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Archive for June, 2008

Kitchen is done

June 26th, 2008 at 06:10 am

Cabinets painted. New hardware. Walls textured. Walls painted. Backsplash painted. Window sills painted. Floor laid. Everything is spotless.

Er, one last thing I have to decide if I want to do or not. Currently I don't have curtains up. I don't know if I should put them up or just let the light shine through with no curtains. Depending on what I decide there, I still need to figure out what to do with the old door thingy hiding the hot water heater. If I put up curtains, I'll make a curtain for that. If not, we might paint it, but it is soooo greasy because it is by the stove that it is gross. We couldn't get it clean when we were doing the cabinets. Maybe make a new door out of some scrap wainscoting I have? But nothing else in the kitchen is wainscoted. Still haven't decided.

Here is what the kitchen looks like:







Now, on to the living room!

Craigslist sale

June 26th, 2008 at 02:02 am

Yeah! Sold my couch and chair today. A nice couple bought it. They gave me $125 cash, $125 check postdated till next week and $100 check postdated till the week after. That makes it sound like I may get taken, and I hope I don't. We talked on the phone a few times and emailed a bunch, and they just struck me as trustworthy people, so I can make a few stops at the bank, no problem. So, $350 total. We are going to buy another couch at Big Lots that is more in proportion to the "south house" living room (hopefully it will help it sell) and it will also be more in proportion to the "north house" living room, and it will be microfiber so it will clean easier than white and beige fabric.

Sad to see the couch and chair go. I looooved them. They were very comfortable. But, they had to go. No looking back now! With them out of the way, now I can can paint the living room easier. And clean the floors. Apparently, I am a pig, because the carpet is REALLY dirty. Yucky.

I'm kind of a Big Deal around here

June 19th, 2008 at 06:42 am

Ok, I hope don't hurt anyone's feelings, but I have to say this. It has been bugging me for a while.

If you have to proclaim from the rooftops that you are something, that means that you aren't.

Jenny, you ain't from the block no more.

Faith, you used to be from Mississippi, but that ship has sailed. You are no longer a country girl. Having to write a song saying that you are means you aren't.

If you have to tell everyone you are a celebrity, you aren't. You may have a following, and good for you. But, geez, Rachel Ray is a celebrity. Emeril is a celebrity. Wolfgang Puck. Martha Stewart. You aren't.

I'm guilty of it too. When I was 18 I worked at a grain elevator. There was a guy there who was in his late 20s and I thought he was cute. Every time I saw him, I spouted off about how "I'm not that young." Of course I was, if I was saying that. Like a 4 year old stomping their foot yelling "I am too old enough!"

Extra income

June 11th, 2008 at 06:15 am



I got to swath for the first time on Sunday! DH had me drive it across the yard (by myself!) and I didn't hit anything, so that was good. We checked the oil, hydrolic fluid and greased 'er up and took it out to the water way brome patch. He made the first round, showing me the buttons/switches, etc, and then had me drive. We were worried that it wouldn't do very well, because we had just been looking at it from the road, but holy cow! It was so thick! We had to slow down in the middle. The windrows I swear were thigh high on me! They will dry down a bit, but they sure look impressive. We got a little rain on Sunday night, but he didn't think that would hurt it too much. He was going to try to bale it tomorrow, but he is so busy with planting milo some neighbors, so I don't know if it will be baled up when I get home or not.

The above picture is the brome I swathed on the place that we are buying. That happens Friday! We just have to put $1000 down Friday, and then the payments are $9800 every December and June for 5 years. That is one reason I have to get this house sold...especially by December. After that, we will get a private (or govt direct) loan to pay off the balance.

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I have a big beautiful couch and big beautiful chair that used to fit perfectly in my old house. They are beige, oversized, and sooo comfortable. Take the back pillows off and two people can sleep comfortably on the couch, if they like each other Smile I don't let people eat on them (I used to make my friend Vicki sit on the floor to eat when she came over and we ate while watching TV), and even though I bought them 4 years ago, they are in really, really good condition. No tears, no stains, nothing. But, they barely fit in this house (it makes the living room look very small) and we don't think we could even fit it through the door of the "up north" house, let alone have room in the living room for anything else. I've been stubborn about holding on to them, but just finally decided, they have to go. I put them on Craigslist for $250 for the couch, $125 for the chair, or $325 for both.

While posting, I decided to also sell some end tables ($25 for two), a wall mounted TV holder thingy, ($15) and a painting I bought at an auction once. It is a print of a painting by Ralph Wall. It is an Indian with a baby on a horse and is called "Painted Morning". It is really pretty, a limited edition print, with a certificate. Has a really cool western style frame as well. But, if I can get $100 out of it, that would be awesome (that is what two websites showed prints like that to be worth).

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Silly me. I have been reading about how people get so much free stuff at CVS, and so I signed up for a card, got some coupons, planned my trip, and looked for a store here in Kansas. I used google maps, and it said there was one about 2 miles from where I work. I tried to go there today, but I couldn't find it. Got home, and the CVS website said there aren't any in Wichita! Drat. I had my plan all figured out, and was ready to not spend much money! I did see that Walgreens is starting to do something similar, so maybe I'll try working on that instead.

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The balance transfer went through the other day,so I have another 6 months of 0% interest, but I had to pay the minimum payment before that was complete, so I had a $284 credit on my AmEx. Requested that a while ago and got the check today. Also got $5 from pinecone. Pinecone check will go to farm expenses, and the AmEx money will go to earning interest/paying off that credit card.

$40,000 pay cut?

June 7th, 2008 at 06:27 pm

I heard back from the job I had interviewed for a week ago. This is the one that is 20 miles from home. I currently make $95,000 and they want to pay me $55,000. Hah! Like we could do that.

Of course, I do spend ~$20,000 driving to work and living down there during the week. But, when we sell the house down there and I stay with my co-worker for those days (she is going to charge me $100 per month), we'll be saving about $900 per month. That leaves the gas, at about $500 per month now. But that is only $6000 a year. A huge difference between $6000 and $40,000.

The other thing to think about, though, is that I would be home every night. I think that maybe if this opportunity came in a few years after we have the farm bringing in some money, that might work. But right now, I'm supporting both us AND operating expenses for the farm, so we couldn't do the things we want to do in the next few years if I took this job.

An easy way to save

June 5th, 2008 at 07:27 am

When I budget, I figure for the most expensive bill I have had for that service. For instance, during the summer, I won't use much gas (to heat with/hot water heater/stove), but my most expensive bill during the winter has been $150.93. So, I budget $150 every month for the gas bill. If I come under that, for instance, this month, my gas bill was $24.86, the remainder goes to savings.

I figured that I have saved at least $850 pain free this way since the beginning of the year.

One strange thing about my method is that I can't wait to pay bills! I know the money is there to pay it, there is a very good chance it will be significantly less than what I budget, and I can earmark that money for something else.

Of course the ones that don't vary don't give me that thrill. I budget exactly what I need for those.