August 2012 Budget Challenge

[Valiant]

August 2012 Budget Challenge: $ $ $ $


The summer months are here people, and so are we, working on our goals!

All participants, please post below, thanks!






My August 2012 Budget:

Expenses:
Rent (+ utilities): PAID(as per rate)
Phone: $ 32.53
Water: $ 7.92 (reverse osmosis: cooking/drinking)
Food & Stockpile: $ 37.42
Other: $ 61.37

Total August 2012 Expenses to date: $ 139.24 (plus Rent)

Coupons Used: $ TBA
Money Found: $ 5.00 (in a pair of pants I bought from the thrift shop)


SPEND Days to date: 11/31

NO SPEND Days to date: 20/31


Goals:
- maximize work
- essential expenses: rent/utilities, basic phone, R.O. water;
- spending cuts on everything else
- exceptions: stockpile additions, emergencies
- living off the land, the garden and the stockpile
- cope with illness, serious family illness, home renovations


To-Do List:
- work preps for next term
- utilize all my resources:
- spend spare time on crafting for gift-giving:
- OAMC&B (Once-A-Month-Cooking & Baking):
- garden and yard work:
- sewing: summer clothing alterations...must get going on this one asap.
- some long visits with Mother Nature: fishing, picking berries, living off the garden, Farmer's Market


Living within my Budget: (updates)
- Well, so far it's been a very hard month, with constant illness...doc says I need many visits to the city hospital docs for better treatment of my paralysis. Trying to figure out how to find and pay for transportation. Son is very ill and undergoing treatment, so must also find a way to visit him. Have been very ill at home, so trying to keep up to chores and errands between bed-rest...just flogging myself to keep going. Have harvested 2 more jars of jam from my rasps, and a few small patio tomatoes. Went fishing one last time, but caught nothing.
- was able to go have a good visit with my son, who is now stabilized again (brain disease) and going home soon; but I'm very worried because he has no supports there, and is having great difficulty managing on his own.

- son is now home and trying to cope with putting it to rights again; will be having some monitoring for his meds every 2 wks. I will keep in touch frequently by phone and mail, but have no transportation to his location.
- my garden has been devastated by something which has caused all the leaves on all the plants to develop yellow or white spots, then the whole leaf turns white and dies: maybe toxic spray in the air or propane gas from the 3 neighbours barbecues adjoining my unit. This will drastically reduce any harvest I can still get from it. My Valiant grapevine is still ok, and the grapes are now turning purple. I've covered the whole grapevine with a large chicken-wire net to keep out the birds (so far, so good), and want to harvest in a few days. Got another half jar of jam from the rest of the raspberries. Also dug up 1 crushed potato hill that the roofing workers put their ladder on, and got enough potatoes for a meal (delicious!). Harvested the first cucumber, 3 more left; have a few small ones starting, if they can survive the plant damage. Waiting and waiting on the workcrew to finish the gable siding, and put rainpipes at the bottom of my downspouts again; they took off the old stuff and carried it away, put on the new eavestroughs and downspouts, and when it rained hard, there was water leaking into my basement again under my appliances. Would sure like to get my plants back where they belong on the patio, but still waiting for the crews to finish, because they position their ladder on the patio. The herbs did well: dill, chives, basil, oregano, thyme, and should be harvested in my herb dryer soon. Harvested 2 Scarlet runner beans (chopped them up in a pot of soup), every little bit helps.
- have been feeling quite discouraged, overwhelmed and overtaxed lately, but trying to get the facts straight regarding my son's whole situation so I can plan accordingly.
- also have learned how to make wonderful oatmeal bannocks due to reading Lillian Beckwith's books on the Hebrides, and her frequent reference to them.
- took another walk down through the park on Sunday, still greatly devastated from last year's flood, will never be the same again; everybody is now crowded into one small spot like sardines in a can (cars, campers, swimming pool kids, tourists), the town has commercialized this area, and the park has lost its ambience (to me).


- It's been one of the hardest months I've ever had, so I haven't been here much to update the budget. Glad August is over!


August 2012 Budget Balance & Update: - $ 133.33 (another deficit, but things should pick up soon)

[Ciel]

Sunflower "rep" for you being so quick to start each month's thread with your goals! Love the part about long visits with Mother Nature.

[lucy16076]

My August 2012 Budget:

FIXED Expenses:

Mortgage & property taxes: $PAID
Hydro/Water combined: $next mth
Gas for house: $74 budget plan monthly
Car Insurance: $50
House insurance: $68.13/$95.12 - went to a different company & got better deal!!
Life Insurance: $79.77/$79.77
Cell: 69.38/$60
Cable/Internet pkg: $96/$96

VARIABLE Expenses:

Gas for my car: $148/$200
Groceries: 344.19/$400
MC: $tooo much-almost pd off vacation tho!
Pet care:/$50
Spending/Vacation: $200/$200.00
Stuff for the kids: $280/$50 - back to school clothes
Charity: $25/$25
Savings: $400/$400

Coupons Used: $3.75 + 2 Nestea FPC's
Money Found: .05 on the ground

SPEND Days to date: 14/31

NO SPEND Days to date: 11/31


Goals:
-track spending more closely
-buy more fresh produce locally at Farmers Market & butcher
-build up cans stockpile...it's getting low.
-work 23.5 hours extra
-to not use the credit cards

TO DO List
-weed/prune my garden
-2 doors needed for kids room
-decide if cable is worth the cost - No, will cancel.
-replace oil filter in my car

Accomplishments:

-1/2 garden weeded...now need to start again since vacationing set me back & the weeds forward again!

[Valiant]

Updated my first post here, but I probably won't be here much this month. Some very difficult circumstances to deal with.
Bye for now.

[Panthera]

Love this thread! Will start posting my budget after we get back from vacation next month!

[Shwa Girl]

Thanks for the August thread.

Updated my first post here, but I probably won't be here much this month. Some very difficult circumstances to deal with.
Bye for now.

Sorry to hear.
Sending virtual hugs.

[Valiant]

Another update...feeling quite drained these days.

[Shwa Girl]

Quoting Valiant: “Was able to go have a good visit with my son, who is now stabilized again (brain disease) and going home soon; but I'm very worried because he has no supports there, and is having great difficulty managing on his own.”

Did they actually discharge him knowing that he has no support at home? Is there no home care in his province? Did they have a social worker speak on his behalf?

And for you , is there no funds for free transportation that you can access in your province? In Ontario, some people get a monthly allotment for travel for medical reasons.

I am glad that your son is stabilized.

[Valiant]

The Doc is quite young, and we are at the mercy of his decision. Nobody else involved, just family. The system is still trying to keep him independent, because assisted-living would be more pricey. As a family, we all pitch in and help him as we can, and he still wants to live on his own, though he can't manage it very well.
I don't know anything about free transportation to check on him/supervise him. I was fortunate that my town's monthly handi-van trip to the city coincided exactly with the last day of his stay in hospital care; I was able to visit him and we spent 2 hours together. It was so good to see him again, but he looks so thin and changed again. If he can manage alone, that would be wonderful, otherwise the next step might be a proctor, or I might move to be there in the same community with him. He and I could trade skills for chores for each other. Am really debating this issue with myself right now; so sick and tired of seeing him fall by the wayside, all for the want of some supervision and support. Next to God, family is more important than anything else.
(And thank-you for your caring and understanding comments; God bless you!)

[lucy16076]

Attachment 133089

Look into community care for your son & yourself! If you dont' get the answers you need from the current Doctor, it's time to do a little research & get the answers answered by someone else! If you do what you can, the rest will fall into place. You say the family helps....enlist someone's help who isn't suffering illness, & get that son of yours some well deserved help in the home!
We have a Seniors helping seniors program in our community where they will drive you, or do small chores around the home for a small fee....but you have to be 65+....not sure if that helps you to seek that out in your own community.
The Red Cross also operates van rides for those who need it.


Your Doctor, even being young, should be able to direct you to these services...if not, find someone who can....city hall? Health Unit?

Best wishes!!! Hope you & your son receive the help you both need & feel better soon!

[ssbean]

Valiant I have missed your updates this month. So sorry things have been so difficult. Hugs and best wishes to you and your family.

[Valiant]

Attachment 133089

Look into community care for your son & yourself! If you dont' get the answers you need from the current Doctor, it's time to do a little research & get the answers answered by someone else! If you do what you can, the rest will fall into place. You say the family helps....enlist someone's help who isn't suffering illness, & get that son of yours some well deserved help in the home!
We have a Seniors helping seniors program in our community where they will drive you, or do small chores around the home for a small fee....but you have to be 65+....not sure if that helps you to seek that out in your own community.
The Red Cross also operates van rides for those who need it.


Your Doctor, even being young, should be able to direct you to these services...if not, find someone who can....city hall? Health Unit?

Best wishes!!! Hope you & your son receive the help you both need & feel better soon!

Thanks, but sorry, I wasn't able to activate your link.
Apparently, my son has fallen through the cracks in the system. When he lived nearby in the city, I was able to get out to see him at least once a month, to help him with food and clothing, to check on his condition, and the condition of his apartment, and do some cleaning. He also had a proctor assigned to him to check on him every few weeks.
But several years ago, he moved back to his home town, where my X also lives nearby. Since then, my son has had another apartment and now a trailer, but each time has been unable to keep up with managing his condition and his home. My X doesn't check on him very often, leaving him to his own devices, and over the past several years, my son has lost about 80 lbs, and losing weight is always an indicator that the brain disease is taking over again.
My only contact has been by phone and mail, and sending clothing and care packages, plus a couple of visits when my sister was able to provide me with transportation to a family funeral. And I've just found out that no one has been assigned to him for the past few years, and the social worker cares nothing, just to see that checks are dispensed, hasn't visited him in a year and a half, even though it was obvious my son was approaching crisis again, and his own doctor was likewise useless. Well, between much prodding from my eldest son and me, my X finally made an effort and got the authorities involved for an intervention, so my son has just spent another few weeks in the city getting stabilized again.
And if I were to get started on what my X is like, and how that has impacted our children, probably few would ever believe it, it's that bad.
But sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, so right now it's just focussing on things as they are, and dealing with them as best as possible. I'm getting the phone number of the local mental health worker there and talking to her, also going to get in touch with his doc at the city center, also keep in close touch with my son to try to get him on track and keep him there.
(And the reason he has fallen through the cracks is the system's way of changing tactics when the patient changes locations; while living in the city, I was listed as his primary care provider, but since moving back to home town, his dad is listed as his primary care provider, even though I discussed this with the RCMP a few years ago, and thought I still was. It's all a matter of jurisdiction, and the rules that apply. And since he's an adult, I am not even allowed access to his basic info, which he doesn't discuss when he's really ill, so it's next to impossible to stay informed and accurately apprised of the facts of his situation. And I don't get the truth from my X.)

[smileyKT]

Valiant, I'm sorry to hear the news about your son. I know you are strong and you will be able to help your son

[Valiant]

Thanks; things are coming along about as expected.

Help for a troubled world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16EHmcenFu4



Song lyrics to: On the Wings of An Eagle by Steve Bell

http://stevebell.com/2007/06/wings-of-an-eagle/

[Valiant]

Hi people,
Sorry to be so very late in updating my first post for the final tally of August. Things have been incredibly hectic and difficult just lately. "Having it out" with my problem neighbour, plus taking on the rest of the building complex problems of dog-problems, trash & mess, noise issues, etc. Huge blowout just lately involving all the neighbours, but hopefully good things will come of it all. Authorities now contacted, so now the issues can finally be dealt with, thank God! Have actually had a day of peace and quiet yesterday, which is the first in 2 years. Might discuss this here later, because I may have found some workable tactics, which I could share to help others.
Bless you all!
Will be back again soon, God willing!
--Valiant

PS: Please feel free to continue our thread for September if any of you are interested. Either go with our usual format, or with your own. Bye for now!