You know that feeling when you've been waiting for something forever, and you've almost convinced yourself that it's not going to happen...and then it does, and you just sit there and think "Wow, that's awesome!" Yeah, I had that feeling two days ago.
I got a call on the 20th from the moving company, saying that they had an opening the next day to move the mobile. It just so happened that I had the next three days off work, so I was pretty stoked! It was just about perfect timing.
I went to the mobile, and starting cutting things off, sewer pipes and various wires that were not necessary, the skirting and whatnot. The moving company showed up about 1pm and started doing their thing. About 3pm I came back after running around a bit, and they were packing up. They brought the wrong type of hitch! So, they would have to come back the next day with the right one. Well, I was still two hours from Calgary, I was driving the gas-hog truck, and I had a bunch of work to do, including getting up on the roof and taking off the furnace chimney. I decided to stay overnight, which probably saved me $60 and 4 hours of driving.
The next morning the moving company was there at 8:30 am sharp, which was cool, since there was a lot to do. They hitched the house up, and we got on the road about noon. I followed the house all the way there, a bit nervous watching my house swaying on the back of this big truck...but we made it there with no problems at all! Well, a few shingles went flying, but that's not the end of the world.
They backed the house onto the spot, and in an hour or so they had it blocked and leveled perfectly. Then they helped me out big time to get the wood stove into the doorway! I was kind of dreading that one, since the stupid thing weighs like 450 pounds.
So, $5000 later, our house is now on it's final spot, and all I need to do is finish the services!
I even brought along the sewer pipes, because they were still in good shape, and the gas pipes as well. All I have to do is convert the furnace and water heater to propane, and reconnect the pipes underneath. Easy as pie, and not expensive!
Now for the really good part. I was stressing bad about money, because as I mentioned before, we were about $10,000 short because of the expensive septic. I've reached the end of my available credit, and can't get anymore, and the money we have borrowed is very high interest. I swallowed my pride and asked my parents to cosign a loan for us to continue, and bring the interest charges down to a reasonable rate. Even 10% would be way better than what I'm paying now!
Then, I also found out that my pension from my last job is available for me to withdraw...and it's worth $11,000!!! I'd have to pay tax on that if I withdraw it, so I still have to consider that, but at least I have some money available if and when I need it! I'm pretty sure that I will end up making good use of that money. If I leave it where it is, I can get a $103/month pension when I turn 65, which might buy me a cup of coffee and bagel by then. I'm going to cash it out, obviously. Pensions are scams. They take your money, keep it for 40 years, and give you back less (after inflation) than you originally gave them!!! How is that security? Plus, have you been watching the stock market lately? It's taking a crap on the living room floor, the Dow Jones is down like, 30% in the last few weeks, and probably will continue to free fall.
I think the most qualified person to handle my money is ME, so I'm going to take my cash and bail on the markets.
The funny thing is, I prayed about this, and I finally said "Lord, I've stepped off the edge here, and I don't have a parachute. I need your help!!!" I knew things would work out, and they did! We are definitely committed to this move now, we couldn't cancel it if we wanted to! We've got the cash, and maybe a little more, and we'll have the work done on time, and hopefully, on budget.
I get to dig a two foot deep hole on Wednesday, and then I need to drill 10 anchors into the ground to keep my house from blowing away in this ridiculous wind we've been having : (
I can't wait to move!!!!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Hello again, I guess I haven't updated in a while, but not too much has happened in the last little while, at least, nothing really good.
I finally got a quote from the Septic people...$21,750!!!!!! That is almost DOUBLE what has been previously estimated by this same contractor, and the designer! He was supposed to call me last night to discuss it, but I never heard from him. Not to mention, I'm also paying over $1,000 for the design of it as well.
This really cuts into our cash reserve. That's almost all the money I have! I've got about $28,000 or so, and that has to cover moving the mobile, putting in electric, finishing the woodstove, finishing the water, and then putting in sewer. Bottom line...I'm $10,000 short. I hate this, it really blows, but it isn't the end of the world. We will find the money, and the funny thing is, I may have found it already!
I found out that my pension contributions from my last job will probably be returned to me! That represents about 5-6,000 extra dollars, and then on top of that, I might be able to claim back the GST I paid for the last itself. I was kind of hoping that I could pay down the debt I've already got with that money, but it doesn't look like that's going to materialize. I just need to find a short term loan until I get this money back.
I'm also looking into the possibility of a part time job for a little while, or at least until we're making money off of the land! My understanding is that things will be tight for about a year or maybe a bit less. Then, my pay at work will rise, and I will have some surplus money to start paying down the high interest debt. Once the high interest debt is gone, I can start socking away for the mortgage. I want to have this paid off in 5 years or less!
On another note, I spoke with my uncle, who sells beef in bulk through a website. He charges between $2.49 up to $3.19 per pound for an animal that weighs about 750-800lbs. If each animal takes between 16-22 months to raise, and the cost of production is about $1.10/lb, then the potential profit is between $1.40-$2.00/lb. For an 800lb animal, you could possibly receive $1200! If you processed 10-14 animals per year, that equals $12,000 to $18,000 per year net profit for your efforts. That's pretty good, and that's what I plan on doing next year. I'd like to start with 7 cow/calf pairs if I can raise the money, and start processing beef in the fall of 2010.
I'd also like to start planting some raspberry plants, which will hopefully start production in a couple years. That oughta keep me real busy for a bit!
I finally got a quote from the Septic people...$21,750!!!!!! That is almost DOUBLE what has been previously estimated by this same contractor, and the designer! He was supposed to call me last night to discuss it, but I never heard from him. Not to mention, I'm also paying over $1,000 for the design of it as well.
This really cuts into our cash reserve. That's almost all the money I have! I've got about $28,000 or so, and that has to cover moving the mobile, putting in electric, finishing the woodstove, finishing the water, and then putting in sewer. Bottom line...I'm $10,000 short. I hate this, it really blows, but it isn't the end of the world. We will find the money, and the funny thing is, I may have found it already!
I found out that my pension contributions from my last job will probably be returned to me! That represents about 5-6,000 extra dollars, and then on top of that, I might be able to claim back the GST I paid for the last itself. I was kind of hoping that I could pay down the debt I've already got with that money, but it doesn't look like that's going to materialize. I just need to find a short term loan until I get this money back.
I'm also looking into the possibility of a part time job for a little while, or at least until we're making money off of the land! My understanding is that things will be tight for about a year or maybe a bit less. Then, my pay at work will rise, and I will have some surplus money to start paying down the high interest debt. Once the high interest debt is gone, I can start socking away for the mortgage. I want to have this paid off in 5 years or less!
On another note, I spoke with my uncle, who sells beef in bulk through a website. He charges between $2.49 up to $3.19 per pound for an animal that weighs about 750-800lbs. If each animal takes between 16-22 months to raise, and the cost of production is about $1.10/lb, then the potential profit is between $1.40-$2.00/lb. For an 800lb animal, you could possibly receive $1200! If you processed 10-14 animals per year, that equals $12,000 to $18,000 per year net profit for your efforts. That's pretty good, and that's what I plan on doing next year. I'd like to start with 7 cow/calf pairs if I can raise the money, and start processing beef in the fall of 2010.
I'd also like to start planting some raspberry plants, which will hopefully start production in a couple years. That oughta keep me real busy for a bit!
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