Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

Thanks SH and Elisheba. I'm having fun celebrating.

Just a couple of my darling knickknacks for my plant stand. My sweet blue cardinal peeking out by the Calathea and my adorable obsidian owl resting on an art glass my friend gave me. They're ridiculously cute.




Parmesan cheese dip is baking in the oven. I'm going to break out the crackers and enjoy a mid morning snack. Then Pilates are in order later on to keep limber. I'm going to enjoy a slow Sunday. 

LeighofMar

Parmesan dip done. Mr. LoM and I tore into this quickly. Later on we will have brunch for dinner. Almond/coconut flour pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I lost 1lb last night so I am trying to gain it back. Today's meals and snacks ought to do it. 

savingholmes

Love the cardinal and owl - very pretty.

LeighofMar

Ugh, another 3AMer. 3:00 AM seems to be the witching hour where I have to get up and then most of the time fall back asleep, but there are times no matter what, I can't. Today is that day and on a Monday of all things. I'm so tired. And I need to concentrate as work is still slow, one customer flat out refusing to pay his contractor who in turn would pay us for some permits and work that we did. The other is the friend whose investment property hasn't sold yet and our money is trapped in that. What a nightmare to wake up to. Now I have to try to figure out how to afford payroll this week without dipping into business savings. I may not have a choice but it's very annoying. Looking at the savings account balance, it feels like a lot of money but truth be told, this is not my first rodeo and I know how quickly savings can dwindle during a downturn. Especially as this is more of our investment pot for the business, it needs to be making us money, not being spent. I am debating opening up an online business savings account that is currently paying 4%. If it's just going to sit there for a bit, it might as well make us some interest. Okay, that's enough of a rant.

Budget-wise, I should be set to pay $360.00 to my CC for the bath remodel out of my checking and have $200.00 left over before the next paycheck hits. That will give me some breathing room as the car insurance 6-month renewal is on Wednesday. I already sent half of it, $150.00 to my savings and will take another $150.00 out of this Friday's check to cover it on my CC. I only have the gas bill so far of just $36.00. It's been hot and muggy so I'm estimating power will be $225.00. But we keep the house at 73 degrees during the day and the AC doesn't turn on until the afternoon around 3:00 or 4:00 PM, so maybe it won't be as high. It it's not as high as estimated, I will be glad to sweep those savings into the mortgage. I'm estimating water to be at $70.00. We will see how close I've come. It's also time to get rid of the fax machine. Believe it or not, I've actually used it quite a bit. There are still rural areas of the state when we pull permits that do things by fax and I've had to use it for payroll submission and jury duty exemption forms, things like that. But now it's time. It's costing $40.00+ a month and I really don't need it anymore as most counties have an online portal for permits and I can submit payroll by email as well. That will save some pennies for the business. But DH will have to call them as it's in his name. 

I cashed out $35.00 of transcription earnings last week. Today, I'm up to $15.00. It will probably be slow due to the holiday tomorrow, but I'll keep checking and try to earn a few pennies in my spare time. Now it's time for Monday cardio but we'll see how well I do with how tired I am. Ground beef quesadillas later on for dinner. Aside from the terrible start to the day, I hope it will turn out better after exercising. 

Elisheba

Gosh, isn't that funny about the fax machine 😁. I think my work got rid of our fax number about 10 years ago, and even then if someone faxed us it cane through to an email account. I well remember my parents getting one for their business in the late 90s though and how exciting it was! 

Tahlullah.H

Yes, Fax is definitely something from the past and I struggle to think of any organisations that still use it.

Anyway, Happy 4th July for tomorrow!

LeighofMar

Oh yes, I know, Elisheba and Tahlullah. I feel like I have the last functioning fax machine, lol. I bet if I showed it to a child of today, they'd have no idea what it is.   

What a difference 45 minutes makes. I did a good cardio workout with Grow With Jo on YouTube and I felt so energized today. I then made dinner and Mr. LoM will clean up the kitchen. My towel bars for my bath remodel have come in. And my new bed arrived! I am so happy but I can't set it up as my room is still a construction zone. I can't wait to see it all put together. My master bedroom is long but not very wide, something like 19ft x 11.5 ft, so the king bed really just kind of overwhelms the wall. The queen will look much more appropriate space-wise, although I will miss having all that bed space to myself. Mr. LoM has our son's old room as both our health issues wouldn't allow the other to sleep and we sleep poorly enough as it is. So excited. I am definitely going to feel like royalty once I have my bed and bath done and decorated how I want and a queen should still be plenty of room for little old me. 

We may have a lead on some work and looks like we will get paid one of our past invoices on Wednesday so every bit helps. Another thunderstorm is rolling in so time to get my book and sit by the window while reading. And I only read thrillers and mysteries so it is the perfect atmosphere for it. Hope everyone had a nice Monday.

savingholmes

Glad the income tap is getting turned back on. 

Your home improvements sound lovely.

LeighofMar

Thanks, SH. We had a contact of ours come by to give an estimate for building a deck. He had built a beautiful 12x20ft deck for a mutual client for 6k. Our plans would be a covered deck or screened porch and eventually enclose it to be a sunroom. We will see what he says. 

Thankfully we have work that's come in and a possible look at an investment property. Absolute derelict house with a nightmare driveway. But if we could get a quote on the driveway and negotiate the home price, it could be a great rehab project. 

OP of 38.00 on the mortgage leaves a balance of $14,800.00. House fund is up to 925.00. Efund 2625.00. General savings 2300.00 and 5k in the 5% CD that has already earned 20.00 interest 😃. 

Medical bills arriving soon though. Looks like my portion for just the first day is at 4400.00.  I'm keeping calm. I will wait until they all roll in and then talk to the business office. They negotiate based on my income and I can come up with a payment plan if we can get the final bills to something reasonable. 

My bathroom chandelier is up and Mr. LoM says it looks good but won't send me a pic 😠. I swear he keeps his surprises locked down tighter than anyone I know. 

Had a reaction to the iron supplement pill prescribed on Saturday. Felt so dizzy, jittery with shivering and trembling. Google didn't seem to show this as a common reaction to something as simple as an iron pill. But I felt like garbage and slept horribly so I am not taking the pill again. They will have to give me IV iron. 

Now to make myself feel better after a horrible weekend, time for leftover GF pizza. 

savingholmes

Sorry you've been unwell again. Hope you feel better soon. 

Business proposition sounds interesting.