We were in the area so as a free & fun family activity we attended an Ecofest at GCC today. One daughter got her face painted an another walked around calling her friends on our cell telling them how lame it was, how I made her come, and could they meet her @ the library later. Which is were I'm posting from. Multi tasking - left brain posting right brain convert opp on children.
Hubby wandered around ended up meeting an old high school friend who is involved with green energy. I got some up close & personal demo's of solar hot water heaters and solar panels. Besides numerous "green" vendors (some were clearly in the gray area of green) there were both electronic & sneaker recycling.
We recycled two old computer towers, saving us the cost of a trash ticket. $10 city fee for disposal. In our hood if you buy a ticket for an item always place a few layers of clear tape over the bright orange ticket/sticker. The tickets get snatched off your item. Kinda like registration stickers on license plates.
We declined the offers of reusable cloth shopping bags since we have more than enough made from old blue jeans.
One of our long range goals is to be solar powdered for all things electrical. Some great state & federal incentives out now. Hopefully all those programs will still be there in the next few years. While we can't hang a solar panel until the roof is replaced we can lower our overall consumption.

Daughters are done picking out DVDs movies to check out, (did you know that many libraries offer movies & music besides books ?) & I have bread to bake. Need whole wheat sandwich bread for lunches this week, also owe a barter debt of one Pumpernickel loaf, and Greek bread for 5 lbs. of feta cheese acquired last week end. Good day to bake it's been cold with feeble attempts at snowing.

Can you believe it's been 40 years since the first Earth Day ?
What are your plans to celebrate ?


~~ pelenaka ~~

LBYM

Living below your means -
While a lot of peeps who read that phrase will automatically translate this into the concept, “self denial” it is never the less a very valuable lifestyle tool. Unfortunately like all good lifestyle tool this guiding principle takes effort. Often a huge amount of effort. More than I had anticipated I mean this is me we are talking about. Piece of cake.
Roadblocks are if not constantly then almost weekly being built on my path to saving for a new roof. It is as if the gods know that I have coin. I myself have been really good about not dipping into the roof fund even for just a taste of bread.
Items that require cash keep popping up as if I’m related to the Rockefellers.
First it was DD#3 lack of a confirmation dress. After spending a few hours in several area thrift stores no frilly frock could be had that we both agreed on. Not to mention what’s with the new vintage clothing trend so popular? The 2nd hand retail prices on ’80’s party gear had outfits costing more now then back in 1987. If I had only known I would have saved all those men’s styled pinstriped suit dresses with the huge shoulder pads. Yeah I fancied myself an uptown girl.
LSS we ended up in a retail store’s changing room trying on numerous dresses ala Miley Cyrus. Finally we settled on a nice sundress with spaghetti straps that had a cute cropped jacket to match. Right length, right amount of cleavage, and almost 100% cotton (no dry cleaning). Daughter instantly fell in love with this high priced piece of cloth.
Quietly under her breath she began the assault. Mentioning that she would wear this for her 8th grade graduation. Also any upcoming weddings or occasions. Then she began counting off the already owned pairs of shoes that would match this ensemble. Deal was sealed when she mumbled something about wearing this for her wedding.
On sale for $65.
Quick cell call to gf who was able to go online for a promotion code. Quick chat with store manager to see if she would accept the code in numbers instead of an actual bar code that needs to be scanned. Me, “I would like to buy this dress but it is over my budget without a discount. Would you be able to accept a promotion code without an actual paper coupon?”. Manager,“ Yes, if you have the code we can punch it in”.
DD#3 snarked something about if we had our cell phones online then we wouldn’t need to call around for a friend who could go online. True that but how many times do we buy retail dear daughter?
Cashier just punched in the combination of letters & numbers which took off 15%. Dress came out to $57 something tax included.
Part of the quid pro quo between us will be that she take on a greater share of chores without nagging. Good deal for me now that I am back to work.
Still wish that we had found something to our taste up in the attic stash.
My son my only son mentioned in our twice weekly phone call that he had wanted to attend a leadership camp sponsored by his high school’s ROTC unit but that his father had said money was tight ( he hasn‘t gone without cable in the last 20 years). Deal was struck - after the conference when he came home for his Summer visit he would either pay me back in cash or barter. Barter - help with home improvements such as an upcoming interior wall removal. If he’s unable to snag a Summer job then he is to volunteer @ a neighborhood hospital.
Money order for $100 to cover his camp.
　
~~ pelenaka ~~
Who is giving some serious thought to a jail house tat on her right hand - LBYM

word

This blog post isn't so much about my shinny new wood stove pipe it's more about the roof on my 108 year old home. The main roof to be exact. Hard to see from this angle but this former HUD home has been needing a new roof for over a decade now. Knew that when I bought the house. But between buying a home & a divorce & raising 4 children & rehabbing Our Old House a major roofing project was put on the back burner. Life got in the way.
Two years ago the portion of roof over the front pourch & kitchen were replaced with metal because of leaks. I choose metal because of the deep discount on my homeowners insurance (fire proof factor) and since I plan to be carried out feet first I didn't want to have to put another roof on when I was in my seventies. Cost was just under $1800.
Now it's time to do the main roof which has a 12x12 pitch. Cost has been estimated @ 9K.
My roof guy tells me that we can do a split job. Do one half this year and patch the other half.
From the ground and my next door neighbor's attic window it looks like the driveway side portion of roof that has the valleys is the most in need. Figure on 4k.

I'd like to be able to blog on how we are able to squeeze $4,000 out of our almost $29,000 combined income but well short of illegal enterprises that isn't gonna happen.
So I wanted to let all of my readers know that I am back to work. But since the goal of being gainfully employed to to pay for a new roof we will still be living like we're broke.
Except I will also be blogging about the deep urges to snag some of the "roof fund" money to score on this or that great deal.
It's like this - when your broke there is no inner conflict about buying this or that. No justification of why a purchase would be a good thing.
Yeah being broke has it's advantages.
Just wanted to be truthful.
Word.

~~ pelenaka ~~

popo's slangin'

Another alternative method to shopping at Wally world or the mall is at Police auctions.
Call your local 5-0 & ask if they have a newsletter or website listing auction dates and requirements such as cash only.
The Buffalo Police Department's Bicycle Auction is scheduled for April 10, at their headquarters on Franklin st. Bidding starts at 9 a.m. but come early to check out the bikes.
Bikes can go for as little as a dolla to as much as a dead president.

Bring a bag that you can easily hang over your shoulder. Carry a water bottle, an old towel to spread on the ground in case there is no place to sit, & snacks.
Bring a few hand tools: adjustable pliers, Allen wrenches, needle nose pliers, and a tape measure in case your shopping for others. Don't forget the wet wipes since you know you'll be handling greasy bike chains. Note pad, something to write with so you can keep multi bid opps straight since after the first 50 bicycles one starts looking like the next.
Don't bid over your bicycle repair expertise unless you can barter for parts & repairs. It's no deal if you end up owing a repair shop what a new bike would have cost.

I hope to attend since my last baby's bike was snatched last Summer when her brother borrowed it. He left it leaning up against a friend's front porch. Daughter wasn't out any cash since it was gifted outta a dumpster a few years back.
She prefers not to be a regular on the shoe leather express now that the snowdrifts have melted.
Me, hope to score a few bikes that have baskets (new upwards of $40) to either sell or use in bartering. Children won't be caught dead with baskets on their bikes. Perhaps use some spare parts to build a bike trailer.
If your handy at repairs or have the touch for pimping out rides along with a spot to set up shop being the neighborhood bike repair shop could be a nice source of quiet $.
Be reasonable. These peeps are your neighbors.


~~ pelenaka ~~

filling the void

I have a barter buddy who does the CVS thing to the max. She & her hubby also love my pies & home baked bread. I have empty bathroom shelves. DO the math.

8 tubes of toothpaste, 2 spools of dental floss, box of tissues for quests = 2 pies. We use tp or old fashioned hankies.

Also scored 6 packages of sanitary pads for 2 loaves of Rye bread.

She has plans to move out of my city so I am working on filling my shelves with enough toiletries for at least a year. Got toothpaste covered .

What have you bartered for lately?

~~ pelenaka ~~

Da Plan

K, here's da plan. Sorry that it has taken me so long to share it. I had planned on putting da plan out there last month but I keep forgetting a few key pieces of info that make the plan Da Plan. We still have no internet access on the homestead (estimated savings of $60 per month/air card).

So here I sit in my favorite coffee shop drinking my addiction, watching the sun come up over a church steeple, an abandoned factory, and a train trestle. Besides me in the booth is a post it note with the numbers. Ready to in part my wisdom. Bring a piece of scratch paper & something to write with. Your gonna wanna take notes.

But first here's the disclaimer - I'm not Dave Ramsey nor Suz Orman. When I glanced in the shop window on my walk over to check my appearance I also wasn't Buffet, Warren Buffet that is. What I'm saying is that Da Plan works for us. You maybe not soo much.



First Stage of Da Plan - Know the Details

• Part A of the first stage of Da plan can be one of the hardest, in that you really have to know exactly what amount of mulah it takes to support your household. You have to know down to the last nickel the total amount $ is your bottom line. Everything. Like CIA & your Mama knowing how often you change your drawers everything.


• Part B of the first stage of Da Plan is to know your income, your actual income. All things considered net income. Dead Presidents line up and be counted.


• Part C is goods manufactured on the homestead, products that you either glean or barter for. Also include skills; house cleaning, doing hair, baking, computer repair. Anything & everything that can translate into maintaining your homestead. File this under Bonus/Bounty/Frosting/Gravy. Put this list aside for now.

Second Stage of Da Plan - Accumulating a Stash

• Know your tax man intimately. Embrace your tax deductions. Plan your very life around those deductions. An example is this Federal Energy Tax Credit that has been extended for 2010. This tax credit was the final push we needed to install the wood stove, a credit of $800. Another credit blessing that we take full advantage of is charitable contributions. Besides cash, there is clothing & household items be it out of your closet or your neighbors. Yes, I curb shop for charitable donations. I also barter for them. Point is know your tax deductions and use them to the max.


• Here's a biggy that goes against every you have ever heard about financial planning. In the section on your W2 were you claim the number of dependents consider only claiming one or two. Just enough to give you a paycheck you can survive on. Yes, I know I am giving the Federal Government an interest free loan. Honestly, I have never been able to put aside that money for any length of time. Let alone have it accumulate into a huge wad of cash. Once the Gods know there is money bad things happen. The transmission on the car breaks. The roof needs replacing (guess how we're gonna use this year's energy tax credit).


• Take advantage of any & all tax advantages that your employer provides - IRA's & Medical savings plans . Consider collecting co-worker's empty soda cans for the deposit money. Yeah laugh laugh long & hard but we all know peeps who drink 5 Cokes a day - 25 cents - $5 a month - $60 a year. That's sixty free dollars that you didn't have to pull an extra shift for.

Third Stage of Da Plan - Decrease your living expenses.

• Live like your broke. Broke is not poor. Although our annual income is considered poverty level we are not poor just broke. Broke is not being able to afford premium coffee. Poor is having to choose between paying for the gas to heat hot water or paying for the water. Simply put live under your means.


• No debt. Yeah easier said than done. Currently I owe a mortgage & a home equity loan. Back in the day I also owed on a van, furniture, and a credit card. Try like your life depends on it.

Fourth Stage of Da Plan - Alternative methods of Providing

• All the homesteady type skills that enable us NOT to buy things like food & clothing. Methods that give us a middle class way of life. Ties in with decreasing living expenses. Skills like scratch cooking, gardening, mending, penny pinching.

Here's how the plan worked out for us.

Last year our combined adjusted gross income was $28,863.00 for 4 people. I claimed 2 dependents for the 3 mos. I worked in 2009. Hubby claimed 1 until he became the sole wage earner then switched to 3. He also utilized a medical expense account to the tune of xxx. Plans are to increase that amount to xxx since we under estimated. Besides claiming the energy tax credit and the max charitable donation credit we also claim the mortgage credit. Our federal tax returned totaled $6,947.00. State was $1,991.00.

DH is taking the state return for the land fund.

The following is how I plan (best laid plans of mice & men ...) spend the federal return; mortgage payments, car insurance, car mainatnance/repair/tags, upgrade or replacement of one household item, one major home improvement, bulk food order, one homesteading item, my half of orthodonitics for a daughter. Her & I are splitting the cost.
Here's what the plan for the retrun looks like today. However since we have had this wad for over two weeks no doubt the Gods have had time to confirm the rumor so this could all change Update: $480 car repair as of last week.

12 mortgage payments @ $347 = $4164.00. Need to see if there is a planned tax reassessment comming up this year. That would affect my overall monthly payment especially once the new roof goes up.

Bulk food which includes a portion of a side of beef, our annual cheese run, staples such as flour. I have a new plan on that but that's for another post.

DH & I have been sleeping on 12 year old mattress & box spring that has long ago taken a header off city hall. Spent $895 yesterday for a custom made set. Our bed is a 100 year old cast iron which isn't exactly a standard 3/4. It was an extra $40 to make a custom fit of 46" by 75". Couldn't have gone with a double because it wouldn't have fit up the stairs. In 1902 beds were smaller with springs & a mattress that you could fold in half. This was the one big household buy.

One major home improvement was gonna be switching out the natural gas water heater with an electric tankless heater. Electric co. is handing out rebates & there is the energry tax credit. However the roof is singing a swan song. When I bought this house in 1999 I knew it would need a new roof soon. Been living on barrowed time. Estimated cost is in the neighboorhood of 9k for a metal roof. Two reasons why I decided on metal; lowers fire insurance preminums, and since our long range plan is to be carried out feet 1st I really don't want to be putting another roof on when I'm 78. This is gonna take some planning.

~~ pelenaka ~~