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Aug 24, 2022    |      0 comments

Court Update

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For those of you who have been around BAD for a while, you will remember the legal challenges both Gymnast and I faced earlier this year. Gymnast’s were the result of his car wreck in early December and mine were the result of my night in jail or rather the administrative error that ended up with me in jail for 12 hours. At the time, I was stressing over the cost of lawyer representation. They had quoted $1,500 for my defense and $2,500 for my son’s defense or vice versa, I have blocked it all out now.

The Court Dates

In the end, I decided not to hire a lawyer for either of us. It was a calculated risk, I know. But in the end, it paid off. I won’t bore you with the details. But in the end, we each had to attend two different court dates.

Gymnast’ Outcome

For Gymnast, I came prepared with an assortment of recommendations, school reports and doctor’s notes. The first court date resulted in no action, just a date to come back. At the second court date, the judge and prosecutor decided on something akin to deferred adjudication except he didn’t have to plead guilty. I am not sure what it was called. If he stays out of trouble for the next year, the charges all just get dropped. Cost $0

My Outcome

My first court date was just a time to plead. I plead, not guilty, of course. And they scheduled a time for a hearing. At the second court date, the trooper did not show up so I was given the option of rescheduling to another time when the trooper could come in. Or the judge said he would dismiss the charges if I paid the court costs. No brainer for me as I just wanted it over! Cost $336

So I saved a ton of money in not paying for lawyers. Yes, I know it was a risk. But it did work out and every so slightly restored a little bit of faith in our system. (I still have PTSD-type gut reaction every time I see a police officer.) And my friends and family continue to ask if I will pursue some sort of action against the jail due to the violations I dealt me during my twelve hours there…no glasses, no medication, no hearing aids, no toilet access and so on. That night was terrifying for me.

I’m just so glad that it is all over and behind me. And that it didn’t cost any more than it did in time and money.

Aug 22, 2022    |      0 comments

Still looking for ways to save…

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Over the years, I’ve tried and written about lots of ways to at least attempt to save money.

And I’m still doing that. But frankly, with no more kids to really “care” for, my life is so different. There’s no more big meal preps, no more crazy full freezer and fridge. Food is something else I’ve written about a great deal:

Now I eat a lot of sandwiches, cereal, raw veggies and smoothies. I make batches of potato salad and chicken salad, buy fruit and cut it. Then I can just grab and eat for my lunches during work. Feeding one is very different then feeding 6 + an assortment of visitors at any given time.

But I am still finding and trying ways to save money. Here’s my current regime of saving measures:

  1. Homemade laundry detergent. The key to making this a savings is forcing “portion” control as my kiddos are still prone to using way to much per load.
  2. Homemade dog food. Once we converted from fostering to adopted dogs and added an assortment of dogs (they range from 3 lbs to 80 lbs and everything in between), the cost of dog food became a concern. I’m currently trying out a variety of homemade dog food options for both nutritional value and cost-effectiveness. (I’ve done this before, but kind of fell out of it. Now I have the time and inclination again.)

We continue to become more and more minimalist, especially with both girls moving out. Both Gymnast and I seem to be in sync with balancing how we spend our money in relation to needs and wants.

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