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Apr 1, 2010    |       13 comments

Learning to Barter…

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Over the weekend, my husband was reburying some electrical lines because they were dangerously close to the surface when he stumbled across a mysterious concrete pad in the middle of our backyard. Rather than recover the pad with dirt and walk away, he wanted to jackhammer it out.

Heaven forbid a concrete pad dare to exist two inches under the dirt in our yard.

‘Hey hon, I’d like to rent a jackhammer to take out that pad’ he said over dinner on Sunday. He went on to explain that it would be difficult to always try to remember where it was and it would instantly kill his mechanical gardening tools. All I count think was… we don’t have enough long term disability or life insurance.

‘Sweetheart, it’s not in our budget and it’s not a necessity. Could it wait until next year?’ I asked.

He dejectedly nodded yes as if I had taken his ‘man card’.

If there is one thing I’ve discovered since we made the choice to live without debt, it’s this… you will learn to get creative.

Last evening, my husband showed up with a free borrowed jackhammer. He has become a master at bartering. It seems like each time I say no, he seems to figure out a way to make things happen.

What was your best barter? And has your decision to rid yourself of debt made you barter more?

Mar 30, 2010    |       18 comments

Computer Help…

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Saturday morning, I woke up and tried to click on my favorite internet news site.

‘YOUR COMPUTER HAS LOST CONNECTION WITH THE INTERNET’ blared across my screen.

A five minute phone call to my internet provider later, I discovered my wireless router had died. Sure, my router is older than most sixth graders but I had hoped it would hang on until I was debt free – such a selfish router not to consider my finances before dying. But alas, in government terms, the router has ‘reached the end of its useful life’.

So, I did what I do best when it comes to broken things in my home, I kept my mouth shut and hoped no one would notice. In a crunch, I could bike to our local library to write the blog.

Thirty seconds after I made my decision to hide it, my brother shouted, ‘The internet is down! Do you want me to call the cable company? I’ve got a report to write for work.’

Darn.

I dragged my desktop computer halfway into the hallway and the Ethernet cable the other half distance to serve as a makeshift internet station. My brother isn’t necessarily pleased since he usually surfs the internet from the comfort of his room and given the fact that he pays half the bill, I need to fix it.

I am writing this blog from the ‘comfort’ of my makeshift internet station with my body jimmied between the hallway, the office, and the bathroom. I’ve tripped my husband 14 times and I have a nasty bruise on my leg. My brother keeps asking when I’m getting off the computer so he can write his work report. For my sanity and the sanity of those I live with…

Where is the best (code word – CHEAPEST) place to get a router?

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