Coffee heat rising

Uh-oh…

Dog is off her feed. She’s been showing some reluctance to eat over the past week or so but, being a corgi, finds it well-nigh impossible to turn down a pile of food.

She’s been licking the tile flooring, too. This is a sign of a doggy upset stomach. (Don’t we all lick tiles when we feel bilious?)

This morning she’s finally given in to whatever is ailing her: left half her food in the dish.

And that is unheard-of. Since corgis live to eat, it’s a bad sign.

Nice timing, just when I’m about to shell out a pile of money for a pup and then some more money and then some more money and then…and then…and then… Can’t really afford a big vet bill for Cassie just now.

Damn. It’s been one ungodly expense after another ever since the first of the year: the trees, the eyes, the glasses, the contact lenses, the landscape repair, the dentist, the puppy, the nagging need for clothes that fit… Holy mackerel. Or is that holy doggerel?

If I were still using the old bookkeeping system wherein I put $200/month aside for emergencies in a cookie-jar savings account, by now — the middle of February! — the short-term emergency fund would be drained. That savings account only had about $1,000 at the end of December. I’ve spent at least four grand since then.

It’s all coming out of the gigantic pile of dough I threw into checking for the purpose of supporting me through 2014. Because of course I’m earning a little each month — at last a check came in from the community college district, and the Social Security Administration is also throwing money into that checking account — the bottom line doesn’t look so gut-wrenching. Certainly not as gut-wrenching as a savings account balance of $0.00.

On the other hand, that pile of dough has to cover taxes and insurance, which in 2014 will come to around $5340, assuming I don’t have to buy a new car this year. What I’m concerned about is that if these extraordinary expenses continue, they’ll eat up the set-aside for those unavoidable gouges.

And that is not good.

To avoid running out of money this year, I’ll have to see to it that some $4,000 is made up by sheer, raw frugality: the slack will have to be taken out of the food, clothing, entertainment, gasoline, and household budgets. I bought another couple pair of Costco bluejeans yesterday, since running the washer every couple of days isn’t very practical. That will have to be the last clothing purchase for the next three or four months. At least.

It still astonishes me that I can get into a pair of jeans with the number “8” on them, and it’s even more amazing that jeans that fit and last can be had for $15.99. I returned the annoying bras to Soma — was amazed that they took the damn things back — but then replaced them with two more from Saks, where I finally found a sales-lady who was willing to wait on an elderly woman (rarity of rarities!). So no net gain was had there, except that now I have one (count it, 1) bra that doesn’t hurt outright and one that’s comfortable enough if I don’t wear it longer than about 45 minutes.

Welp, here’s Gerardo with his campesinos. And so, to work…

 

10 thoughts on “Uh-oh…”

  1. AND so it seems….Everytime you feel you’re getting a bit ahead or even…something comes up. With me it was the unexpected failure of a heating system on a rental house. Now this property is vacant AND requires repair. Add to that a BRUTAL winter that adds to costs in the way of heating bills and electricians who have lost their mind in pricing jobs out. Like you I feel squeezed and like you I am going to work on finding ways to cut costs. I will be challenging all expenses this year …line by line…and looking for economies in all areas. Hope the pooch feels better …going to the vet is no fun for the dog OR your pocket book!

    • oooohhh urk! That’s exactly what makes me worry about the possibility of renting out the downtown house if and when my son decides to move on: big expenses when the place stands empty, with no rental income to help take up the slack. Honestly — since we’re no longer underwater, I think if he takes a job in some other city we should sell and take the capital improvements we put into it as a loss.

      This weather has got to have been awful on everyone in its path.

      Ahem. It’s springtime here now. The bougainvillea are in bloom, as are the cassia and a host of pretty little decorative plants. The oranges are ripe and sweet as candy. It’s never too late to move to Arizona! 😀

      Good luck with the repairs and the expense coping. Hope you get that place rented soon.

  2. Hope Cassie is off her food only because she senses a change in her living arrangements.
    It does often seem that just when things seem to be looking up – down they go.
    Please, please, do not tell me spring is there because my mailbox is almost covered in snow and more is on the way in a day or two.
    Plus the neighbors [25+ years younger] whose mailbox sits beside ours, have helped shovel them out – once, count it once in the eleven years we have lived here. And this year they have a lovely, heavy duty gas snow blower. They don’t even have to shovel the sidewalk, the city does their side of the street. Oh well, next time I’ll make sure the mailboxes are on the other side of the street and I will do my part to, at least, offer to help.
    Good luck with the pooch and the novel.

    • Wait. These young pups next door to you need some training. I thought where it was colder than a by-god, people helped each other.

      Wrong again, eh?

      Cassie is smart, but I’m not sure she’s smart enough to know an interloper is on its way. We’ll see.

      Spring has definitely sproinged. It’s never to late to move to Arizona! 😀

      Seriously, this is why so many Arizonans are former Minnesotans. Or UPers.

  3. You might be right…I’ve been doing this a while and the returns just aren’t there like they used to be. Tenants are crazier and untruthful AND the cost to have any kind of work done is just astounding. Add to this the performance of mutual funds and stocks last year and you find yourself questioning your sanity for being a landlord. I own some shares in some TIAA-CREF mutual funds that went up over 38% last year (no misprint). True this doesn’t happen every year… but MAN…38% and I didn’t have to leave the house…swing a hammer…or go to rent court…Take the money and RUN!!

    • Well…hang in there. And just keep telling yourself, over and over: “38% is a fluke…38% is a FLUKE!!!” And it surely is.

      The crazy economy must be making renters crazy, too. Probably you’re getting a lot of people who never have rented and so have no clue. And a lot of people realize that even though interest rates are rising, they’re still at historic lows, so now is the time to buy. Like all markets, these things go up and down.

      As in what goes up must come down….

  4. No…Been doing this a while …35 years….and IMHO folks are desperate….really desperate…which makes them crazy….really crazy. Case in point…couple applies for my rental that is vacant…long story short.. fill out the app, pay the app fee and we begin the interview. Turns out the gal was sentenced to one year for embezzlement and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 42K…which she is kinda doing. Husband had a domestic abuse put on sted docket BUT not until he spent a month in jail as he couldn’t make bail…250K…for domestic violence? I’ve seen this kinda thing go with $10K bail ALL day. To go with this the folks are getting ready to go BK and “let their house go back”…and to that end haven’t made a payment in over 14 months. I explained to move forward I would need $2950…which she says they can’t come up with DESPITE living for FREE for the last 14 months…Is it just me or is this crazy?

    • Wow!

      The truly crazy thing that could happen here would be to rent to this pair.

      Surely a nice pad with sewer and electric connection (or at least an old oil barrel they could use to build a romantic, cozy campfire in) could be had for them, under the freeway overpass??? Gaaah!

    • She was. Yesterday she was fine. But today she’s got the doggywobbles again. 🙁

      Think it may be the chicken…she was good when I switched her to hamburger. Ran out this a.m. and went back to the boiled chicken, and presto-changeo! Doggy trots!

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