We had a death in the house yesterday. Our clothes dryer of 6 years passed away in a fiery blaze of glory. Literally.
It's had some issues for about the last 6-8 months. The heating element, which turns out is just a really long, thin spring, had burned up in one place. Well, being the cheapskates that we are, with a real do-it-yourself kind of spirit (which is a requirement if you are a cheapskate), we were just kind of loosely placing it back together. Every other week or so, it would work its way back apart, and we would once again take the dryer apart and place it back together. Finally, too much of it had burnt up to do this anymore, and we bought a new element about 2 weeks ago. Who knew a simple spring would cost $48? However, during the process of replacing the element, a little ceramic doo-hickie (very technical term, I know) got cracked. The ceramic doo-hickie held the element off of the other metal parts inside the dryer, keeping it from being a fire hazard. Well, right after making the repair and turning it on, the element did touch the metal and it kicked the breaker, so the power was shut off to the dryer. We rigged it up again, and then it worked fine.
That brings us to yesterday. The dryer wasn't really drying yet again, so we took it apart, yet again. We found that the element had burned up yet again, because apparently the ceramic doo-hickie had broken completely off, allowing the element to touch the metal. We tried, yet again, to rig the thing back together without the ceramic doo-hickie. As we were working on it, I made the comment that it was a wonder that the dryer was not a fire hazard with all the rigging up we had done to it. My husband responded that at least we know if it is a fire hazard our breaker system does its job by kicking off the power, as had happened a couple of weeks ago. We took comfort in this as we finished the repair and plugged it back in. We turned it on to test out our rig-job, and within seconds sparks flew everywhere and smoke started pouring out. The breaker did not kick it off this time, and the dryer kept running as smoke started pouring out of it. Turns out there was a small fire in the bottom of it. We got the fire put out, fanned the smoke away from the smoke detectors that were sounding off like crazy, and opened the doors and windows. There was no way to put off getting another dryer now!
Luckily, some friends of ours from church happened to know someone that just happened to mention to them earlier this week that they had an extra dryer they were looking to get rid of. They saw my post on Facebook (thank God for social networking!) about the death of my dryer and put me in touch. Sweet serendipity! Best of all, the couple looking to get rid of their extra dryer gave it to us for FREE!! Music to my ears! So now we have a new older dryer to replace our old newer dryer. Here's a little prayer that this dryer will have a long, happy life in my home!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Total Money Makeover: Baby Step 1
Baby step 1 of our Total Money Makeover is officially complete! Yay!! We have now accumulated $1,000 in an emergency savings account, and accomplished it within the month timeframe that Dave Ramsey recommends (so we are on schedule!!). I put the money at a different bank than where my checking account is so that it takes a lot more effort to transfer funds, as well as two days for processing before I can get the funds. This will force me to evaluate whether something is TRULY and emergency and can't be covered by my checking account. I figure any emergency that arises, whether it's car repairs, unexpected medical expense, household issues, can wait two days before it is paid. So now we will start moving on toward paying off the debt, beginning with the line of credit since it is the smallest amount that we owe. That balance is currently at $1383, so I don't think it should take us too long to pay it off. Here we gooooooooo!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Tribute to My Favorite Oldest Daughter
Issy's birthday was Friday, and though I started a blog entry for that day, I never got to finish it for all the celebrating. So, she is now 12 years old - almost a teenager! I can't believe it! She is one of the coolest 12 year olds I know, though I may be a wee bit biased. I am so proud of how creative and talented she is, with all of her art and music. And I've always admired how laid back she is. She just doesn't let hardly anything get under her skin! She most definitely does not take after me in that regard, as I tend to get steamed up over everything. She is so smart and works hard for her accomplishments.
Happy birthday to my favorite oldest daughter!!
Happy birthday to my favorite oldest daughter!!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
To the devastated and heartbroken in Haiti,
I have been scouring the internet for reports about you all day. The magnitude of the devastation to your country, your country that has endured hard hits by other forces of nature and crushing poverty, is unimaginable. I am near tears as I view the images of your people who are lost in the streets, searching for loved ones and often finding the worst. I cannot fathom the soul-wrenching fear and grief you are experiencing now.
I am praying for you. My church and my friends are praying for you. You will rebuild with the strong hands of your people, and the helping hands of the world. With God and time, your broken hearts and souls will mend.
God's peace to all in Haiti, and all who know someone in Haiti at this harrowing and difficult time,
Anneliese
I am praying for you. My church and my friends are praying for you. You will rebuild with the strong hands of your people, and the helping hands of the world. With God and time, your broken hearts and souls will mend.
God's peace to all in Haiti, and all who know someone in Haiti at this harrowing and difficult time,
Anneliese
Monday, January 11, 2010
New Adventure
So I started this new little adventure right before the new year and thought I'd share it with all of you in blogtopia. I bought myself a decent sketchbook with good, thick paper, and am now messing it up. Seriously, some call it creative journaling, art journaling, mixed media, but I really like the term "soul journaling". I'm just getting started and not real impressed by what I've done, but it is a lot of fun. Here's a couple of pages I've been working on....
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Year: Launching 2010 Part IV
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! Peace and love in 2010!
My third big resolution is one that, if I can accomplish it, will bring me a LOT of peace. I want to improve my financial situation!! I stress out about money constantly, but especially when something happens (which a lot did happen in 2009). First, we needed a new roof (due to not one, not two, but THREE leaks in different areas of the house). Of course, we didn't have the money to cover that, and ended up putting it on the credit card. Then came my emergency appendectomy. Even with my insurance, it would have been cheaper to have a funeral. That's really sad. So we spent about four months of the year throwing all of our "extra" money towards that, instead of building up savings and paying off debt. And that took us until November, when we had to put braces on Issy for a down payment of $675 (which we were able to pay in cash, no borrowing), but then turned right around and had over $1000 in unexpected car repairs in December. And while we were also able to cover that without the credit card as well, it made December EXTREMELY tight. Let me just say that I am really glad I tend to buy extras of various food items when they are on sale, because there was really no money for groceries for about two weeks there.
I stayed really stressed out about money most of the year, and I'm thinking God is trying to pound a big old fat message into my head. And, God, just wanted to let you know that I hear you, so no more lessons are needed at this time, thank you very much. I've decided to try out the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Basically, you save up $1000 as quick as you can (within a month, usually), and then with "gazelle intensity" you throw everything you got into paying off the smallest of your debts, while paying the minimums on your others. Once that is paid off you snowball that money into the next smallest debt, etc. If there is a setback and you have to dip into your $1000 emergency fund, then you stop snowballing the debt temporarily and pay back the emergency fund as quickly as possible. Once all the debts are paid (excluding the mortgage), then you build your emergency fund up until you have 3-6 months of living expenses saved (I'll be shooting for the 6 months!). This is as far as I've gotten in the book, and I won't read on until we've gotten these three steps accomplished. My estimated length of time to have everything but the house paid is 42 months, but that is not taking into account any "found" money (like Shane's quarterly bonuses or my occasional catering gig). Dave says in the book that people who follow the plan usually pay it all off in less than their original projected time due to "found" money and just plain old determination. And I also didn't take into account that beginning in August, we will no longer have to pay daycare (yay!!). We will be paying for afterschool care, but that is about 1/4 of the cost of daycare. So that will free up a bunch to throw towards the debt as well.
Another thing he recommends is monthly budgeting. I know, you're thinking "DUH"! I know how to budget, and I always project out our budget a year in advance. But I think it will be useful to sit down at the beginning of each month, re-examine that month's budget and make any adjustments for "extra" income or expenses, and figure out exactly how much will go toward the debt for that month. I think it will keep us focused.
So, this really, really pains me to do, but here is my business for everyone to see (so everyone else can keep me accountable as well):
Line of Credit $1421
Harley Davidson $4093
Orthodontist $4270
VISA $8951
Student Loans $17,470 (ouch!)
car $20,151 (double ouch!)
current emergency savings $328
At this point, if my fairy godmother would like to enter the picture and pay all or some of this, please do..... Well, no one showed, so I guess it's up to me! I'll be posting monthly updates on this New Year's goal so that anyone reading this can feel free to b*!&h-slap me if they feel I'm doing something stupid. Also, we'll be looking for free or extremely low-cost activities to do with the kids, and looking for ways to save on groceries and household necessities, so if anyone has any ideas please email me or post in comments!!
Wish me luck!!
My third big resolution is one that, if I can accomplish it, will bring me a LOT of peace. I want to improve my financial situation!! I stress out about money constantly, but especially when something happens (which a lot did happen in 2009). First, we needed a new roof (due to not one, not two, but THREE leaks in different areas of the house). Of course, we didn't have the money to cover that, and ended up putting it on the credit card. Then came my emergency appendectomy. Even with my insurance, it would have been cheaper to have a funeral. That's really sad. So we spent about four months of the year throwing all of our "extra" money towards that, instead of building up savings and paying off debt. And that took us until November, when we had to put braces on Issy for a down payment of $675 (which we were able to pay in cash, no borrowing), but then turned right around and had over $1000 in unexpected car repairs in December. And while we were also able to cover that without the credit card as well, it made December EXTREMELY tight. Let me just say that I am really glad I tend to buy extras of various food items when they are on sale, because there was really no money for groceries for about two weeks there.
I stayed really stressed out about money most of the year, and I'm thinking God is trying to pound a big old fat message into my head. And, God, just wanted to let you know that I hear you, so no more lessons are needed at this time, thank you very much. I've decided to try out the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Basically, you save up $1000 as quick as you can (within a month, usually), and then with "gazelle intensity" you throw everything you got into paying off the smallest of your debts, while paying the minimums on your others. Once that is paid off you snowball that money into the next smallest debt, etc. If there is a setback and you have to dip into your $1000 emergency fund, then you stop snowballing the debt temporarily and pay back the emergency fund as quickly as possible. Once all the debts are paid (excluding the mortgage), then you build your emergency fund up until you have 3-6 months of living expenses saved (I'll be shooting for the 6 months!). This is as far as I've gotten in the book, and I won't read on until we've gotten these three steps accomplished. My estimated length of time to have everything but the house paid is 42 months, but that is not taking into account any "found" money (like Shane's quarterly bonuses or my occasional catering gig). Dave says in the book that people who follow the plan usually pay it all off in less than their original projected time due to "found" money and just plain old determination. And I also didn't take into account that beginning in August, we will no longer have to pay daycare (yay!!). We will be paying for afterschool care, but that is about 1/4 of the cost of daycare. So that will free up a bunch to throw towards the debt as well.
Another thing he recommends is monthly budgeting. I know, you're thinking "DUH"! I know how to budget, and I always project out our budget a year in advance. But I think it will be useful to sit down at the beginning of each month, re-examine that month's budget and make any adjustments for "extra" income or expenses, and figure out exactly how much will go toward the debt for that month. I think it will keep us focused.
So, this really, really pains me to do, but here is my business for everyone to see (so everyone else can keep me accountable as well):
Line of Credit $1421
Harley Davidson $4093
Orthodontist $4270
VISA $8951
Student Loans $17,470 (ouch!)
car $20,151 (double ouch!)
current emergency savings $328
At this point, if my fairy godmother would like to enter the picture and pay all or some of this, please do..... Well, no one showed, so I guess it's up to me! I'll be posting monthly updates on this New Year's goal so that anyone reading this can feel free to b*!&h-slap me if they feel I'm doing something stupid. Also, we'll be looking for free or extremely low-cost activities to do with the kids, and looking for ways to save on groceries and household necessities, so if anyone has any ideas please email me or post in comments!!
Wish me luck!!
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