I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!Today I added $116 to the Emergency Fund. I added it to the ING portion and not the Safety Net portion. I have now met my August goal of $2000 in the EF by the end of the month.
$1884.96 Total EF
+_116.00 Amount Added
__________
$2000.96 Total EF
I added $5 in ones to the coin jar today. That is what I had left from my Fair budget. DH still has some money left from it, too, but I didn't get it before he headed out to the house today to do some yard work.
I put $1600 in the holding tank for the bills that come due in the first two weeks of September (it's a few dollars more than needed, but thought a cushion was a good idea0 and transferred the medical money (or $1750 of it) into regular savings that will go into the HSA as soon as we open it on Monday.
I just need to pay the water bill and take care of the allowances and DH's birthday money and then set aside a bit for groceries and some for physical therapy (I paid the chiropractor already $215) and then I will know how much extra I can send to debt repayment.
The HoA got really snippy and sent out a note that basically said I know you are dealing with ongoing medical problems, and we don't want to make things worse, but get your butt out here and mow your lawn. Yes, HoA, I love you, too. I know they have a point since it has been seven weeks, but they knew we were going to not be able to go out there for a while (and one of the neighbors had volunteered to mow it at least once every two weeks, but apparently didn't) and this is the first weekend since DH got home so we were planning to go out there anyway. Or at least he was.
One of the neighbors complained and I am sure I know which one, too, he is such a busy body and always has been. Of course he also lets his dog run wild and doesn't clean up after her when he takes her for walks, but since he has always been on the board complaining about it never helped anyone. (He does keep his lawn impeccably mowed). The thing is, 90 percent of the people out there do not mow their lawns during the summer. And 50% of the people out there do not pay their dues. We have always paid our dues on time and they waited to send out their note until after we had paid them (so it couldn't have been that urgent).
When I was healthy, of course I would keep it mowed, but they knew I was having surgery and they knew DH wouldn't be able to leave me right after and that he also would be gone an additonal 3 weeks in Alaska, and they said it was okay. Guess it was only okay until someone whined about it. I swear we will never own a home in an HoA again. I still remember when they got after a cancer patient who was undergoing chemo for not keeping her lawn mowed. Sometimes I really dislike the people on the board. They irritate the "heck" out of me.
At least DH will be able to go out every Saturday for a couple weeks and then I should be strong enough to mow the lawn again and it will be September so the grass will start going into its dormant cycle by the end of the month probably unless we have an Indian Summer. I have a little push mower that is very light that I can use once the tall grass has been chopped and it won't hurt to push around at all. Or if it does, it's light enough for the kids to use.
August EF Goal Met, HoA "Stuff" to Deal With
August 20th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
August 20th, 2011 at 11:54 pm 1313884459
August 21st, 2011 at 12:47 am 1313887627
August 21st, 2011 at 01:02 am 1313888570
August 21st, 2011 at 01:49 am 1313891340
August 21st, 2011 at 01:54 am 1313891664
I'd hire someone to mow the lawn before I let the HOA fine me. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this while you are trying to recover.
My first home (bought with ex-husband) had an HOA. One year we had a nice wooden sign made to hang on our front porch. It read "The Smith Family" and was very tasteful. We received a note saying it violated the rules and we had to take it down. Now, this ticked me off to no end because there were several homes with signs. I hauled out my CC & Rs to confirm what I suspected. The only rule regarding signs stated "No advertising signs or billboards." I wrote back, cited this rule, and stated that we liked our sign, it wasn't violating any rules, and we were leaving it where it was. A few weeks later, we received another letter. They agreed that our sign had not been in violation. They informed us they had had a special session and there was a new rule "No signs containing your name." I was royally ticked. I said to now ex-h, "I am going to get a sign reading 'The Jones Family' and hang that!" (Not our name, so not a violation, right?
Bleah!