Need to Catch Up

I realized last night that I haven’t posted anything for a week. Last week is a blur. The week began with a doctor’s appointment. My left knee was causing me quite a bit of pain when I would kneel and put pressure on it. It wasn’t getting any better and had been this way for a few months. It was getting worse so I made the appointment hoping that the doctor would pronounce it a “sports injury.” After all if you are going to have an injured knee wouldn’t it be cool to say it happened by over exercising? No such luck. I injured it sometime in the past few months by bumping it and it had not healed properly. Somehow I would think that I would know if I had bumped it that hard. So now I need to do some rehab exercises and take an anti-inflammatory medicine that also causes me to be drowsy. Yuck. I hate that, but you have to do what you have to do.

I worked four days last week. On Tuesday I worked from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the polls for Election day. I was exhausted. Then on Wednesday through Friday I worked for my friend at her Merle Norman store. She is in the middle of remodeling and there was a lot of work to be done. I exceeded my $100 a week earning/savings goal last week and earned $260 for my part time work. My friend wants me to work every Wednesday in her store and I would expect it would be for around 5 to 6 hours a week which suits me fine.

What else is going on? Depression. Yep. I realized last week that I have been having the “blues” which is mild Depression for me. I think what has led to it is that my life is a little overwhelming right now with responsibilities. We have our new puppy, Molly and she can be feisty especially early in the morning. She is housebroken now and we are spending time with her in obedience training. Molly is smart and by that I mean she is smart enough to know what pushes my buttons. We are working with her every day. Then there is our other dog, Griffey, who is towards the end of her life cycle and she has health issues. Add to all of this the extra people living with us and the household chores along with the home improvement projects and the stresses of dealing with finances and you have the recipe for being overwhelmed and depressed. 

So how am I dealing with it? First of all I am not taking an anti-depressant. I weaned myself off Paxil in February after we put our dog, Buddy, to sleep. I am choosing not to go on an anti-depressant for mild Depression. Instead I am learning to find ways to manage and live with it. At the top of my list is working out at Curves. I can’t believe how great I feel after working out. Working at my friend’s store on Wednesdays helps also. 

In dealing with Depression I know that I can’t let my days be subject to chance. I have to plan them. Today it is laundry, working out and having lunch with a friend. Then there is some cleaning that must be done. Tonight I will be ironing fabric so that I can get ready to lay a pattern out. Before I go to bed I will look ahead to tomorrow and plan what I want and need to do. It is a balance of work and play.

Let’s face it, even when you don’t suffer from Depression, you have your “down” days. Those are days when you aren’t happy and may feel a little low. Those days happen for me every day usually during the evening. How do I cope with evenings? I plan for them. If you know that you are going to feel depressed in the evening, then do something that you like to do. I spend my evenings reading books or watching a movie and spending time with my husband. 


However, if I feel my depression is going beyond mild, then I will of course call my doctor and get back on Paxil. I recognize what I can handle on my own and what I can’t. Life isn’t perfect and everyday isn’t filled with top of the mountain experiences. When I was on Paxil I was happy all the time, and that isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that I think I wasn’t coping with everyday life as I was too “drugged.” In my life, I need to experience the ups and the downs and be able to cope with both. 

$100 a Week - Motivation

I have always been a big believer in small steps that lead to bigger steps which lead to big achievements.  I learned this back in college some 35 years ago when it came to writing a term paper.  It looked overwhelming as a whole, but broken down into smaller steps made it attainable and easier to work through.  The same goes for finances.  $100 a week in one year is $5,200 and in three years it is $15,600 and in five years it is $26,000.  Why is this important?  Because it just is PERIOD.

In the past year I have had a feeling that we will need to sell our house prior to retirement.  Actually – before we hit 60.  (I am 53 and my husband is 54.)  Now, we have a hard time sometimes admitting to our age since my husband has run marathons and just yesterday he ran a half marathon and about 5 weeks ago he ran another half marathon.  I work out at Curves and I watch what I eat.  I also walk everywhere possible.  I tell you this because even though I am physically fit, I have terrible lower back pain and on occasion hip and knee pain.  This led to a discussion tonight that we have talked about casually off and on. 

Steep "farmhouse" style steps to the upstairs

We are going to sell our house in 3 to 5 years. 

Why?  For retirement and the long term I need to live in a one story house.  Also we want to downsize so that we have a house that is newer and easier to maintain.  We aren’t looking to build or buy new.  We would look at a house that had been built in the past 30 to 40 years.  In fact we are considering a two bedroom home if the bedrooms are big or a three bedroom ranch.  The house we live in now was built in 1892 and has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.   

We have a lot of work that needs to be done on our house and 3 to 5 years is very, very doable.  Our youngest will be out of college in 3 years and that would be the earliest that we would be able to move if we can get done in 3 years what we need to do.  Also if we are ready to sell in 3 years, we can take a year or so to find the right house. 

Whether we sell or not, this long list of updates must be done so I am making a list and we will be doing the majority of the work ourselves.  So we need to pace ourselves as to the work and we also need to pace ourselves in the way of resources to pay for the updates.  I am also going to be sensible about these improvements.  Putting granite countertops into our kitchen is not going to happen.  Laminate is perfectly fine for this house. 

So here I sit tonight making a list of what needs to be done, with the approximate cost and calendaring when or what year we will get this done.  I am sure we will be able to sell our home, unless the market is quite depressed, but in that case we have a home to live in and we can wait it out.  Hopefully by downsizing and going smaller we will be able to come out ahead or just even.

So now we have a new direction and a goal.  What am I looking to in the next house?  A kitchen that doesn’t have to be gigantic, but have a little more counter space and is laid out a little better.  We want a two car attached garage, 2 to 3 bedrooms and 1 ½ bathrooms.  My husband wants a screened in porch and if our new “home” doesn’t have one, we can add that later.  I want to keep with a retro theme so a small ranch built in the 1950’s that has been well maintained is not out of the question for us.

We aren’t looking for a huge “McMansion” house but something that just fits our needs. 

This leads me to a new direction and new goals for us over the next few years, namely how we spend our money. If we are planning to downsize, we don’t need to buy anymore stuff.  We need to direct money to home improvements.  Also, for the first time I am getting excited about a financial goal.  It is one thing to save money for an emergency, which is important, but another to get excited about saving money for something more tangible.

When we purchased our house 15 years ago the market was a Seller’s market and we purchased this home as it was frankly about the only one that we could afford and it met our needs.  So I now feel as if I am going to get the home that I really have always wanted – a simple, modest home on one level. 

Now as to the $100 a week that I started this post with, I am so glad that I started to do this as we will need this money for savings and for updates/improvements for the house. 

In upcoming posts, perhaps once a month, I will post about what projects we are working on and the cost of each project.  As I stated earlier, we will be doing as many of these projects as possible.  There will be a whole lot of sweat equity going on for sure.  

Getting a Job or Not - Savings - Part 1

My $100 a week to save or earn is going along quite well.  I have earned $45 in the past week and I have saved $32 for a total of $77 in my “$100 a week savings account.” 

I saved $22 by trading services in return for getting my nails done.  Now before anyone asks why I am living a frugal lifestyle and getting my nails done, it is the one thing that I do for myself that is worth every penny.  To sit for an hour and have a dear friend tend to my nails and polish them is a treat and is also cheaper than seeing a  therapist.  It is the one thing that I asked my husband if we could still afford when I chose to stay home and it is the one thing that I have scrimped and saved to make sure that I could afford to have done every other Wednesday. 

I need to concentrate on saving money as that will be a big part of meeting my goal.  I’m looking at saving money on clothing.  Namely – I’m not going to buy any clothing for myself.  I have plenty of fabric on hand to sew tops and other things I need but I think I will find the most savings from repairing clothing that normally wouldn’t get repaired.  I’m talking about socks and underwear here folks.  Yep – a little needle and thread to sew holes in socks and repair undergarments will work just fine.  In fact, I’ve started to do this already. 

I use pads sometimes and the sticky backs to these pads can wreak havoc on fabric fibers in the crotch of underwear.  I have several pairs that have worn thin in the crotch from using these pads.  I took 4 pairs of underwear that had the fibers worn thin and a couple had holes in them.  I sacrificed 1 pair and used a double thickness of this fabric to sew onto the crotch of the 3 pairs of underwear that had holes in the crotch or the fabric was quite thin.  I didn’t get my sewing machine out to do this, I mended these by hand.  The result is that I have 3 nice pairs of underwear with a little extra thickness in the crotch.  This will extend the life of the underwear. 

Now before anyone says that this is something that isn’t worth their time, I want to ask this question.  How much time do you spend watching t.v. or a movie?  What about being a passenger in a car for a lengthy car ride?  Place items to mend in a basket and then when you are sitting and watching t.v. reach into your basket and start mending.   

Too many times we toss things out that could be salvaged if we just put a little time into it.  These items have already been bought and paid for and it can be such a waste just to toss them out without trying to salvage them. 

To replace these pairs of underwear would have cost around $10.00.  They were repaired while I was watching a movie that I had planned on watching.  No extra time was expended and I have the satisfaction of salvaging these articles of clothing by repairing them.

I am taking $32 from our checking account and will move it to my $100 a week savings account.”  ($22.00 saved from trading services for a manicure and $10 saved from repairing my underwear.)  This will bring my total earnings and savings for this week to $77.  

Getting a Job or Not - Part 3

Trying to find a way to increase our income has been a good exercise for me as it has made me really focus on what I want to do with my life. 

My desire has been to put $100 per week in savings by either earning $100 or by combining additional saving strategies with earning some income to total $100 a week.  

Here is what has happened in the past week. I investigated ways to earn an income outside of the home. I had the opportunity to go to work full time and at the same time I had an opportunity to piece meal some small jobs together. What did I learn about myself? I have learned three things. 

1. I really have come to value my time at home. It has taken me 3 years to truly realize the value of having the luxury of making my day my own and the independence it brings to my life and my family's life.

2. I need something to call my own - that is what a "job" can bring to my life. Something that takes me away from my house that doesn't involve my family. It is totally mine.

3. Money doesn't need to be earned by traditional nine to five jobs.

I decided that while the full time job would bring in a considerable amount of money quickly, it would also bring some problems. I really sat down and considered it and in the end I realized that although I had worked in an office setting for many, many years that perhaps it was time to consider something completely different for me to do.  I was a legal assistant preparing legal documents and now I am going to do something completely different.

I am going to help a friend in her Merle Norman cosmetic's store when she needs me. I helped her out on Thursday and I had a wonderful afternoon. I will be helping her again this Wednesday. It surprised me that I was having a lot of fun working in that type of environment and as I walked home at the end of the afternoon I knew that I had found a new interest and that was the direction I needed to go in. The office job would be stressful and I had already been that route before. 

In looking for opportunities to earn money I also have to consider what I can and cannot do. I have lower back problems and while I work out and lift weights to help strengthen my back, I cannot do a lot of physical work. For example, I cannot clean my entire house in a day. I have to pace myself and split it up into 2 days. So housecleaning is definitely out.

I am going to start sewing some aprons and I hope to sell these via friends on my Facebook page and perhaps on Etsy. This most likely will happen in the fall when I will have more time for sewing. 

More fabric purchased for $1.00 and $2.00 a yard on clearance.

This morning at church a friend told me that a local bakery is looking for some part time help for the summer only. I would pursue that but my son's former girlfriend works there and that would be kind of awkward. I really like her and don't want to make her feel uncomfortable. Networking and "putting the word out" is one of the best ways for finding part time or temporary work.  The important thing is to let everyone know that you are not limiting yourself to what jobs you held in the past.  You are open to something new. 

I now know that I can earn some money by working at my friend's store and by other creative means. It is very possible for me to earn an extra $100 a week over time. In other words it will take some time for me to be able to find enough work (or sales) to net $100 a week, but it will be worth it. 

Nothing happens over night, but it will happen. I know it. Then I will increase my goal. In the meantime I will balance earning some extra money per week, with finding more ways to save money so that I can net $100 in savings per week.

What ways will I find to save more money? I am working on a few ideas. More later.

Getting a Job or Not - Part 2

And so the dialogue continues with myself as to how to increase my income/savings to $100 per week beginning June 1st OR perhaps to find a job and work full time.

A friend of mine from my church has a Merle Norman store and she needs some help on occasion. If she would need me weekly for a couple hours I could earn around $30. I love this friend and her store is a wonderful place to be. When I say wonderful place I am talking about an uplifting and fun experience. For those that are not familiar with Merle Norman, it is a cosmetics store and my friend also does manicures and pedicures. 

I have also had the opportunity to work for the county in the upcoming elections as an election worker. I would earn minimum wage and work at the polls on election days. I would also be paid for training. Next election day is June 5th and I would work around 15 hours that day. Being paid minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) I would expect that I would earn around $120 total.

These are as needed jobs with income. They are obviously based on when I would be needed. 

Other areas I have thought to explore would be to deliver the weekly shopper. This is a supplement to the local newspaper that has the weekly grocery ads in it along with other classified advertisements and such. The pay is low and you would have to bundle these and deliver these to each house just like a newspaper. The average would be delivering around 200 of these papers once a week. I can't imagine delivering 200 papers. This is not a very good use of my time BUT if we were desperate and money being money, I would do it. I talked with a former delivery person and they earned $25 each time (once a week) they delivered this supplemental paper. The other drawback to this is that aside from the low income, if you are out of town you have to find someone else to deliver the supplement and you have to pay them yourself. Again, I am not at a desperate point but if I was, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Another option is to sell something. I have toyed with the idea of selling "retro" aprons that I could make.  This one is kind of hard as let's face it, you don't get a lot of extra money for your labor, but again - money is money. Of course I would have to continually be on the look out for a good deal on fabric. Here is a picture of two patterns for some retro type aprons along with some samples of fabric that I purchased recently.

How about these fabric options?

I want to stitch one of these aprons over the weekend and see how long it takes me, how I like the finished project and see if I really would enjoy making a few of these to sell. How will I sell these? I may ask my friend if I could sell them in her store or I could also sell them through my personal Facebook page. 

More ideas to come and I must say that it has been rather fun to investigate how to bring in more money into our household.

Getting a Job or Not.

For those of us living on one income, there does come a point when you question what you are doing. This is happening to me. Last week there were a few advertisements in the newspaper for jobs. These are real jobs and not just the "call this 1-800 number for more information" type of jobs. It got me to thinking. Should I apply for the three secretarial positions available? 

Do I want to apply for a job and if I got a job, do I really want to do this? Over the weekend I spent some time pondering this question. Am I serious about being a full time stay at home homemaker or do I want to go back to work and resume my career? 

The bottom line is that I feel we need more money in the bank for emergency home needs such as replacing a furnace, central air conditioner and other items. Money is what is really driving this thought process and how can I generate the money.

BUT the other side of this conversation is do I want to trade 40 hours out of my week for money and do I need to? What amount of money per week am I comfortable earning/generating to put into savings and does it require my working a full time job?

I have been home for almost 3 years now and my family is used to my being home. For that matter, I am used to it and I like the freedom it brings to me and my family. As the mom/wife I generally set the tone for the home and I am the one that is generally in charge of most things domestic. I may choose not to clean or do laundry, but I do believe that as long as I am home full time that is my responsibility and my job. Am I ready to trade my time and then do these things on the weekend with help?

Do you identify with the above? This has been quite a dialogue I have been having with myself. 

This morning my alarm went off at 6:00 as usual. I get up at 6:30 and my first thought was, I'm glad I don't have to get up and shower right away and get ready to go to work at an office. I like my freedom and I like being home. 

As I brewed a cup of coffee a number came to me - $100 a week. That is the amount I would like to come up with each week to either earn or find ways to cut from my budget in order save each week. I want this to be tangible. By tangible, I am planning to get to a goal of $100 saved and then open up a bank account and actually put money in it each week as a separate household account. Having a separate account to track my savings will give me the incentive I need to keep doing what I need to do.

So, what ideas do I have to generate the income or cut back and save the money? Well, I do believe that a bulk of it is going to come from finding a way to earn some money. I have some ideas and will post about those later. My goal is to do the research and be ready with a game plan by June 1st. That is only 10 days away so I need to get to work and evaluate how I can save money or earn money without sacrificing my enjoyment of being a full time homemaker.