Friday morning, 5 hours before super hero training camp and moments after I frantically finished up my menus for delivery…The doorbell rang.
At that moment I had glass cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other. I needed a shower. But I was pretending to be the lovely lady above. The man at the door said, “Don’t you usually clean AFTER the remodel is finished?”
I said, “Are you our Engineer?”
He said, “Yes, I tried to cal…..”
But I could’t hear the rest. I was leaping and yelling, “Yipee the engineer is here!” With the door standing open and the man looking confused. If he had a thought bubble it would read, “Do I go in? Do I stay out here? What is that woman on?”
We had been waiting 2 weeks for this day. The day to find out what is really wrong with our house, how soon can we fix it, and gulp, what it will cost. This moment stood between me and having a kitchen again and I was ready to face it head on.
He spent several hours at the house with a fancy laser level and clipboard. Thoroughly listened to our concerns and even checked out the leak in the attic. The diagnoses? Our east wall has dropped 4 inches and requires 15 piers and jacking to repair, plus landscaping, gutters and annual watering to prevent further damage. The good news: It can be fixed immediately. And as soon as it’s fixed we can continue with our kitchen remodel. The bad news: We should expect to pay at least $20,000. And when we pay that….there won’t be money to finish the kitchen. (The leak in the attic only needed a little caulk around the sky light.)
Now is not the time to panic. It’s time to think and plan. All I have to do is find 200 ways to save $100 or 100 ways to save $200 and boom. Problem solved. And he said we could wait until July (the next dry season) to get the work done, without worrying about further damage. If I’m willing to delay the kitchen that long.
So I’ve started a list. And am giving myself 4 months to find the savings.
#1 We’re not sending Christmas cards this year. So Merry Christmas–we love you. Savings: $75
#2 Let my hair go officially ombre and then brown with silver streaks. Savings $75 every 6 weeks or $200 over 4 months. (In theory, I really only went every 6 months….) I need to go right now, but can use the money to buy Heidi a hair straightener for her Christmas gift instead.
#3 Potty Train Grant (yep he’s 2 1/2, but I just haven’t felt like I could add that to my plate. Adding it now…) Savings: $25 a month or $100 over 4 months.
#4 My sister-in-law and I agreed to cancel our gift exchange this year. We wouldn’t be together on Christmas Day anyway and the cousins will simply celebrate this year with the annual gingerbread house building and a fabulous playtime at Grandmas. This one was hardest on my Mom, but my kids took it really well. Savings: $100
#5 I crossed 5 budgeted gifts off our Coffman list by planning to sew the items from stash materials and they are going to be the BEST ever! Savings: $100
#6 Instead of going to Chucky Cheese tonight for Caleb’s birthday the family agreed to go to Striker’s $1 night bowling. For which we had a $25 gift card for admission and each child had a $2 gift card for the arcade. (The arcade was surprisingly expensive with games costing between $.75 and $3. Our $2 cards weren’t going to go very far. But an older man came up to me and asked if I was the mother of all these—motioning around with his hand. I said I was, and he handed me a gift card. After he left, I swiped it on the machine to check the balance and it had $52 on it!!! I cried, literally. It was like God looked down from heaven and said, “I see you.”
Official Savings $50 (We ended up buying pizza for $25. I goofed and thought they had $1 hot dogs there, but that was the other bowling alley.)
#7 Exclusively go back to cloth wipes instead of toilet paper (I have been buying more paper since we moved but time to buckle down.) This will save $20 every other month. Or $4o over 4 months. Or $120 for the year
#8 Drop my grocery budget by $100 which will pull us back to the $400 per month ($50 per person) budget. Pinch! This will be hard as I’ve gotten used to my extra $100….but doable. Official Savings: $400.
#9 Adjust the clothing budget. I’ve worked hard to get Darren to raise it up to around $100 a month for all 8 of us. If I can do without for 4 months, that would save us $400. Several of the boys need shoes. But I can make up their other needs in creative ways.
So That’s where I am. That saved us $1,005. Only $18,995 to go. Do you have any more ideas for me?
(We will be ok and my sister and 3 friends already brought over casseroles.)
A very timely post. Blessings to your family during this journey.
Have you shopped aroubd for other quotes? We had thiteen piers put in for seven grand. 20 k seems excessive. You could do the landscaping yourself or find cheaper alternatives of landscaping labor.
Veronica, This wasn’t a quote yet. We hired an independent engineer to tell us what was wrong structurally, so when we went to get quotes we could be sure that they weren’t taking us for a ride. He isn’t affiliated with any companies that can do this type of work, yay! He just told us that each pier would run between $1,000 and $1,200. We are doing our own landscaping, but need to hire gutters. And the piers don’t include the deck work. So $20,000 would be lucky if it only costs that much. We’ll find out soon….
Oh I just love your posts. Never giving up, allways finding a solution in spite of so much bad luck. You’re such an inspiration to me when I’m about to give up.
Just wanted to let you know that 🙂
You are awesome. Your attitude is amazing. I say this as I have been in a puddle of weepiness over our own budget this morning (my husband was unemployed all summer. he is working again, but catching up has been brutal). I subscribe to your menus, but I think you should use this opportunity to develop an “emergency meal plan” for those that really need to tighten up for a few weeks or months. I would even pay something for that! lol…
LOVE your gift card story! Moments like that are amazing. I suggest you call a foundation company. We needed 12 piers in our last house, including two that required jackhammering and repairing concrete. The whole front of our house was cracking off, damaging windows, bricks, and mortar. We initially thought or cost would be over $20,000, but we called a couple of reputable companies, and our work with a lifetime transferable warranty came in slightly over $5,000. In the end, the home builder paid for that since our house was less than ten years old. We weren’t the original owners, but the foundation was still paid for. Worked out better than in could have ever hoped.
Yes, lots of blessings Angela. I know you will work hard to make it happen and that The Lord will bless your family and home. Anything to sell? I have often wanted to give your books as gifts. Can you package them to sell for Christmas?
Jaclyn Enderle That’s a good idea. I’d need to look into affordable print on demand options and make some revisions. Wish there were 48 hours in a day, or that I could just freeze time until I got everything done, lol.
What about putting it on a CD with a pretty sticker cover? Or giving people the option to email it to a friend?
And you will get it all done – you always do 🙂
Well, you have been here before and with your drive have always come out the other side. I am sure you will again, especially with all the goodwill you have garnered in your family and community. I know to my cost that life can get in the way of the best laid plans! As you have said you still have a lot to be thankful for.
One thing has always puzzled me, do you factor in the cost of washing the cloth wipes? There is the soap, the electricity used etc.
Good luck and positive thoughts.
I wonder if everyone who subscribes could go another 50 cents a month or maybe even $1.00 Depending on how many subscribers you have you may be able to add it to your repairs budget and cut the time it takes.
I want to say first, you’ve brought me to tears. You are finding a humorous way of dealing with uphill battles, which I do the same. I always say, it could be worse. The good news is, you know ways to save, but if you are already doing a lot to save I’m not sure I can assist. From what I have seen you already do a lot of what I do, but let ,me check. Make your own detergent, cleaners, make everything scratch. No eating out, bake your own bread, buy from thrift stores, pay everything so no late charges, rent books and movies from library. Check car insurance to see if you can get lower quote. If you bundle auto home etc. Most companies give you lower rate. Make and take lunches. Ride bike to close places instead of driving. These are just a few. It’s too early to come up with more right now.
Jaclyn, those are good ideas!
Have you shopped around for home and auto insurance lately? I just switched from The Hartford to Metlife. My husband works for the school board and will now have our auto and home insurance taken out of his check. We are saving over $100 a month doing this. Even if you have low car insurance you can call and see if the offer any online safety classes. The one my husband and I will take later cost $20 each but will save $150 a year off insurance. You get credit for the class for three years. $150 x 3 – $40 (cost of two classes) = $410.
Can you bike or walk the places you need to go? Saving on gas.
Could you hire yourself out as a finance guru to others? One on one personal help from Angela at grocery shrink to guide you through Grocery shrinking.
Make a grocery shrink app and sell it.
big.deep.breath….we are overwhelmed with insane medical costs for a special needs child. And there are still the day to day needs of the rest of our family(four kiddos total). So, different type of expenses, but still very real needs for our family and definitely need smart penny pinching just like you guys. Some ideas we have been doing: ditch paper products every where you can(seriously, our great grandmothers would laugh at the disposible items that are so commonplace in modern homes), potty train(easier said than done here but we are almost there with our youngest-take another big deep breath here too!), as much family time at home without spending gas adds up over time, we are blessed with a great library system here(I can reserve books, audio books, movies,etc online), make those Christmas gifts(pretty sure your sewing machine is buzzing already judging by the cute items you’ve given tutorials on here), turn the thermostat down and add more layers(easier for the adults than the kiddos here), homemade everything(you’re probably already doing this but something we didn’t start until a few years ago) . Most of all,THIS IS JUST A SEASON and potentially a real blessing to know these things now rather than find out years down the line when the damage could be devastating. Make yourself a goal chart so you ALL can see how little sacrifices here and there add up quickly-it makes it so much more motivating to see your hard work and efforts are getting some where—-don’t forget EARLY spring time landscaping costs are way cheaper most places and doing the work yourself really does save tons of money. And pat yourself on the back for a willingness to be a good steward with your money and a great godly example for your children.
Buy at garage sales (thrift stores are actually even cheaper – think Salvation Army and Goodwill) – and sell on Craigslist…
Chairs and desks can easily be found for under $10. They can always be sold for a mimimum of $40. Also, plenty of furniture pieces are given away for free on Craigslist, although the ad doesn’t suggest a free price.
Another thought – although you are more than willing to donate, sell your own stuff on Craigslist for the time being!
Have your older children set up the ads! It is a good experience, and they have a sense of ownership on the sale.
Take Care.
Great tips. Usually we do exchange gifts, but we cancelled it last year. So my brother-in-law just give gifts to our daughter (godchild) then we just eat dinner.
My husband rides his bike to work, since we are a one car family. Idk how far your husband has to drive though.
That one week fiscal fast might save some money!
Have your kids bundle kindling and sell it to towns people/church members. They can also collect pine cones and scent them w cinnamon extract/oil to sell around the holidays. They can also make swags and wreaths with fallen evergreen branches and juniper clippings, to sell. The students from my daughter’s school do this as an annual fundraiser since the school does not receive tax dollars.
If you mow your lawn w a gas mower, you could sell the mower and use a traditional push grass cutter. That saves on gasoline and or electricity.
Idk where you live, but one can also barter to shovel neighbor’s driveways for useful services/goods to save.
I purchase or make gifts through out year instead of relying on sales during months of nov and December. I often forget what the children are getting, so we are both surprised! Ha!
I workout at home and utilize free video workouts through bodyrock.tv. Lots of money saved there!
Maybe one of these ideas can help you?
Can you tell me though, what made you decide you needed to have someone look at the foundation? I ask, because I wonder if someone should look at ours. I keep pushing it off though, like a dentist apt that might ought to be made.
Melissa, Thanks for all your frugal tips! I’m glad you found the post about the foundation. Hope your house is ok.
I just readin one of your other blog posts, why you had to have your foundation looked at. Gotcha, chicadee!
Have you ever tried to make your own Greek yogurt? I like this version.http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/10/foolproof-crockpot-greek-yogurt-and-i-mean-foolproof.html
Also through a separate search I found that if the milk went sour in the fridge, got outdated before we could use it all then it also could be made into yogurt. Regular or Greek!
Yes, Sharon, thanks for the reminder. I had stopped when we removed our kitchen, just to simplify, and because my crock pot was our main cooking utensil so couldn’t have it tied up in yogurt. I wrote a post about it somewhere…oh here it is. http://groceryshrink.com/2011/09/slow-cooker-greek-yogurt.html