The Best Of PA

You see this puppy?  (Well okay it's a donkey)  I made it.  Yup, just some cereal boxes, cardboard, wrapping paper, tape and time!  It was virtually free because I already had these things in the house! PS Thank You Internet! When budgets shrink there is cause to be a bit more creative. And with taxes going up for middle class and beyond, it'a time to get busy with some frugality tips. I have asked a many people for ideas and would like to share. :-) As you know, I have a fascination with the 40's and 50's. And toning down my spending has only helped me to relate and want to dig a bit more into these decades. They were certainly more resourceful and frugal than we are today. All suggestions are things I do. And with no further ado: Five ways to Save: 1) Make your Milk last longer. When your gallon is half full, supplement with powdered milk. In a seperate bowl mix together water and powdered milk. For every one cup of water add 1/3 cup of powde...

 The bathroom in our rental is nicer than ours!  Wish I was kidding people.     Well hello everyone!  It has been a busy fun filled day.  Guess what we got tenants!!  They move in this weekend so the hubby and I are scrambling to clean the place up.  Danny along with a couple of his friends have been busy beavers, hanging drywall, painting and putting in new bath room tiles.  They have renovated much including the small stuff like replacing light fixtures and blinds.  I somehow got roped into all the cleaning?!?  Can you belevie that!?!  I have scrubbed floors, sinks, a stove, a refridgerator and a whole bunch of vaccuming.  Side note: Even with all my pitching in, I've still got nothing on Danny.  I'm glad I married such a hard worker.  We came home dusty and smelly (Danny blamed it on his parched mouth, but ALL of HIM as well as MYSELF let off a stinky aroma) I must say it feels pretty good...

Although the past couple of months have been a headache with the rentals, it typically isn’t like this.   Usually we receive rent, pay the mortgages and that’s about it.   Every so often we get a call about something minor such as a leaky pipe, and usually I will call a plumber and it will be fixed.    Rarely do we get a major call for something like needing a whole new furnace.   Side note:   Yes we did get that call last year and yes a new furnace happens to be very expensive.   But all in all, so long as you have paying tenants, land lording isn’t bad.   So maybe you think you could get a rental property.   If so I encourage it, with just a couple of hints. 1)       First and Foremost if you plan on acquiring a rental property make sure there is a Cash flow .   What is cash flow?   It is money left over after receiving rent and paying for the taxes, mortgage, water bill, and any other expense relating to...

Do you ever have one of those days?   You know the kind you want to pull your hair out, or sit down and cry like a big baby-or take a 3hour nap, or a scarf down a gallon of ice cream all by your lonesome?   Ever have those kind of days? Well I feel like I’m having one of those weeks.   I know I shouldn’t feel this way, because I live a pretty blessed life, it’s just very hectic right now.                 I shouldn’t go telling the whole world our problems, especially since to some they might not seem like problems at all, but I’ve always lived my life like an open book, and sometimes I just NEED to VENT.   And so now you get the pleasure of hearing me vent, well you can’t hear me, but you get my jist.   Five years ago.   Five years ago is when Danny and I bought our first rental property (1 of 2 we own)   Stars twinkled in our eyes as we dreamed of pursuing   numerous inves...