Into The Swing
Monday, March 20th, 2023 11:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio39F out there this morning, and sunny, with some chilly breezes. A few songbirds singing. Much nicer than before the weekend, and it could hit 50F today.
I'm liking this new weekend routine, where Saturday is just vegetating all day, and then Sunday I run the errands and take care of stuff around the house.
My feet feel like they're back to normal this morning, so hopefully they do better this week.
------------{=0=}------------
Okay, so I spent some time trying to set up autopays for the bills on my credit cards.
I got the garbage and water on the AmEx. Gas and sewer are on the Discover card.
But electric, and homeowners insurance will only use a bank account for autopay, so they're both pointed at my PNC checking account, but I did add the AmEx in as a payment method at both websites.
There's still AT&T and Geico to try and put on cards... and then all the other stuff like SoundCloud, Disney Plus, Nexflix, and whatnot.
------------{=0=}------------
12:05AM
Okay!.. I'm happy to report that my feet did better today than they have since I began the full time shift.
I went long periods where I forgot about them completley, and when they did get my attention, it was just mild, fleeting aches here and there.
Did a full 17,000 steps too, and they were only grumbling a little at the very end of the shift... literally the last few minutes.
And eight hours is starting to go fast again... like in the before times.
--<>--
I did manage to get ATT on autopay with the AmEx, before I left today, as well as SoundCloud.
So there's still Geico, Netlfix, Disney Plus, and some things I've just gotta cancel.
It sucks that ComEd and All State won't let me auto pay with a card, but at least they'll still take AmEx as a payment method.
--<>--
So, the idea here is that all my monthly bills will always get paid on time, no matter what's in my checking account at the moment. Two of them I'll have to do manually, but the rest will just auto deduct, from either AmEx or Discover.
Then I just pay down the balances on AmEx and Discover when I do have the money in my checking account.
This will be the ONLY thing I'm using AmEx and Discover for! They'll be paid down to zero any time here, and from that point on, their only purpose will be to cover the monthly bills.
But this keeps them active, protects me from late charges on any bills, and protects me from overdrafting at the bank.
Basically, I no longer have to worry about what dates my paychecks will fall! The cards cover all these bills when they're due, and then I cover the cards when I can.
The question is, can my paychecks also cover the mortgage and the loan payment?
Even if it takes every last dime of my GeoStaff pay, each month, to cover AmEx, Discover, BMO, and the loan... it's okay!
Because, for the moment I still have SNAP for food, and the loan money itself for anything else.
And even if I can't afford to pay AmEx and Discover all the way down every month... as long as I pay them significantly down, I'm fine! Just gotta keep them faaar far away from maxing out.
--<>--
So, once again, it's just a matter of increasing my income before any of this gets out of hand!
Assuming I manage that, before the loan money runs out, then I shold be able to just continue everything as normal, but without any cash left in savings for projects.
Thus, I must be very clever and frugal about the projects I do pay for now, with that money... like getting the trees and brush removed.
That's an example of something that must be done now... can't be done any other way... and that will increase the value of the property... on many levels!
The wood chipper and the breaker panel are two others like that.
--<>--
Brian texted today saying he and Karen would like to come visit on April 15th... and hoped it would be good weather to have a fire in the back yard.
With him, you never know if it's gonna happen.
But, I would love to see their reactions when they see that the mother mulberry and all the other bullshit is gone! Cuz... nobody knows I'm doing this, but Tim, right now!
And this got me thinking today about the feasibility of a brick patio.
--<>--
Now, a patio would sound like something of a luxury, but hear me out!..
Firstly, we are having a family reunion here in October, so it would be nice for that, and it'd be great if they felt like things were nice enough around here to want to come back and visit again.
Secondly, I can't shake this idea that to lure the field crickets, I need some pavement and lighting back there, like you'd have in a park, or on a campus.
Thirdly... if executed properly, it would increase the value of the property.
So, if I could figure out a way to get that done, for a reasonable cost... I'd really like to do it!
--<>--
It has to be bricks! No slab of concrete! Not even a slab of concrete impressed to look like bricks!
Concrete slabs are too difficult to remove, once they're down! And they always just crack and tilt over the years anyway.
Bricks are better looking, but also removable and reusable... or... if the patio just gets all jacked up in 30 years, it's not to hard to just re-level it!
I'd love it to be circular, but that would probably cost too much, so let's go square!
12 X 12! A perfect square, BUT... oriented so that the four corners are aligned with North, South, East, and West!
On each corner, a 12 Volt garden light, powered by a transformer in the back room!
The lamps would have to be far enough in from the edge that I could mow along the edge without hitting them. So that'll be a little bit of a trick, with our budget, but it's doable!
--<>--
This patio is out in the mid back yard! It's not butt up to the house!
It's it's own thing! And it's the central landscaping feature around which other things can develop over time.
There'd have to be a 2X2 pad for a fire kettle, between the patio and the house.
But there could also be... in future times... a little brick path to the patio!
Maybe that path follows on from the patio, out to a gazebo, further back!
Maybe there's a fountain over there, and a rock garden over there!
The idea is... get that patio created, and then it can become the central feature around which other features can evolve, over time.
I'm gonna be thinking about this!
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I'm liking this new weekend routine, where Saturday is just vegetating all day, and then Sunday I run the errands and take care of stuff around the house.
My feet feel like they're back to normal this morning, so hopefully they do better this week.
Okay, so I spent some time trying to set up autopays for the bills on my credit cards.
I got the garbage and water on the AmEx. Gas and sewer are on the Discover card.
But electric, and homeowners insurance will only use a bank account for autopay, so they're both pointed at my PNC checking account, but I did add the AmEx in as a payment method at both websites.
There's still AT&T and Geico to try and put on cards... and then all the other stuff like SoundCloud, Disney Plus, Nexflix, and whatnot.
Okay!.. I'm happy to report that my feet did better today than they have since I began the full time shift.
I went long periods where I forgot about them completley, and when they did get my attention, it was just mild, fleeting aches here and there.
Did a full 17,000 steps too, and they were only grumbling a little at the very end of the shift... literally the last few minutes.
And eight hours is starting to go fast again... like in the before times.
I did manage to get ATT on autopay with the AmEx, before I left today, as well as SoundCloud.
So there's still Geico, Netlfix, Disney Plus, and some things I've just gotta cancel.
It sucks that ComEd and All State won't let me auto pay with a card, but at least they'll still take AmEx as a payment method.
So, the idea here is that all my monthly bills will always get paid on time, no matter what's in my checking account at the moment. Two of them I'll have to do manually, but the rest will just auto deduct, from either AmEx or Discover.
Then I just pay down the balances on AmEx and Discover when I do have the money in my checking account.
This will be the ONLY thing I'm using AmEx and Discover for! They'll be paid down to zero any time here, and from that point on, their only purpose will be to cover the monthly bills.
But this keeps them active, protects me from late charges on any bills, and protects me from overdrafting at the bank.
Basically, I no longer have to worry about what dates my paychecks will fall! The cards cover all these bills when they're due, and then I cover the cards when I can.
The question is, can my paychecks also cover the mortgage and the loan payment?
Even if it takes every last dime of my GeoStaff pay, each month, to cover AmEx, Discover, BMO, and the loan... it's okay!
Because, for the moment I still have SNAP for food, and the loan money itself for anything else.
And even if I can't afford to pay AmEx and Discover all the way down every month... as long as I pay them significantly down, I'm fine! Just gotta keep them faaar far away from maxing out.
So, once again, it's just a matter of increasing my income before any of this gets out of hand!
Assuming I manage that, before the loan money runs out, then I shold be able to just continue everything as normal, but without any cash left in savings for projects.
Thus, I must be very clever and frugal about the projects I do pay for now, with that money... like getting the trees and brush removed.
That's an example of something that must be done now... can't be done any other way... and that will increase the value of the property... on many levels!
The wood chipper and the breaker panel are two others like that.
Brian texted today saying he and Karen would like to come visit on April 15th... and hoped it would be good weather to have a fire in the back yard.
With him, you never know if it's gonna happen.
But, I would love to see their reactions when they see that the mother mulberry and all the other bullshit is gone! Cuz... nobody knows I'm doing this, but Tim, right now!
And this got me thinking today about the feasibility of a brick patio.
Now, a patio would sound like something of a luxury, but hear me out!..
Firstly, we are having a family reunion here in October, so it would be nice for that, and it'd be great if they felt like things were nice enough around here to want to come back and visit again.
Secondly, I can't shake this idea that to lure the field crickets, I need some pavement and lighting back there, like you'd have in a park, or on a campus.
Thirdly... if executed properly, it would increase the value of the property.
So, if I could figure out a way to get that done, for a reasonable cost... I'd really like to do it!
It has to be bricks! No slab of concrete! Not even a slab of concrete impressed to look like bricks!
Concrete slabs are too difficult to remove, once they're down! And they always just crack and tilt over the years anyway.
Bricks are better looking, but also removable and reusable... or... if the patio just gets all jacked up in 30 years, it's not to hard to just re-level it!
I'd love it to be circular, but that would probably cost too much, so let's go square!
12 X 12! A perfect square, BUT... oriented so that the four corners are aligned with North, South, East, and West!
On each corner, a 12 Volt garden light, powered by a transformer in the back room!
The lamps would have to be far enough in from the edge that I could mow along the edge without hitting them. So that'll be a little bit of a trick, with our budget, but it's doable!
This patio is out in the mid back yard! It's not butt up to the house!
It's it's own thing! And it's the central landscaping feature around which other things can develop over time.
There'd have to be a 2X2 pad for a fire kettle, between the patio and the house.
But there could also be... in future times... a little brick path to the patio!
Maybe that path follows on from the patio, out to a gazebo, further back!
Maybe there's a fountain over there, and a rock garden over there!
The idea is... get that patio created, and then it can become the central feature around which other features can evolve, over time.
I'm gonna be thinking about this!
°¦}
