A Few Updates And Some Random Thoughts

Just a few updates here.

I had a no spend day! Yeah! My first in ages-no grocery store, no gas station, no post office, no coffee/tea stops.  It's the things like needing two onions or postage because I ran out of stamps that breaks the no spend day cycle.

My elderly friend is in deep denial about her medical condition, she has been in and out of hospital and a rehab facility for just over two months.  She can not live on her own and has tried (unsuccessfully) to live with other friends. She got upset with our mutual friend D and myself when we suggested that we all look for an assisted living facility. She now refuses to move back in with D because D and I (and to a certain point elderly friends MD) agree she may be better off in assisted living, at the minimum, she needs a professional caregiver around for most of the day. The situation is not good.

I think I have a permanent home for one of elderly friends dogs.  Poochie 2 has found a new home, it's a family with two children around the ages of 8-10. So far, so good, keep your fingers crossed and keep happy thoughts for this Poochie.  Just having one dog out of the house has changed the dynamic and the others are happier. Poochie 1 and Poochie 2 really don't like each other and it was interesting setting up a feeding/walking schedule to keep everyone safe and me sane.  Plus Poochie 2 needs a family to love her, she was just not getting all the love she so deserves at my house.

I've decided that even with my job situation I am way overdue for a vacation to the UK to visit my friends.  I am going to find a frugal and sensible way to make a trip happen in either March or April.  I am going to really focus my energy and thoughts on making sure this happens. I've usally been very lucky finding decent airfares to the UK.  More on this in another post.

My effort to sell a bunch of books and CDs on half.com went well. It was not so much about the money as it was for me to work on a little decluttering.  I probably would have left those items on my shelf, but my reduction in hours spurred me to spend the 10 minutes it took to update my inventory. I only have a few items left to sell and if they don't sell by Christmas, I'm packing them up and donating them to a charity shop.

I will finish my 90% of my Christmas shopping on Tuesday.  I have a couple small things to pick up, but can do that a few days before the holiday itself.

The whole wheat pasta must be growing on me. I ate it for dinner last night and it was not so bad. OR it could be that I was hungry and just ate the food anyway.

I'm almost "caught up" on all my laundry. I have a bunch of jackets and blankets that are coming wth me to the second job this weekend. I am going to get everything washed and dried.  I will also probably donate a couple of the jackets I'm no longer using/wearing to a Charity shop as well. It's part of the decluttering process. These are not trendy or stylish coats, but they are warm and practical and if someone else can use them, great. They get a new life with someone else and I get space on my limited hanging rack.

Christmas In July

I have three charities that I contribute money to on a yearly basis. I have a tradition of donating to "my" charities in July.This is especially true of the local food bank/pantry that gets flooded with food donations and contributions in November and December. People need to eat in the summer as well and I think lots of times we forget that fact in the pressure to make sure everyone one has a turkey for their Thanksgiving table.

Many times the grocery store will have a box by the front door for donations of canned and non perishable items, but I've noticed that box seems to be MIA in the summer.

For the past couple of years I've been buying a gift card to the local grocery store and mailing it to my local food bank. I buy what amount I am able to give (some years it's only $10 some years its $50, one year it was 5 cans of beans, that was all I could afford), but I try to make sure that I give in the summer. I actually bought the card this am on my way to work and posted it in the noon mail drop. One GOOD thing off my list for July.

While we are all caught up in our debt reduction, savings and bankruptcy proceedings, please take a few minutes to donate what you can to the charity of your choice. I realize that for some folks, you may not have any money to spare, but if your grocery store has a food donation box, please take the time to at least buy some items to donate.

And For Fun Last Night, I Swept My Carpet

Just to add insult to injury, the other day my vacuum cleaner died. I turned it on to do a much needed vacuuming of the house, it made a funny noise and then died. First the car, now the Hoover. The vacuum is older than the car so all I did was swear a lot and drag theHoover and put it out to go to the dump this weekend. It is just not worth taking it to be repaired, it would be the cost of a new one and this one is old. Seems to be the story of my life, things dying and are too old to really spend the money on to be repaired or can be replaced with the new and improved model for the same price or less. At least I got a good ten years out of that vacuum, so I'm really not complaining, just complaining about the timing of it all.

The carpet needs a good cleaning, but for now, it got swept and at least looks better than it did before I swept it.

Part of what I will be doing this weekend will be a good clean out/clean up of the house. I did not get to do a dump run (the joys of managing your trash in the country), so that is a must do chore. I did clean most of my windows and screens last weekend (inside and out) as well as the window sills and I'll finish that this weekend.

I've had a bunch of books on half.com for a while and since they have not sold and I'm down to the minimum price, I will take them to Goodwill for a donation .

The car repair bill has been paid and I have $10 to spend on myself this weekend. I think I'll earmark that for a new vacuum......