More Going Out.....

This past week was one where there was "MORE GOING OUT" - money that is-than was coming in.

Three out of the ordinary type expenses.

1. Took the truck to the shop to get some minor problems corrected...but as you know with vehicles there are no minor expenses...maybe they are minor problems but the cost is major.

2. The lawn mower (not that old) has not been mowing level for some time...one side would be high and the other side would almost scalp the yard. My sweet dear husband tried everything the book suggested...plus anything else he could think of that would correct the problem...but nothing really worked. He was getting so frustrated with the way the yard was looking that he had been telling me for weeks now he was going to get one of those zero radius turn mowers.

He has problems with his back and shoulders and after mowing he would have pain for a couple or so days from all the turning of the wheel and the raising and lowering of the deck. By the time the pain was pretty well gone- it would be time to mow again.

The middle of this week was the final straw -he loaded up the old mower...told me to get my purse and check book as we were going "Lawn Mower" shopping.

So like a kid in a candy store he looked at several different ones before he decided on the mower. He did not get the one with zero radius turn -those were the ones with the handles and not a steering wheel. I did not think I could handle one like that (if the occasion should arise). The one he selected has power steering...and does it ever turn easy. This one has a 54 inch cut so he has to be careful when pulling in the garden shed to store it. It also has several other features that he was real excited about...guess it was a guy thing.

Let me clue you in...big mowers like this is one was not on the cheap end...but if it makes life easier for my "man" then it is worth it!

3. You know what happens when a deep freeze goes out? Yes, everything thaws. We had three deep freezes...you wonder why so many...well with the fruits/vegetables, meat (both pork and beef), fish, chicken and other items that can be frozen (cake mixes, flour, bread, etc) it requires that many. We buy our beef and pork on the hoof and have them butchered. The last beef Leon ordered got ready before there was room in the deep freezes...so it was being stored in Larry and Melissa's deep freeze.

This past Friday I noticed one of the freezers was thawing...so like a "mad" woman I started putting everything that had to be frozen in the other two. When Leon got up from his nap I told him that I knew where he was going on Saturday morning...of course he wanted to know where.

Told him Lowe's to get a new freezer...anyway he decided to go ahead on late afternoon Friday and get one. So into Shawnee for the purchase...was going to get a big big size...but Lowe's and Sears would have to order anything larger than 15 cubic feet. So it was a 15 cubic foot one he purchased. Came home and plugged it up to start the "chillin time" before adding anything.

The broken deep freeze was pulled out under the car port and some unknown reason he plugged it in to an electrical cord. Later that night when we got home from the ball game we checked that freezer...well it was just as cold and frozen as could be. So we thought maybe it was going to work after all. Hooray!

Early Saturday morning we are in the garage sorting everything into the proper freezer.

Deep freeze # 1-fruits and vegetables
Deep freeze #2-pork and chicken
Deep freeze # 3-cake mixes, flour, bread, pecans, etc
Deep freeze # 4-beef and fish

We step back...patting ourselved on the back as to how organized we were at this point.

We take a look in # 3...well, it has decided to quit working again.

Leon said, "I am headed to Lowe's and get another freezer. "

In the truck he headed to Shawnee again to make another purchase.

In about an hour we were putting stuff in the new freezer...we did not worry about the chilling time on this one as it was holding the items that did not need to be frozen.

Since our beef supply was so low here in # 4 we went to Larry and Melissa's home and brought back a lot of the beef that was stored there.

So this past week the money situation at our house has taken a nose dive...but we were able to pay cash for everything. Sure am glad we were able to save when we were both working.

Hopefully, we don't have more "expensive" weeks like this past one!