The Power Company is my Secret Santa?

While I haven't always enjoyed the ever increasing electric rates, I was quite pleased when I opened the electric bill this month. They had a note saying they appreciated me as a valued customer and because of my excellent payment history they were crediting my deposit back to me. After they said that they said they had asked for and had been approved for a rate change starting in January. I thought "Oh great they soften us up with a deposit refund and then raise the rates again." I continued reading and it is a rate reduction not an increase.

What does a deposit refund mean to a person who has not used the heat yet, turns off lights when not in use, and unplugs appliances when they aren't needed? It means that the money I had waiting in the account for this months bill can stay there. The bill is at zero. But wait, there's more. I still have enough credit to cover next months bill, and possibly take a few dollars off of the February bill as well.

The extra money will go towards the final vet bill we are paying and the remaining credit card bill. DEBT FREE is so close I can almost taste it! Years ago I never would have believed my income could be reduced to a third of what it was and I could manage to pay off my debt on the reduced income better than I was doing before.

My Restless Spirit Endures a Setback

It feels terrible at times to be middle aged and have no idea what you want, or where you want to live. My mind is a constant whirlwind of longing, of wanting to drift from one place to another. That's one bright side of being poor. If you have a restless spirit you are not tied down to a career or a house.

I want to travel so badly I considered taking off a summer and tent camping across the country. My husband put an end to that when he said he could not survive in a tent for more than the occasional weekend. He did say he would consent to pare down our belongings and live in an RV so we could move frequently with little fuss.

We went over our tight budget and started looking at dealerships. There are so many styles to choose from. They kept showing us pricey models but we needed something much cheaper. We went over our income and our bills and decided what we could afford. We researched and thought of gas, propane, park fees when we would be in one place for several months, and tags and insurance as well. We knew what we could afford to spend. I will not overextend our budget.

We decided to visit one of the dealerships and fill out the preliminary paperwork. We were sure we would qualify, after all in three months we will be debt free. We had a small down payment saved up. They took the paperwork back to the owner so he could fax it in and he took one look at our income and said no way. He said our income was too low and the amount of rent we paid each month was too high. This was the cheapest house we could find when we moved to this area. They offered to sell us something much older than we wanted if we spent our entire emergency fund and maxed out our credit card for the rest. We said, "No thank you." and headed back to the drawing board.

Tent camping is out, and RVing is out, however I must move on. My wonderful understanding husband has agreed and he is still willing to pare down those belongings and MOVE! I don't know where we are going yet but I am so excited. I do know that I am looking for an area with better job opportunities. We are currently making the same yearly salary together that I once made by myself. We must boost the income while fulfilling my need to move. Does anyone have any favorite places or secret Utopias you want tell about?

"Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it do, or do Without."

My budget has been tightened down to frightening levels for a few years now. We have been so careful, sometimes we forget to make time for fun. We have worked so hard, always gone in when the job called, and for a long time (over a year) my husband was working six days a week. I long for free time and travel.

The reason for the tight budget now is a better financial future. We aren't nearly in as bad of debt as many Americans are. I guess that is one good thing about having a low paying job, you can't get as far into unnecessary consumer debt as others with better take home pay. We have been careful for years however we did make a few bad decisions in the past. I've been keeping track of our debt on my bill paying calendar, watching it shrink very slowly. I'm proud to say my student loan from way too long ago is finally paid off, along with a few smaller bills, and in five months I will be debt free.

We keep all of our household bills as low as possible. Showers are short, lights are off when not in use, and when the cable company raises their rates we call and complain and they reinstate the introductory pricing. A few months ago I discovered a program that helps with the grocery bill. My daughter told me about it and a few weeks later I read about it on blogsmonroe.com/budget/, and then I read a clip in my local paper about it. They do the purchasing for you in bulk at a discount, you pick the packages you want and order online or at a host site. There are no income restrictions so everyone can participate regardless of salary. They accept cash or food stamps in person or debit or credit online at angelfoodministries.com. Since I started this I don't spend as much time looking for sales. Each box has a variety of healthy foods and none of it has gone to waste. The products are fresh and in date and there is even a fruits and vegetables box. You have to be available one Saturday each month to pick up the food from your host site.

All of this meandering brings me to my latest confession. I hate peas. I have never been able to eat a pea in any dish. My husband laughs at me when he catches me scooping them out of my soup and dumping them in a little pile on my plate. I had two bags of peas and carrots in my freezer from the Angel Food box. My son said he could use one and that left me with one bag. It would be really silly of me to pick through the entire bag. I had to figure a way to use them without making my husband eat the entire bag himself. I got to thinking, was it the taste or the texture that grossed me out? I wasn't sure so I decided to experiment. I cooked the bag of peas and carrots with three cans of diced tomatoes that I had in the pantry. When everything was soft I mashed it with my potato masher. I skimmed the watery liquid from the top and continued mashing. It was an interesting experiment so far, smelled delicious, but when you stirred it the spoon stood straight up in it. I had a marinara style sauce in mind but it was turning into a brick. I went back to the pantry and found a can of spaghetti sauce that also came from Angel Food. I added this stirred and mashed and cooked some more. My weird kitchen experiment peas and all made the best spaghetti sauce. I will definitely make it again.