I Hate Mortgage Companies!

I HATE mortgage companies!  Now-a-days it seems that a mortgage is bought and sold so many times and with every new company that buys it comes a whole new barage of paperwork!  The only good thing is that the property taxes are part of the mortgage payment.  But lately I have been getting the feeling that its not even worth going through all the hassle if you have to constantly deal with whoever is holding your mortgage note!  I am soooo tempted to find a way to pay it off and just set aside that money for the property tax payments that come twice a year.

Yay! I don't have to buy a new VCR!

Had this VCR that didn't have a remote!  Thought I would have to buy a new VCR and thank goodness I got one of those universal remote thingies!  This was bugging me so much 'cause I couldn't operate the VCR and more importantly I couldn't record anything!  Now that I have the remote and have since used it I can record once again.  My main reason for wanting to record is now I can record something and then watch it later (and skip over the commercials!)

But I see that they have TV/VCR (and /DVD) combos too so I want to get one of them to replace one of the TVs that isn't working too good.

Paying Taxes! - A Necessary Evil BUT!

I found out something very interesting about the local tax that I have to pay in my area.  It's bad enough that this tax has to be paid but to add insult to injury it seems that it would be better for one if they are very careful as to how they fill out the forms.  I'm speaking specifically of the quarterly returns that have to be filled out with "estimated" income.  There is a minimum amount that is exempt but lets say that you made under the minimum for that quarter but you want to list it on the quarterly (dare I say be a good citizen and all that).  It turns out that ANY amount that you list as income for that quarter is subject to the tax - regardless of the amount (even if its below the minimum!.  Let's say for example you list a small income source of say $50.  Even though $50 is below the minimum amount subject to the tax if you list it on your quartely you will have to pay the tax on that $50!  Then when you file your yearly that tax amount that you paid will be refunded to you (and not in a very fast manner!). However if you just put $0 (because the amount is under the minimum) then you won't have to pay a tax on that $50.  But you will have to report the $50 for the yearly return but since its under the minimum you won't have to pay a tax on it.

I Can't Believe that the boiler is leaking!

Remember I mentioned that I was able to get a new boiler.  It was from a grant program that provided free repair or replacement and my boiler was in such bad - or should I say that it was just old - condition that they replaced it free of charge!  But when I went down to the basement (for something else) I noticed that there was water on the basement floor - something I thought that I would never see again.  Well I was a little bit rattled by that but I should be grateful that I was even able to get the darned thing for free.

At first, after seeing the puddle of water I kind of panicked wondering if something was going to "blow up" but I do remember the previous boiler when it leaked (and man did it leak!).  But just to be on the safe side I'm going to call the place and ask if there is something that can be done.  This boiler is only a few months old and I surely don't want anything to be wrong with it!

It's not only cold but its windy too!

One of the problems with living in an older house is that you can feel it when the winds are blowing strong!  Right next to me I can feel the cold air from the window.  Of course the window does have a crack in it that should really get fixed and that would probable help my heating bill as well.

The Snow is coming!

How glad I am that I still have some rock salt left over from last time!  Just as it started to snow I went outside and spread the salt.  We're getting a lot more snow though and even though spreading the salt helped at first the new snow is covering it up.  Since tomorrow is Sunday there is not as much of a rush to shovel it up but shoveling I am going to have to do!

Thank goodness I'm pretty stocked up as far as necessities are concerned so I won't have to go out traveling no time soon!

Weird messages on answering machine?

I guess anyone that has an answering machine has gotten a weird message left on theirs at least one time or another.  I don't know if they did it on purpose or if it was just an accident but it was a very weird message!  There was a lot of background noise and other peoples' voices could be heard in the background and to tell you the truth I couldn't even understand what the person was trying to say.  They probably don't even know that they dialed the wrong number.

I just got my heating bill today!

I can't believe that its so high!  It's over $200 and that is a lot!  I so need a fireplace (actually more than one) so badly.  Last month the heating bill was higher than this one!  I know its February and I know its winter but this kind of bill is really so high!  I try to conserve and stay on a budget but I just cannot turn the thermostat down any lower!

I'd be curious to hear about high others heating bills are and how they compare to mine.  I'm in the Philadelphia area by the way.

Speaking of raking up the leaves........

I'm reminded of how much other "yard" work there is to do.  Not just the backyard but the front of the house too.  Most notably there are still leaves that have gathered in the "crooks and crevices".  There is also the clearing away of overgrown weeds and being able to cut down the weeds that have turned into little trees.  Also people seem to love throwing their trash just any old where - something else that I have to clean up.  I wish I had a video camera posted by the window so that I could catch them in the act!  I would post it online for all to see!  Well anyway I have a lot of clearing up to do so I see a lot of filled up trashbags in my future.

The Grant Came Through!

The heater was replaced with a brand new one!  And best of all I didn't have to pay ANYTHING!  The men came and examined the old heater and determined that it was too old and too damaged (water was leaking from it everywhere!) to repair so I got a brand new one!  They had a heck of a time getting it down the narrow steps of my basement (remember its an older house) but they managed to do it with the help of a long rope!

So now it sits in my basement humming along while outside the temps are in the low 30's with snow (and ice) on the ground and more snow is expected (1 to 3 inches!).  I am soooooooo glad to have this because I've been told that this kind of job might cost upwards of $2,000.00 or more - money which I sorely did not have! 

What a very wonderful (early) Christmas gift!

Raking Leaves......

The area where I live has both loose leaf and bagged leaves pickups.  Thankfully this isn't something that we have to pay for which is a good thing because I have a big tree in the front of the house and boy does it shed!  I don't mind raking them as long as I'm in a good mood and I do like the way it looks in the fall.  So I managed to have the leaves ready to be picked up - which is saying a lot because last year I just was not in the mood to do it but more importantly I had other things on my mind.  So this may be a good sign of good things to come - I certainly hope so!

I guess I should include the car as well

I think having a car (or not having one - as the case may be) is important enough to include with all that having a house involves.

I was going over a past list of repairs (and repairs needed) and was just frustrated over the number of them.  Replacing the battery, engine repairs - not to mention the "regular" things like paying for gas, the yearly inspection and the like - that is a LOT of things!

But I have come to the conclusion that having a car is necessary and all those things that go with having one have to be tolerated - even expected.  It would be nice though if I had a car emergency fund!

My 2nd choice of residence.....

Confessions Of A Homeowner!

Don't get me wrong I love where I live but if I had a choice for a second home it would be near the ocean. Here is a link to a blog from a guy that lives near the ocean and I am so jealous.

http://spaces.msn.com/members/seasidelife

He hasn't posted for a while but the pictures are gorgeous!

The furnace? It ain't!

Oh well the furnace is not working.  Actually just to make sure that there was no gas leaking I called the utility company to check it out.  He did detect a small leak and shut off the system.  (Now this was a few days ago).  Now it's in the 50's and I have on a tee shirt under a long sleeve shirt under a sweater.

Repairing the furnace isn't going to be cheap in fact I have a call pending just to see if I can get a grant to have the furnace repaired.  Cross your fingers for me!

Heating Woes!

Besides the fact that the price of heating is going up I have a "little" problem with the furnace!  It seems that the relief valve is leaking (again?) and I now have to get a hose so that I can connect the hose to the valve so that the water can drain directly to the sink.

There is the problem of getting a new furnace - I shudder to think about how much THAT will cost but as for now I'm going to solve one problem at a time.

Repairs! Keep A List!

As I mentioned before the TV in the livingroom wasn't working.  I thought it would be a good idea to call the guy who did some electrical work on the house before.  Unfortunately it was a while ago since I last used him and when I finally found his card (Thank goodness I saved it but it took me a while to find the card!) his contact numbers were no longer good.  I couldn't find him in the phone book but I did find him after doing a little Internet investigating.  I'm going to call him tomorrow to see if he still does electrical work.

Although it might seem like something that's obvious you really should keep a current list of the work that's been done on your house because you never know when you may need more and/or similar work done.  I know its a hassle and its just one more thing to do but in the long run it will save you some hassle.  It's also a good idea to know whether or not they are still in business so that in the event that they are not you can start to look around (or better yet ask friends and family) for another repair related repairman.

We used to have a man that did all the repairs - just a general handyman - but he died and as often happens you don't think about having another repairman until an emergency comes up.  So its better to be prepared BEFORE something goes wrong!  Believe me its a lesson that I have learned!

Jealous Of My Neighbor's Garden?

Of course I am.  From one of the upstairs bedroom I can look right down on it and see the tomatoes that he (and his wife) are growing.  Am I jealous?  Of course I am!  Goodness knows that I have enough room for an outside garden but I have been busy with work and more specifically making my quota.

I have decided that I am NOT going to get upset but what I am going to do is work in my garden even if its just clearing the overgrowth away while I plan for next season.

Is there anything that can be planted so late in the year?

The Bees Are Back!

I thought that hopefully I wouldn't have to get rid of the rest of the cushions on the porch but now I know that I have to because the bees are back!  I going to have to take care of this problem the exact same way that I took care of it before and that is to wait until the weather is cooler so that I can get rid of the cushions.  This time I am just going to get rid of the rest of the cushions and get porch furniture that - I hope - is bee-proof!

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs! - Where are they coming from!

Of course it must have something to do with the warmer weather but they are just driving me crazy!  It seems to be more worse inside the house than outside of the house!

Unsolicited Solicitations - Not!

I don't know about you but I plan to stay in my house for a very long time.  I have put so much work and effort into my home that I am not about to give it up without a fight!

Because of the work I do and the experiences that I have had I have specific plans as to the "financial" aspects of my home.  I want to pay off the mortgage - especially since I don't like the mortgage company that I have (the mortgage note has changed hands at least 5 times!).  Of course when I do pay it off there will be the matter of the property taxes that have to be paid annually but my plan for that is using the money that I used to pay for the mortgage.

I have no intention of taking out another mortgage on my home.  That's why I became rattled when I got an email from some place in Texas (I'm in PA) that wants me to sign up and get a lower interest rate on my mortgage.  What especially angers me is that their email to me included my exact name and address!  How did they get that?  Probably from some mailing list or something.

This is all fine and well for those that want to partake in such a service but for me I have my own definite plan!