Setting the Budget, Fun Savings and the somewhat Dave Ramsey style.

That is one long icicle.  This was actually from last winter when we broke every record for most snowfall and polar vortexes.  I can see the yard stick in the snow on my table.  That was a long winter.  Well, onto the budget.

It is the beginning of a New Year and it is time to set the Budget for the Cottage.  I try to keep my bills at a minimum, so I can enjoy my life.

I know that Dave Ramsey says "live like no one else, so you can live like no one else", but I have a different take on that.  While I think that Dave Ramsey has a lot of great ideas, like having an Emergency Fund.  I really do think this is the key to not going into debt, so yes, I have an Emergency Fund or should I say just a plain ole savings account, which I have money directly deposited into twice a month from one of my jobs.

So, I set my budget on my other incomes.  I have a few different sources of income, which I can go into in another post.  So, Dave Ramsey also says pay off your debt with the Debt Snowball.  Okay, I am working on that.  I am paying on my debt and I have some debt I need to track down that I stopped paying on and get them back into the snowball of things, per se.

But, while Dave Ramsey says get gazelle intense and "live like no one else so you can live like no one else", well that scares me.  I mean, we are not guaranteed to be here on any given day and our life could end at any given moment.  So, I really believe that you have to not put your life on hold to get rid of your debt.  You need to live, you need to have purpose, you need to be happy.  I have heard that "Money can't buy happiness" and it's true, you have to make happy happen.  Although, money could probably help.... I just don't think it is the answer.

So that is what I do.  I make my life happy.  Yes, there will always be the challenges and sad times in life, loved ones getting sick, funerals, cars breaking down, you know life gets in the way.  But, you have to be happy, right.  I think I will do a different post on happiness in the future.

I have set my budget up to have just minimal payments on the stuff I own.  I like being a minimalist.  I think that making memories is far more gratifying than owning stuff.  Afterall, I have one set of sheets for each bed.  I take them off, wash them and put them back on, all in the same day.   But, I live in a fairly small beautiful cottage, around 1600 s.f., that I have been lovingly restoring over the past 16 years and is very, very affordable.  As a matter of fact, I could not live anywhere else any cheaper, I believe.  So here they are, my household expenses.

Basic Expenses:
*Mortgage (my taxes and homeowner's insurance is included in this)
*Consumers Energy - Gas
*Detroit Edison - Electric
*Sewer bill

Added Fun Expenses:
*Comcast - Internet service only (we use antennas for our tv viewing or watch it online)
*Netflix
*Cell phones
*Jeep payment
*Vehicle Insurance
*Life Insurance
*Discover Card (dreaded - really going to try to kick this out this year.  I owe around $5,000, but my summer job might be able to help kick this to the curb)
*Groceries (Food, household, water softener salt and cat items)
*Gasoline

So, yeah, that is kind of it.  I have a couple "sinking funds", like our Membership to our local Beach/Boating Club (which is my summer job), Vehicle Registration/Tabs/Maintenance and Outings (like festivals, weekends away, movies, etc).

So pretty basic stuff.

Other than having one of my income sources directly deposited into my savings accounts, I like to add some fun savings.  The ones I can touch and feel.  The ones in front of my eyes, the ever-growing kind.

The 52 Week Money Challenge and the Change Jar which I drop into this cute Tobacco jar (No, I don't smoke).  The 52 WMC jar I will use for Christmas this year.  Last year, I used it to buy a Hot Tub.  So, I actually do not go the whole year saving.  I save up until around Black Friday or week 48, which gives me $1,176.00 whopping dollars.  I do, however, shop throughout the year, if I see a deal I cannot pass up.  But, I keep track of my purchases and stick the receipt in the 52 WMC jar along with the cash.

The Tobacco change jar, well, it doesn't have a job yet.  I am just saving it for something.  Maybe to buy chemicals for my hot tub, or a small weekend vacation with my Honey.  I just don't know.  But, something will come to mind, so I just keep adding to it.

Do any of you do any fun savings.  If so, tell me in the comments below.

Maintaining the Water Softener

I bought my cottage 16 years ago.  My cottage was built in the 1930's and after I bought it, I put on two additions, a new furnace, central air conditioning, a new well and changed over most all the electrical to a larger panel.  It came with a Culligan Water Conditioner which worked awesome up until a few years ago.

After having the Culligan man out to tell me that mine is shot and I need a new one or a newer used one, I had to get creative with making the one I have last until I could save for a new/er one.  For some reason, it will cycle the salt, but it doesn't return water to the brine tank.  So every few days, I put a couple buckets of water in the tank before the next cycle day.

Well, I am still babying my water softener and decided that I would add a household water filtration system.  It looks like this, to add to my water softener system.  Now to find someone to install it.  I do see that Kmart/Sears carries water softeners systems for $300.   I wonder if I can put one in layaway.

The filters to this system cost $11 each.  They are charcoal filters and are supposed to last a couple months each, so I think this is something I could add to my budget.  Even if I had to change it every month, it is only an extra $5.50.  I hope it helps.

Adding a Hot Tub to the Cottage with the 52 Week Money Challenge.

I started this Challenge the first week of January 2014 and saved until the end of the summer.  I ended up with around $1200 to work with.  A little bit of a challenge, because that $1200 had to buy my a tub, the pad and electrical, but I am very pleased with the results, pictures below.

I educated myself by reading about different hot tubs, going with a 110 or 220 electrical hookup, where I should place it and would read anything I thought would help me make my decision.   I chose a 220 electrical hookup just because I knew that I wanted my tub outside and here in Michigan, we have cold and snowy winters.  I searched on Craigslist, Stores with sales, Ebay, etc.

Here are some pics of the hot tub and installation.

This last picture, I thought I would put up a gazebo, but a snow storm took it out, so now it just sits out in the open.  I like it in the open, you can see all the stars at night.  This year, will be re-staining the deck.  But for anyone thinking about adding a hot tub, I think it is worth it.