The X List

Man, that was a rough couple of weeks.  Stressful workloads, rejection letters, dismal weather, car repairs, and a serious case of spring fever.  Please accept our warm apologies for the "blog silence."

So I was going to pull concrete numbers for our February, March, and April budgets.   Easier said than done.  How can such a simple budget – money in vs. money out – be so complicated?!  

I blame it on Mike's new income from the GI Bill.  This often happens when our budget changes drastically – our financial bearing goes a little loopy for a few months before things get righted.  These didn't help either:

• The dentist ended up costing $450.
• In March, we overpaid on tax filing.  Goodbye $400.
• In April, we paid off what we owed the government.  Sayonara $600.
• An unwelcomed 5th credit card joined the family.  Thanks emergency brake repairs that cost $900.  
• We bought our bikes on credit.  At the rate we could save for them, we wouldn't get them until Christmas.
• Gas jumped up to $3.69 and will only continue to get higher.

What this adds up to is nowhere.  Any extra money we got from the GI Bill has been sucked up in the vortex known as "when we get some more money, we will take care of X."  

We all have our X List.  X is something that really shouldn't be on the back burner, but you don't feel like you have a choice otherwise.  Car or home repairs, lurking bills, routine medical necessities – all overdue in some way.  The problem with X is that you're only delaying the inevitable.  But sometimes you just don't have a choice and things wait.

We have several X's left on our list:

• General health checkup for the lady of the house
• Plus annual exam 
• Good head start on a savings account, $500+ 
• Ball joint work on the truck
• Vet checkups for the beasties
• Patio furniture
• A container garden
• A gas grill 
• A new vacuum 
• A new printer
  

This isn't a hideous list, but we must plan for it carefully.  While the GI Bill adds $1776 to our monthly income, $750 automatically goes toward rent.  Then add $150 to our grocery/supply bill to give it some breathing room.   

That really only leaves an extra $700 a month.  Helpful, but definitely not a miracle fix for our budget needs.

I'm glad I have the day off tomorrow.  I'm actually looking forward to approaching our budget under new circumstances.  Hopefully we'll find some more efficient ways of tackling our goals.

Question of the Day: What's on your X List?

How a Government Shutdown Affects Us

Hopefully as you know, our government is headed for a shutdown.  This is the result of several budget impasses, some of which started last year.

(Source)

I’m not going to get political here much except to say we’re registered Independents for a reason.  Neither party represents their constituents, and traits like cooperation, reasoning, compromise, and respect flew the coop a long time ago.

Some individuals have been calling for a government shutdown.  They think this will prove some point about how little we actually need government services.

 (Source)

Here’s the thing though. Take away all of the finger pointing, blaming, toxic rhetoric, and party alliances. 

This ideological battle hurts real people. 

Let me tell you how this hurts us personally.

·       We are a military family.  60% of our monthly income comes from the government.  This will simply cease to come in.  No GI Bill, no drill pay. That’s over $2,000 that will be eliminated from our budget.  How well do you think you could cope if, on short notice, that amount of money disappeared from your budget? 

·       Not only does pay stop, but military employment stops.  Should this thing drag into next month, Mike will have no drill.  This means no employment, no pay.  That’s $350 that won’t be earned, can’t be recovered.

·       The VA system of hospitals and clients is federally funded.  Mike receives monthly services through them.  These too will be put on hold.  No medical care, no appointments, no prescriptions.

This whole thing puts our ability to pay rent and bills, purchase groceries, or get gas in jeopardy.  I’m not exaggerating or being alarmist.  We don’t have $2,000 in a savings account to patch us through.  We don’t even have $200. 

The funny thing is, we don’t even have it that bad.  We have friends who are deployed right now, work full time on active duty, or need intensive medical care. 

Military families, not to mentioned thousands of federal workers, depend on their government income.  Just like you depend on your employer’s salary.  It’s no different, except I doubt very much your business is going to go belly-up and suddenly not pay you.

It’s supremely stressful right now, knowing that we could be in real financial trouble through no fault of our own.  How do you approach a landlord, for example, and explain you can’t pay rent because the government didn’t pay you?  I can’t imagine them being very sympathetic.  

The budget has to be decided by midnight tonight or it will close its doors.  I am very thankfully that Mike’s GI payment came in yesterday.  So we are mostly covered this month. 

When he receives his drill pay is another question.  If his GI Bill comes in next month is also up in the air.  Who knows if he’ll have drill next month.  

We’re not magicians.  We can’t make money appear out of thin air.

(Source)

I’m hoping our representatives can come to an arrangement tonight.  I really do.  I just wanted to share, in a concrete way, how political actions have real consequences.  

My Utility Bill Needs Help!

As I was paying my bills this morning, I started digging around my utility bill.  The winter months have averaged $135 while the summer bills were around $100.  I have been questioning lately whether this is an appropriate amount for 2 people in a 900 sqf condo (built in 2008).  I found a great chart online of our energy usage and costs since we moved in.

Read Date	Total Usage (kWh)	Billed Amount†	Days Billing Period	Average Cost per Day	Average Use per Day
03/11	1,088	$138.29	30	$4.61	36.27
02/11	1,052	$134.83	29	$4.65	36.28
01/11	1,110	$142.70	34	$4.20	32.65
12/10	703	$97.99	32	$3.06	21.97
11/10	620	$86.42	29	$2.98	21.38
10/10	630	$92.92	29	$3.20	21.72
09/10	709	$119.71	30	$3.99	23.63
08/10	827	$141.67	32	$4.43	25.84
07/10	638	$106.56	30	$3.55	21.27
06/10	473	$71.56	32	$2.24	14.78
10 Period Total	7,850	$1,132.65

I found this really informative.  We spend around $4 a day on electricity.  Wow.  What really blew me away is the total.  Over a grand shelled out for energy in 10 months.

I have no idea how these stacks up to other condo/apartment dwellers.  If I were feeling ambitious, I'd dig out our records for our other rentals and compare.  All I know is the year we lived in a Victorian house, we had bills in the winter that were over $500.  Yeah, we cried a lot over that. 

I think what's important here is that our energy usage tends to remain constant for 3 months at a time, correlating to the time of season.  What that means is that there are opportunities to decrease that amount.

Our energy usage in terms of appliances looks like this:

• Mike is at home all day, so obviously he has to use energy whereas other couples leave for 8 hours and that's it.  However, he's only using the computer and is good about keeping lights off and such.  He also tends to do laundry and run the dishwasher. 
• At night, I'm kind of a nazi about flipping off light switches.  As foodies, we probably use our oven way more than other people do so that probably makes a difference.  There's also the TV/DVD player for movie watching. 
• Constants: fridge, water heater, furnace, and for all intents and purposes, the computer.

My job has given me an enhanced understanding of energy and utility rates.  So I decided to look up what are Alliant Energy's peak hours.  Peak hours are a fun rating system by the utility company.  They charge up to 50% higher for energy used during these hours.  It varies around the country, just like utility rates, but these typically cover the afternoon hours / the hottest parts of the day.  Do you know what mine actually are?

7am-8pm. (Alliant Energy)

WTF? 

That's crazy.  Here I was thinking of putting cute signs on the dish washer and washing machine saying "don't use me between 12-4pm."  Just kidding.

This changes things considerably.  Obviously it's impossible to not use any energy during these hours.  And I'm not fond of keeping European eating hours.

To save energy, these is going to require a shift in activities.  I think the easiest and most effective change is to simply not run the dish washer and washing machine/dryer during the week (or before 8pm).  Luckily, off-peak hours include the entire weekend so that's easy enough to just save those tasks for then.  Once the weather is better, I also plan on making our patio a drying rack so that should help too.

I doubt we can adjust our cooking habits and Mike needs the computer during the day for school work and job hunting.  Perhaps we can come up with a plan to decrease the amount of hours the computer is actually on though. 

We'll give this a try starting from here on out and see if it makes a difference.  Will let you know! 

Question of the Day: How does your energy bill/usage compare?  How do you save money on your utility bill?

Eco-geeks on a Budget

It should be obvious by now that Mike and I are nouveau hippies.  Yep, we’re tree huggers.  Blame it on being raised in the 90s when the “save the polar bear” campaigns made their way into our schools, the influence of Al Gore and the EPA, or recycling programs cropping up in small towns.

My emphasis on green is also a major component of my job.  Most of my articles cover sustainability – composting, light pollution, synthetic grass, net-zero energy buildings, solar power, greenwashing, green pest control, vegetated walls, and biomimicry.

At home, it’s another story.  Keeping sustainability at the core of your actions is tricky when money is limited.  You all know that anything with words like organic, all natural, or biodegradable equals an automatic markup. 

To be green without overextending our budget, we constantly have to make decisions that reconcile our need to be good to the earth versus what we can actually afford.  Comparison shopping is key, but you also have to decide what your green priorities should be.  What are sustainable items that are non-negotiable in your book?  How much would you pay for a green product?  Are there ways you can be eco-friendly without spending money?

Case in point: I recently tried a conditioner called Organix.  Really had no complaints except that it was $6 for about 10oz.  Last night I found a product by Suave that has some natural ingredients.  While not 100% natural or organic, I got 15oz for $1.28.  As much as I would love to not dump chemicals down the drain to wash my hair, I also can’t justify spending $6 at the moment on a beauty product. 

It all comes down to choices.

Here’s how we live sustainably on our limited income:

·       We have one car and will be getting bikes.  This wasn’t by choice, but turned into an amazing opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint.  Admittedly, our one vehicle is a truck (1998), but we don’t have a second car.  Nor will we be getting one anytime soon, so it balances out.  Once we purchase bikes, I will be biking to work every day.  Good for my health, the planet, and our pocketbook.

·       We recycle like crazy.  We have two 3-drawer bins stacked on top of each other for recyclables.  If my lunch includes a plastic container or a can, it’s washed at work and brought home.  At work, we only have a one-sided printer.  I save all of my scratch paper and bring it home for our printer.

·       We use biodegradable trash bags.  It took a while to find them, but they are available in the HyVee health market.  They cost the same as a regular box of plastic bags and are biodegradable and recyclable.  Score.

·       We strive to buy natural foods.  If I wouldn’t add <insert unpronounceable ingredient here> to the pan as I was cooking at home, it shouldn’t be in my food in the first place.  This is actually pretty easy for anything boxed, frozen, or canned.

·       We use CFLs.  But I seriously can’t wait until LEDs are mass available on the residential market. 

·       On trips, we bring a water cooler.  At least the majority of the time.  This helps us avoid unnecessary gas station buys and plastic bottles.

·       We use candles at bedtime.  We often chat or give massages right before bed.  Light two candles and there’s no need to have a lamp on.  Pretty and energy efficient.

·       We have a low-flow shower head.  Works just fine and will last forever.

·       We use cloth shopping bags.  So much stronger than flimsy plastic.  We have about 8; half have been free from my tradeshows J

·       We mostly use all-natural cleaners, particularly for laundry and dishes.  We use brands such a Green Works, Palmolive, Purex, and 7^th Generation, which are only a matter of cents higher than conventional cleaners.

·       We live in a 900-sqf condo.  Think about it, the less space you have, the less energy you spend heating/cooling it.  Also, the less junk you accumulate (in theory).  Part of living sustainably is living with just what you need.  We only need a place this size, though an extra closet wouldn’t be turned down.

Right now, I feel like we’ve grabbed all of the low-hanging fruit and need to step up our game.  Organic fruits and meats, which I firmly avow will be part of our diet in the future, are simply too expensive right now.  We’re not in a position to replace the truck with something more fuel-efficient.  Composting, while not impossible, is difficult in a condo setting.

My April goal is to reduce products that come in plastic containers.  While plastic is recyclable, it does not purify in the process.  This downcycling also produces more waste than glass or metal recycling.

The first step was to examine food purchases.  Groceries for the first half of the month didn’t yield many opportunities.  I don’t feel like figuring out how to make yogurt or cottage cheese at home, but at least we buy those in bulk.  Applesauce was the only area for improvement.  Instead of getting the 6 pack of little containers, I opted for the large glass jar.

Cleaners were definitely a better opportunity. While I like Green Works and 7^th Generation, they still come in plastic containers.  If they could only make those biodegradable, which is totally possible with corn. 

Anyways, you can make your own natural cleaners with common ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda.  Simply repurpose some of your plastic spray bottles and dilute accordingly.  I will detail our efforts in a later post.

Being green isn’t just about reducing and recycling.  You have to see everything as a resource. 

Question of the Day: How are you green at home?  Have you ever used all-natural cleaners and how’d they work?