Blogging Away Debt

There was a Mom Meltdown this week. It was a particularly stressful week at work and Steve was out of town on business for part of the week and the last full week of school piled on lots of extra to-do’s…and then last night it happened.

I like to think I keep a pretty good handle on all of the laundry that we create as a large family. I have a system and it seems to work…keeps things moving and we aren’t facing “Mount Washmore” on the weekends. But even with a system that the kids are good about following…we have no control over towel use! I know, I know…this should be so simple! Make a 3 day or 5 day or one week use rule, assign a color to each child, provide an easy to use place in the bathroom for them to hang a towel…etc. For whatever reason, this towel issue is something we just can’t get!

On Wednesday night of this week I washed towels and put them in the bathroom cabinet. Less than 24 hours later, I hear a DS ask for towels right before he took his shower. There were at least 5 clean towels in that cabinet! Where did they go?! It didn’t take long to realize they had all been used! And then it didn’t take much longer for this to really upset me! After a short meltdown that admittedly became somewhat comical (don’t worry…no one laughed at that time…but later we ALL did!) we’ve formulated a towel management plan.

During our post-meltdown chat, it was reported that I said at one point “if you don’t stop using a towel per shower…pause…pause….there will be NO towels in this house!” Oh and maybe at some point I said that I better not see another “save the environment” poster since they are not thinking about the environment when they use so many towels!!! Hey at least we are laughing I guess…because that does sound pretty ridiculous! I am thankful that the kids and I can crack up when the time is right…and then get serious about tackling the issue! That is a gift.

Now if we could just make all the socks that enter the washer later exit the dryer…we’d be set!

Doing the right thing…

by Claire

I’ve posted in the past on the idea of negotiating and am getting more comfortable with the idea of “everything is negotiable…you just have to ask” but I have a long way to go. Earlier this week, hubby showed me that even as a master negotiator he will also do the right thing.

His Honda Civic was due for its regular maintenance. He did a great job of researching what to expect and paid attention. We use a repair shop that is owned by a Honda trained mechanic with prices at a fraction of what a dealer would charge. This is a no frills, small operation….as car repair places should be in my opinion. Out of curiousity and to get himself informed (this is the first maintenance since we’ve had the vehicle although it did have 35,000 miles on it when we purchased it) he called the dealer to discuss what would be done. Of course, their estimate was off the charts but it was how they delivered the info that was most striking. The man on the phone would only discuss what was recommended almost as though everything that Honda “marks” as “necessary” was MANDATORY. I know those guys get financial perks for upselling maintenance on the cars but it is still offensive.

Next Steve called the small Honda shop and received clear information and a fair estimate. We really like these guys and it is refreshing to feel comfortable with car repair folks. That said, there was still what amounts to a miscommunication of some sort because when Steve went to pay for the repair, he was charged for a tire rotation that he did not approve. The repair shop handled their error well and offered to waive the fees—but due to the good relationship and the fact that Steve knew we would need the tire rotation in the very near future, he offered to pay half of the tire rotation. This impressed me because I think when you are in this major debt reduction mode you can sometimes fall victim to “take what you can get for free and run” but ultimately that is not the right thing to do. Knowing we needed the service and that this is a small (new) operation– I think Steve made the right quick decision and thought about the future relationship and likely saved us money down the road by doing the right thing. That is the kind of stuff that “pay it forward” is made of!

Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

Towels!

Doing the right thing…