come in handy!  Too bad Lowes doesn’t sell sugar.  The gift cards could help offset what I’m spending to feed the birds!  Haha.