Thursday, February 27, 2014
Buying the refrigerator...
Absent any news on starting my EBAY store or internationalizing, I feel I should chronicle what I have been accomplishing, and that's working on my place and paying down debt. The apartment was a huge mistake in a lot of ways, and I'm finally serious about getting out of it. The place needed tons of work when I bought it, and the only work done so far was a new kitchen floor, commode, sink, and medicine cabinet. Now I'm getting a little electrical work done, along with re-stained cabinets and a new kitchen counter top. Additionally, I'll want to get the place repainted, and that should be enough. With that, I should be ready to list it and see what the damage will be. I know I won't get the mortgage covered, so it's mainly a question of what I'll need to cover, and saving a down payment on the new home. I have excellent credit, so there's a small chance I can pay a similar amount to what I pay now, but in a much nicer, bigger place.
Buying the refrigerator has become short-hand for using whatever money I have to do something needed instead of something wanted, like trips to Canada. I probably won't be buying a new fridge, as I'm at the point where any further upgrades in the apartment won't be worth it. I've been pretty fiscally prudent this registration period, and was able to include a trip to Florida without breaking the bank. That makes me happy, but the larger accomplishment in my mind was starting to pay off the last of my retirement loans, and a big one was summarily dispatched. I also followed Dave Ramsey's advice and replenished my emergency fund, so all signs point to fiscal solvency once more. My tentative order of expenses is as follows: finish the work on the apartment, head out an another adventure - destination TBA, work in another drive to Florida, pay off another loan, take my trip to Greece, head to Montreal, pay off the rest of my retirement loans, drive to Niagara, hit Lake George, and escape to Pennsic. The will bring me to the first week of August. Registration will bloom anew, and I'll be working like a dog until end of September. The only true variables are the trips to Canada; the other trips are more or less set. The reason all of these things are possible is a major influx of overtime, which will last throughout the spring and summer, be superseded by the fall registration period, then resume until the end of the year.
So as this day ends, I have some more good news. I may be able to buy into the pension plan after all, and I finally sucked it up and went to the County PD and had my finger printing completed. So there's some movement in the right direction, though much more work needs to be done.
Buying the refrigerator has become short-hand for using whatever money I have to do something needed instead of something wanted, like trips to Canada. I probably won't be buying a new fridge, as I'm at the point where any further upgrades in the apartment won't be worth it. I've been pretty fiscally prudent this registration period, and was able to include a trip to Florida without breaking the bank. That makes me happy, but the larger accomplishment in my mind was starting to pay off the last of my retirement loans, and a big one was summarily dispatched. I also followed Dave Ramsey's advice and replenished my emergency fund, so all signs point to fiscal solvency once more. My tentative order of expenses is as follows: finish the work on the apartment, head out an another adventure - destination TBA, work in another drive to Florida, pay off another loan, take my trip to Greece, head to Montreal, pay off the rest of my retirement loans, drive to Niagara, hit Lake George, and escape to Pennsic. The will bring me to the first week of August. Registration will bloom anew, and I'll be working like a dog until end of September. The only true variables are the trips to Canada; the other trips are more or less set. The reason all of these things are possible is a major influx of overtime, which will last throughout the spring and summer, be superseded by the fall registration period, then resume until the end of the year.
So as this day ends, I have some more good news. I may be able to buy into the pension plan after all, and I finally sucked it up and went to the County PD and had my finger printing completed. So there's some movement in the right direction, though much more work needs to be done.
