If It's Not One Thing, It's an Expense #40

One kind of sunflower we growIf you're going to retire with nothing but love in the bank, you have to expect a bit of stress now and then. And you have to 1) be really friendly to anyone that can save you money 2) be on the lookout for discounts and deals 3) don't worry - it's only money!

See the fly on the flower and yellow jacket in the air above?One of the burners on the stove started working on high only, no matter the setting. It also smelled like something electrical was on fire. Frank bought a new thingy-ma-do and installed it. Yea Frank for trying cause he hates electrical stuff. But it didn't work so we've been operating on three burners. Then our refrigerator quit cooling. We cannot do without, so we called the repairman. His business name isn't Affordable for nothing. Or so he says. When we told him about the stove, he knew what was wrong but we said we would have to pass on getting it fixed. When he came back with the part for the fridge, he brought us the part for the stove and gave it to us for his cost. He then explained to Frank how to fix it. What a nice guy. The whole thing cost us $173.00. Could've been much worse.

Frank went to court to fight his speeding ticket. So then they assigned him another date. He went back on that date and first met with an office of the law who handles nothing but camera tickets. He told Frank the cameras are tweaked every couple of weeks. The judge that hears these cases almost NEVER rules with the human. If he fought and lost, it would cost him $325, and he'd not be able to take the driving school. Or he could take the driving school at a cost of $180 and not pay the ticket. So driving school it is.

We received a letter from the life insurance company. Our premium is going up from $61 a month to $130 a month. What?? After all these years, we read the fine print and discovered this isn't the kind of policy we thought we were getting. I was spittin' mad, but the life insurance agent pretty much blew me off. So cancel the policy.

Who needs lettuce for a salad? Veggie stir fry coming up!Okay, to end on a positive note, our food budget has decreased noticeably. Some is due to figuring out ways to make less expensive nutritious meals. Some is due to our food swap with the neighbors that have chickens and other veggies, but a big part is the garden. We don't buy eggs and buy next to no vegetables now. Before dinner, I jaunt out to the garden with my basket and collect what we need. Last night, I came back quite sweaty and complained that someone needs to get air conditioning in the produce section!