Sunday, September 21, 2008

When The Economy Gets Shaky, Stick To The Plan

I try not to dwell too much on the news. I can't control much of what is going on. The best thing I can do is to stick to my plan...no extra spending, pay down the mortgage, keep my job, keep expenses low.

Another week of work is about to begin and I have a bad attitude. I have to keep reminding myself that it is my job that will enable me to pay off my rental house and retire early. That will only happen if I don't quit early.

Here's what I did this weekend to amuse/frustrate myself instead of spend money.

I attempted to complete my airbrushed flames project.


I wasn't completely happy with it so I watched the Flames video again and ended up painting over it and trying it again 3 more times. Now I am completely frustrated. I had to stop before I tested the motorcycle tank cover's aerodynamic abilities. Maybe I'll try again next weekend.

And now for my usual chores. I filled my RV water tank with filtered rainwater from my collection tanks.


I did my plumbing-less laundry by hauling buckets of water to my washing machine.


I used the wash water to water my baby trees.


I defrosted my freezer and threw out all of the ice blocks that were once edible food.

Before:

After:

Now I know exactly how much food I have. I thought I had a lot more but frozen shriveled hamburger buns and veggie burger ice blocks from last March really don't count as 'food'.

My RV fridge seemed to be cooling well at first. The freezer side freezes but the fridge side hasn't dropped below 50°F. I was just thinking how nice it would be to have all of my food in my RV instead of half of it next door in the mobile home. I could use the RV freezer and ignore the fact that the fridge side won't get cold or I could shut it off and go back to the way it was with my freezer food next door. What I am not going to do is pay the RV repairman $80 to show up and $70/h! If I have to buy a new RV fridge on the day before I sell this RV then that's what I will do (we are talking about over $2,000 for a new one). My mini fridge works just fine for now.

6 comments:

Sharon S said...

Hi there-very organised and efficient, well done to you!

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

Busy bunny!
or are you just keeping busy to avoid listing things on ebay!!!!
Lizzie

Anonymous said...

You are getting so close to your goal now..keep going..no quitting..

You are doing so well and you are inspirational to me :)

Daizy said...

Thanks for stopping by Sharon Rose. Three comments from the UK today. I feel so...international!

Daizy said...

Ok lizzie, you caught me. Even hauling water to my washing machine is better than being rejected by ebayers. I'm reluctant to try again soon.

Daizy said...

Thanks for the encouragement laura. Sometimes it feels like one step forward and two back. Hopefully another extra mortgage payment will happen soon. That's the fun part.