Brick Home by Flickrite Paper Cat

One Less Person at Home – Will Expenses Go Down?

Just Stuff
Last Tuesday our youngest child moved out on his own.  He went apartment hunting the previous week, fell in love with the first place he looked at and put down a deposit. He's been talking about moving out every now and then for the past 2 years.  He would sit down, calculate a budget and decide that it was more economical to live at home.  This was fine with Mr. Accountability and myself.  We both had troubled childhoods and leaving… Read the rest
Mrs. Accountability Driving a Chevy Cruze

I Felt Embarrassed to Be Driving a Brand New Car

automobiles
It's started in earnest. UPDATE: Actually we think it may be sabotage. The car trouble which seems to come in cycles for old vehicles.  Aside from my Pathfinder catching on fire last year, we actually had a pretty long stretch of time where we haven't had to do any major repairs.  Thank goodness since we haven't had the extra money to put toward auto repairs.  I'm always waiting for this other shoe to drop and I hate the thought of… Read the rest
No More Spam

How I Cut My Spam Down to Almost None

Tech Stuff
It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago, by a friend of mine who is new to blogging, that Akismet is now charging for their product.   My friend had asked what I was doing to combat spam as her blog had recently been found by the spambots and she was being eaten alive.  I suggested Akismet, since it had been working well for me.  She wrote back and explained that she wasn't quite ready to start spending money… Read the rest

Utility Bill Payment on a Budget Plan – Calculate Your Own

electricity
Most utility companies have budget plans in place for those of us who would like to pay the same amount each month, year round.  For my entire adult life I've allowed the utility company to manage this for me using their budget payment plan, but a couple of years ago we were switched to a different company out in the rural area where we live and I decided to start managing this myself. In fact, I believe it was a… Read the rest