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TGIF

November 9th, 2013 at 12:35 am

I'm happy to have a 3-day weekend (yet another bank holiday) but not so happy I won't get paid for the day off. Nothing I can do about it, so might as well enjoy it.

Tomorrow a chimney cleaner is coming over in the morning. My dad doesn't think I need to have the furnace flue cleaned (I have no fireplace) but I've read that it's still important as buildup can occur.

On Monday my new, expensive but supposedly meticulous handyman guy is coming over to do a few jobs around here for $985. I am really curious to see how long it takes me, because instead of telling me he'd charge $x an hour, he just quoted me a flat rate for all 3 jobs I wanted him to do. I already know he charges others (like my friend's husband) $45/hr, and I suspect I'll be paying him much more if I calculate it on an hourly basis.

If so, I will just tell him that if he wants more work from me it's got to be in the $45/hr range or I won't be able to afford to hire him again. I should have told him that from the get go, but I didn't.

I was prepared to suggest to my sister that we take my mother out for Tgiving dinner as mom's getting too old to be having to deal with the big dinner, even if just for the 3 of us. But, even though I'm working the day before, I decided I'd rather save money and have it at my place if everyone can just chip in and bring 1 or 2 dishes. I'll do the bird, dessert and a side. I'd rather have the leftovers, to be honest, and since my sister and i would be paying for mom, the bill would probably be at least $50 each.

Well, another Friday commute home has come and gone and I'm proud to say I have yet to cave in to a desire to get takeout to treat myself. The only reason I didn't do it today was, I was all set to pick up a pizza on the drive home, but as it turned out, there was leftover pizza at work and I snagged a piece and gobbled it down without even reheating it. So I had no appetite for more of the same a few hours later.

After 5 weeks of f/t work, the ONLY splurge so far has been $1.50 on a bottle of soda at work. There will be another outlay of money next month when it's my turn to bring in breakfast for a group of 10. If you join the group, you get to enjoy breakfasts once a week that others bring in. There are a few people who have not "joined" the group but still manage to help themselves to free food, which I think is incredibly bad form.

I got my new World Wildlife Fund Visa bonus card ($100 after $500 spend) from BankAmerica. It's a bank I've hated becus of their role in the credit crisis, but I love their bonus cards.

I upgraded my landline to AT&T UVerse; in order to get the plan I wanted, I had to upgrade my UVerse DSL with them to the next higher speed. Still, the 2 together only cost me $44 a month. The phone part of the plan allows just 4 hours of free talk time a month, whether local or long distance, and after that, calls will cost .05 a minute. Before this, I had an even cheaper AT&T plan that charged me for toll-free calls but had a very low monthly base rate, but it was really too restrictive. I had hoped I could rely on the 60 free minutes I get on my cell phone monthly, but it was never enough and I'd have to buy more minutes on the cell. And I call a LOT of toll-free numbers and was always stressed out when I had to wait on hold, since it was costing me.

If 4 hours is still not enough, for $10 more a month ($55) i can get unlimited talk time on the land line.

Only problem is, the internet portion of this deal is good for just 1 year, and I'm probably nearly halfway through on that one year term. Then the price will jump to $36 a month just for Internet, I think. Not sure what I'll do then. I may be stuck with it. I'm sure some will say that's still a good deal?

Remember, I've been on a bare bones budget for a very long time. The bank job may not last forever, and that's always in the back of my mind, meaning, I don't want to start having little bills creep back up again here or there.

I'm excited it's the weekend. Me time.

7 Responses to “TGIF”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1383965760

    We just got the Ooma telo from Ooma.com for to connect with our broadband internet. Only had a couple calls, but they sound just like a land line. We pay our portion of federal taxes each month of $3.72...all calls are free in the US. The biggest expense initially is the Ooma box. Something to explore, before your rate goes up. I'll write a review on my blog in another month.

    I did get our box on a special last month for $99.99, and the regular price is $149, but I know Amazon sells it also for maybe $115.

  2. PatientSaver Says:
    1383999101

    Thanks very much for that info, CCF. Actually, I think the phone portion of the bill is standard, but it's the internet portion that will go up after another 6 months or so. But getting essentially free phone would make it possible to cover the higher cost of the internet....assuming I can do it that way.

    I'm always hesitant to look into alternatives like that only becus i'm not very tech savvy and have no one here to do it for me.

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1384006949

    You are welcome.

    It is VERY easy to set up. Plug the ethernet cable to your router/broadband modem, plug the ac adpater to your outlet, and the phone line to your phone that you already use. My husband did the connections, but they have very good graphics on the instructions, including alternative connections if needed. I've read online they have very good customer service.

    Yes we are keeping our internet, which is the most expensive part. I think we pay nearly $55/mo, but with four people on the computer and streaming videos we do use it. And now the phone will only be less than $4 for the taxes each month.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1384020079

    I pay about $34/mo for my Internet - but that is only due to my calling them every six months to get the "best" deal available. When the six months is up, it wouldn't hurt to call and see if they'd budge - especially if you mention that you might want to cancel your phone service ..

  5. PatientSaver Says:
    1384022236

    FT, I will definitely do that too.

  6. Looking Forward Says:
    1384034488

    I would prefer to have a "contract" amount with the handyman, rather than Time and Materials pricing.
    If he comes in and does a great job in a short time - hey, I say that is good for you and him. If he runs into any trouble he isn't charging any more than what was quoted.
    On the flip side you can pay by the hour and have someone "milk it" out so they spend all day at your house just to make more money.

  7. M E 2 Says:
    1384052484

    My mom, after 40+ years of hosting Thanksgiving AND Christmas, has finally said enough is enough. Much to the horror of my siblings. All of whom DO own their own homes. 2 are married with kids, the other is single. @@ I think my brother and sister-in-law need to think about talking to each other. LOL (j/k) Because my brother says they are hosting Thanksgiving and one of my sisters says that our sister-in-law says they are hosting Christmas. Oy!

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