Penny Pinching Mom

In the Dark

One thing I kind of like about where we live now is that it’s nice and dark at night. At the old place, there was a dusk to dawn light at the landlords’ house that shined right in our bedroom window at night. I put up dark curtains so that it wouldn’t be so bad, but it was still quite visible, and it could be really annoying at times.

Hubby says he doesn’t like it being so dark. I can see where it could be an issue if someone wanted to rob us or something. Maybe we could get one of those motion sensor lights. But it would probably go on and off all night, what with all the critters that are around here.

I might break down and let him have a street light put in, as long as it doesn’t shine right in the bedroom windows. But only if he presses the issue.

Talking Business

I’ve gotten more unsolicited business-related emails in the past few days than I usually get in a month. I’m not talking about spam, but legitimate people looking to do business with me or work on a joint venture. Cool.

I’m not at the point that I need to start pricing business performance management software or anything, but it’s nice to see things picking up. Maybe I’ll strike my first million dollar deal soon.

Seriously, I do have some big things planned as soon as we get settled in and I shake this nasty stomach bug that the rest of my family has had and I feel coming on. I’m considering writing an ebook, and I’m planning on checking out other ways to make money more efficiently through my writing. I’m hoping that this will turn out to be a stellar year for me, and not just because we bought a house.

A Horse?

Pumpkin has been wanting a horse every since she got acquainted with our former landlord’s horse. I’m not sure why, because she acted like she was scared to death of it. But she has said on several occasions that she would like to have one.

Hubby told her we would get one when we got some land to put one on. And now that we own some land, he’s telling her that we will get her one as soon as we have the money. I don’t mind terribly, but I really don’t think we have enough land for a horse. What little bit we do have is mostly sloping. But they’re both dead set on it, so I guess I’m outvoted. Might as well go start comparing prices on saddles, huh?

We’re planning on getting a puppy soon. Maybe once we get that they will forget about the horse. I can hope so, anyway.

Taking Better Care of My Skin

When I was unpacking, I found a half-full bottle of cleanser for acne-prone skin. I also ran across some moisturizer. I’ve replaced my usual non-regimen of soap and water with them in hopes that it will improve my skin’s condition. So far I haven’t seen any results, but I’ve only been using them for two days.

I swear I never thought that breakouts would be a concern in my 30s. I thought that by now I would be stocking up on the top wrinkle cream on the market. I do need to get some more of the all-in-one acne and wrinkle treatment to help prevent future problems, but to look in the mirror, I don’t see any reason for concern right now. Knock on wood.

I know I won’t look 16 forever, but I can’t help but be glad that I still appear somewhat youthful. I guess I can thank good genes, and the facts that I don’t smoke and that I try to keep my skin protected when I’m out in the sun. Still, I’d almost give anything not to have to deal with breakouts ever again.

Understanding Mortgage Payments

As someone who has never had a mortgage before, I was astounded at all of the intricacies of the process. One thing that really caught me by surprise is what goes into calculating the monthly payments.

Like any loan, you have to pay principal and interest each month. Each month, the amount applied to principal goes up, and the amount applied to interest goes down. No big surprise there. But if principal and interest were all we had to worry about, we would have it made.

Because we got 100% financing, we also have to make escrow payments each month to go toward our homeowners insurance premiums and property taxes. And we have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) until we’ve paid the principal down to 80%. All that adds up to an extra $100 or so each month. Ouch.

Still, our total payment is less than we probably would have paid for rent. There are a few places available around here that are less than that each month, but not many. And those that rent cheaper than that are not usually in very good condition, nor do they have a reasonable amount of space.

I suppose it does make more sense to pay a little each month on property taxes and insurance than to have to deal with it all in one whack. Still, it was a little shocking. But we’ll manage. Even if we have to sell one of our vehicles that we’re making payments on, we’ll make it work.

Pumpkin the Athlete

Pumpkin was gung-ho about playing basketball last year, so I signed her up. She was all excited about playing, but when it came time to practice and play games, she lost interest. She would go out there and play with her hair and talk to friends instead of working with her team. I couldn’t even get her to go to her last game, and because of that she didn’t get a trophy. She was disappointed about that, but I didn’t feel too sorry for her.

I had also signed her up for t-ball last year, but after the basketball fiasco I decided not to let her play. Soon after that, however, I realized that I had made a mistake. We got together a few impromptu whiffle ball games in the back yard, and she loved it. So I decided that I would sign her up this year.

She had her first practice yesterday, and she did great. She really seemed to enjoy it, and she is catching on quickly. So I guess she has found her sport.

The school sent home a paper about the summer soccer program, and I asked her if she was interested in it. She quickly and authoritatively said no. So I guess we won’t be displaying any soccer trophies around here, just like she won’t be bringing home any basketball trophies. But I do hope she will stick with t-ball, and eventually move on to softball. I think it will really be good for her.

Getting Back to Business

I got moved into my new home late last week. I would have shared the good news sooner, but the library was closed for renovations until yesterday. My Internet is ready to go at home, but I have to get a phone line run into my office. But it won’t be long until things are back to normal.

We have a lot of work we need to do on the house, but it’s stuff we can do at our leisure. Once we get all that done, I’d like to get some new office furniture. My office is a great deal bigger than my old one, so I’ll be looking at executive desks and leather office chairs as soon as the budget allows. That could be a while, but I want to eventually do it up right.

I’ll be blogging more when I get my Internet going at home. I have lots of things to share that I learned during the homebuying process!