I’ve been trying to save money- part of “Operation Save the House.” Unfortunately, John’s death has left me with a sizable financial loss. More than anything, I’d just like to have HIM back and could care less about “his money.” However, he’s gone and not coming back and I’m left with the pieces that remain.
John’s income was significantly more than mine (thanks to AFD’s steps, merit increases, cost of living increases, and promotions) and our mortgage on our farm is not cheap. Luckily, there was some life insurance money and John does have a small retirement which does include health insurance. Nathaniel receives Social Security; however, I make too much money to receive mine.
Social Security allows you to earn $14,160/ year and still collect your monthly social security amount. However, for every $2.00 you earn above that they subtract $1.00. So, it’s quite a catch 22…
My little “life lessons learned” tip is get enough life insurance to pay off the house should anything ever happen. Get ample life insurance while you’re healthy. John tried to increase his life insurance after he’d been cancer free for over a year, but was declined. There are certain conditions that life insurance companies don’t want to insure people with and cancer is one of them 😦
So, I’ve been looking for ways to cut back. I dropped cable TV. I turned the AC to 80. There is plenty of grass in the field, so the field horses went on a diet. I’m even trying to cook some- and I don’t cook. I combine trips. I’ve been clipping coupons. I’m seeing if I can find better insurance rates. I’m looking into a cheaper cell phone carrier. I’m considering free leasing some horses, but at the same time, I’ve lost so much and don’t know that emotionally I can lose my four legged family. I’m hoping to get more fence put up soon to reduce my hay bill. I’m considering boarding a few horses for some income and maybe even taking in a human boarder. So many things that I never would have considered when John was alive, but “desperate times call for desperate measures”… “a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do”… “beggars can’t be choosers”… and “I’m not going down without a fight!”
At times I’ve considered packing up the farm and moving somewhere where the cost of living is very low, but it is home here. I love it here. John & I have so many fond memories here. We were going to raise Nathaniel and grow old together here at Leaky Creek… So, I’m going to do everything that I can do to raise Nathaniel and grow old here at Leaky Creek! As they say…” home is where the heart is”… my heart’s at Leaky Creek.
Well, the garbage bill came in the mail and it was eighty some dollars for three months. I thought about better uses for three hundred some dollars. I had already considered it and some friends had suggested just taking the trash to the dump myself. I’ve also found that I don’t have much trash anymore- I’m not coming anywhere close to filling the big trash can every week. The closest dump also has a policy that if you have recyclables then it is free for the garbage. Without the recyclables it is only $5.00.
The problem is that I don’t have a truck. I wasn’t too keen on stinking up my car or spilling smelly gunk in it. A large garbage can isn’t going to fit standing up in my car. Somebody had suggested laying the cans on their sides… I wasn’t too keen on that idea for fear that stuff could still ooze out.
I came up with a solution. I used large Rubbermaid type containers and put several garbage bags inside and had a lid to cover. Problem solved.
Going to the dump is something I’d never done before. We’d always had trash pickup. In my book, going to the dump is one of those “man jobs.”
So, today, I loaded up trash, recyclables, and Nathaniel into the Subaru and off we went. I roughly knew where the dump was and easily found it. It’s not very far away. I got there read the signs and hoped I’d pulled into the right area.
A man came over looked at my license to verify that I was from Cecil County. I told him I was new at this and he showed me where to go. I dumped the recyclables and then backed into the other building and dumped the trash. I’m glad I had put the bags into the Rubbermaid container- there was some nasty smelling liquid that had came out of the bags. For once, I’d had some good thinking on my part! In a few short minutes, I was done and my first experience of going to the dump will soon fade into oblivion.
I was surprised at how clean the dump was… I’d had quite a different picture in my mind. lol It didn’t even smell bad! I did just fine taking care of the “man job.”
Rainbows & Mourning Doves 