Bloom Where You Are Planted

Originally Published 8/24/19

Everything is paid for August, so it was time to make an extra principal payment. It is my habit to keep 1k in checking, then "sweep" all else towards whatever goal I am working towards. This month I was able to sweep $566.96, of which $147 was from a refund for DMV fees, and the remaining $419.96 was from regular income.

So that was a good month, and I hope to manage paying a similar amount every month, until it is done.

Updated snips of the amortization table are on my "5th Wheel Amortization" page, link in my sidebar.

Originally Published 8/12/19

Now that I have decided to make paying off my 5th wheel loan a priority, I have been thinking about different strategies to get the job done.

One strategy I intend to pursue is to get a 0% no balance transfer fee credit card loan if I can. I have Googled a bit, and have found a couple of offers for 0% for 15 months, no balance transfer fee. If I were to borrow $4,200, that's a repayment of $300 per month for 14 months (I always plan to pay in full the month before the offer ends). It adds a bit more hassle to juggle both debts, but I would save an additional $334 in interest by paying a lump sum of $4,200 up front vs. paying $300 per month over 14 months.

So I will apply and see if I am approved or not.

A second item is that I have raided my Roth sinking fund. I had been depositing 5% of my gross pay to it each payday, with the intent to contribute the money in 2020 (I had already contributed the max for 2019). I am using part of the money for medical expenses (more on that later), and the remaining balance of $1,130.81 as an additional principal payment. I will schedule the payment as soon as the money hits my checking account.

Originally Published 8/11/19

So early this year, we lost our beloved Nala to laryngeal paralysis. This is a condition in which the nerve controlling the laryngeal flaps stops working, and so the flaps stop moving between the esophagus and the trachea. This was hard on everyone.

After grieving for a few months, SB and I adopted a female 2 year old English bulldog/pit mix. She was being fostered but was the property of the Bradshaw animial shelter in Sacramento. She has quite a personality and has successfully taken charge of SB and I, as we are both besotted with her. Her name was already Bella, and she knows it, so Bella it is.





We have had so much going on, and so much more is on the horizon. My brother and sister in law will be here in two weeks for an overnight visit. My birth mom is coming in late August/early September and will stay for a bit. And then my daughter and son-in-law will be here in late September for a visit.

This September also marks our 10th anniversary. We are planning to take a short trip, possibly to Lake Tahoe.

In financial matters, I have decided to make paying off the 5th wheel a priority. I have re-arranged my budget some and will begin paying the loan aggressively with my next payment. I have cut back my personal allowance, trimmed my travel budget, and will not contribute to my Roth. Instead, all of that money will go to the 5th wheel loan, along with every other dollar I can scrape up.

I will add a Page to my sidebar with the loan amortization to track my progress. I have already made a small amount of progress by making the first 3 payments before the due date (interest accrues daily). If you are interested, take a peak.

Originally Published 05/21/19

I try to prepare for future expenses by saving a bit each payday in various sinking funds. With the recent purchase of a new 5th wheel, they needed some tweaking. I update the balances regularly, which you can view any time you please by clicking on the "Sinking Funds" page link in my sidebar. This is what I am currently doing:

Car Ins & Reg - This is now for both my CR-V and 5th wheel. I am budgeting $2,700 per year for insurance and registration for both. This breaks down to $103.84 per pay period.

Car R & M - This is now for both the CR-V and 5th wheel too. I am budgeting $1,500 per year, which breaks down to $57.69 per paycheck.

Car Replacement - To replace my CR-V when the time comes. I am budgeting $1,500 per year plus my "round out", which breaks down to $64.24 per paycheck. ("Round out") is the amount needed to give my sinking funds transfer a nice rounded number).

Clothing - Current budget is $600 per year. This will change once I am no longer dressing for work. This breaks down to $23.07 per paycheck.

Electronic Gadgets - To replace my phone, laptop, what have you. The budget is $300 per year which breaks down to $11.55 per paycheck.

Emergency Fund - Not a true sinking fund, but here it is. Currently no money is being regularly added.

Gifts/Xmas - The budget here is $1,000 per year, which breaks down to $38.46 per paycheck.

Planners & Goodies - For my fancypants planners and supplies. The budget is $100 per year, which breaks down to $3.85 per paycheck.

Roth - Saving up for next year's contribution as I've already contributed 7k for 2019. The amount is 5% of my gross pay, which works out to $103.15 per paycheck.

Travel/Vacation - I am budgeting $2,500 per year, which breaks down to $96.15 per paycheck.

All together, $500 per paycheck is automatically transferred into these funds a few days after each payday. This method works very well for me. Once set up, it is so very simple and requires no effort on my part.

Originally Published 5/15/19

It would have been more practical to buy the 5th wheel our friends were selling, or some other used 5th wheel. But, I decided that I wanted the beautiful new 5th wheel with extended warranty.

So, I bought it. The same one in the pics I shared in my post "Tow Vehicle Purchased". We have not yet taken delivery. The dealer is installing a tankless hot water heater and slide out "toppers" (covers to protect the roof from leaves and dirt while the slide is out). Plus, we need to have a 5th wheel hitch installed in the truck bed. (Which of course can't happen until we get the truck back from the dealer. Grr!).

I am very pleased and looking forward to living in my new home. We will keep our current travel trailer as a "guest room" so that family & friends can come up and visit us.

My loan payments are $417 for 15 years; the interest rate is 6.74%. I have already found that a lender called Essex Credit, which is funded through Bank of the West, will refi me at 5.15%, dropping my monthly payments to $375. However, I will have to wait as they require copies of both a loan statement and DMV registration; I have not yet received either one. I had checked with Wells Fargo before taking the financing the dealer offered; WF's best rate on an RV loan is 11.59%, and goes up from there. I could not believe it. I think they must be wanting to get out of RV financing altogether.

I think I am just going to pay the loan one payment at a time and direct extra dollars into savings.

Originally Published 05/04/19

I enjoy serendipity so much. Some friends of ours who are close to finishing their new build home have been living in a 5th wheel. They just offered it to us for 5k.

We went to see it. It is not as pretty as the one in the pics I recently shared, but it would be quite an increase in space for us. It is 27 ft with 1 slide and is very clean. It is a 2002 model with worn green carpet which would have to go. It does not have an on-demand hot water heater which is a MUST; those run $1,600 installed. There is more counter space, more living space, and more fridge space. The bathroom is smaller than our bathroom now, but with more storage space. I said I would let them know one way or the other by Tuesday. I am leaning towards "yes".

In other news, SB found a 2006 Toyota Corolla LE with 42k on the odometer, asking price $5,400. He bought it and sold his Acura MDX. It is in excellent condition and gets great mileage. It is now his daily driver in good weather.

On 4-30-19, my Wells Fargo savings account with $10 in it earned a cent of interest. This prompted me to look at the interest rate. It has shot up to 1.22%. This is the highest rate I have seen paid on a regular savings account by a brick-and-mortar bank in a long, long time.

Originally Published 5/1/19

I have continued to refine and update my "if I retire right now" spreadsheet.

I have extended the final line to the month I turn 100. I will tweak my monthly withdrawal to maintain steady income from date of retirement to the month I turn 100. The next month, I will be flat broke.

Extending the time out several more years reduced my beginning monthly withdrawal amount. Good portfolio growth the past two months has increased it.

In addition to my nest egg, I am including the cash value of my pension plan. Because I am not yet vested, if I were to retire now, I would not receive a monthly pension payment. However, I would be entitled to a refund of all I have paid in (but not the amount my employer has paid in on my behalf). I would roll the money into my 457 plan and so it would become part of my little nest egg. Once I vest, I will forfeit the cash value so will no longer include it in this calculation. However, I will receive a monthly pension which will certainly factor in.

My new monthly beginning withdrawal amount is...$1,406.00. (I am sticking with whole dollars).

Nope, not yet. Better keep working.

Originally Published 04/30/19

I am so excited to share that this past Sunday, SB and I purchased our tow vehicle. It is a 2018 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 with a Cummins Turbo Diesel engine. This baby is made for towing. Here she is:



She is a pricey girl. But after much discussion, we decided that we wanted a reliable workhorse. I admit I am a bit intimidated to drive her. I plan to take some RV driving lessons. You know, how to back up, hitch your trailer, make wide turns, etc.

SB and I have really been feeling the strain of living in such a tiny space. We have been irritable and short with each other. After a couple of argumentative weeks, we have decided to move ahead with purchasing our travel vehicle now. Even though we are not ready to hit the road, we will have more living space now.

We purchased the lowest trim level with no extra options. Even so, the truck is nicely equipped with back up camera, trailer brakes, a jake brake, a nice sound system, power seats doors and locks, tow mirrors, etc. We chose to purchase an extended bumper to bumper warranty which will take us to 8 years or 75k miles. We believe we will hit the 8 years before the 75k miles. The sticker price of the truck was 55k+. With tax, license (expensive on this sort of truck) and the extended warranty, we paid $53,551.85. We split the cost, and the truck is paid for.

It is some major sticker shock. We feel the odds are good that this truck will serve us well for many years to come. Frankly, I fervently hope it is the ONLY tow vehicle I will ever buy.

So now my next decision is which 5th wheel to buy. I could stick with used and pay cash. I believe I could find something which would do. However, I am leaning heavily towards financing a new 5th wheel. I have seen some BEAUTIFUL ones, but I am keeping in mind that I wish to keep the length to no more than 30 ft, and I wish to go with an "ultra lite". This will make towing easier, parking easier, gas cost a bit less, and many parks limit the length of your rig if you want to camp in the park. There are a few models which fit those specs and yet still offer a bit of elbow room.

For example, I LOVE this one:

I love to crunch my numbers this way and that. Recently I have discovered that if I retire right now, it looks like this:

- withdraw $1,400 per month beginning 4/1/19
- give myself a 2% COLA every Jan 1st
- hold off on SS until FRA (67)
- at age 67, reduce monthly withdrawal by $750 (realistic SS benefits estimate)
- assuming 5% IRR, run out of money at age 96

Even though I cannot live my desired lifestyle on $1,400 per month, it is a very liberating feeling to know I can cover my basic needs come what may.

I have built a spreadsheet and will continue to fill in actual numbers and re-calculate each month. At some point, the monthly withdrawal is going to become enticing enough to pull the trigger on retirement.

Just heard about this no hoops money market account, currently paying 2.5%. Their marketing strategy cracks me up.

I love how simple my budget has gotten! If I can stick to it, I will reach my goals.

Well, my net worth has gotten very simple. I decided to leave the value of my car off because I'm not going to sell it; and OK, I just didn't want to try squeezing it into the space.



I did a pretty good job estimating my net proceeds from the house sale. I did give away some money but investment performance for the month gave it right back.

Today my first (post-house sale) automatic sinking funds transfer happened. I am doing $500 every other Tuesday, broken down as follows:

Car Ins & Reg - $51.92
Car R & M - $38.46
Car Replacement - $54.56
Clothing - $23.07
EGadgets - $13.46
Gifts/Xmas - $38.46
Planners & Goodies - $3.85
Roth - $180.07

Now that the cruise is paid for and my house is sold, I needed to change my paycheck withholdings. I filled out a new W-4, choosing Single-0. I upped my 457 plan contribution from 3% to 10%. At the beginning of the year, I upped my HCRA deposit to $900 per year, which is $37.50 per paycheck (no withholding from the two "extra" paychecks per year).

Yesterday was the first payday with my new lower take home pay. Here is how my bi-weekly paycheck currently breaks down:

Gross: $2,063.28
Fed w/h: $160.78
CA w/h: $43.20
Fica-Med: $27.53
CA SDI: $18.99
Pension: $144.43
Hlth Ins: $121.07
Dent/Vis: $5.80
HCRA: $37.50
Life Ins: $0.93
Union Dues: $32.98
457 Plan: $206.33

Net Pay: $1,263.74

That's what I have to work with. Going forward, I want to save enough cash to cover items I will need/want. On that list are a full sized truck and 5th wheel for moseying around North America, as well as replacing my current vehicle when the time comes. I want to remain debt-free for the rest of my life, with the possible exception of a mortgage.

When I last mentioned it, I was leaning towards a Class C motorhome. Since then, SB and I have decided to go in half-sies on a full sized truck and later a 5th wheel. The mid sized truck SB has now pulls our small travel trailer, but it is towards the upper end of what is safe. For this reason, we don't often move it. (Mostly just up the road a mile to a campground for black water dumps). However, a full sized truck has a much higher weight limit, opening up some fun possibilities.

I have a nice cash cushion at the moment, but it is ear-marked for various things. Some will definitely be spent soon-ish (car insurance), some will be spent eventually, though when is uncertain (travel). I still have significant saving to do to have my vehicle goals funded.

Last weekend, we were without power from late Friday night through Monday night. This means a good many discomforts. Chief among them: no running water.

For heat, we have a small generator we can run which allows us to turn our space heater on low. The generator is gas powered, so running it longer than 4-5 hours requires going outside to add more gas. "So what?" you may ask. Well, our little love nest gets a bit chilly when the sun goes down:









We also have the option of turning on a stove burner. This is our warmest option. The stove runs on propane and is much more efficient than the gas powered generator. However, we will only use this option during waking hours.

I had to melt snow on the stove for a sponge bath to get ready for work on Monday. By Tuesday, thankfully the power was back. But it was a long, cold 3 days.

So when SB texted me this most recent Friday afternoon that the power was out AGAIN, with more snow forecasted, we decided to rent a motel room for the 3 day weekend. I started calling around, when a friend invited us to spend the weekend in her home. So that's where we are at the moment. It's snowing here too, but just a few inches and we have power.

It's always an adventure.

What a wonderful feeling of relief!

So the mortgage debt is gone, the Heloc debt is gone, and I have already paid my WF Visa in full. (I had overdrafted due to a bill pay error, so was paying 24.99% daily and could not wait one moment longer than necessary to put an end to that).

Over the next few days, I will be paying my remaining debts in full, sending money to my Roth IRA and various savings accounts, and making a small but (I hope) helpful gift to each of the two people I love most in the world.

Going forward, I'm going to see how much savings I can pile up in the next few years. Oh, how I am itching to retire.

SB and I are at my house, clearing out and packing up the last few things. I am scheduled to sign docs on Monday, close on Thursday. The proceeds will be wired to my checking account.

I am going to miss this house, but I am looking forward to traveling light.

I bought another fancypants planner for 2019:



and so at the end of January I calculated my net worth, which I had not done in awhile. I did not include my vehicle as an asset, though I do have the loan added as a debt. I had limited space so just skipped it for this month. This spread is in the front of this year's planner:



I intend to use it to get back to tracking monthly. The 275k for the house is my best estimate for selling price minus commission and costs. In a few days, I will find out how close it is.

I got an offer above list late in the day yesterday. I accepted and we are in escrow! Now I just have to hope it goes smoothly.

I finally got to see Bhohemian Rhapsody last night. It was better than I had hoped!

We leave for the cruise in a week. I bought a fancy beaded dress today at Dillard's. They are having a great sale right now. It was marked down to $83.65. It is a good cut for me, very flattering, and fits perfectly. Captain's dinner, here I come.

I cannot hardly wait to spend 10 whole luxurious days with my family.

It is an overcast, gloomy day today. Some of these came out a bit dark.

The front door as you approach.



The front door from inside. (I don't know why it is showing up sideways).



The living room from different angles.




My little kitchen.





Bedroom #1 at the front of the house.




The hall bath.




Bedroom #2, right-hand side of the hallway closest to the front of the house.




The laundry room, next to bedroom #2. (Laundry sold at no extra charge!)



The master bedroom and bath, last door and room on the right-hand side of hallway. I love the big oval bathtub so much.





The master walk-in closet. Also showing up sideways.




And at the end of the hall, bedroom #4. This is the smallest bedroom and shares a wall with the kitchen. If I were staying put in this house, I would love to lose the wall and incorporate this space into the kitchen. Bonus: doing so would make the path through the house a complete circle.



So there you have it. Not fancy, but clean and neutral with all in good repair. It should be on MLS before the week is out.

Just wanted to share for you rate chasers out there. PNC bank is currently paying 2.35% to online savings accounts. No fees, minimum is $1.

Please note that PNC has brick and mortar banks as well as an online presence. Their traditional savings accounts pay the same sort of rates most brick and mortar banks pay. You must choose the online savings to get the 2.35% rate.

The following is not a referral link. I am just sharing for your convenience.

Here is a picture we took after my ring was ready.



We took that picture in our little yard. The spring and summer just ended we had an outdoor living space next to the creek, which is just a stone's throw from our front (and only!) door. It evolved as the weeks rolled by; we ended up with a large awning in addition to the one attached to the travel trailer, a dinette set, a nice grill, two zero-gravity reclining camp style chairs, a mister, and a nice 3 ft tall inflatable pool with a filter. The days and evenings spent in our little yard were lovely. Here I am, enjoying the amenities:



I spent many a happy hour lying there with a good book listening to the water gurgling along in the creek bed. I am sorry to see summer go.

My house is mostly ready. Well, as ready as it's going to be. I should have some pictures to share next week. SB is still there; I will drive down Wednesday evening after work. Thanksgiving dinner this year is at my mother's house. A niece (brother's daughter) and her family will be staying at my mother's house for the long weekend. My brother, sister-in-law, SB and I will be sleeping at my house but spending our time at my mother's. Another niece (grandniece, my nephew's daughter) and her husband will be visiting, but live close enough they will sleep at home. My son and his wife will come for dinner Thanksgiving Day; not sure how much additional time they will have for us. It should be a wonderful weekend spent with a good many (but not all!) of the people I love best.

Enjoy your long weekends with your loved ones!

Hello SA types! It's been so long since I posted, a whole lot has gone on.

I did end up having to evict my tenant. Even though he was notified of the date and time that the sheriff's deputies would be arriving to lock him out, he was still there when they arrived. If it were me, I would have been already gone and spared myself the humiliation. The eviction service representative I had hired reported that the tenant informed the deputies that he would be staying until the end of the month (lock-out date was 9/19). Surprisingly, they sided with the court order and locked him out anyway.

Since then, I have been working towards getting the house ready to sell. SB has been mostly staying in the house while I go only on weekends. The last few odd jobs are being finished up right now. Then we will do one last cleaning, stage it as best we can, and list it.

So as you might guess, my expenses have been greater than my income these past 5 months. I have gone through most of my cash savings and taken on Heloc debt. Most of the expenses are now behind me, but I will continue to have a cash flow problem until the house is sold (and by that, I mean close of escrow).

Work is going well. I am off probation now and received my first and last step increase. (I started at step 4; there are only 5 steps). My salary is just over 53k and will only rise with cost of living increases, unless I am able to be hired into a different job classification.

My daughter has been thinking she wants to go back to college. She applied for a scholarship to Colorado Technical University last spring. A few weeks ago, she learned she had been selected! It is a full ride excluding housing for a 4 year degree. She intends to study accounting and thinks she wants to go into banking. She is very excited and I could not be more pleased.

I am writing this from a timeshare condo in Reno. I am here for a girls' weekend with 5 other women. While waiting for a turn in the shower, I thought I would take advantage of the reliable internet and throw up a quick post.

A few weeks ago, I told my renter I need for him to move out so I can sell the house. He claims he has no money to move. I said I would forgive the unpaid utilities (I've been paying the water/sewer/garbage bill this whole time, although our written rental agreement stipulates it is his responsibility) in writing and give him 1k cash. He looked around and reported he had found a place he liked which would be available July 12. I said, great, let's do that. No rent due to me for July, so he can rent the new place. Then he had a heart attack and was hospitalized. Now he says he is "stressed" about the move.

I had hoped the 1k would make it possible to avoid litigation and get him out quickly. I still hope that, of course, but it may not go that way.

SB and I continue to live in our little travel trailer on his property. I have begun seriously contemplating what sort of rig would be best in the future for traveling. I am currently leaning away from a travel trailer and towards a small class b or c motorhome. This purchase is still years in the future, so I have plenty of time to contemplate.

SB and I have talked off and on for some time now about getting rings. A wedding ring for him, I prefer an engagement ring for myself. (There are no matrimonial plans, just rings). A few weeks ago, we pulled the trigger on that. He got to leave the store with his, mine is far too small and due to the style, can only be sized up or down one ring size. So, I had to order the same ring in a larger size and it is due to arrive in the store August 17. Here they are:





I just love mine and can hardly stand the wait.

And speaking of wait, I mean weight, I have been losing some of mine. I had gotten so out of shape down in the valley, with all of the coughing and breathing difficulties, for several years I had avoided taking a single unnecessary step. And, it really showed. Now that I am breathing well and more active, I have gradually been dropping a lb here and there. At the end of March, I decided it was time to get into good physical shape and got serious about regular exercise. So far, I am down 23.7 lbs and I feel great. Unfortunately, I have many more still to go.

A lot of people up here square dance. It looks fun, and we want to take it up and see if we like it. This is one of my motivations; when we first talked about it I knew I was too out of shape to keep up with others promenading and do-si-doing about the room. We haven't started yet but we are both looking forward to it.

My birth mother plans to arrive here next Saturday, and I am taking some vacation time. I am looking forward to our visit very much.

Work is going well and my one year mark is approaching (August 19). This is significant because it marks the end of my probation. It also means I will be getting my step raise, which is 5%.

About a month ago, SB and I went to that James Taylor concert and he was just fabulous. Bonnie Raitt cancelled part of the tour (she had surgery), so we did not get to see her. Still on the horizon is that Eagles concert.

I am already planning my budget for the happy time that my house has been sold. Premature as there are some hurdles between that point and my present point, but I do like to plan my finances.

I have recently exchanged out of Vanguard's Target Retirement fund in my Roth, in favor of the 3 fund portfolio. Now ALL of my retirement monies are invested the exact same way: 44% total stock market index, 22% total intl stock market index, and 34% total bond market index. I intend to keep this allocation for the next decade or so.

That's about it, I guess.

I did (mostly) receive the past due rent. The money orders for March were dated March 1 and totalled $1215. So apparently, the tenant purchased the money orders, put them someplace, then thought he had mailed them. All of the info regarding what MoneyGram had told him was obviously fabricated. When I received them, I texted him to let him know I had received them then asked where he had found them. No response. No explanation as to why they were $35 short.

Yesterday I received June rent in full, but no additional $35.

Regarding paying for the cruise, I did lower my 457 plan contribution from 15% to 3%. I also changed my withholding from single 0 to single 1. The net result to my paycheck is an additional $214.02 per. All of this will go towards the cruise.

At the end of May, I had $630.80 saved. I have already purchased my daughter and son-in-law's airfare, and I have already paid $800 towards the cruise. So I still need to pay $4,370, which means I need to save $3,739.20 more.

My Mom and nephew came up here the Friday before Mother's Day and stayed (at the bed and breakfast in town) until Sunday afternoon. We had such a good time.

My birth mother is coming for a visit towards the end of July. She has a camper van so will stay right on the property with us. I will take some time off while she is here. I'm really looking forward to that.

My former father-in-law died about a month ago. I went down to the viewing (not the service) and did get to speak a bit with my former mother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. The financial situation former m-i-l finds herself now in is not good. Various family members and friends helped contribute towards the modest yet tasteful final expenses. (F-i-l and m-i-l did have some money set aside for this, but it was not enough) I helped a little, as he was my children's grandfather. Despite the circumstances, it was nice to see all of them.

Last week, my final employee match was made to my Simple IRA, in the amount of $1070.00. I plan to roll it into my Roth IRA and pay the tax. It will be nice to have a bit of new money in there.

I booked our cruise on Saturday and paid an $800 deposit. Princess was having a special promotion, which is still going on I think, no gratuities. I hope that doesn't mean the crew forego their share of the gratuity, but rather that Princess pays it. That saves me $675, my mom $270 and SB $135.

The balance is due Oct 24, my late brother's birthday.

So I've been thinking about how exactly I am going to pay for that planned family cruise. I loathe the debt I am already carrying and am uninterested in carrying more.

After a great deal of consideration, I have decided to cut my 457 plan contributions from 15% to 3%. I will bank the extra take home pay and should have enough by January to pay in full. I need 7k to cover 5 fares, port taxes, gratuities, and air fare for 2. I have $1,356.25 in my travel/vacation fund right now, with 9 more $150 deposits budgeted for this year. That's $2700, I need another $4,300. I calculate I will take home an additional $2,808 this year from reducing 457 contributions. That still leaves $1500. I do have those 2 extra paycheck months. I think I can do it.

I think my retirement plans can withstand the hit. I am on track to surpass my minimum nest egg goal. This trip is very important to me. I will fill out the paperwork tomorrow and expect to see the extra take home pay beginning in May.

I have received one month's rent; we will see if the second month comes through or not.

I don't know why I didn't line up the dollar amounts. That would have been a lot better; oh well.

Finally tallied up March. Of course, I knew it was bad, having received no rent. The shortfall came from WF savings and checking buffer.

I took some of my overtime in pay and some in my comp time bank.

I did not need to pay AmEx anything after all; I had transferred the entire balance (I had remembered transferring balance - $100).

Unbudgeted includes a tank of gas for a trip to see my mom, one night hotel stay when a plumbing problem made sleeping in the travel trailer not such a good option, stocking up on a hair product I use called "silk drops", tax prep fee for my son and d-i-l (I just paid it, didnt even tell them), and some medical supplies from the pharmacy.

My car registration was due ($275) but I dont count that as it was paid from a sinking fund.

I am using the computer in the library of my little town. It's a bit noisy today, as there is an Easter egg hunt underway. The level of cuteness is high.

I am really uncertain how to plan my April budget. I suppose I should plan to receive no rent and pull from savings, and then if I do receive rent it will be a happy surprise. I have mailed some deposit slips for my Wells Fargo savings account to the tenant, so will be checking my phone app instead of the mail to see if I have been graced with rent money.

I have decided that April 10 is my cut-off date, no matter what excuse is offered. I am not going to attempt an eviction from 3 hours away. I have a particular attorney in mind who has handled many evictions and other landlord-tenant disputes for clients (at my old job) who have rental properties. I may have to take a half day off work to meet with and retain him, but he should be able to handle everything from there.

An eviction and then listing the house for sale will almost certainly mean more debt. However, I am fairly certain the house will sell quickly as the market is hot and it is an entry-level home. I have enough equity to take care of all my debt and then some. (What a pleasant change from when I started this blog in Dec 2010 and was upside-down about 80k!) I intend to gift a small but helpful chunk of the "then some" to each child for their Roth IRAs, and invest the rest for myself.

Other than that, life is moving along contentedly. I have reached the point at my new job that I feel very competent, have a large work load, and enjoy my hours at work. I am looking forward to the family cruise that we will be booking soon. It's a lot of money, but I'm doing it anyway, even though I am not entirely sure at this moment how I will be paying.

This coming Thursday is SB's birthday. We have plans Friday evening with friends. The plans include dinner and a night at a local bed-and-breakfast. It should be a lot of fun.

Today is March 25 and I am still waiting for the rent which was due March 1. When I contacted my tenant on March 9, I was told that the rent had been mailed on the 5th. When I contacted the tenant on the 12th, I was told that the envelope had been returned for lack of postage. Oops, so sorry. This past week, I was told that the money order has been cancelled and now I will receive a check from Wal-Mart (where the money order was purchased).

Update: When a Wal-Mart money order is cancelled, Wal-Mart sends a refund to the purchaser. This makes sense, but is not what the tenant told me. I conclude he either misunderstood or is being less than truthful.

As it happens, my son and daughter-in-law gave a 30 day notice to the tenant and are moving shortly (they were sub-letting a room).

So I am left unsure if this is an honest mistake or if a decision has been made to move and this is a stall tactic while unpaid rent accumulates. Either way, I am considering how much I want to tolerate before retaining an attorney and beginning eviction. If I need to go that route, the house is going on the market. I will not look for another tenant.

We are in early planning stages for a family cruise. Probably Mexico.