Scrooge McSnake Update
15/05/2009 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIt's been a long long time since Izzie 's New Year's resolution to pull in the purse strings and be a parsimonious python on a ration of 100 silver sickles a week
Was keeping score of progress, always going 20% or so over target each week and always intending to do better next time
But then there was an unexpected twist to the Serpent's Tale. Two froggie tenants moved in and suddenly Izzie had to find silver sickles for extra stuff in the kitchen but more importantly a big fat $400 to replace the leaking loo cistern.
Needless to say - such unusual expenses do not count towards the weekly ration of one hundred silver sickles. But it did totally stuff up the cash flow
Along with adjusting to the new routine where suddenly the serpent no longer had the run of the whole house, slacking off on the weekly bean counting regime become a new bad habit.
After using the first month's rent to pay for the plumber, the rest got added to the mortgage goblins' share so the new source of rent revenue made no difference to the Izzie disposable income
In the end, figured that seriously sticking to the original target would leave Izzie without a life. 100 silver sickles is not what it used to be when slinking around the supermarket. But there'd need to be some attempt at discipline
So the compromise was to allow $250 for spending per fortnight and $750 for the house goblins. Any extra cash more than that would get added on the credit card to save for a rainy day. Well - a rain water tank to be more specific.
Did pick up a few simple and obvious tricks. As many "Buy Nothing Days" as possible - usually Sundays and Mondays, not grocery shopping when hungry and simply staying away from temptation
But in spite of all the best of intentions and sneaky tricks, the old munchies hoarding habit is still slinking below the surface. Not as bad as it used to be but still an issue anyway.
Sometimes it's better to just use and enjoy the stuff we got that constantly be on the prowl for more. And that is definitely a habit that the serpent is getting into
After four months of the Froggies lurking in the Lair, also bit the bullet and finally gave them the four weeks notice that we'd be putting the rent up from $100 to $150 per week for the pair of them.
Silly Izzie set the price way too low to start with. That's because we let them have the element of surprise in the first place. Asking if we got a spare room one Saturday and then wanting to move in a week later. That was around the time of the bushfires over east. Should have insisted on at least two more weeks of freedom - time to declutter and dust the Lair and get an idea of the going rates for rooms around here.
Had a bit of time since then to do a bit of 'market research' and stop playing "Mother Christmas" Izzie's reputation for evilness has suffered irreparable damage among the other Froggies at work.
So soon will be able to add even more to the house goblin account and get it paid off faster. Also got to tick of the "Earn 20% of income from other than work sources" box on the 101 list. It was not in the manner originally intended but it sure meets the criteria.
And by the end of the week, there'll be another big fat juicy tick off that list - one that we should have completed at least 6 months ago.
Was keeping score of progress, always going 20% or so over target each week and always intending to do better next time
But then there was an unexpected twist to the Serpent's Tale. Two froggie tenants moved in and suddenly Izzie had to find silver sickles for extra stuff in the kitchen but more importantly a big fat $400 to replace the leaking loo cistern.
Needless to say - such unusual expenses do not count towards the weekly ration of one hundred silver sickles. But it did totally stuff up the cash flow
Along with adjusting to the new routine where suddenly the serpent no longer had the run of the whole house, slacking off on the weekly bean counting regime become a new bad habit.
After using the first month's rent to pay for the plumber, the rest got added to the mortgage goblins' share so the new source of rent revenue made no difference to the Izzie disposable income
In the end, figured that seriously sticking to the original target would leave Izzie without a life. 100 silver sickles is not what it used to be when slinking around the supermarket. But there'd need to be some attempt at discipline
So the compromise was to allow $250 for spending per fortnight and $750 for the house goblins. Any extra cash more than that would get added on the credit card to save for a rainy day. Well - a rain water tank to be more specific.
Did pick up a few simple and obvious tricks. As many "Buy Nothing Days" as possible - usually Sundays and Mondays, not grocery shopping when hungry and simply staying away from temptation
But in spite of all the best of intentions and sneaky tricks, the old munchies hoarding habit is still slinking below the surface. Not as bad as it used to be but still an issue anyway.
Sometimes it's better to just use and enjoy the stuff we got that constantly be on the prowl for more. And that is definitely a habit that the serpent is getting into
After four months of the Froggies lurking in the Lair, also bit the bullet and finally gave them the four weeks notice that we'd be putting the rent up from $100 to $150 per week for the pair of them.
Silly Izzie set the price way too low to start with. That's because we let them have the element of surprise in the first place. Asking if we got a spare room one Saturday and then wanting to move in a week later. That was around the time of the bushfires over east. Should have insisted on at least two more weeks of freedom - time to declutter and dust the Lair and get an idea of the going rates for rooms around here.
Had a bit of time since then to do a bit of 'market research' and stop playing "Mother Christmas" Izzie's reputation for evilness has suffered irreparable damage among the other Froggies at work.
So soon will be able to add even more to the house goblin account and get it paid off faster. Also got to tick of the "Earn 20% of income from other than work sources" box on the 101 list. It was not in the manner originally intended but it sure meets the criteria.
And by the end of the week, there'll be another big fat juicy tick off that list - one that we should have completed at least 6 months ago.
