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Seat of the Pants
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 11:58 pmI got myself going by 11AM today, and decided to go straight out with my coffee to buy garbage stickers, before even walking the dog.
On my way out the front door, I grabbed the mail and, sorting through it in the car, in the driveway, found that my Discover card had come!
My ten year old discover card, that I'd forgotten about! All shiny and new, it even said on the back, "Member since 2013."
In addition to garbage stickers, I needed bar soap for the shower, and I figured Supermercado El Paso Grande would have soap, but they didn't! So I bought my twelve garbage stickers there, and then went to the nearby Walgreens, thinking they'd have bar soap.
In the Walgreens parking lot, I used the Dicover card info to log into the Discover app, and activate the new/old credit card.
Balance on the card... $312.00! Available credit... $2,188.00!
I don't know what the balance was in 2013... probably closer to a thousand... which was the original credit limit.
After paying $35.00 per month, for ten years... I still owed them three hundred bucks!
But they'd more than doubled my limit!
Walgreens did not have bar soap either, so I went to Fiesta Food Mart and found it there. I paid for my soap, and some smokes, with the Discover card!
------------{=0=}------------
Back at home, just before noon, I walked Yvette, and Prowly was out there again, and tagged along... up and down the block, and then into the back yard.
Yvette sat down in the back yard to just zone out for half an hour, and as I stood back there, I watched Prowly roam around here and there, while Snoop was out on the roof watching Prowly, and me, and some squirrels.
Also saw some woodpeckers, pecking high up on a neighbor's tree limbs.
------------{=0=}------------
I spent time before work, and in moments of down time at work, shopping on Amazon for area rugs, for the living room, hallway, and Dad's bedroom.
The idea was... the floors look like shit now... and there's no point in doing anything to them now, until the walls and ceilings are scraped, patched, and painted.
BUT, eventually the floors will be some kind of laminate... SO... the two rooms and hallway WILL need area rugs!
I could buy the area rugs now... and they could cover the shitty floors, and give the dog a soft surface to sleep on... but be easily removed when work is done in each room!
--<>--
I also looked into methods of patching large holes in plaster, and found that the easiest way to do it is to just use small sections of drywall, that's the same thickness as the plaster!
In other words... instead of tearing down all the plaster and lath in every room, walls and ceilings alike, and replacing it all with drywall... which would be insanely expensive and time consuming...
I can just patch the bad spots in the plaster... and blend it in seamlessly... anywhere there's damage... all over the house... forever!
That is a WAY cheeper, faster solution, that produces almost NO demo waste!
No need to be renting dumpsters for the next ten years as I completely demo one room after another, of both plaster and lath!
The lath can stay, because that's what you screw the drywall patch into!
The end result is the same!.. flat walls, and ceilings!
--<>--
Knowing I had an affordable strategy to get the walls and ceilings downstairs in presentable shape... I continued shopping for those area rugs and picked out three.
I also picked out blinds for the two living room windows, the two bedroom windows (Dad's room) and the west facing kitchen window.
And then... I put it all on the Discover card! $714.00!
------------{=0=}------------
That's a lot! But... I'm still waiting on the tax return, and, after I take care of the deed transfer, I can use those documents to get a $500.00 death benefit from Dad's pension.
Idea being that down the road in March, I knock that Discover card balance back down to a couple hundred.
And the longer game plan is still, in May, to pay off all three credit cards... which will all be down to a couple hundred by then.
--<>--
This is the credit card game, yes! But... at this moment in my life, when Dad's died, and I'm starting up a new job, and trying to transition the house and the pets into a new normal... I NEED to use some of this credit that I have!
However, the mortgage will be paid off in five years, which means there is a time coming when I'll have a lot more disposeable cash every month.
And I will be slowly earning more over those five years.
Thus... the time to use the credit is now... but as long as I can keep all my monthly payments under control... everythig should get easier, year after year, until 2028, when I'll be able to pay the last debts and go back to a cash-only life.
--<>--
It's scary... it's like flying a plane!
And I will be flying by the seat of my pants, but... I really think I can do it this time without crashing!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
On my way out the front door, I grabbed the mail and, sorting through it in the car, in the driveway, found that my Discover card had come!
My ten year old discover card, that I'd forgotten about! All shiny and new, it even said on the back, "Member since 2013."
In addition to garbage stickers, I needed bar soap for the shower, and I figured Supermercado El Paso Grande would have soap, but they didn't! So I bought my twelve garbage stickers there, and then went to the nearby Walgreens, thinking they'd have bar soap.
In the Walgreens parking lot, I used the Dicover card info to log into the Discover app, and activate the new/old credit card.
Balance on the card... $312.00! Available credit... $2,188.00!
I don't know what the balance was in 2013... probably closer to a thousand... which was the original credit limit.
After paying $35.00 per month, for ten years... I still owed them three hundred bucks!
But they'd more than doubled my limit!
Walgreens did not have bar soap either, so I went to Fiesta Food Mart and found it there. I paid for my soap, and some smokes, with the Discover card!
Back at home, just before noon, I walked Yvette, and Prowly was out there again, and tagged along... up and down the block, and then into the back yard.
Yvette sat down in the back yard to just zone out for half an hour, and as I stood back there, I watched Prowly roam around here and there, while Snoop was out on the roof watching Prowly, and me, and some squirrels.
Also saw some woodpeckers, pecking high up on a neighbor's tree limbs.
I spent time before work, and in moments of down time at work, shopping on Amazon for area rugs, for the living room, hallway, and Dad's bedroom.
The idea was... the floors look like shit now... and there's no point in doing anything to them now, until the walls and ceilings are scraped, patched, and painted.
BUT, eventually the floors will be some kind of laminate... SO... the two rooms and hallway WILL need area rugs!
I could buy the area rugs now... and they could cover the shitty floors, and give the dog a soft surface to sleep on... but be easily removed when work is done in each room!
I also looked into methods of patching large holes in plaster, and found that the easiest way to do it is to just use small sections of drywall, that's the same thickness as the plaster!
In other words... instead of tearing down all the plaster and lath in every room, walls and ceilings alike, and replacing it all with drywall... which would be insanely expensive and time consuming...
I can just patch the bad spots in the plaster... and blend it in seamlessly... anywhere there's damage... all over the house... forever!
That is a WAY cheeper, faster solution, that produces almost NO demo waste!
No need to be renting dumpsters for the next ten years as I completely demo one room after another, of both plaster and lath!
The lath can stay, because that's what you screw the drywall patch into!
The end result is the same!.. flat walls, and ceilings!
Knowing I had an affordable strategy to get the walls and ceilings downstairs in presentable shape... I continued shopping for those area rugs and picked out three.
I also picked out blinds for the two living room windows, the two bedroom windows (Dad's room) and the west facing kitchen window.
And then... I put it all on the Discover card! $714.00!
That's a lot! But... I'm still waiting on the tax return, and, after I take care of the deed transfer, I can use those documents to get a $500.00 death benefit from Dad's pension.
Idea being that down the road in March, I knock that Discover card balance back down to a couple hundred.
And the longer game plan is still, in May, to pay off all three credit cards... which will all be down to a couple hundred by then.
This is the credit card game, yes! But... at this moment in my life, when Dad's died, and I'm starting up a new job, and trying to transition the house and the pets into a new normal... I NEED to use some of this credit that I have!
However, the mortgage will be paid off in five years, which means there is a time coming when I'll have a lot more disposeable cash every month.
And I will be slowly earning more over those five years.
Thus... the time to use the credit is now... but as long as I can keep all my monthly payments under control... everythig should get easier, year after year, until 2028, when I'll be able to pay the last debts and go back to a cash-only life.
It's scary... it's like flying a plane!
And I will be flying by the seat of my pants, but... I really think I can do it this time without crashing!
°¦}
