Yesterday I brought home the guitar that I put on layaway last month. We did borrow some money through our credit union to make the purchase because, as we have learned, having no debt is actually bad for your credit. (WTF?!?) Yes, it turns out that if you are not beholden to anyone the lenders don't like you. They also don't like it if you pay things off early because they don't make as much interest so, while we could pay off the small sum we borrowed in short order, we are going to make the minimum payments and drag it out for a full year to help reestablish our credit. Blood sucking bastards!
(A quick note on the guitar -- I have yet to take it to work, but I did do a small bit of recording with it and it blew me away. I do believe it will indeed be the last performance guitar I ever need!)
I had made a deal with the wife that, if I get another guitar (yes, I have a few, but they all do something unique. I am not a collector, each has it's utility), she gets to book a trip she's been wanting to take for some time to visit a friend overseas. Our original plan was to pay off the first loan, then take out a second for the trip, thus establishing credit. It turns out it doesn't work that way. After talking with our person at the credit union we have decided to drag the first loan out, save for the trip then take a out a second loan secured by the money we saved. Effectively, we are paying our credit union to help us show lenders that we are good little consumers (what a crazy system!). Hopefully by doing this, though, a farm will not be out of future reach!
I got my tracks back from the studio and the project I recorded almost 17 years ago is now in my studio program on my laptop. I have plans to meet with a co-producer for the redux to listen to them and make decisions about what to keep, what can be fixed, what to re-record, and anything else later this week. It's happening!
The move out of the old house is more-or-less complete. There is a small amount of uncut firewood, a garden cart, the compost pile (hell yes we're taking it with us!), and the pen in which we kept the chickens (which we thought could be converted into a temporary/moveable greenhouse, but we're not sure if we can carry it over in the pickup truck) still at the old place. All evidence suggests that our old landlords have defaulted on the property, so we don't feel a particular hurry to have it all removed by any deadline. We will be collecting it all soon -- we need to get a garden started here and we need that compost! Now we need to sort and organize the boxes of stuff here at the new house...
In sad news, we lost another chicken this week. Dumpling, one of our Ameraucanas, was acting like she was sneezing at first. Then she started opening her beak and stretching out her neck and I thought she maybe had something stuck in her craw. Then she began to cough up blood and we became very concerned. I tried to see if there was anything I could do but it soon became obvious that she wasn't going to make it. I ended up having to put her out of her misery. The whole thing was awful. My son and I patrolled the backyard the next day and hopefully removed anything that might be harmful. They are not the most selective when it comes to what they'll eat. I am guessing she found a piece of something she thought was food that was instead sharp and dangerous (I was surprised to find many things in the yard that matched that description).
The pantry is going to be much more user-friendly at this new place. I am looking forward not just to stocking it, but actually looking forward to USING it. That's going to be huge!
I still need to complete our taxes. The move really put a wrench in things there. Hopefully I can get that done over Easter weekend.
Lots on the plate. It's all about finding balance right now.
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Update
We've been pretty busy. Moving really makes one aware of just how many hobbies and activities one has. Each one takes it's own gear and I seem to have acquired a lot of it.
I think it's fair to say I have gotten back into homebrewing full-bore. I have not been able to establish and maintain a single day of the week as "Brew Day" with the hectic moving schedule, but I have managed to brew five batches so far and keep a couple of yeast packs going.
In my resolutions I mentioned an expensive guitar that I was hoping to acquire this year. The other day I got a call from a local music store to inform me that they had one of these rare guitars in. I have not been able to save enough money to buy it, but I did go play it, made a deal, and had enough to put it on layaway. Unbelievable. This will likely be the nicest instrument I ever own.
The garden is going to be a challenge. We will be starting from scratch at the new house and we're already behind. We do have a lot more space to organize things and having a garage really makes a huge difference for me! Since the backyard is fenced, we have given the chickens free reign of that space. We are talking about possibly getting new chicks this spring and increasing the flock.
In my resolutions I also talked about reworking an older recording project. Before I am able to do that I need to transfer the original tracks from their old, outdated format to a format I can work with. As I write this, the tapes are at a studio where (hopefully) they can do just that. Once that is done I will be able to load the tracks into my computer and then I have no excuses for not completing that project.
I have teamed up with a like-minded person and started a social network page with the goal of promoting public discussion of electing citizens over professional politicians. I have not been very involved with that as I have been busy with other things, but I am thrilled that something is happening!
I knew this year was going to be busy. I'm not sure I knew how time-consuming it was going to be. (heh)
I think it's fair to say I have gotten back into homebrewing full-bore. I have not been able to establish and maintain a single day of the week as "Brew Day" with the hectic moving schedule, but I have managed to brew five batches so far and keep a couple of yeast packs going.
In my resolutions I mentioned an expensive guitar that I was hoping to acquire this year. The other day I got a call from a local music store to inform me that they had one of these rare guitars in. I have not been able to save enough money to buy it, but I did go play it, made a deal, and had enough to put it on layaway. Unbelievable. This will likely be the nicest instrument I ever own.
The garden is going to be a challenge. We will be starting from scratch at the new house and we're already behind. We do have a lot more space to organize things and having a garage really makes a huge difference for me! Since the backyard is fenced, we have given the chickens free reign of that space. We are talking about possibly getting new chicks this spring and increasing the flock.
In my resolutions I also talked about reworking an older recording project. Before I am able to do that I need to transfer the original tracks from their old, outdated format to a format I can work with. As I write this, the tapes are at a studio where (hopefully) they can do just that. Once that is done I will be able to load the tracks into my computer and then I have no excuses for not completing that project.
I have teamed up with a like-minded person and started a social network page with the goal of promoting public discussion of electing citizens over professional politicians. I have not been very involved with that as I have been busy with other things, but I am thrilled that something is happening!
I knew this year was going to be busy. I'm not sure I knew how time-consuming it was going to be. (heh)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
2012: Here We Go
One side effect of this blog for me has been a realization of the power of words. One of my New Year's resolutions a few years back was to start a blog and so one of the early posts was about my resolution for the year. I had not been historically big on resolutions, but now I had a forum and needed to write. As I wrote resolutions that first year I seemed to feel I needed to fill content and went a bit beyond what I would have considered "realistic". Nothing like having goals, I figured. As the year passed I posted updates. At the end of the year I was shocked to find that almost all of my resolutions had come to pass, one way or another.
The next year I decided to push it a bit further to see what happened. Again, more happened than I would have expected.
Last year my wife and I decided to try it on something big: our debt. I made one resolution. I later amended it with some smaller things that I "would like" to have happen, but I was afraid to take anything from the focus of reducing our debt. As the year went on I did not accomplish a lot, but we started to realize that the pace we had set with paying down our debt could have us completely paid off "before Thanksgiving". We kept that mindset and, despite car repairs and an emergency room visit, we were completely debt-free by Thanksgiving.
I've decided this year to go for broke. I have a lot that I want to do this year and some of it is well beyond the scope of anything with which I have any real experience. Some of it just has to do with getting back on track after having only one primary focus last year. Let's get started:
As I write this we are just coming out of a winter storm that brought record snow and ice and shut things down for a couple days. It makes me realize just how easy it is to let things slide and not be ready in time when something does happen. This past year we have been so focused on saving money to pay bills, when I did get a twinge that we were low on this or that I told myself we would be able to get back on track once we're out of debt. With the exception of having to scramble for firewood, we made it through this storm with little difficulty. Fortunately it was only a few days and we only lost power for a short time one night (which is more than about 300,000 homes in the area can say). Still, we need to be better prepared. My first resolution is to get back on track with our emergency preparedness.
In line with that thought, I fully intend to continue gardening. The past couple years were disappointing in the garden. I would like to produce enough in the garden this year to have extra to can for winter. We did some canning this year, but the bulk of what we canned came from the local produce stand. I also want to can more this year -- meals like chili, soups, stews, and the like. Our pantry is well-stocked at the moment, especially considering the odd summer and fall we had. Again, though, I would like to get started canning earlier this year so we can put more away.
I also want to get back into a brewing routine this year. As we got serious about canning it seems my beer brewing slowed and halted. I have rebuilt my bottle supply (rough work, that) and intend to bottle as well as keg. In addition, I really want to start all-grain brewing. This will require an investment into some equipment, but not a lot as I already have everything I need for extract brewing. I have just acquired a mash tun in the past few days -- that was the biggest hurdle. I now only need a propane cooker, a recipe, and the ingredients to get started. I will also need a new bottle capper to started bottling as mine was passed on a while back. This has already begun.
I want to hunt deer and elk this year. It is my understanding that the bowhunting season for deer and elk overlap, so that is my plan. Mostly what I need to do this year is get out scouting a good hunting area. This past fall what really hurt my hunt was that the area I had scouted the season prior had been heavily logged and I failed to scout a better spot. It would be ideal to plan a camping trip before hunting season and really scout the area. Between the garden, canning, scouting, and hunting I need to expect my late summer and fall to be really busy.
On a completely different tangent, I have a set of professional goals for this year's resolutions. I have one recording project -- a sort of reworking of an older recording project -- that I want to complete. My intent is to use this project as a learning tool that will set me up for another recording project. The second project will require me to start songwriting again, which I have already, albeit slowly, begun. There is some music and recording equipment I wish to acquire this year for various reasons that include a guitar that is quite expensive, but it should be the last performance guitar I will ever need. I also want to focus on drumming and percussion this year and have already set my drums back up n my music room/office and been working on rudiments.
As long as I'm going for broke, I have two resolutions that are a bit out on a limb. First, my wife and I have been talking about owning a farm for several years now. Now that we are out of debt it seems we should stop talking about it and do it. I would like to own a farm this year.
Also, it seems America is ready for a change. The corporations and politicians in power seem intent on selling out We The People and our futures for their own interests. I was with the Tea Party movement until it was hijacked by the right wing. The left seems intent on trying to hijack the Occupy movement. At the end of the day, it seems We The People are ready for change, we just need to stop playing the game. The United States of America is not about democrats or republicans. It is about a government of, for, and by the people. It's time to take it back. I resolve to do everything I can to remind people of that fact an encourage all U.S. citizens to take back our country. By the end of 2012 it should be evident that a revolution has taken place in the United States.
If that's not enough, it is my intention to do all of this while maintaining my commitments to my wife, my son, homeschooling, and the balance of my own well-being. I also have a number of family-centric goals for this year that my wife and I have discussed (mostly things that involve more regular check-ups with doctors, dentists, and mechanics).
Considering that I am posting this as February has just set upon us, I'd say it's time to get to work.
The next year I decided to push it a bit further to see what happened. Again, more happened than I would have expected.
Last year my wife and I decided to try it on something big: our debt. I made one resolution. I later amended it with some smaller things that I "would like" to have happen, but I was afraid to take anything from the focus of reducing our debt. As the year went on I did not accomplish a lot, but we started to realize that the pace we had set with paying down our debt could have us completely paid off "before Thanksgiving". We kept that mindset and, despite car repairs and an emergency room visit, we were completely debt-free by Thanksgiving.
I've decided this year to go for broke. I have a lot that I want to do this year and some of it is well beyond the scope of anything with which I have any real experience. Some of it just has to do with getting back on track after having only one primary focus last year. Let's get started:
As I write this we are just coming out of a winter storm that brought record snow and ice and shut things down for a couple days. It makes me realize just how easy it is to let things slide and not be ready in time when something does happen. This past year we have been so focused on saving money to pay bills, when I did get a twinge that we were low on this or that I told myself we would be able to get back on track once we're out of debt. With the exception of having to scramble for firewood, we made it through this storm with little difficulty. Fortunately it was only a few days and we only lost power for a short time one night (which is more than about 300,000 homes in the area can say). Still, we need to be better prepared. My first resolution is to get back on track with our emergency preparedness.
In line with that thought, I fully intend to continue gardening. The past couple years were disappointing in the garden. I would like to produce enough in the garden this year to have extra to can for winter. We did some canning this year, but the bulk of what we canned came from the local produce stand. I also want to can more this year -- meals like chili, soups, stews, and the like. Our pantry is well-stocked at the moment, especially considering the odd summer and fall we had. Again, though, I would like to get started canning earlier this year so we can put more away.
I also want to get back into a brewing routine this year. As we got serious about canning it seems my beer brewing slowed and halted. I have rebuilt my bottle supply (rough work, that) and intend to bottle as well as keg. In addition, I really want to start all-grain brewing. This will require an investment into some equipment, but not a lot as I already have everything I need for extract brewing. I have just acquired a mash tun in the past few days -- that was the biggest hurdle. I now only need a propane cooker, a recipe, and the ingredients to get started. I will also need a new bottle capper to started bottling as mine was passed on a while back. This has already begun.
I want to hunt deer and elk this year. It is my understanding that the bowhunting season for deer and elk overlap, so that is my plan. Mostly what I need to do this year is get out scouting a good hunting area. This past fall what really hurt my hunt was that the area I had scouted the season prior had been heavily logged and I failed to scout a better spot. It would be ideal to plan a camping trip before hunting season and really scout the area. Between the garden, canning, scouting, and hunting I need to expect my late summer and fall to be really busy.
On a completely different tangent, I have a set of professional goals for this year's resolutions. I have one recording project -- a sort of reworking of an older recording project -- that I want to complete. My intent is to use this project as a learning tool that will set me up for another recording project. The second project will require me to start songwriting again, which I have already, albeit slowly, begun. There is some music and recording equipment I wish to acquire this year for various reasons that include a guitar that is quite expensive, but it should be the last performance guitar I will ever need. I also want to focus on drumming and percussion this year and have already set my drums back up n my music room/office and been working on rudiments.
As long as I'm going for broke, I have two resolutions that are a bit out on a limb. First, my wife and I have been talking about owning a farm for several years now. Now that we are out of debt it seems we should stop talking about it and do it. I would like to own a farm this year.
Also, it seems America is ready for a change. The corporations and politicians in power seem intent on selling out We The People and our futures for their own interests. I was with the Tea Party movement until it was hijacked by the right wing. The left seems intent on trying to hijack the Occupy movement. At the end of the day, it seems We The People are ready for change, we just need to stop playing the game. The United States of America is not about democrats or republicans. It is about a government of, for, and by the people. It's time to take it back. I resolve to do everything I can to remind people of that fact an encourage all U.S. citizens to take back our country. By the end of 2012 it should be evident that a revolution has taken place in the United States.
If that's not enough, it is my intention to do all of this while maintaining my commitments to my wife, my son, homeschooling, and the balance of my own well-being. I also have a number of family-centric goals for this year that my wife and I have discussed (mostly things that involve more regular check-ups with doctors, dentists, and mechanics).
Considering that I am posting this as February has just set upon us, I'd say it's time to get to work.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Resolutions Revisited
Sorry to my loyal readers (all four of you) that I have not posted anything in a while. I've been busy with work, family, and the whole Occupy movement that I hope is a step toward real change on the horizon (I'd even be happy to admit that it began with the Tea Party movement (which really had more in common with the Occupy movement at it's genesis than you may think, but that's another post altogether...)).
I am posting today because today is a very special day. In January I posted my resolutions for the year, the primary of which was to pay down our debt. In a post titled 2011 Resolutions, I set some other general goals for the year, maintaining paying down our debt as the priority.
I am only mildly disappointed to say that I did not really make a lot of progress on most things this year. The summer was short and the garden did not do well. The weather also kept me from getting out to hike, run, or go backpacking nearly as much as I intended. My writing/music projects had to be shelved as my job changed dramatically in April, consuming my creative energies (though it turned out to not be a bad thing as I had expected). I was able to go on one elk hunting excursion, but did not do any other hunting this year. I did not brew any beer, learn cheese making or baking. I don't think I can ever spend enough time with my son.
I did get a little work done on our 1969 VW bus -- a late resolution that I do not believe I posted about -- but even that was modest progress at best. I also got a food mill after I learned that Coinstar will trade coins for Amazon.com certificates at no charge. The food mill has been great for processing food and canning!
I am only mildly disappointed by all of this because of what we did today.
Today we made the final payment on our last debt! The only thing we owe is our current rent, utilities, etc. We have severed all ties with every corporate bank and own our entire lives outright. For myself, personally, it is probably the first time since the mid-eighties that I can say that.
In January, when I said we were going to focus on paying down our debt this year I thought, "How great would it be to be out of debt by the end of the year?" Of course, I did not think it was realistic. As we cut our household budget and committed every dime we could spare to our highest interest debt first, and then the next one, and then the next one, at one point my wife and I started saying -- extremely optimistically but consistently -- "If we keep this up, we'll have everything paid off before Thanksgiving!"
Thanksgiving is three days away. We have paid off our debt. All of it.
As I sit here now writing this I can not express the sense of amazement that I have. Remember that saying about what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it? As a tone-deaf kid who knowingly committed to "a life of poverty and obscurity" at age 15, wanting to one day "make a living as a musician" and having done exactly that for the past decade, I am beginning to think there might be something to it.
From now on I'm dreaming BIG!
You?
I am posting today because today is a very special day. In January I posted my resolutions for the year, the primary of which was to pay down our debt. In a post titled 2011 Resolutions, I set some other general goals for the year, maintaining paying down our debt as the priority.
I am only mildly disappointed to say that I did not really make a lot of progress on most things this year. The summer was short and the garden did not do well. The weather also kept me from getting out to hike, run, or go backpacking nearly as much as I intended. My writing/music projects had to be shelved as my job changed dramatically in April, consuming my creative energies (though it turned out to not be a bad thing as I had expected). I was able to go on one elk hunting excursion, but did not do any other hunting this year. I did not brew any beer, learn cheese making or baking. I don't think I can ever spend enough time with my son.
I did get a little work done on our 1969 VW bus -- a late resolution that I do not believe I posted about -- but even that was modest progress at best. I also got a food mill after I learned that Coinstar will trade coins for Amazon.com certificates at no charge. The food mill has been great for processing food and canning!
I am only mildly disappointed by all of this because of what we did today.
Today we made the final payment on our last debt! The only thing we owe is our current rent, utilities, etc. We have severed all ties with every corporate bank and own our entire lives outright. For myself, personally, it is probably the first time since the mid-eighties that I can say that.
In January, when I said we were going to focus on paying down our debt this year I thought, "How great would it be to be out of debt by the end of the year?" Of course, I did not think it was realistic. As we cut our household budget and committed every dime we could spare to our highest interest debt first, and then the next one, and then the next one, at one point my wife and I started saying -- extremely optimistically but consistently -- "If we keep this up, we'll have everything paid off before Thanksgiving!"
Thanksgiving is three days away. We have paid off our debt. All of it.
As I sit here now writing this I can not express the sense of amazement that I have. Remember that saying about what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it? As a tone-deaf kid who knowingly committed to "a life of poverty and obscurity" at age 15, wanting to one day "make a living as a musician" and having done exactly that for the past decade, I am beginning to think there might be something to it.
From now on I'm dreaming BIG!
You?
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Easter
The Family and I spent Easter with family in Portland. I missed the early Sunday festivities (it's difficult to work into the wee hours in Seattle and attend morning appointments in Portland), but was mostly present for the family gathering afterward (in all honesty my sleep schedule is still off). We had a nice evening just wife, son, mother-in-law, and myself. The wife and I talked about how our jobs are up and down. Mother-in-law had great stories of poor-laid plans, misplaced dogs, and over-abundances of ducks. By the time we retired to bed we had all been up later than expected.
Monday morning we bid farewell to mother-in-law as we departed town and headed north. We made a few stops, including lunch at McMenamins. I popped into REI to pick up a hiking map and book for Mt. Rainier. Not sure what this backpacking season has in store -- I'm not abandoning the Olympics, but I like the idea of exploring new territory. I also picked up a filter replacement for the water filter and stuff to clean and treat the tent. I washed the tent but will have to wait until the weather is more stable to take it outside, treat it with UV and water-proofing, and reseal the seams.
The chickens are well. The garden hasn't begun to sprout yet, but the indoor sprouts are doing very well! I've been spending as much time in my new "five-finger" running/hiking shoes as possible. I think it's time to start exploring day-hikes around Mt. Rainier!
I have some new ideas about the music/writing project I committed to choosing that I might decide to take on. I am disappointed that the writing (and the exercise, for that matter) has taken so long to start in on. I have let enough time lapse that spring and summer will now overtake any indoor project. That's fine, though, I now have several options to mull over while toiling in the garden and exploring the great outdoors.
I'm so happy spring is finally here.
Monday morning we bid farewell to mother-in-law as we departed town and headed north. We made a few stops, including lunch at McMenamins. I popped into REI to pick up a hiking map and book for Mt. Rainier. Not sure what this backpacking season has in store -- I'm not abandoning the Olympics, but I like the idea of exploring new territory. I also picked up a filter replacement for the water filter and stuff to clean and treat the tent. I washed the tent but will have to wait until the weather is more stable to take it outside, treat it with UV and water-proofing, and reseal the seams.
The chickens are well. The garden hasn't begun to sprout yet, but the indoor sprouts are doing very well! I've been spending as much time in my new "five-finger" running/hiking shoes as possible. I think it's time to start exploring day-hikes around Mt. Rainier!
I have some new ideas about the music/writing project I committed to choosing that I might decide to take on. I am disappointed that the writing (and the exercise, for that matter) has taken so long to start in on. I have let enough time lapse that spring and summer will now overtake any indoor project. That's fine, though, I now have several options to mull over while toiling in the garden and exploring the great outdoors.
I'm so happy spring is finally here.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Rethinking Resolutions
Less than two months after I posted my resolutions for the year, I am beginning to wonder if I aimed too low. As I said, we are primarily focused on getting out of debt. I have talked a little about our experience on this journey here and there. Let me first bring you up to speed.
We are starting with our credit card debt, focusing on the highest interest rate cards first. While we have made very good progress on this front, there have been setbacks. First was Washington State informing me that, as an independent contractor, I have been delinquent in filing for a business license and paying taxes on such a business (mentioned in This Time Of Year). I reconciled this as quickly as I was able and found that the taxes owed did not amount to anything we couldn't handle. Sometimes it works out in our favor that we don't make a lot of money. Still, it was a setback.
Our second setback has been Federal taxes. I have been going back and making sure we are including everything and in doing so have been able to bring what to owe to a reasonable amount, but it looks like we will still owe money. That's another setback.
The third, and most irritating setback came in the form of a credit card debt of which we were unaware. In a nut, a couple years back my wife was in the process of getting her business licenses transferred to Washington State (I swear, this state has a serious racket with it's licensing!), we were in a pinch and agreed to put about $200 in fees on a credit card. By our own mistake, we used a card (Card A) that we had already paid off, intending to use a different card (Card B) from the same institution. Unfortunately, neither my wife nor I can recall receiving a statement on Card A. We naturally assumed our payments on Card B were going toward the debt. That is, until we recently received a collection notice on Card A, which had now run up to almost $700 on interest and fees. It took a couple weeks and many phone calls to both the bank and the collection agent explaining our position and flat out refusing to pay $700 on a $200 debt for which we were never billed before we were able to finally settle the account for about $350. A very frustrating setback and one more reason to hate credit cards.
All that said, we are making better progress on paying down our debt than I expected. I am making it my goal to be completely out of debt before the end of the year. I really think we can do it if we stay focused.
I have done almost nothing with the writing project I mentioned in my resolutions. I have been waiting for information from someone on which to base my decision on which project to pursue, but I haven't pushed the issue because I've been depressed and otherwise occupied. I intend to remedy that.
I also did not want to get specific because some things are kind of up in the air right now. I realize now that I don't need to understand how it might happen, I just need to put it out there. That said, I intend to have a productive garden this year and to put some wild game into my freezer this year. I intend to have a location for the family farm by this time next year. I will learn more about eating healthy and sustainably as we make greater strides this year toward being self-sufficient and sustainable.
My family will be happy and healthy.
We are starting with our credit card debt, focusing on the highest interest rate cards first. While we have made very good progress on this front, there have been setbacks. First was Washington State informing me that, as an independent contractor, I have been delinquent in filing for a business license and paying taxes on such a business (mentioned in This Time Of Year). I reconciled this as quickly as I was able and found that the taxes owed did not amount to anything we couldn't handle. Sometimes it works out in our favor that we don't make a lot of money. Still, it was a setback.
Our second setback has been Federal taxes. I have been going back and making sure we are including everything and in doing so have been able to bring what to owe to a reasonable amount, but it looks like we will still owe money. That's another setback.
The third, and most irritating setback came in the form of a credit card debt of which we were unaware. In a nut, a couple years back my wife was in the process of getting her business licenses transferred to Washington State (I swear, this state has a serious racket with it's licensing!), we were in a pinch and agreed to put about $200 in fees on a credit card. By our own mistake, we used a card (Card A) that we had already paid off, intending to use a different card (Card B) from the same institution. Unfortunately, neither my wife nor I can recall receiving a statement on Card A. We naturally assumed our payments on Card B were going toward the debt. That is, until we recently received a collection notice on Card A, which had now run up to almost $700 on interest and fees. It took a couple weeks and many phone calls to both the bank and the collection agent explaining our position and flat out refusing to pay $700 on a $200 debt for which we were never billed before we were able to finally settle the account for about $350. A very frustrating setback and one more reason to hate credit cards.
All that said, we are making better progress on paying down our debt than I expected. I am making it my goal to be completely out of debt before the end of the year. I really think we can do it if we stay focused.
I have done almost nothing with the writing project I mentioned in my resolutions. I have been waiting for information from someone on which to base my decision on which project to pursue, but I haven't pushed the issue because I've been depressed and otherwise occupied. I intend to remedy that.
I also did not want to get specific because some things are kind of up in the air right now. I realize now that I don't need to understand how it might happen, I just need to put it out there. That said, I intend to have a productive garden this year and to put some wild game into my freezer this year. I intend to have a location for the family farm by this time next year. I will learn more about eating healthy and sustainably as we make greater strides this year toward being self-sufficient and sustainable.
My family will be happy and healthy.
Monday, January 24, 2011
This Time of Year
The holidays are a busy time of year for entertainers like myself, and this year was no exception. The exception has been the weeks following New Year's Eve! Usually a time of rest, I have been busier this month than I was last month. The sad thing is that I'm not really making any more money, but that's a whole other story...
This week will mark four decades that I have been on this planet. I'm not sure how I feel about that. In many ways it's just another year and they seem to get easier as each one goes by. At the same time I cannot escape the feeling that time is running out. Time for what? I'm not exactly sure. Perhaps I just need to take some time to reflect...
Now that the leftovers from the holidays have finally run out we have started making use of some of the food we canned last fall. I am happy to report that the brined dill pickles turned out excellent! In fact, the flavor is not unlike those of Mrs. Neushins', one of my favorite commercial brands. That will be a recipe to hold onto!
I was worried that I made way too much salsa. When the tomatoes weren't coming in from the garden I bought tomatoes from the local produce stand to make salsa. Then when it came time to decide what to do with the 31 pounds of green tomatoes we did harvest, we opted to make green salsa, green tomato relish, and dilled green tomatoes. As a result, we have a lot of salsa, but we have been able to go through several jars already with a variety of Mexican dishes. Yum. The dilled green tomatoes turned out pretty good as well, though they are a bit mushier than I had hoped. Still, they'll make excellent relish! We have plenty of relish...
We did have one canning casualty this year -- our first so far. I went to the pantry to retrieve a jar of chili for dinner one evening and found that the seal had broken on one of the jars. While it smelled fine, we did not want to take the chance of poisoning ourselves, so that went to the compost pile. The rest of the chili appears to have sealed fine and we have enjoyed a couple jars of that so far.
Our experiment with chicken soup also turned out fantastic! Back in October we learned that contemporary canning guidelines shun the use of things like pasta and rice in canning recipes (of course, older canning recipes use rice and pasta as do commercial canners -- I need to research this one further). So we instead canned chicken soup with only chicken, carrots, and onions in broth. The plan was to make rice or pasta to add to the soup when we opened a jar and that has worked just fine so far.
The corn turned out great! I wish I had made a lot more spaghetti sauce as we are almost out of that already. We are almost out of canned beans as well. We haven't tried the beef stew yet, but we used the same recipe as last year and that was delicious. There is still quite a bit of ketchup (which also turned out great), some applesauce, and an assortment of jellies and jams as well.
Next year we'll make more spaghetti sauce, beans, and chili.
An update on taxes: as I said in Reloading, Revenue, and Resolutions, I was recently contacted by the state and informed that I have been delinquent on state taxes that I did not know existed. I have now filed and paid all of my back taxes. Fortunately, I don't make much, so the taxes were pretty small. Today I am playing phone tag with the representative from the state to make sure there is nothing more I need to do at this time.
The resolution to pay down our debt has been going slow but steady. The two credit cards with the highest interest were the ones with the smallest balances. I had been able to stash some money before the first of the year to pay off one. Today we are sending in a payment to pay off the other. That feels pretty good. Now come the big debts that won't be so easy to pay off. We just need to stay focused and keep paying as much as we can whenever we can. It's going to be a tight year, but it'll be worth it to finally get out from under everything.
Finally, thanks to a generous gift card from my mother, the family and I will be making a trip to Cabela's tomorrow. I'll be able to get to those reloading projects sooner than I expected. Thanks mom!
This week will mark four decades that I have been on this planet. I'm not sure how I feel about that. In many ways it's just another year and they seem to get easier as each one goes by. At the same time I cannot escape the feeling that time is running out. Time for what? I'm not exactly sure. Perhaps I just need to take some time to reflect...
Now that the leftovers from the holidays have finally run out we have started making use of some of the food we canned last fall. I am happy to report that the brined dill pickles turned out excellent! In fact, the flavor is not unlike those of Mrs. Neushins', one of my favorite commercial brands. That will be a recipe to hold onto!
I was worried that I made way too much salsa. When the tomatoes weren't coming in from the garden I bought tomatoes from the local produce stand to make salsa. Then when it came time to decide what to do with the 31 pounds of green tomatoes we did harvest, we opted to make green salsa, green tomato relish, and dilled green tomatoes. As a result, we have a lot of salsa, but we have been able to go through several jars already with a variety of Mexican dishes. Yum. The dilled green tomatoes turned out pretty good as well, though they are a bit mushier than I had hoped. Still, they'll make excellent relish! We have plenty of relish...
We did have one canning casualty this year -- our first so far. I went to the pantry to retrieve a jar of chili for dinner one evening and found that the seal had broken on one of the jars. While it smelled fine, we did not want to take the chance of poisoning ourselves, so that went to the compost pile. The rest of the chili appears to have sealed fine and we have enjoyed a couple jars of that so far.
Our experiment with chicken soup also turned out fantastic! Back in October we learned that contemporary canning guidelines shun the use of things like pasta and rice in canning recipes (of course, older canning recipes use rice and pasta as do commercial canners -- I need to research this one further). So we instead canned chicken soup with only chicken, carrots, and onions in broth. The plan was to make rice or pasta to add to the soup when we opened a jar and that has worked just fine so far.
The corn turned out great! I wish I had made a lot more spaghetti sauce as we are almost out of that already. We are almost out of canned beans as well. We haven't tried the beef stew yet, but we used the same recipe as last year and that was delicious. There is still quite a bit of ketchup (which also turned out great), some applesauce, and an assortment of jellies and jams as well.
Next year we'll make more spaghetti sauce, beans, and chili.
An update on taxes: as I said in Reloading, Revenue, and Resolutions, I was recently contacted by the state and informed that I have been delinquent on state taxes that I did not know existed. I have now filed and paid all of my back taxes. Fortunately, I don't make much, so the taxes were pretty small. Today I am playing phone tag with the representative from the state to make sure there is nothing more I need to do at this time.
The resolution to pay down our debt has been going slow but steady. The two credit cards with the highest interest were the ones with the smallest balances. I had been able to stash some money before the first of the year to pay off one. Today we are sending in a payment to pay off the other. That feels pretty good. Now come the big debts that won't be so easy to pay off. We just need to stay focused and keep paying as much as we can whenever we can. It's going to be a tight year, but it'll be worth it to finally get out from under everything.
Finally, thanks to a generous gift card from my mother, the family and I will be making a trip to Cabela's tomorrow. I'll be able to get to those reloading projects sooner than I expected. Thanks mom!
Monday, January 10, 2011
2011 Resolutions
As I covered over the past year, I think New Year's Resolutions in general are cliché, but I have learned the value of setting goals, writing them down, and revisiting them from time to time. The beginning of the year seems to me to be as good a time as any to do it.
This year I am simplifing my resolutions a bit. Instead of a long list of specifics I only have a handful of general goals. The primary reason for doing this is, as I mentioned in Reloading, Revenue, and Resolutions, the wife and I have agreed to committing this year to seriously reducing our debt if not getting out of debt entirely. This is the focus this year. As such, I am hesitant to make goals about cheesemaking or hunting because I need to save money and put it toward paying down our debt. Cheesemaking requires tools and ingredients I do not currently have and hunting is just plain expensive (see Hunting Is A Form Of Gambling). My wife and I want to buy property and start a small farm. Getting out of debt is the next step toward that goal.
I do wish to continue the things that I have included in years past that are more lifestyle oriented. Things like the garden, exercise, doing things with my son, and eating food, not too much, mostly plants. I will continue this blog and hopefully do more with it this year. I will probably try to learn to bake and get back into homebrewing regularly since those kinds of things will save us money.
I have two other things that I would like to do this year, but have not decided which and I will not be able to do them both simultaneously. One is a music/business project that, if I decide to go forward with it, it will take up a lot of time and energy. If I opt out of the music project, I have several writing project ideas and I will pick one and do it.
So, there you go! It's going to be a difficult year, but I'm up to the challenge!
This year I am simplifing my resolutions a bit. Instead of a long list of specifics I only have a handful of general goals. The primary reason for doing this is, as I mentioned in Reloading, Revenue, and Resolutions, the wife and I have agreed to committing this year to seriously reducing our debt if not getting out of debt entirely. This is the focus this year. As such, I am hesitant to make goals about cheesemaking or hunting because I need to save money and put it toward paying down our debt. Cheesemaking requires tools and ingredients I do not currently have and hunting is just plain expensive (see Hunting Is A Form Of Gambling). My wife and I want to buy property and start a small farm. Getting out of debt is the next step toward that goal.
I do wish to continue the things that I have included in years past that are more lifestyle oriented. Things like the garden, exercise, doing things with my son, and eating food, not too much, mostly plants. I will continue this blog and hopefully do more with it this year. I will probably try to learn to bake and get back into homebrewing regularly since those kinds of things will save us money.
I have two other things that I would like to do this year, but have not decided which and I will not be able to do them both simultaneously. One is a music/business project that, if I decide to go forward with it, it will take up a lot of time and energy. If I opt out of the music project, I have several writing project ideas and I will pick one and do it.
So, there you go! It's going to be a difficult year, but I'm up to the challenge!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Reloading, Revenue, and Resolutions
While it is nice to have the craziness of the holidays done for another year, it is never as simple as one might hope. I was really looking forward to things getting back to "normal" after New Year's but, of course, that has yet to happen. Each season brings it's own challenges.
Not all challenges are unwelcome, of course! Over the holiday my mother sent a generous gift box that included some reloading tools and supplies. With the hunting season over, the gardens in frost, and backpacking season not quite here (for me, at least), it seems that now is a great time to get out the reloading gear, take inventory, and practice reloading a few rounds. In doing so I made the realization that some of the supplies I was handed down last year were not what I thought they were. I still had enough of everything to do most of what I wanted to do. The new tools were a nice upgrade and made the whole process more accurate and efficient. I find myself low on a couple supplies and needing to stock up on some items.
This won't happen as soon as I might like...
My work schedule has settled down from the erratic holiday shuffle, but in a strange twist of events I find myself working more for less pay. It's a long story of restructuring and adjusting pay schedules to deal with the fact that people are going out less and not spending as much, but the end result is that most of this month I am working five nights a week and making less than I did working two nights a year ago. I need to talk with my employers about this to try and sort out a solution.
To make matters just a little worse, I was contacted by the state Department of Revenue recently regarding my "business" and informed that I am liable for two and a half years of back taxes. Here's the backstory in a nut: about a decade ago I became self-employed as I began earning an income as an entertainer. I have worked for several companies but, for the most part, I work for one company at a time who makes my schedule and dictates pay. It's a lot like being an employee, without the benefits (welcome to entertainment). Before moving to Washington in 2008, I worked like this over the course of living in two different states, but I also traveled and did some work in a handful of other states. I've always filed and paid my taxes accordingly. Upon moving to Washington State I continued working as I had the past seven years. At the beginning of 2009 I filed my taxes and was told Washington has no income tax. In 2010 the state did an audit of the company I now work for and sent me a letter in November saying that my "business" (i.e. me) has been operating in the state without a license. I left several phone messages over a week before getting a call back to ask what exactly was going on. I was informed of the audit and told that, as a business, I needed to file for a license and pay taxes for any work done in the state dating back to 2002. When I said that this was all news to me and I had been working this way for several years out of at least two other states I was told, "you'll probably find that Washington doesn't do a lot of things quite the way other states do." Okay. When I asked how I was supposed to know that I needed to do any of the things of which I was now two and a half years delinquent I was informed that this was the most common way it worked: you do your job and eventually that state will find you. How fair and efficient, I thought.
I now have all the paperwork done and have my business license. The next step is to file twelve quarters worth of back taxes before the end of the month. I sat down to do this yesterday, but with categories such as, "Slaughtering, Breaking and Processing Perishable Meat; Manufacturing Wheat into Flour, Soybean & Canola Processing", and, "Prescription Drug Warehousing; Bio/Alcohol Fuel, Split/Proc Dried Peas, or Mfg. Fresh Fruit and Veg." (seriously -- these are just two of many tax classifications taken directly from the state website), I was unable to find a classification into which my "business" fit. There is a telephone helpline, but it only operates during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. Hopefully I will be able to reach someone tomorrow who will walk me through the tax classifications and we will discover that I don't actually owe anything. Not likely, I know. Even if that did happen I am certain they would have a revision in place to include me by next quarter.
The state tax thing comes at a particularly bad time as my wife and I had previously agreed that we would commit to one joint resolution this year to pay down our debt and, at the very least, pay off our credit cards. I hate that we have credit card debt. Before moving across country (again) in 2008, we had no credit card debt. Then the opportunity to return to the northwest presented itself. We knew that I would take a small pay decrease and that our cost of living would go up a little, but we had reason to believe my pay would go up after three months and we were able to find an affordable living situation. We financed much of the move with our credit cards expecting that we would be able to pay them off as we had when we moved to the east coast three years earlier. Instead, the housing bubble burst, the economy took a dive, and my pay has actually decreased over time. The result is that we still have credit card debt on top of school loans, a bank loan, and a hospital bill.
Last year we were able to put away money to pay for a trip back east for a wedding in October. We also were able to finish outfitting ourselves for backpacking. While these things were done on tight budgets, the sum of those things represents a good chunk of cash and we realize that if we make the same commitment to paying down our debt we should make considerable progress over the course of the year.
I have more on New Year Resolutions, but I will save that for next time, as well as an update on our tax situation.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Not all challenges are unwelcome, of course! Over the holiday my mother sent a generous gift box that included some reloading tools and supplies. With the hunting season over, the gardens in frost, and backpacking season not quite here (for me, at least), it seems that now is a great time to get out the reloading gear, take inventory, and practice reloading a few rounds. In doing so I made the realization that some of the supplies I was handed down last year were not what I thought they were. I still had enough of everything to do most of what I wanted to do. The new tools were a nice upgrade and made the whole process more accurate and efficient. I find myself low on a couple supplies and needing to stock up on some items.
This won't happen as soon as I might like...
My work schedule has settled down from the erratic holiday shuffle, but in a strange twist of events I find myself working more for less pay. It's a long story of restructuring and adjusting pay schedules to deal with the fact that people are going out less and not spending as much, but the end result is that most of this month I am working five nights a week and making less than I did working two nights a year ago. I need to talk with my employers about this to try and sort out a solution.
To make matters just a little worse, I was contacted by the state Department of Revenue recently regarding my "business" and informed that I am liable for two and a half years of back taxes. Here's the backstory in a nut: about a decade ago I became self-employed as I began earning an income as an entertainer. I have worked for several companies but, for the most part, I work for one company at a time who makes my schedule and dictates pay. It's a lot like being an employee, without the benefits (welcome to entertainment). Before moving to Washington in 2008, I worked like this over the course of living in two different states, but I also traveled and did some work in a handful of other states. I've always filed and paid my taxes accordingly. Upon moving to Washington State I continued working as I had the past seven years. At the beginning of 2009 I filed my taxes and was told Washington has no income tax. In 2010 the state did an audit of the company I now work for and sent me a letter in November saying that my "business" (i.e. me) has been operating in the state without a license. I left several phone messages over a week before getting a call back to ask what exactly was going on. I was informed of the audit and told that, as a business, I needed to file for a license and pay taxes for any work done in the state dating back to 2002. When I said that this was all news to me and I had been working this way for several years out of at least two other states I was told, "you'll probably find that Washington doesn't do a lot of things quite the way other states do." Okay. When I asked how I was supposed to know that I needed to do any of the things of which I was now two and a half years delinquent I was informed that this was the most common way it worked: you do your job and eventually that state will find you. How fair and efficient, I thought.
I now have all the paperwork done and have my business license. The next step is to file twelve quarters worth of back taxes before the end of the month. I sat down to do this yesterday, but with categories such as, "Slaughtering, Breaking and Processing Perishable Meat; Manufacturing Wheat into Flour, Soybean & Canola Processing", and, "Prescription Drug Warehousing; Bio/Alcohol Fuel, Split/Proc Dried Peas, or Mfg. Fresh Fruit and Veg." (seriously -- these are just two of many tax classifications taken directly from the state website), I was unable to find a classification into which my "business" fit. There is a telephone helpline, but it only operates during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. Hopefully I will be able to reach someone tomorrow who will walk me through the tax classifications and we will discover that I don't actually owe anything. Not likely, I know. Even if that did happen I am certain they would have a revision in place to include me by next quarter.
The state tax thing comes at a particularly bad time as my wife and I had previously agreed that we would commit to one joint resolution this year to pay down our debt and, at the very least, pay off our credit cards. I hate that we have credit card debt. Before moving across country (again) in 2008, we had no credit card debt. Then the opportunity to return to the northwest presented itself. We knew that I would take a small pay decrease and that our cost of living would go up a little, but we had reason to believe my pay would go up after three months and we were able to find an affordable living situation. We financed much of the move with our credit cards expecting that we would be able to pay them off as we had when we moved to the east coast three years earlier. Instead, the housing bubble burst, the economy took a dive, and my pay has actually decreased over time. The result is that we still have credit card debt on top of school loans, a bank loan, and a hospital bill.
Last year we were able to put away money to pay for a trip back east for a wedding in October. We also were able to finish outfitting ourselves for backpacking. While these things were done on tight budgets, the sum of those things represents a good chunk of cash and we realize that if we make the same commitment to paying down our debt we should make considerable progress over the course of the year.
I have more on New Year Resolutions, but I will save that for next time, as well as an update on our tax situation.
Happy New Year, everyone!
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