All Crises Pass - Budget Review

Finally, a review of first quarter budget, which did not reveal any major surprises. I set our budget for the year by taking the amount spent in each category for the previous year and dividing by twelve for each month’s budgeted amount. This way of doing things doesn’t really allow for inflation, so there’s a risk of running over. And while I do try to budget in emergencies — say especially in the “Other Auto” and “Pets” categories -- I probably don’t budget quite enough, mostly because I can’t make the income side balance. We try to get close, then cross our fingers and hope for the best.

For the quarter we were over about $200 on expenses, but also over on income thanks to Kat’s overtime. In fact we were a little ahead for the quarter, but May has seen some setbacks that will show up in the second quarter review. Our expenses for first quarter weren’t too over because we were under in a few categories, including — miraculously — Pets. 

I do “pad” the Pets budget line to anticipate vet expenses, and we were slightly under budget even with Beano’s dental work. But a couple of weeks ago we took our two senior dogs in for full physicals, vaccinations, and x-rays. Guess how much? One thousand dollars. $1,000. Un mil. Our vet has a new loyalty card that gives us 10% of each visit toward our next visit, so the lovely thing is that we now have $100 credit at the vet’s office. I have no doubt we’ll use it before the end of the year.

I should be ok with our first quarter financials, and I am, but it’s hard to rejoice when here in May I’m floating among the wreckage of the budget. It’s not just the vet bill — our cushion savings will take care of that — but I have felt out of control of our spending since I started hobbling around on this torqued leg. I’ve started massage therapy (expensive and not in the budget) and I’ve bought cushions and I will say here that I’m willing to pay whatever will end this pain and release me from the fringes of my own life. And then the gifts!! May/June is becoming Christmas II with all the graduations, weddings, mother’s and father’s days, and birthdays. All happy occasions, but hitting at the same time. 

One of my favorite sayings — “All crises pass” — has become a mantra these past couple of weeks. It’s not just the financials, though that adds to it, it’s the scattered and out of control feeling that comes from not being able to maintain former routines. It had been a goal of mine for the spring to create a routine for my writing, and it wasn’t until I was unable to sit at my desk that I realized I DID have a routine. It just didn’t look like other people’s routines or what I thought a writing routine should look like. When I enter the work-bubble that is my desk, usually late morning or early afternoon, I slip into writing mode. It’s a nice, warm, captainish* feeling, and I’ve missed it and can hardly wait to get back to it. 

All crises pass. This one will too.

* To borrow from Rabbit of the Hundred Acre Wood

Money Goals and How We Save

I am writing down specific budget goals for the year. April’s not too late, right? Kat’s buy-in is critical of course, but I’ll discuss with her after I’m satisfied with them. I’ve been sort of working toward these goals already; just haven’t taken the time to record them.

Most have to do with savings — increasing what I call our “cushion” savings as well as our larger "emergency" savings. The former is a savings account where our checking is. I dip into it easily via on-line banking and use it to chunk surplus income into (Kat gets overtime, so some months are better than others), then to take money out for large unexpected expenses.

The “emergency” savings is intended to support us for a few months in case of a major event that might lead to losing a steady paycheck. It is in a separate bank which I cannot access quite as easily. I have an automatic payment plan set up with my primary bank that sends money over with each paycheck.

Automating our savings is something I wish I had done much, much sooner. Since I started doing it two years ago, the account has grown to nearly $7,000 (which equals only about three months of pared down spending). If it weren’t automated, we would be lucky to have $2,000 there. The other $5,000 would have been frittered away.

I also want to increase our targeted savings for the kitchen update. The problem with this targeted savings is the current set-up. I separate it in Quicken from our cushion savings, but in reality it’s in the same account. I will be tempted to dip into that for “cushion” type expenses if my cushion account doesn’t bear up under the weight of those pesky financial hits that seem to keep coming.

The latest is a kitty issue. Our sweet, thirteen-year-old cat Beano (Kat named her; long story) has an abscessed molar. The cost of finding this out and fixing it will probably be close to $700. We’ll find out the extent of the damage after her blood work comes back, the results of which will determine the vet’s approach to the surgery. Fortunately  we just received a bit of a bonus. I paid the last of my real estate taxes, and I had over-saved, giving me an unplanned for $400.

I’ve mentioned before that we’re in a better situation with savings and debt than we’ve ever been before, and yet my worry over this latest set-back feels about the same as it would have a few years ago. As I left the vet’s office, I worried about Miss Bean of course, but then I started worrying about the fact that we have five senior pets, and are we well enough prepared for the inevitable increase in vet expenses? (Not really). What happens if they all get sick or need surgery at the same time?

So I indulged in a little hyperventilation.

Going back to what I wrote about Murphy vs Providence, I am determined to cultivate gratitude. I will be grateful for the bonus we received just in time to defray the cost of Beano’s surgery; grateful that it wasn’t worse than it is; grateful that we are in a decent financial position and have the resources to handle home and auto and pet and health issues, even if doing so means we can’t have some of the things we want. How many people don’t have these resources? How many have to deal with problems I can’t even imagine dealing with? I say “Thank you” through gritted teeth and hope that the practice  becomes an orientation toward life -- without the gritted teeth.

So there’s my number one financial goal — to continue to practice gratitude and to trust in life’s abundance. Trust that what we need will somehow be there, and to be grateful when it is. I do have more specific goals to work toward and will post them after chatting with Kat.

Murphy? or Providence?

My dad has a story he likes to tell of his and mom’s first years of married life back in the sixties. He worked at a steel mill; she was a full-time homemaker. They had very little money, but one month he earned an extra $200 on his paycheck. They came up with all sorts of plans for what they might do with the money, but then Mom had a dental emergency, and the cost to fix her teeth was exactly $200. “We just couldn’t get ahead,” Dad says. “Could not get ahead.”

Which is how I feel sometimes. Kat and I have a little extra left over from the tax return that didn’t get spent on the sewing room project. This is the first year we haven’t had to put our tax return on debt, having paid off our credit card. We’ve been talking of putting it toward either our kitchen re-do or our emergency savings. Or, hmm, I’ve always wanted a KitchenAid stand mixer. Is now the time to start researching deals? We could consider it part of the kitchen update (I can rationalize any purchase).

But life throws curves. We had a severe wind storm blow through San Antonio last month. A few of our shingles were knocked off. The repairs cost $270. Then my primary care doc sent me to the dermatologist for a suspicious mole. Two biopsies later, I find out I am to have two skin thingies excised (one a basil cell carcinoma, the other some atypical cells that could turn into a melanoma). I’m sure we’ll pay at least up to our deductible, which is $500, then whatever the co-insurance is after that. Those two things together take care of the last of the tax return and more.

I’ve thought about Dad’s story over the years. This phenomenon of coming into money at the same time some unexpected expense pops up is certainly not unique to my parents. It happens to everyone. I can look at it as Murphy riding in to snatch that extra money out of our hands, or see it as a caring universe (or Providence or however you might name it) giving me what we need when we need it. The first viewpoint leads to frustration and a lot of “Why me’s?” The second evokes gratitude. I will admit I feel frustrated, but I am going to choose to be grateful that we happen to have this money when we need it to repair our home and take care of my health. And I don’t need a mixer anyway :-)

House Project "Reveal"

Since my latest house transformation project is done, I thought I'd tinker with the look of this blog. My tinkering is not over, but I feel I'm getting closer to what I want.

But now, on to the sewing / guest room transformation and the reveal!

My "before" pictures are of the room in sewing mode:

Drab and cluttered, right?  Normally I have my sewing machine out on the sewing table (where the gray kitty sits in the first picture), and to my right (I'm standing in a small closet) along the wall is my cutting table. I took this after we moved the piano, which used to sit where the small chest is. No wonder I felt claustrophobic when I tried to quilt.

And here are the "after" pictures, two of the sewing room and one in guest room mode:

Thanks to Molly for all her help. I couldn't have done this without her.

Thanks to Neville for adding the perfect touch to the bed.

In guest room mode, the sewing table folds up into a nice-looking cabinet and rolls to the right of the closet in place of the cutting table, which rolls back to our bedroom for the duration of the visit. The pretty green chair sits against the wall to the left, so that the sewing cabinet and chair provide places for guests to set their luggage.

I can't express how pleased I am with our results! I've never considered myself especially creative in  interior design, and neither does Kat. Believe me, our projects don't always turn out this nice.

One of the unexpected bonuses is that the shelves on either side of the Murphy bed provide enough space that we were able to get rid of one of the book cases in our office, opening up that space a little more. And I love, love, love having my beloved books in my creative work space.

There are some additional finishes we could do. It would be nice to have a smaller, more decorative lamp, and maybe an accent rug, a different ceiling fan, but we splurged on the chair ($80 at Kirkland's for the perfect green chair), and on good quality wood and paint. The others are things we can pick up as it fits in the budget.

So, we broke our pledge again of no house projects in January and February, and we used tax return money we were going to put toward the kitchen re-do scheduled for later this year, but I have no regrets. I feel that ultimately we bought light and space. Money well spent.

Unexpected Expenses of the Young New Year

Today the sun is shining! But it's still too cold for me. Brrr.

Kat and I had decided to take a break from household maintenance projects at least for the months of January and February. But God laughs at our plans!! It's been so cold (for South Texas; I'm sure many would think our shivering at temps in the 30's and 40's is amusing), that we've wanted to make our feral kitties more comfortable.

Kat built a little door in the side of the garage that can be closed off at night when our furry friends are safely inside, then we bought some Purr Pads and a small heater. Those boys are nice and warm at night now (you can guess they're not very feral any more, if they ever were true ferals). Cost was around $100, but worth it for the peace of mind.

Unexpected expenses in other categories in the new year are a defunct hard drive in Kat's laptop ($160 to replace) and a $170 trip to the dentist for me. It was a routine cleaning, but I was due x-rays and a consult with the dentist. All is fine except that I have two teeth with recessed gumlines that need to be filled at a cost of $270. Sigh. That comes up in February.

Not so good, but on the other hand, where we can better control expenses -- such as dining in and keeping our grocery bill in check -- we've done well. I'm determined to NOT be like the king in the old nursery rhyme who sat in his counting house counting out his money. Being budget conscious is one thing, but in the past few years I've gotten obsessive and overly anxious about it. We'll do what we can to be prudent, and beyond that I will trust life (part of my personal mission statement).

Of Ferals and Fixed Expenses

Earlier I went out to feed our four feral kitties. I fed three, turned the corner to feed the fourth in his accustomed spot, and my heart sank. Another one. A black male, un-neutered and thin. I fed him, though he wouldn't come to the bowl while I was out. We'll borrow a trap to have him fixed, but I don't know if he'll make it. His eyes look bad and his breathing is labored.

This sounds terrible, but I almost hope he has to be put down (almost). We've rescued many animals over the years. Several have gone to homes or to no-kill shelters, others we've kept. We have three dogs and six indoor cats. Earlier this year, ferals started showing up in the neighborhood. We joined the San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition to deal with the problem, and now are caring for four (possibly five) outdoor kitties.

As you can imagine, this is not cheap. We spend an average of $300 a month on food, litter, and treats. We buy high-quality food for our indoor pack, and I'm convinced this has saved us a lot in vet bills over the years. We haven't had a significant vet expense in well over a year (knock on wood), but I know that won't last. Two of our dogs and three of our indoor cats are seniors.

I've been working on our budget, going item by item deciding where to slash. The pet expense is fixed; no way to cut that one. So far I've cut $15 from the cable bill, and Kat and I are discussing slashing it more. That's a pitiful start, but it is a start. This weekend I'll finish up quarterly taxes, then I hope to sit down with Kat and get serious about sketching out new budget goals. Hoo boy. I'd say our biggest challenge is having slightly different philosophies for handling money, but that's a blog post or two (or several dozen) on its own.

Leaping Without a Net

So I've made the decision to quit my job as a real estate agent. And as I've done so often in my life, I have only a hazy plan of what to do next. This is called leaping without a net.

This time though, I'm wearing a bungie cord.

Kat's income is enough for the household, including money toward retirement and savings. Knowing we're doing ok without my income makes it even more important for me to have a transition plan in place.

I put together a list of projects to shape my days for the next month:

• Make a list of all leads and clients, and decide whether to follow up or refer them.
• Work with Kat to make a plan for cost-saving and simplifying.
• Create a new budget for the rest of the year, subtracting expenses and projected income from real estate.
• Clear out and re-organize home office space.
• Work on Fumbling at Joy; re-purpose and polish it up. FaJ has been a toe in the blogging waters, and so far I like the temperature.
• Review manuscripts and query letters. After receiving several rejections, I had received positive feedback on a middle grade novel from a literary agent and an editor, though both ultimately chose not to take on the work. In spite of the positives, I lost the faith. My reaction to the manuscripts will tell me if I should renew it.

I will need to be disciplined about working these projects into my days. Now that I'm not at the office as much, I'm doing more household management and volunteer work. I know from before how just those two things can completely take over.

Now to tie up a loose end -- I did speak with my broker. He was of course gracious and gave me suggestions for how I might transition out. If he weren't such a great guy, I wouldn't have felt guilty about telling him I'm leaving. So there was nothing to worry about -- a lesson I have been taught many times and will continue to learn.

How Not to Design a New Kitchen

Kat and I have lived in our little house for thirteen years now. Our current kitchen decor dates back ten years, which is when we painted our cabinets white and the walls blue. I do love a blue and white kitchen, but the look needs freshening up. We decided to reface the cabinets, replace the laminate countertops, and trash the window toppers in favor of something simpler. Fresh paint and perhaps a backsplash should finish the job. All of this depends on budget as I don't want to borrow for a kitchen re-do.

One day last week I was exploring the kitchen section of our favorite home improvement store, when the floor person approached me. He seemed friendly enough, and as we've had good experiences with employees of this store helping us with DIY projects, I accepted his offer to send a designer on the store's dime to our house for a consultation. He assured us there would be no pressure to purchase anything, that the designer would be paid regardless of an order from us. "That's good," I told him. "Because we won't be ready to do this until next year."

Fast forward to the designer's visit. I asked him questions about color, "How do I better integrate my warm living room with my cool kitchen?"  "Uh . . . "

And the PRESSURE. Good gad. As we entered the second hour of his interminable visit, I wondered how we would get him out of the house. He wanted an order and he wasn't hearing 'no'. I began to think Kat would have to physically remove him. We were polite as he went over all the financing options (for an $8,000 job that didn't include countertops or anything other than the refacing), and offered incentive after incentive with each 'no'. "If you order within the next 24 hours I can give you 15% off the entire order. If  you order today I can get your countertops below cost." Etc, etc. By the time he left I was angry, though more with the floor person at the store than with him, and finally more at myself. The thought of consulting with a professional without having to pay for one overwhelmed my good sense.

I know a carpenter who has done fine work for a client at a reasonable price, and once the taste of this experience is out of my mouth, we may contact him for a quote, but we've pretty much decided to do it ourselves. I've been researching the process for refacing, and it doesn't look so bad, especially with Kat's expertise (She built our deck, some patio furniture, a murphy bed, and together we replaced our privacy fence).

Lately I've been slipping back into frugal-thinking mode, and that's because I've reached a decision to ditch real estate (not that I was earning a lot doing it, but the potential was there). This decision might seem hasty after the agonizing back and forth of the past few months, but it involves a lot I haven't yet discussed here. For the next few weeks I will live with the decision and work on Plan B to make sure I'm sure before officially pulling the plug. Right now, the kitchen re-do is a fun dream that's receded in the distance a bit, and I'm ok with that.