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Archive for January, 2010

Rental Income

January 14th, 2010 at 05:52 pm

The agreement with my new roomie gives him a little leeway with getting me money for the first month. Since he's paying double rent for January only (rent at his old place & at mine).

I'm working hard to plan out where the money goes. Jan will be weird since I used some of the funds to purchase a ceiling fan/light and have it installed. And as a splurge to myself, I bought a concert ticket.

So he paid me $225.00 as agreed this week:

1/2 Rent - $225:
$75 - Fan removal & installation
$60 - Concert Ticket
$30 - Extra groceries (needed to stock up badly)
$20 - Party (Hosting game night)
$15.92 - Lowes Closet supplies (to Dad who bought them for me)
$24.08 - Increased utilities fund (savings for increased utilities that may occur due to roommate)

Should be getting $ 263.00 next week (for Jan)
$25.92 (Increased utilities Fund)
$44.00 (Extra cable expense on his end)
$79.76 Ceiling Fan/Light
$113.32 (credit card)

Feb- $488
$38 (Cable increase)
$50 (increase in utilities fund)
$20 (home improvements fund)
$380 (credit card)

I have missed a bunch of my 2010 goals. I'm planning on getting back on track this week. No more excuses for me!!

Today's 5 things:

1. Call Drs office about bill. Insurance should have paid (DONE)
2. Call artisans about temporary auth thats been on acct over 10 days
3. Call part time job about new schedule for Feb (DONE)
4. Finalize 1/15 budget
5. Start cleaning junk stuffed into bedroom closet when roomie was moving in

Prepping for the Roommate/Home Repairs (long)

January 7th, 2010 at 09:41 pm

So the roommate moves in Saturday. I bought some stuff to put rods in both the closets in his room. Then I took the longer rod back out because it wasn't stable. I tried using another type of rod, but that didn't work. Finally, my dad helped me find a bigger pole and helped me out by sawing it to the right size and reinstalling it for me today. Yay Smile He also helped me re-hang a mirror and move a dresser from the spare room to the basement. In trade, I bought him, my mom & my nephew take out at our fav place. $56.00 OUCH, but well worth the help.

Now I have 2 rods to return & I'm not sure if Lowes will accept them since they've been taken out of their wrapper. Although I still have the papers that came with them. I'm thinking that IF they don't, I might install one as a hanging rod from the ceiling in my closet. The closet is a long thin rectangle with built in cabinets on one side. I could hang clothes that need to air dry in there, so its a maybe Smile

Other than that, I've upgraded my cable at the request of the roomie. I'm charging straight rent, with utilities included and the proviso to revisit that rent at a later date. He is going to pay the extra amount of the cable bill since he is asking for the DVR and HD for his bedroom. I splurged and got a DVR for the living room. $6/month & that'll be my BIG present to myself. All other roommate funds go to the credit card.

And I found a trustworthy handyman. He said he'd replace an existing ceiling fan for me for $75.00. Which is priced reasonably for my area. I'll be going to look for a new fan tomorrow. This isnt really a roommate expense, but I might have continued waiting a bit longer.

In other news, I've blown it with some of my 2010 goals. But hey- if I get on track in the next few days, I'll be fine with it!

I've gotten off track with my 5 things, but here they were for today:

1. Call Drs office for results (DONE & they were good)
2. Order prescriptions (DONE & cheaper than I expected
3. Write up rental contract & print (DONE)
4. Dinner at home, pack snack for work (In Process)
5. Work part time job (Soon)

Good News, Prescription Plan-wise

January 7th, 2010 at 06:28 pm

So, I take a medication that my Employer's contract says has an over the counter equal. Its not exactly the same & the over the counter does not help my condition. So I pay for taking a "Preferred" medication. Last year, they FINALLY came out with a generic version, but the plan still considered it "preferred". So I was paying $120 for a 3 month supply.

I just ordered my refill through their mail order service and was only charged $20 for a 3 month supply. THey're finally considering it a true generic!! This is saving me $400 a year.

Now my dilema is that I priced my HSA with that medication as being $120. So I'm going to have an extra $400 in my HSA budget. Given my health issues lately - (I have a sucky immune system). That might get used up. And if it doesnt, I'll order an extra supply of contacts, or new glasses.

Finding a good handyman

January 5th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

LOL. Sometimes its who you know! My mom's old coworker's son in law does handyman work. And apparently is VERY reliable (from references).

I called to have him give me an estimate on replacing an existing ceiling fan & light in my living room. I'm just not comfortable tackling the job myself, so I'm willing to pay to have it done. He'll give me an estimate tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully it won't be too bad. In the mean time, I need to go shopping for a fan!

In other news. Although the roommate isnt officially moving in until Saturday, he has been bringing stuff by the house. He's very nice and polite. Since he's not officially moved into the house, he has called prior to stopping by to drop stuff off. AND he noticed the new rods in the closets and thanked me for installing them!

Today, I've spent $1.90 on a soda & soft pretzel and another $1.35 on a second soda. I really need to cut out the soda addiction. But in the meantime, I need to buy some cans so I don't pay for soda at work anymore!

Its inventory time at the part time job and crazy me signed up for extra hours. Because its a store and cannot close during normal hours, the inventory hours are 9pm to 6am. Its mandatory that I'm there for the inventory in my department (Thursday) until 2am and then they ask for ANY additional hours we can give them to help other depts.

So now I will be working the following:

Thursday 6pm to 2am
Friday (OFF)
Saturday 6pm to 2am
Sunday 10:45 am to 7:15pm
Monday 6pm to midnight.

Then I'm off the spare job until the following Sunday. But I'm still crazy.

Finding a good handyman

January 5th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

LOL. Sometimes its who you know! My mom's old coworker's son in law does handyman work. And apparently is VERY reliable (from references).

I called to have him give me an estimate on replacing an existing ceiling fan & light in my living room. I'm just not comfortable tackling the job myself, so I'm willing to pay to have it done. He'll give me an estimate tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully it won't be too bad. In the mean time, I need to go shopping for a fan!

In other news. Although the roommate isnt officially moving in until Saturday, he has been bringing stuff by the house. He's very nice and polite. Since he's not officially moved into the house, he has called prior to stopping by to drop stuff off. AND he noticed the new rods in the closets and thanked me for installing them!

Today, I've spent $1.90 on a soda & soft pretzel and another $1.35 on a second soda. I really need to cut out the soda addiction. But in the meantime, I need to buy some cans so I don't pay for soda at work anymore!

Its inventory time at the part time job and crazy me signed up for extra hours. Because its a store and cannot close during normal hours, the inventory hours are 9pm to 6am. Its mandatory that I'm there for the inventory in my department (Thursday) until 2am and then they ask for ANY additional hours we can give them to help other depts.

So now I will be working the following:

Thursday 6pm to 2am
Friday (OFF)
Saturday 6pm to 2am
Sunday 10:45 am to 7:15pm
Monday 6pm to midnight.

Then I'm off the spare job until the following Sunday. But I'm still crazy.

Mold not so bad afterall

January 4th, 2010 at 03:43 pm

So, I returned to the basement last night to find that most of the mold that had been attacked by bleach was dead. It appears that scrubbing isnt as necessary as time is! So I am holding off on calling the experts and am having another bleach/water spray session. Here's hoping!!

I have a call into a local repair man. I need to replace the ceiling fan/light in the living room. I would tackle the project myself, but I'm not comfortable doing that. So I'm sure it'll be a couple hundred out of pocket. But it'll be worth it. I need lighting back in the living room! haha

Already off to a (SOMEWHAT) good start!

January 1st, 2010 at 10:58 pm

Well, Thursday, the seasonal part time job asked me if I wanted to stay on. They think they have a position for me. WOO HOO!!

Also, I was put in touch with a friend of a friend who was looking for a place to stay. We met today, he saw the house, we hit it off & he is moving in. Fairly quickly too. YAY for rent money!! $450/month plus whatever increase to the cable services he wants (DVR, ect).

This comes at a good time because I need to deal with some mold on my basement wall in 2 corners. (this is the SOMEWHAT part of my title!) I tried handling the job myself (bleach and water), but because the previous owners painted over the cement, its proving hard to remove. To be completely safe, I want professionals to handle it.

Roomie is moving in next Saturday, so I'm hoping to get someone in to work on the mold this week. Hopefully ASAP.

So the first months rent will (partially) be used for the mold removal. I plan on budgeting a portion of the income and setting it aside for increased utilities due to a 2nd person in the house. The rest, after the mold expense, is going to my credit card!

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Looking at today: I spent roughly $10 on lunch for my mom & myself, plus $4.08 in 4 movie rentals at Redbox. I bought $9 and change on groceries.

And I spent the rest of the day attempting to remove mold in the basement. What I find REALLY ironic, is that was the plan for today before my friend even called me about her buddy looking for a room Smile

Tonight I'm watching rented movies & vegging.

Tomorrow, I am hitting Lowes for closet rods to install for the rented room and the Farmer's Market for veggies. Then I work the ptj (part time job) from 1:30 to 10.

Sunday, I'm helping my sister set up her computer and doing brunch & a gift exchange with friends. YAY!

Hope everyone had a GREAT New Year! I know I already am. Even with the disasterous attempt at mold removal!