Someday A Goat

Finally received our state tax refund

We just received our state tax refund in mid-July. Since we had paid one quarter's estimated taxes last year, which turned out to be unnecessary, it was quite substantial -- $1,120. I had many plans for that money. I'd been making lists ever since we received the return from the accountant. Big chunks to the credit cards, big chunks to savings, lots of little necessary chunks for various household projects.

Once the check was deposited, I felt like we had a little breathing room. For about 2 days. Then I started to panic that we would just spend it all, as we always do when we get a windfall amount like this. So I hit my list of plans for the money and got busy prioritizing and transferring to savings.

Where it went and will it stay there?

Budgeting is always about priorities, and planning ahead means that priorities are much more likely to be met. We mainly focused on sending some money to the credit cards, and taking care of a lot of little things.

Debt: Just over $300 went to the cards. The stupid tax lives on.

Garden: We desperately needed some weed-killer for the lawn, which was pretty and green when we bought the house and has been devolving ever since. We also set aside funds in the garden ING account for future expenditures: lawnmower service, mulch, whatever comes up this fall.

House: The garbage disposal has been leaking badly. We priced them a few months ago, and decided that the bowl catching the leak was a better solution than a cheap replacement. We've set aside $150 to offset the cost and now need to start researching models and how to replace the unit. We also set aside $125 toward an eventual guest half-bath remodel. Initially, we were going to do the whole project with the refund, but decided that there were more pressing matters. I'm still on the fence as to whether this was a good choice, I may transfer it to another priority as nothing in the bathroom is actually broken. It's just depressingly ugly.

Misc.: My passport expired in May and we have family out of the country, including a grandmother. Renewing the passport was a must for this refund. My car hasn't been washed since August 2007, so it's getting detailed. The E Fund contribution was reduced to $10 from $100, which was sad.

Fun: We rarely eat a dinner out that costs more than $30 or $35 on the high end for the two of us. As in we've been eating Chick-fil-A and the like way more often than spending on eating out like we used to, although most dinners have been cooked by my husband in the past year. So we went to one of our favorite restaurants and splurged on a $55 meal, which included a big tip. Another $50 went to a bachelor party, and $50 saved toward our trip to Napa for a wedding.

What didn't make the priority cut

What I thought was a ton of money didn't go very far, and I had to cut some low-priority expenditures. The good thing about planning is that I didn't end up spending the money on the below items only to end up not having the money for things like a stinky, leaky garbage disposal that's older than some of my coworkers.

• Health club dues -- if we were serious about working out, we'd go on a walk, use our on-demand fitness options on the TV or play tennis at nearby courts.
• New deck fund -- our deck needs to be replaced, probably next summer. I only wanted to put $10 toward starting a fund, but couldn't make it work.
• Tree service -- a couple smaller dead trees in our yard need to be removed. Since it's unlikely that anything would be harmed if they fell, this came off the list.
• Pest control -- we have a termite bond that requires an annual payment, but I wanted to start quarterly pest control inside service. We didn't have a lot of bugs inside this year, so it went on the back burner.
• Cats -- I had planned on taking the cats in for an annual checkup, but it's going to have to wait a little while until we can pay for it out of a paycheck.

Jeremy at Generation X Finance posted today about starting small when it comes to building savings, and that's exactly what we've been doing for the past year. A lot of our little allocations won't be spent right away, they're sitting in category-specific ING accounts until we need the money. It may be only $10 going to the E Fund when we're able, but it's something and each time I'm able to transfer that money, I feel a little bit encouraged that we can really do this.

Obamas plant first White House garden since Eleanor Roosevelt

We've been spending some time this week working on our garden/landscape plan for this summer, and already have started seeds for a few veggie varieties. I'm further behind than I would like to be, but an article in The New York Times gave me a nice little nudge of motivation.

The Obamas have started the first vegetable garden at the White House since the days of Eleanor Roosevelt and her victory garden. All sorts of wonderful in the article, including Michelle Obama talking about dividing garden weeding duties among their family members.

Making fresh flowers last as long as resolutions

We hosted our first formal holiday dinner over Christmas, and it turned out just lovely. We really enjoy entertaining, and I have a tendency to make too grand of plans, so we've scaled back in quantity to account for my insanity.

Entertaining has a definite learning curve, and you only get better with experience. I think back to some of the first showers that I hosted, shake my head and smile. In the past year, we hosted quite a bit less, which allowed me to not make myself crazy on a regular basis. And really let the cleaning of the house go. Which meant that the week leading up to the holiday was a frenzy of cleaning and we were still preparing the table and food when the guests started arriving.

The evening was wonderful, though. I made a last minute splurge on four bunches of fresh flowers the day of dinner (I had stupidly forgot to buy any white wine--we had plenty of red, but no white, which is what I drink when feeling fancy). I love having fresh flowers when guests are planned, and arranging flowers really soothes me. It hasn't been in the budget for a long time, though. I'm glad I splurged, the flowers have lasted quite a while. Right after the new year, I re-arranged the vases, and they're about due for another rearrangement. They may actually last longer than most people's New Year's resolutions (I'll be posting my resolutions later today--only 6 days late!).

Entertaining tips
Be prepared -- any good girl scout should be, but know at least two days in advance what food will be served, and who will be drinking what. For a big dinner like this, my husband and I detail exactly what we need to cook, and go to the grocery store as early as possible. We also figure out a rough schedule of what gets cooked when so that everything is hot and ready at the same time.
Start early -- china, crystal, linens and silver should all be ready to go the day before. Trust me. Even if you're insane and have two cats, follow this advice. Otherwise your in-laws will arrive with the table half-set.

Arranging flowers

• A wonderful Southern woman once told me that a butterfly should be able to flit through the flowers of an arrangement--it should not be too crowded. Depending on the type of arrangement, I always remember this. I do have limited vases, so like any rule I ignore it from time to time.

• Use different types of flowers, but find balance. I used three colors for the Christmas arrangement, but two of them were mums of different sizes, so it didn't look all over the place.

• Unexpected surprises, like green mums on long stems, can catch the eye.

• Don't get stuck when re-arranging. Just because you started with one arrangement doesn't mean that you have to stick to it. Once the water gets a little cloudy, rinse and trim all stem ends, fill vases with fresh water and flower food (sometimes I add a little sugar if I don't have flower food), rearrange, and voila -- fresh flowers for at least a week more! My original arrangements each used all three colors (red, green and white) because it was Christmas. When I redid the vases, I kept one multicolored (below), a small square vase with just green and white for the kitchen table (above), and a set of three bud vases with just red. Another bud vase has a few green and white blooms. My next rearrangement will be more limited by the quality and size of blooms left.

• Enjoy the splurge!

Freshly rearranged flowers from New Year's Day, along with some Canadian maple syrup -- a holiday present from my husband's family up north.

No longer dreading the leaves of fall

 
So far, the leaf blower looks like it will be worth its weight in gold, it only took us 2 hours this past weekend to pick up the first batch of leaves, where last season it took 8 hours. Maybe 10 percent of leaves have fallen, but autumn has returned as my favorite season.