MY LABOR DAY so far....

This is the view from my backdoor yesterday morning-

And today is Labor Day!
Such a beautiful day! Great weather. I'm actually off work today!
I'm working on digging holes and sinking fence posts into the ground for the fence I'm crafting.
My "Folk Art" fence.
It's so peaceful.
Dogs snoozing on the chaise lounges on the patio.
The soft whiz of cars going done the street.
Birds chirping.
The neighborhood kids playing on their trampoline and the sounds of them jumping and chattering with one another.
Calling out to each other.
Neighborhood sounds.
Kids being kids and
suddenly I remember something my Dad yelled out to us kids so many years ago and
NOW I understand what he meant.
"Stop that! You sound like lunatics!"
Ahhhh, memories.

MY FINANCIAL MENTORS and RETIREMENT PLANS

I got an email a while back from a reader.
Actually I apparently had another email prior to it
but I think I must have dismissed it as spam and it wasn't.
She wanted to know if I'd write a post about a female mentor I might have.
Someone who I has come up with a novel way to save money!
I told her that I doubted that I would be the person to ask to write this but she urged me on.
She stated that only 53 percent of women have saved and made a retirement plan
compared to 65% of men.

I responded back to this that it didn't surprise me as typically women make less money than men

so therefore don't have the funds to save.

And also, so many times a single woman is taking care of others too.
I told her that I had friends who might make for a good mentor on saving money

but ultimately they all have a common factor in their lives

and that was having a husband who helped add to the financial situation.
But Marianne, still wanted me to write about a female mentor.

Now, truth be told. My biggest financial mentor isn't female.

His words echo in my head and sometimes I swear his voice still guides me.
Whenever I've gotten myself into financial trouble, it's because I ignored his voice and

rebelliously went ahead and did what I wanted to.
So, I will include him too, my dad who passed many years ago, even if I'm not suppose to.

But first, I'll start with the only female role model I have who is not married.
Now let me take a moment here and make it very clear that I mean no
insult towards all my married friends.

I'm very happy that they found someone to share their lives with.

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I unfortunately never found that and that's OK.

I'm just saying, I imagine life might be a teeny tiny bit easier having someone help

with the financial load.
Therefore the best tip on saving some cash, planning for retirement and all that stuff, 

would be to find a good mate, a funny compassionate person with a good job.
There you have it. My best tip.

But life doesn't work out as we plan (and I've probably let a good one or two slip away)
but obviously it wasn't meant to be.
So.... Who is my FEMALE role model?

It would have to be Tammy.

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She's worked hard and took care of herself and always kept a very positive attitude.
She lives simply but beautifully. She rejoices in minimalism and does not need THINGS.

She's the most caring and giving person and I think that's why she's so happy.

Her wonderful energy radiates out and circles back to her. 
I'm trying EVERY DAY to be more like her.
To let "stuff" go and to just appreciate BEING.
To experience real joy from a puppy's face or a good book, a movie or

conversation over a great meal.
The woman is a true inspiration and all it takes for her to be ecstatic is for it to rain!
That's not to say that she wouldn't like to win the Lottery.

But for her, it wouldn't be about big houses and cars.

It would about seeing friends she's never met.

Or helping out the whales, the elephants, the animal rescue groups...
So she's my mentor financially but so much more.
She's my reminder that once the bills are paid and the critters are cared for ...
Well,...most important things are free or not all that expensive.

And then there's my other mentor, my Dad.

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Who tried to be my financial mentor from day ONE and I now regret not following his advice earlier.

It's only in the last few years, I realize how right he was about MONEY.

Maybe not about a lot of other stuff, but money, yeah. He had that figured out.

His tips for saving money are not gender related and I think would be useful to anyone. 

Here they are:
Buy quality.
Buy it once and make it last.
Repair don't replace.
Don't charge what you can't pay off next month.
Don't charge unless it would be foolish not to. -
Example: you need a refrigerator but don't have the full amount and

you find the perfect one and its on sale and you can pay it off before the

no-interest offer expires.
Then he might say to charge it. But begrudgingly.

NO, now that I think about it,

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what he'd really say is that you KNEW that the
refrigerator was OLD and you SHOULD have been saving up for it.

More tips -
Don't pay rent.

Buy a house you can afford that's nice but not too big and easy to maintain,

in the best neighborhood you can afford.

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Take care of your home.
Caulk the windows, clear the gutters, be watchful and save for rainy day repairs.
Don't pay others for what you can do yourself.
Help your friends and they will help you when there are things you can't do yourself.
Make good friends, real friends - once again, QUALITY over quantity.
Save your warranties.
Be polite but firm in financial transactions.
Don't let people walk all over you, have a sense of humor but don't back down

when it comes to getting your money's worth.
Eat healthy and don't waste food.- he always said to push yourself away from the table

a little bit hungry. That it's not good to be FULL.

(OK, gotta admit I don't do that one for sure!)

And finally the last piece of advice of his that I remember and will always, is....
Time with your loved one is more important than any amount of money.

He used to work all week and go out in the evenings and work some more.
He was an insurance agent.
In those days he'd go on calls and do sales and also collect money in the evenings!
He actually had his own route of his clients who he'd stop by monthly

and pick up their payments.
He made a very nice living and we lived in a nice home and then

my mother got Cancer, was ill for long while at home, then hospitalized and then died.
Afterwards he told me that his greatest regret was leaving her home alone so much

and how if he had known how life would play out,

he would have spent every moment he could have, with her.

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So, my two mentors have helped me to decide a few things about my own retirement.

They have both shown me that life isn't all about having things.

That there's nothing wrong with having a few nice needed or treasured items but

just remember to take care of them so as not to waste money replacing them.

To spend times with those I love and to realize real friends are priceless.

And then I've decided a few things on my own.

I know that we are all told to invest and while that might work very well for others it won't be

happening with me except for how they invest the money in my 401K at work.

A 401K that doesn't have enough to buy a good second hand car!

But someday might be able to replace my roof.

Sigh.

Instead I will invest in myself.

I will work on my Art, that right now isn't a business yet. 

It's just me selling a little bit and then buying more Art supplies

but I will keep carving out spare moments and someday it WILL be my business.

And I will never retire from that, I will never want to.

I will work on paying down my debts and repairing and then maintaining my home.

Some day I will be debt free.

I don't think I will move but rather live many places.

I was telling my sister that this weekend. 

How maybe I will rent out my home and drive an RV or something

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and stay with her in Vermont when they retire there and when the weather is beautiful

and then when it turns bitter cold, me and my current old dog will head south!

LOL!

Yep, I could do my Art anywhere and just keep moving and having adventures

until the day comes that I don't.

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Yep, that's today's plan...but who knows.

I should mention that you can track your personal finances with free apps like those from Personal Capital.

You can check those out here!

This isn't a sponsored post or anything.

I just agreed to do it to make myself actually THINK about it.

So, all in all, this has been a good thing.

It's something that I would kinda start to think about but then push from my mind...

Like last month when I carried out that Golden, I didn't mention it before but,

I messed up my knee.

I really hurt the dang thing and I've been stretching and twisting and

sleeping in weird positions, hoping it will go back to where it was and feel better.

I've been careful and babied it and finally today it doesn't ache.

Yep, I think I learned that from my mentors too.

To try to walk it off, if possible!

But it's also a little wake-up call to me to think about the future.

So there you have it. 

That's MY retirement plan. 

At least for today.

(On a side note. This text is still wonky! The spacing is weird and... it's got to Blogger.)

Talking to my Dad and Letting Go of a Dream.

So I was talking to my Dad the other day,

which some might find kinda weird since he passed away almost 20 years ago.

But I think some people do that. Talk to someone in their head.

I mean he started the conversation....or maybe it was my sub-conscious.

But, well. Anyway!
I was thinking about a little place that I drive by every morning.

It used to be an office space for a heating/cooling company but then it was for rent one day.

My sister called me and told me that she had seen a sign on the window.

She knew that I always had this fantasy of having a little shop in this area.

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The place is located in the back of a building that houses a coffee/sandwich shop on the front end.

The space for rent has a picture window with an awning and another one on the other side at the back of the shop which people would walk past when they went into the coffee shop by the back entrance.
It's small but perfect.
So I had called just to satisfy my curiosity and found that rent was month to month for $500.

Not expensive but still out of my reach while living paycheck to paycheck.

So it is now rented and they are selling electronic cigarettes out of it..........

(I'm wondering how many cigarettes you would have to sell to make rent.)

My shop idea is something that I've toyed with doing for many years.

I'm full of IDEAS. 

I remember posting about wanting to have an alpaca farm. HERE

Doesn't that sound like Heaven too?

and the time that I had the booth at the antiques/collectibles mall HERE

and how I filled the vet clinic with my paintings and prints HERE

where I've only sold 3 pieces so far

and I am still very much in the red on that one.

Sigh...

What is wrong with me? Jeez, I annoy myself.

So RIGHT NOW I'm am working on my Kanga book and doing little bits and pieces on my BLUE book

and then yesterday as I was driving to work, thinking about the SHOP IDEA again.

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I heard my Dad's voice in my head telling me to

"Knock it off! Stop going off in another direction AGAIN and stay on course!".

I thought to myself  that yeah, that's what he WOULD say.

That and to keep my focus and energy on track. 

Not to get side-tracked...

and to clean my damn house!

Of course thinking about that, I could feel myself getting irritated
and my neck muscles stiffening up thinking how he'd say -

"Get rid off all that stuff that you are hanging onto! If you haven't used it yet, get rid of it or sell it."

That would be my Dad, no sugar coating it.

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We had a bumpy relationship.

When I was little, he was mostly a stranger that worked all the time and 

then after my Mom passed...it was awful.

He got rid of everything

including my pets.
I can't even type the words about my dog
or I will start to sob...
so, I loved him but also HATED him.
A lot.

But years later after I was grown and out on my own
and he mellowed with age,

we became very close.

It got to the point where he said that I was honestly his best friend.

and I would call him about EVERYTHING.

Suddenly we clicked and got along.

If I was struggling with a decision, I would call him and he'd always say -

"Let me think about it."

He would think my idea through and we would talk about it.

We still disagreed on things, but it was nice to have someone who really listened and thought about it.

He had no regard for my Art and was always more concerned with whether my house was spotless or not.

But even though I had a boyfriend and lots of friends and he had my step-mom, 

we would still depend on one another to talk about our feelings and fears.

Yep. were very good friends

He was retired and had a little part-time job to keep busy but he would come to my house and putter around

but he always made me pay for every little thing.

That was just the way he was. 

He didn't believe in hand-outs. He had grown up during the Depression

If he picked up something for my house, he'd give me the receipt and ask for the money and count out the change.

That was my Dad.

At the time, I only had 2 dogs and everyday while I was at work he'd stop over and let them out at lunch time.

He would say "Don't you worry about those dogs!"

Many times he'd leave me a note."You need to scrub out that sink" or "I like your new rug".

One of the reasons that I originally got my house (besides the low dollar amount and great neighborhood factor),

was the fact that I could walk my dogs easily to his house.

I'd go over and he'd come out and we would sit on the patio and watch the dogs run in his big backyard.

He had a little dog who would run after the tennis ball until she was exhausted.

Dad liked to throw it up on the roof of his ranch home and his dog would run sideways, back and forth

and wait for it to roll down and drop to the ground.

Dad would LAUGH and say that "She could do that all day!"

Yep, after all these years.

I can still hear his voice...

and know what his opinion would be on everything.

He'd be brutally honest with his opinions.

In fact I'm currently ignoring his comments in my head about my cats.

He never liked cats.

He let me have one when I was young and then changed his mind and got rid of her.

She was a very good little cat, never doing anything wrong except for the fact that she was a cat.

I won't dwell on that.

Or I will be very mad at him again....

and I've worked hard to let go of that anger.

But now, you kinda see why I am like I am.

But just quickly here -

The shop idea. Brick and Mortar versus Etsy.

The idea is of a little place to go to where you flip the open sign.

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A place where I could sell fresh cut flowers from my garden and little bags of organic catnip.

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A place where an old rescued dog sleeps behind the counter

and an ancient cat lays on a shelf.

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Yep, that fantasy of holding Saturday afternoon "Story Hours" where my niece Maggie would sit in the middle of a circle of little kids sitting on brightly colored painted chairs and read.

Reading beautifully illustrated books that held wonderful stories in their pages. 

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Maybe have a TUESDAY night, serving beverages, appetizers while creating.

It would be a night for adults to come and make stuff and chat.

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It would be a place with BIG windows that would hold magical displays

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and a fun painted door -

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There used to be a shop that I passed on my way home every night.

It was located on a corner, that had traffic lights.  I would pray for a red light so that I could sit and stare.

I wanted a shop like that.

But while the IDEA is perfect in my mind,  I realize the odds of success are VERY low.

I have to remember that time is fleeting and I can't do it all.

I must narrow it all down to what I want the most

and do that.

or I will have a million things going

but never get anything accomplished.

There is just not enough hours in the day.

And...I have to remember to just ENJOY.

Enjoy life and not to feel so frantic.

I'm remembering something else my Dad said to me.

He worked A LOT when I was little,

I mean, he would go to work in the morning and come home for lunch with my mom and then leave and be back for dinner.

And after dinner, he would leave again and work some more.

He was working hard to make a good life for him and my mom, that's what I was told.

So one day years later, while having one of our talks he told me -

"If I had known that your mother was going to become ill and die...I would have worked less and spent more time with her."

Yep, Life is what happens while you are busy making plans.

So, I'm going to let go of the SHOP dream

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and get rid off the stuff that I've accumulated, the things that are taking up space in the basement.

Wire racks, a pegboard display case and odds and ends meant for my shop idea.

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Yep, I'm cleaning house.

Dad would be Happy.