Coffee heat rising

PAINT!!!!

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Lhudly sing huzzah! Dave’s [Former] Used Car Lot, Marina, and Weed Arboretum [Under New Management] is getting a paint job!

Drove in from the office and what should I see out in front but a guy on a ladder with a paint brush. That’s right: he’s actually brushing the trim, not spraying it.

It’s a miracle.

The new proprietor’s choice of colors is not what I would’ve favored, had she asked: it’s your basic sh** brown. But beggars can’t be choosers. Who cares what color it is, anyway? It’s PAINT!

Yesterday she had a fly-by-nightish crew sandblasting the pool. This means that instead of doing the job right and replastering (which the pool really, really needed), she did a cosmetic job that will last a year or two, maybe. But: hey! Get rid of the mosquito pond and you get rid of any further complaints from moi.

All the workmen she’s had over there have possessed that fly-by-nightish look: nary a company sign magneted to the side of a truck, and most certainly no hint of a contractor’s license number. Suggests she’s doing the fix-up on the cheap, as fast as she can get it done.

And those two things (quickie pool job, sketchy workmen) suggest she intends to rent or sell. If she’ll just get someone in there who’s quiet, not a criminal, not a volcanic madman, and not given to living in squalor, we’ll be good.

Despite the obscenely low price (we learned the bottom-feeder bought it out of bankruptcy for $162,500—this is a neighborhood of formerly $300,000-plus houses), just cleaning that dump up has transformed this whole end of the street. Dave’s mess was dragging all the properties around him down. This afternoon I actually felt GOOD about driving up to the front of my house, for a change. Now we have only two seriously run-down houses in our little tract, and one of those is for sale.

No question we have some dark clouds scudding overhead, boding hard times. But maybe now and again we’ll see the occasional silver lining.

Planning to be poor

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Over the next few days, I need to write out a plan for how I’m going to survive on a fraction of my income, which I expect I’ll have to do after the Board of Regents meets and Our Beloved Leader engineers the opportunity to declare a state of financial emergency so he can make all who are the likes of me redundant.

I’ve already figured out that it’s possible (not easy) to get by on Social Security and a tiny freelance income without moving out of my home. To do it, though, I’ll have to change my shopping, eating, and living habits in a big way. Today I won’t have time to work out the details—have to learn a new (to me) program that I’ll need for the full-time freelancing mode. But I have some ideas for the general shape of the thing:
-Identify items that I can buy in bulk at Costco, Sprouts, and co-ops.
?Compare prices of these items with prices in Walmart and Target. If items items of comparable quality can be had cheaper, get over the revulsion for Walmart and buy the stuff there.
-Get a great deal more serious about vegetable gardening
-Start collecting & clipping coupons. Learn the trick of getting goods cheaply at CVS and Walgreen’s.
-Identify specific classes of household goods (such as detergents) that can be purchased at yard sales.
-Get a room air-conditioner installed in the bedroom ASAP, while there’s still some money to do it.
-Identify two or three thrift stores in or near upscale neighborhoods. Check them out to see what kinds of stuff they carry and what prices will be like.
-Turn off the watering system (it needs to go off for the winter, anyway). Plug all the drippers around xeriscapic plants.
-Identify things that can be yard-saled or sold on Craig’s List.
-Cut the present budget to reflect the amount I will have post-layoff. Bank savings to use as “cushion” in checking account.

So it goes. Maybe I can sell the junk around the house for enough to pay for the room air-conditioner. . .

A New Plan: Retirement

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Over the past few days, I’ve about made up my mind that if I get laid off after the Board of Regents meets in December, I will not try to get another full-time job at all. Nor will I take regular draw-downs from my much-stressed retirement savings.

No.

Yes. I think I can live on a combination of Social Security and freelance editing, if I can earn a minimum of $1,000 a month. This would allow me to do the following things:

1. Quit. Yes!!!! Quit, quit, quit!
2. Leave the planned 4 percent retirement drawdown invested until the market turns around.
3. When I reach 66, return the money I’ve drawn from Social Security to the government and reset my payments to the “full retirement” level, substantially increasing my monthly income and collecting a chunk of tax refunds for the Social Security grab I paid at ages 63, 64, and 65.

Life would be very pinched for the next 2 1/2 years, until I reach 66. However, at 66, the increased Social Security payments would put me back in the middle class, and, with any luck at all, my savings will have recovered enough that I can safely draw down 4 percent. These two factors would make the rest of my life tolerable. When M’hijito and I sell or rent the Renovation House, I would then have enough income that I wouldn’t have to do any paid work at all to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.

Here’s how I see this:

Health Insurance: I will be eligible for Medicare in 18 months. COBRA lasts 18 months. The cost is $475 a month, but most of that will be covered by the amount GDU will owe me for accrued vacation pay. Thus that amount will not have to come out of month-to-month cash flow.

Renovation Loan: I will pay that off, using the money I have earned and squirreled away for the purpose. This will save the $170 payment and the $204 a month I pay toward principal, cutting my monthly expenses by $374. The amount of the loan, it is to be hoped, will be returned in a few years, after M’hijito and I sell the Investment House, on which I spent the funds.

Emergency and unexpected expenses: The amount I can generate from freelancing and Social Security will cover only routine costs. It will not cover a plumber’s bill, a car repair, a veterinary visit. However, I have about $18,000 saved up to buy my next car; this amount doubles as an emergency fund. I can use some of that to cover surprise expenses, or make an occasional drawdown from the big IRA.

Routine savings: The $200 a month I normally set aside to buy such things as clothes and other little indulgences will go away. The only way I can survive on freelance income plus Social Security is to dispense with regular savings. I am, however, allowed to earn as much as $1,125 a month without having Social Security taken away from me (isn’t THAT generous?). My plan assumes a regular freelance income of $1,000. Any amount more than that can go into a savings account. I hope.

Budgeting: In addition to foregoing the routine $200/month savings deposit, I will have to cut $300 a month off my living expenses budget. That means, basically, that $300 will have to come out of the grocery budget. Since there’s a little play in that budget anyway, this probably can be done simply by changing the way I eat and by purchasing nonfood goods second-hand at thrift shops and yard sales, rather than buying everything new.

If I do these things and they work (second part of that is the big IF), I will be OK in the winter months when utility bills are low. During the summer, when temperatures exceed 110 degrees day after day, staying out of the red will be difficult, but I think it can be done. I will start with a cushion of about $900, back-up money that’s already sitting in the credit union. That will rise to around $1085 by the end of June, as budget underruns stack up. As utility bills bloat, my cushion will drop to a low of about $815 in October. In November, though, it will begin to grow.

Should I sell my house and move to Sun City, where real estate and living expenses allegedly are cheaper?

Hell, no! First, after the foreclosure across the street, my paid-off house is now worth less than I paid for it BEFORE the bubble. My house is very pleasant, it’s centrally located, and it’s paid off. I did a little math and discovered that it costs me about $93 a month more to live here than it would to live in Sun City, assuming I do not engage in full Scrooge McDuck lifestyle. I believe that after commissions and closing costs, I could net—if I’m lucky—about $258,000 on the sale of my present house. In Sun City, I could buy a house for around $200,000.

Such a place would need about $10,000 worth of upgrades and renovation to bring it more or less up to date and make it into something I’d want to live in. Consider: My house is pretty nice, with a big lot, a beautiful pool, wonderful bearing citrus trees, a private front courtyard, skylights in three rooms (real skylights, not aluminum tubes), a new roof, expensive tiling throughout, an updated kitchen, and a spiffy gas stove. For $200,000, what you get in Sun City is a 30- to 40-year-old tract house whose quality and style come under the heading of “better than living in a trailer…just.” Cabinetry and trim are veneered in plastic; there’s no gas service, so you have to use an electric stove; landscaping is gray, green, or (worse!) white pebbles; and the general atmosphere is Early Mausoleum. Spare me, God!

Well, my friends, I think She will. Spare me Sun City, that is. I really do believe I can hop off the treadmill, delay drawing down savings until the market turns around, and live on Social Security and freelance earnings for the next three years.

Now. All we need is for President Raven to croak “Nevermore” come the first part of December: declare a state of financial emergency at GDU and lay me off. Ohhh please, Mr. Raven: d-o-o-o-o-n’t throw me in the briar patch!
😉

Moments of Fame

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Well, somehow I dorked this post up, so I’m taking the path of least resistance: deleting the original and reposting. If you read the first part of it yesterday, scroll down a ways for updates on Tuesday’s carnivals.

The 177th Carnival of Personal Financehas gone live at The Sun’s Financial Diary. Funny’s list of 15 sources of aid to stressed consumers appears in this week’s compendium, as does Tina’s rumination onfreelance editing in a wild economy, posted at The Copyeditor’s Desk. With the threat of layoffs at GDU still hanging over us like Damocles’ Sword (we’re now told we will hear how thenext$30 million budget cut will affect employees after the early December board of regents’ meeting), several articles are especially apposite. Money and Such proprietor Shadox explains whyit’s not such a bad idea to leave a jobthat doesn’t fit—economy or no economy. Kyle at Amateur Asset Allocator hasalready gotten the ax, but he doesn’t seem too worried thanks to some other income streams he’s developed; meanwhile, Randall at Credit Withdrawal is so nervoushe worries that his employer will can him for taking a sick day. FIB equates financial independence with frugal living and offersten ways to attain financial independence…other than winning the lottery, and Passive Family Income lists15 ways to save on utility bills.That One Caveman decides thatnet worth doesn’t matterso much as he previously thought. The Dividend Guy talks about hisstrategy for investing,to generally upbeat and encouraging effect. Those of us anticipating unemployment can take comfort from Cap’sten simple (and inexpensive) waysto feel rich at StopBuyingCrap.com.

At A Bit of Flour, the newMake It from Scratch Carnivalis up. Funny’s recipe for albondigas soup appears among half-a-dozen peers. Wow! Check out Mama Bear’s beautifulMy Mom’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake, posted at I’ve Got a Little Space to Fill…scrumptious! I’m absolutely going to try making that. Mary’s post of creatinggifts of foodappears at Simply Forties, reminding me of the days when I did that every Christmas—several good ideas here. Among the craftsy story, check out Stephanie’ssimple fleece scarfat Make It from Scratch. And here’s my kinda craft: Money Blue Book explainshow to build a CD ladder. And Kelly’stop 100 foodie blogsat Culinary School Guide is a cool resource.

Speaking of Mary, she hosts this week’sCarnival of Money Storiesat Simply Forties, regaling us with a great Election Day theme. Silicon Valley Blogger’s interesting rumination, at The Digerati Life, aboutForeclosure Alleyappears in this round-up. Here’s a great story aboutlearning entrepreneurship skills from the kidsat My Family’s Money. As you’re headed for the voting booth, consider Jim’s assertion in OPECDespises You, So Stop Using So Much Oil. I grew up in the Middle East, and I can assure you: the man is dead right.

The 114th Festival of Frugality has arrived at Bargain Briana. Check out J. Money’s rant-&-advice on mail-in rebates at Budgets Are Sexy. I no longer buy items that are marketed with a “rebate” come-on — half the time, the refund never comes, and besides, if the company can afford to sell an item for a few bucks off, they can afford to sell it to you off the shelf at a better price, rather than racking UP the price by hiring a bunch of call center reps and incurring printing and mailing costs. My own time and annoyance factor are generally worth more than the so-called “rebate.” At Prime Time Money, PT has a lead to a site that lists Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving shopping frenzy) sales. And in the list department, here’s a very nice and thoughtful list from Domestic Cents on ways to spend less and have more fun.

Ah, yes. Today’s the day. Soon we will know the next President of the United States. Whatever your sentiments, pray for the best and

Vote!

Real estate market heats up (?)

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La Maya and her compañera, La Bethulia (you’ll have to really know your Bible to figure out what modern name that one alludes to!), are in the market for an investment house, which they would like to rent to a couple of their nieces. Their money is in hand. Their loan is preapproved. They have made bids on two foreclosed houses, and they’ve lost out on both of them!

How? They’ve been nosed out by other bidders. The latest was a nice little place in a choice middle-class neighborhood of quiet, beautifully kept homes. Price was, astonishingly, under $200,000 in the normally pricey North Central area between Third Street and Third Avenue. Though the bedrooms were tiny, the house had been cherried out, with expanses of very nice tile and a huge, drop-down dead GORGEOUS kitchen (you would not have believed!). It appeared to have a new roof, new double-paned windows, new everything. The front yard was xeriscaped and required only a light clean-up—Gerardo’s crew could have restored it to its pristine glory in under two hours. The back needed some work, but nothing crushing. The pool had been drained, wrecking the plaster, and so it needed to be replastered—probably around $4,000 to $6,000. But if it didn’t need new equipment (given that the previous owners had replaced everything else, chances are the pump and filter were fine), even with that cost you would get a very nice, ever-so-much-more-than-livable house in a sweet neighborhood for tens of thousands of dollars under the normal market price.

Two other buyers swooped down on the house at the time La Maya and Bethulia went after it. They actually bid up the price above the asking price!

Dang! Does this sound familiar?

Maybe our property values will return to something more or less normal during our lifetimes, after all.