When the water heater breaks……..

That was our experience this past weekend at 11:30pm Saturday.  We were going to bed and for some unknown reason, my husband heads into the computer room.  He stepped on part of the carpet and noticed that it was wet.  He checked it out further and determined that the water heater was leaking.

When I got to the water heater, it was not like a leak.  The flow of water was more like a faucet that had been turned on gently to low flow. I frantically placed towels at the leaks, but the towels were wet in a matter of minutes.  

So after the clean up, Mike and I knew that most water heaters had a warranty of five years.  AND we were confident that we could replace this water heater with no out of pocket expense on our part. That ‘s because we haven’t had the water heater for more than five years.

Mike located the manufacturer on the internet.  He then plugged in the model number and serial number into the company’s website to see if the warranty was still good.  Well, we found out that the warranty on this particular model was only one year and it’s no longer good. 

So what I am trying to say is this…………do keep up with your warranties on your appliances. When something breaks down, do not automatically assume that YOU have to spend your money out of pocket for replacement. Call the manufacturer.  If you don’t have the phone number, google them on the internet. Also I have had to send in my product information in the past to the manufacturer, so that it would activate the warranty.  You will just have to check for yourself with any new appliances that you buy.

So for us, I guess we will double check by giving the manufacturer a call on Monday.  Who knows?  There may have been a recall on this particular model.

Charlotte

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When things get tough at work

It seems as if my employer continues to place more and more demands and responsibilities on my plate.  Today I was given yet one more responsibility and of course my attitude wasn’t one of joy and roses to say the least.

But when I talked about my situation to a couple of the older folks who grew up during the Great Depression or a generation after.  I got a perspective that was different than what I was thinking  and a perspective different from the folks in my generation.

This is what the older folks told me.  During hard economic times, employers will ask more and more of you.  They will also ask you to do harder things.  If the employer asks for you to do something, then you should do whatever they tell you to do.  You don’t want to lose your job. 

This advice is coming from individuals who know what it is like to not have money rolling in and who know what it is like to have to eat the same meal everyday for months.

And I didn’t get that much sympathy from them because they have had to “work” in the fields all day long.

Well I consider this good advice.  Though I don’t want to have to do extra.  I may have to put up because there are not that many jobs out there anyway.

Charlotte

Money Carnival

Our post on Expense Categories was included in the 29th Money Hack Carnival!!!.  Check out the list of all the articles from other financial blogs at

LivingAlmostLarge!

Giving

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. (KJV)

Friends, this life was meant to be lived through faith in the Son of God.  We live by faith and not by sight.  AND we have to walk in faith also with our financial decisions.

There are times when the Lord will prompt you to give and it doesn’t make sense.  BUT he will make the way or he will give the provision.  Just believe on HIM.

Giving is a true blessing.  I have received such a peace with giving.  I don’t really mean to indicate that giving is only in the form of giving your money.  It takes on many forms coming from a humble heart.

Sometimes it’s hard to know WHEN to give.  Pray about the opportunity that comes along.  Discuss with your spouse if you have one.  It’s important that you both have peace about the giving and you are both in agreement. 

Also ask the Lord for wisdom when it comes to giving.  There are so many opportunities out there, but again pray and seek God’s wisdom.

Charlotte

10 Things Learned About Money ARTICLE

I read a great article on Bible Money Matters blog a few days ago. 
Check it out:  10 Things I have learned about money!

Financial Picture Before Marriage – Part 2

Charlotte and I were discussing how each of us started out with debt in our marriages.  Part of my experience is the opposite of her and Mike.  My husband and I discussed finances early in our relationship.  At the time, my husband worked for a evangelism/discipleship ministry.  His supervisor was not only his spiritual mentor but also held him accountable on our relationship.   We benefited greatly from this man’s guidance and wisdom.  But one thing we chose to ignore was his advice to pay off debts before marrying.  I NOW understand why…marriage is hard enough without having to carry a HUGE burden of debt.  Couples should be concentrating on each other, not working overtime to pay debt off.  At the time, we had:

$8,000  Credit Card Debt (7 credit cards) combined
$12,000   Student Loan
$200  Car Payment
$300  Car Payment

Although we ignored our mentor’s advice to not wait on marriage, we did sit down beforehand and go over all the debts.  We set up a budget immediately and thus began my obsession with tracking expenses using Quicken (btw – this program has come a long way since 1996!)  We set up financial goals together and rarely argued over money.  My advice?  I think I would still warn couples to pay off debt before getting married.  The better your finances are starting out, the less baggage you carry into the marriage.  Whether you wait or not, I’m in agreement with Charlotte to discuss your financial situation as a couple before marriage.

Budget billing: it works for us

                             

We signed up for budget billing with our electric company a good number of years back and that is our sole experience with budget billing. 

I like it so much better this way because you are sent the same payment each month.  How does it work?  Well for us, the electric company sends us an averaged payment each month based on past bill amounts.  We know that our payment stays the same every month.  It’s the same during the summer months as it is during the winter months.

Now that being said.  That is not always the case.  If we go above our normal energy use for several months in a row, then somewhere down the road the electric company will charge us a higher payment.  That has happened before during the hottest months of the year and of course, our energy use climbed higher.  So then the electric company accounted for the energy use and thus, adjusted the payment to a slightly higher one.

I was able to get my averaged payment down once before.  I attempted to cut my energy bill by NOT using the dryer during the summer months.  I found out that I could save about twenty dollars a month on electricity by hanging my clothes outside to dry versus using the dryer.  So my average payment dropped considerably for so many months until I couldn’t keep up the effort.

Our payment for electricity this month is $98.00.  And it has been this amount for many months now. As you can see in the picture, that we actually used more energy this month.  In dollar terms, we went over the $98.00 budgeted bill amount.  So hopefully, we can get our energy use down so the payment will not increase. 

I am interested in hearing if anyone has been able to decrease their budgeted payment on electricity.  Tell us how you did it!! Or maybe you have experience with budget billing with a company other than an electric company. We would love to hear from you as well.

For more Frugal Friday tips, please visit Biblicalwomanhood.

Charlotte

Not knowing your financial picture before marriage

Well, let me tell you our story.

How naive we were to enter into marriage without discussing what our financial picture would look like in the coming months.  I really had no idea of the kind of debt or bills that Mike had.  And vice versa, he wasn’t real aware of the monthly payments on the bills that I had.

Yes, there was credit card and student loan debt, of which, I carried most of that debt. AND I was barely making ends meet before marriage.

Mind you, I also had to quit my position so that I could move into our new home that was in a nearby town. So I didn’t have a steady job.  I was temping at the time.

I had this idealistic picture that once Mike and I were married, I would be in a better financial shape than before because there were going to be two working people with two incomes. Yeah, right!!

Well the bills began to roll in. And just as you can imagine, it was financially a tight squeeze.  We ended up being late on some bills. And at times late more than I would care to say. And to add insult to injury, we were charged late fees which caused more frustration. I remember thinking to myself where will the money come from when we need clothes and so forth.

Well what is the moral to this story?  I think that it would have been better to have discussed our financial situation before marriage.  Why?  So we would have known our true financial picture and would have been more prepared for the coming months. There are so many things that we might have done better.  But I think for the most part, it’s wise to know your overall financial picture and make some decisions based on that picture.  

Upcoming:  Before marriage- how Dana and her husband’s story is different than my post

Charlotte

Dave Ramsey Sale!

ONLY IF YOU HAVE CASH AND IT IS IN THE BUDGET, should you go to this site::

Dave Ramsey is having a $10 sale through Labor Day on many of his resources such as books and audios.  I read his book, Financial Peace, over 10 years ago and still recommend it.  Check it out!