We made a “fun” discovery this winter when it rained pretty heavily: we had a leak somewhere in the roof. I had a roofer come out and he determined that it was the attic window that was cracked and the caulking around the window needed to be redone. He said he could replace the plexiglass window for me for $75, or we could go to the hardware store and ask them to cut a piece of plexiglass and then install it ourselves. I told him we’d do that. Over a month later it’s still not done. Big surprise. What happened was we started debating whether or not to just go ahead and replace that window with a real window that slides shut so that it’s stronger and more energy efficient. That led to the fact that we have one more attic window that could stand to be replaced, as well as three windows on one part of the house that need to be replaced eventually as well. Of course I’m debating whether or not we just replace the attic windows [...]

The other day Mr. Money went to Costco to pick up some things for us.  He bought eggs, dog food, organic butter, and toilet paper.  When he was on his way home he gave me a call to tell me the total so I could update our check book register.  He then proceeded to tell me how he saved us money on toilet paper because he bought a cheaper brand.  I hesitated for a minute, but let him finish on all the good things that the toilet paper boasted: -Paper individual wrapper (versus the Kirkland brand that has plastic wrap around each roll apparently) -Cheaper per square foot -More toilet paper in each individual roll I decided that if he was that proud of himself for saving money and figuring out the cost per square foot, then who was I to criticize him?  I told myself I would give it a try.  Surely it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would be. Wrong. I started a new roll the other day and had convinced myself that I had [...]

Last Monday my father had a hernia operation.  While the surgery itself went well, afterward he experienced some bleeding and developed a hematoma in the incision site.  He has a blood clotting disorder (Protein S deficiency) and is on Coumadin and other drugs that probably contributed to the hematoma.  Last night he had surgery to help drain the blood and get him back on the road to recovery.  The whole day yesterday I spent worried sick about my dad.  The thought of losing him just shattered me.  I would have given all the money I had just to make sure he would be okay. Money is worthless.  Money can’t keep us warm, it can’t buy love, we can’t eat it to keep us nourished, and sometimes it causes more problems than anything else.  I think about saving money for the future.  I struggle with thinking I don’t have enough money for everything I’ll need in life, and I need to realize that’s okay.  Life is a journey, not a destination.  Money will come and go. I read something the other [...]