52 Card Project 2022: Week 20: Retrench
May. 20th, 2022 06:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrI've signed the contracts for the roofer, the painter, and the pest control company (to evict the squirrels). The projects will be scheduled for later this summer.
Let me be clear: I have the money in hand to do this. But my financial plan for my future, worked out between myself and my financial planner, did not envision this project would be quite this expensive. I can still do it and pay all my bills. But I am looking ahead and making changes now so that my financial plan in the future will still allow me to do everything I want to do. That means I must look for ways to either reduce my expenses or increase my income right now.
And so I am thinking about retrenching.
The word "retrench" calls to mind this scene from Chapter 1 of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Sir Walter Elliot, the father of the novel's protagonist Anne Elliot, is a fool who spends an absurd amount of money to keep up the appearance that he thinks is necessary to uphold his dignity as a baronet.
Unlike Sir Walter, I am determined not to be a fool. I am (and have been all along) paying all my bills. I am still eating, I am still finding ways to entertain myself, and enjoy my life. But I've decided to stop drawing upon one of the resources I had been tapping, in order to stretch out my ability to do so in the future. And that has meant overhauling my budget. To do so, I have been drawing upon skills that I developed back when Rob and I were going through the three years that he was unemployed, the year and a half that I was unemployed, and when his income was cut back due to cancer. I also hope to find an additional one-day-a-week job to bring up my income a little.
Some of these are skills that my mother taught me, and in turn, I have tried to pass them on to my daughters (Fiona has commented appreciatively that she is very glad that I taught her about frugality, and she has said it has given her a huge advantage over many of her college friends). Also unlike Sir Walter, I'm really quite good at frugality. And I actually enjoy it--it's almost like a game.
I have done some investigation about what programs I'm eligible for, and I just sent off my application for the Minnesota Energy Assistance program. If I get it (no guarantee; some years they run out of funds early) I would also be eligible for the Weatherization program, where I can get up to $1,000 of products (insulation, etc.) that would help lower my energy costs. I have changed how I allocate my dollars to pay for my food and actually have had a lot of fun in the past week trying new recipes and doing batch cooking to make up for the fact that I'm stopping eating out.
Image description: Against a background of coins, an elegantly dressed Sir Walter Elliot holds a pair of gloves. Behind him are bags of groceries. In the right corner, a woman's hand puts a coin in a piggy bank.
Retrench
Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.
Click here to see the 2021 gallery.
Let me be clear: I have the money in hand to do this. But my financial plan for my future, worked out between myself and my financial planner, did not envision this project would be quite this expensive. I can still do it and pay all my bills. But I am looking ahead and making changes now so that my financial plan in the future will still allow me to do everything I want to do. That means I must look for ways to either reduce my expenses or increase my income right now.
And so I am thinking about retrenching.
The word "retrench" calls to mind this scene from Chapter 1 of Jane Austen's Persuasion. Sir Walter Elliot, the father of the novel's protagonist Anne Elliot, is a fool who spends an absurd amount of money to keep up the appearance that he thinks is necessary to uphold his dignity as a baronet.
Unlike Sir Walter, I am determined not to be a fool. I am (and have been all along) paying all my bills. I am still eating, I am still finding ways to entertain myself, and enjoy my life. But I've decided to stop drawing upon one of the resources I had been tapping, in order to stretch out my ability to do so in the future. And that has meant overhauling my budget. To do so, I have been drawing upon skills that I developed back when Rob and I were going through the three years that he was unemployed, the year and a half that I was unemployed, and when his income was cut back due to cancer. I also hope to find an additional one-day-a-week job to bring up my income a little.
Some of these are skills that my mother taught me, and in turn, I have tried to pass them on to my daughters (Fiona has commented appreciatively that she is very glad that I taught her about frugality, and she has said it has given her a huge advantage over many of her college friends). Also unlike Sir Walter, I'm really quite good at frugality. And I actually enjoy it--it's almost like a game.
I have done some investigation about what programs I'm eligible for, and I just sent off my application for the Minnesota Energy Assistance program. If I get it (no guarantee; some years they run out of funds early) I would also be eligible for the Weatherization program, where I can get up to $1,000 of products (insulation, etc.) that would help lower my energy costs. I have changed how I allocate my dollars to pay for my food and actually have had a lot of fun in the past week trying new recipes and doing batch cooking to make up for the fact that I'm stopping eating out.
Image description: Against a background of coins, an elegantly dressed Sir Walter Elliot holds a pair of gloves. Behind him are bags of groceries. In the right corner, a woman's hand puts a coin in a piggy bank.
Click here to see the 2022 52 Card Project gallery.
Click here to see the 2021 gallery.