Cheap, cheap

The other day as I was heading out, I got in the car and reached for the garage door opener. I almost got back out of the car to open the door using the button on the wall. Why? To save the cost of a new battery. Yeah, I can be very frugal at times. Then again, I don't have to go to the store to buy electricity, so it's also a time saver, right?

I know we all have things we do to save ourselves money. Some are very practical, some are downright silly. I don't keep pantyhose if they have a run in them. I know many women will keep them to wear with slacks. I get all my books now from the library. I think of the library as mine, and they store my books for me. I just ask, and they give me whatever I want. However, when I eat out, I tend to tip 25-50%. Go figure. I have left a $2 tip for a $3 snack. Some people do carryout so they don't need to leave a tip.

My old house isn't sold. I wouldn't say it's likely to sell soon in this market. Michigan is having a one-state recession, and our housing market is way down in the toilet. The auto industry paid thousands of people to retire early, some barely 40 years old, if that. They received enough to take their education and experience and move out of state. This is not a good indicator for us who are still here.

As a result, I am forced to spend carefully. Maintaining the old house along with it's new mortgage is a major strain on a pension. Let's say my expenses now are double my income. However, I need some things for the condo. I can deal with delayed gratification, but some things need to be done.

I mean, how long can a girl go without towel bars and toilet paper holders? I had to buy those. I needed a programmable thermostat, which luckily I had bought in advance, along with the bathroom medicine cabinets. Blinds.

Oh yeah, blinds. My condo has a lot of windows. Even the laundry room has a nice window. The bedroom and the kitchen both have nice sized bay windows. I stay up late at night, with lights on. That leaves me running through the house in the dark once I dress for bed. I can't change my sheets after dark unless I want to share the experience with my neighbors.

The other beagle lady here who I have made friends with told me a few weeks ago that another neighbor is getting Pella windows with the blinds built in. They wanted to sell their blinds, which were like brand new. They only had them up a few months. All custom fit. Hmmm.

Linda thought of me right away, and I decided it would probably be a good idea. They sold them to me for less then a third of what they paid. I then felt justified to pay a professional to install them, since my shoulder is still in bad shape. He needs different brackets for the bay windows, but the others are all up. They are just white verticals, but I am not complaining. No way would I have gone out at this point and spent several thousand dollars on custom sized blinds for my entire condo at once.

Perhaps if I waited a little longer, the neighbors would have taken up a collection for me to improve their view.

       ps - if you are in a drought area, grab a bucket and hurry up here!