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Sometimes you have to spend money...

4K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  peanut 
#1 ·
Looked under my dresser the other day and found a stack of original artwork from artists I have known, waiting to be framed. The artwork has been waiting to be framed for 20 years now. Three of the artists are international artists now. It has become a case of "I need to protect these".

So I picked five of the best pieces and headed to a local framer. I picked frames, mats (some of them we kept the existing mats) and really good glass to protect the artwork. I asked him to phone me a quote. It will not be cheap. But it must be done. These things are being moved and banged every time someone vacuums. Which brings me to another money spender...

I hired a grad student to do some house cleaning for me once a week.

I have a bad back and knees and was told to get a house cleaner by my doctor years ago. Hubby would not allow it because he didn't want "people to go through [his] things". I about fell off my chair when said grad student was visiting, mentioned looking for more work, and DH asked if she cleaned houses! She said she would, but she needed to know what to clean. Hmm... we hired her dirt cheap. I offered her $15 CAD/hr., but she said only $10/hr. because she didn't really know what she was doing.

She came Tuesday for the first time and cleaned like a Trojan. I taught her how to clean the bathroom, the master bedroom, and how to mop a wood floor. Easy, but she was going to go at it with a floor cleaner, which you can't do with real hardwood. Next week we are going to work on cleaning windows and the basement, in preparation for our boarder's return.

I like her because I can clean beside her and we chat and have fun at the same time. I can also keep an eye on how she's cleaning things. And teach as we go.

That's my non-frugal activities for the month of May.

On a more frugal note...we spent under $300 CAD on groceries in May. Our C & H (Car and House) account is over $10,000 CAD right now. We need to double that by the end of the year so we can redo the kitchen soon.

Hubby is off looking at used cars. I am a bit nervous. Last time we had this much money we bought a car and I never did get my new kitchen. It's been 10 years since then. So I am holding out for the new kitchen and praying the car keeps running. On the up side, he is looking at used cars! He says a used Prius is $20,000 now, and the dealership only gets about five a year. Other used Toyotas are running about $15,000. He is thinking about buying a vehicle that was leased with less than 30,000 km on it. We'll see. Maybe in a couple years...
 
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