Blogging on Hiatus of Unknown Length
Realistically, I can’t afford the time or energy to blog much at all in the near future. 2008 has been a difficult year.
I used to (half-) jokingly observe that historically every month for many years (almost without fail) we have been hit with some unexpected problem that would always cost about $2,000 each month. You’d think that the universe would give me a bit of a break during this recession, but it has taken the stance of casting the Evil Inflation Spell of Suffering on us, increasing our monthly toll from $2,000 to $4,000 and up. That is, of course, on top of our regular monthly expenses of approximately $8,000 — difficult enough to maintain without the monthly calamities.
For example, over the past 90 days:
- August — $3,030 went to a real estate agent to find renters. (tough task in this market)
- August — $1,000 of expenses due to tropical storm.
- September — $3,200 to fix a car.
- September — $1,400 to replace/repair computer and equipment at home.
- October — $2,000 mortgage payment to cover tenants who abandoned rental.
- October — over $1,500 in hospital bills.
- November — $2,000 mortgage payment for the abandoned rental. (At least I now have legal possession)
- November — $1,000 laptop died; out of warranty, of course. (I still need to buy its replacement)
- November — $250 to fix leaking sprinkler valves at rental.
- November — $350 to repair leaking sprinkler pipes and valves at home.
- November — $400 to replace cooktop at rental.
- November — unknown costs to repair A/C at home ($1,000?)
Not to mention what’s coming down the pike:
- December — $2,500 to cover first half of property tax bill. (expected, but more difficult now)
- December — another $2,000 mortgage payment to cover empty rental.
- December — probably another $1,000-1,500 to another real estate agent.
- Spring 2009 — unknown costs to repair A/C at rentals ($6,000?)
I have no leisure time. If I’m not working, eating, and sleeping, I’m working to raise more money, purging the house of distractions, selling stuff on Amazon and eBay, and figuring out how to continue to cut costs. This month alone, I’ve canceled the gardeners (saving $60 per month), decreased daycare to afternoons only (saving $200 per month), switched to AT&T bundle (install next month, saving $60 per month), replaced 1/2 our light bulbs with CFLs (unknown savings), replaced our old Christmas lights with LED sets (unknown savings), and repaired a lot of things myself I never realized I could. It’s so hard to justify sitting down to watch a movie, or to play a game, or to simply relax — even though my physical and mental health need the down time.
Oh, and my nine-year-old son is getting fitted for braces today. Yay. Those are cheap, right?!
We’re drowning. Feel free to donate large sums of money using the PayPal Donations button on the right. →
Despite all that, blogging isn’t gone completely (otherwise I’d just pull the whole site down), but don’t expect more than one posting a month. And, yes, this is probably November’s only post. Although, if you really want me to post more frequently than that, drop $1,000 bucks into my PayPal account, and I’ll blog about any topic you want!
