Am I just imagining things, or could The Law of Attraction be at work?

So I've been missing in action for the last few days because right after Day 9's Abundance Exercise Mr. A told his air conditioning contact that he also does sheet metal. His air conditioning contact coincidentally had just been approached to do a job which needed some ductwork built. A fairly big job.

In order to fabricate the items needed, Mr. A needed some heavy machinery. We started looking on Craigslist and found some used equipment. But when I tried to research them on the Internet I had a very hard time finding any mention of either of the brands at which we were looking. What little I did find was complaints about the poor quality of the tool. The ones we were looking at were running $600 used. So Mr. A checked with a company that sells sheet metal machinery and found that a brand new Tennsmith 4 foot finger brake was available for $1000. I looked to the Internet to research this name brand and discovered it is well known and the tool is made in the USA. The company is family owned and has been in business making “tinsmithing” or “tinbending” tools since 1928.

So… we decided to go ahead and take a leap of faith. Mr. A had enough money in his business account to purchase this item, but we had to move some money over from our savings (for upcoming bills) to buy the materials needed for the job. So on Tuesday he brought home his brand new brake.

In calling around looking for a brake, he found a place that was selling a used 52″ Ropner Whitney stomp shear. Another huge piece of machinery which cuts the metal. This saves wear and tear on the hands and wrists (imagine cutting thick gauge metal with large scissors) and saves time and wasted material. With a shear, you can cut metal faster, and with precision. This item retails for over $3000 brand new. It was on sale for $1450.

We decided to use our business line of credit, which so far we have not touched. However, the company selling the shear doesn't take credit cards! So I had Mr. A cash our stimulus check and withdraw $250 cash from our household checking account.

This tool is larger and significantly heavier than the brake. It weighs in at 1100 pounds. The company loaded it onto the back of our Ford F150 and then we had to figure a way to get it off the truck and onto the ground. We ended up calling a towing company and having them bring out a wrecker. That was another $75.

I have been thinking about Mr. A having his own sheet metal business for several months. I have been thinking if it is as lucrative a business as we think it will be, it would be a lot easier than the handyman business. One of the main things is because Mr. A would be focusing on one job. The handyman business has been going pretty good, but there are so many different tools needed for so many different jobs. You can't just load your truck with every single tool you own. And we can't just load up our truck with all the tools and leave them in the truck anyway, since we haul our own water. So at least once a week we have to empty the bed of the truck out so we can put the 500 gallon water tank in and haul our water.

The other nice thing is there is a group of businesses to focus on. There are no other sheet metal businesses in our little town, and the nearest shop is 25 miles away. There are however, a lot of air conditioning businesses in our town, and in the nearest town. All of these companies need sheet metal products on a regular basis, and often they need a custom built piece.

When I mention to people that Mr. A has this new sideline, they wonder what kind of demand is there for items made of sheet metal? Well, first off, being that we live in the desert there is a need for duct work made from sheet metal. And Mr. A specializes in custom sheet metal, so he can build more than just duct work. His specialty is sign cabinets.

Mr. A asked me what I thought Dave Ramsey would say to us. He said he thought Mr. Ramsey would say we have no business going into debt to buy this machinery. He might suggest that Mr. A find a job working for a company that does sheet metal and get hired there. But I told Mr. A I have often heard it takes money to make money, and $1450 isn't that much. I think sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. As a worker for a company, Mr. A could command probably $20 an hour. Granted it would be steady income, but running his own company, with little overhead at this point in time, he can command much more than that. So Mr. A's business has now gone into debt by $1450. I know it will take a little time to get things going, so we may have to also incur some personal debt while this new line is getting started. It is definitely going to take some serious juggling, and minimum credit card payments to make this work.

So did the 30 Day Abundance Project help to precipitate this week's events? Is it a combination? After all, Mr. A and I have discussed opening a sheet metal shop in the past few months. Did planning to buy the equipment on Day 9 open my mind to actually being able to go ahead and do it? Mr. A would not have done it on his own, without my full approval. And I'm normally not so easy to persuade – I tend to take the steady and safe route. Mr. A is more of a risk taker and I have learned in the years we've been together that his instincts are good. So sometimes I have to just close my eyes, hold his hand tightly and jump with him. I do feel good about this new sideline of Mr. A's. I have ordered business cards and Mr. A is making cold calls in person and by telephone. We're also looking at advertising opportunities.

So maybe the 30 Day Abundance Exercise is worth the effort.

I'm going to follow Counting My Pennies example on the 30 Day Abundance Exercise and just post my spending spree at the end of my posts.

I'm behind, but I'm just going to continue on. Today is Day 10. I'm at $51,200.

I have a few piecemeal items for today.

1. Car seat covers for my Pathfinder $104
2. Power Antenna replaced $30
3. New stove, the kind with the flat surface. I'll take one of the most expensive ones I can find, the Stainless Steel GE Profile 30 in. Electric Self-Clean Freestanding Convection Range. $2200
4. Let's see, maybe a new Stainless Steel refrigerator, too. I'll take this one: Stainless Steel Kenmore PRO 26 cu. ft. Standard Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator. $2500.

Okay, this is getting way too difficult so I've recruited the help of my 18 year old spendthrift son. This is too easy for him!

5. A new chain link fence around the perimeter of our yard (to replace the current fence). $15,000.
6. Hardwood flooring installed in the entire house. $2200 installation. $5500 for the flooring.
7. Fifty Amazon Kindles to give out as Christmas presents and a few to keep. $17,950, plus fifty $100 gift cards to Amazon so they can buy books to read on the Kindle, or subscribe to blogs or newspapers, etc. $5000 for the gift cards.
8. $716.00 left. Our water hauling tank is 6 years old, we could stand to buy a new one.

Gratitude: I'm grateful that I have two wonderful sons that I'm very proud of. I'm grateful for the monsoon time of year.

This is a 30 Day Abundance Exercise that Millionaire Mommy started. If you would like to join in, just start today. There are only a couple of rules. You can't buy duplicate items, and you double the money every day, starting with $100 on the first day.

If you are visiting from Carnival of Money Stories, Edition #68, welcome to Out of Debt Again! Thank you Funny About Money for the hard work of hosting this event, and including my post!