Debt Free or Bust

Returned Refurbished Desktop Computer

I wrote in my last post that my laptop failed again. I bought a refurbished desktop computer to temporarily replace my broken laptop. I didn’t mention I got the money for it from selling some stuff. This month’s budget had no wiggle room at all.

I tried to get the IDE-USB adapter to work with the refurbished machine to load my laptop data, but it didn’t work. It also turned out that the refurbished desktop had more problems than the old desktop we already own. It had trouble starting up and the PS2 ports didn’t work, so I had to use a USB keyboard and a USB mouse. I returned it and got my money back, $305.19.

Upgrade the Old Desktop?

That left the problem of what to do about a working computer. After some thought, I decided to have a serious look at our old desktop and see what needed to be done to it to get it up and running reliably.

Getting it running again required knowing if it could be upgraded as well as what needed to be repaired. It’s 5 years old now, ancient in the computer hardware world. But, when I bought it I bought the best processor and motherboard available with the maximum amount of upgrade capability, including the ability to add lots of RAM to it. Paying $150 more 5 years ago to get the most upgradeable machine was worth the money.

The CD-RW drive no longer worked, so we couldn’t load software, some of the USB ports crashed the computer when used, it needed a wireless LAN card so I could move it to my office, it only had 256 Mb of memory, and the mouse was broken. The interior was also completely caked with a thick layer of dust (1/2 inch-thick layer). It was absolutely disgusting!

I bought some compressed air in a can, took the tower outside, put on a dust mask, and sprayed it out until it was completely clean. I removed the broken CD-RW drive, and took the RAM card out so I could have the shop match the type to upgrade to at least 512 Mb or 1024 Mb (1 gig).

I got two 512 Mb RAM cards (it has two RAM card slots), a new DVD+/-RW multi-drive, and a new mouse. I kept the wireless LAN card I already bought, and I still have the IDE-USB adapter. The total cost for everything now is $250.65. I hope to work on transferring my laptop hard drive data to the desktop today. If that doesn’t work, I’ll return the adapter.

It’s working great! I’m using it right now to write this post.

Repair the Toshiba Laptop?

I’ve also rethought the issue of repairing my laptop. The main cooling fan needs to be replaced. Once that’s done, the only part left to fail will be the hard drive, which I will back up again as soon as I get the laptop back from the shop if I can’t back it up onto the desktop. There isn’t much I really need off the laptop’s hard drive. Over the last year I’ve moved to mostly web-based applications and storage. A lot of the stuff on that drive can be deleted.

Honestly, I don’t need a new laptop. The old one works fine for my needs. It was a very high-end machine when I bought it 4 years ago, and I can upgrade it with more memory and parts (including a new hard drive if needed) are still widely available for it. I talked to a technician at the shop, instead of a sales guy, and he said it would only cost about $200 to replace the fan, parts and labor. I’m going to get it repaired at the end of this month or next month, whenever I can afford it, and keep using it.

How am I going to pay for the repair?

We’re having another garage sale the Friday after Easter. The money we earn from that will cover the repair and there will be plenty left over to put toward bills and debts. Dave Ramsey says to sell so much stuff the dog goes into hiding. When you’ve lived in a house for 15 years and you don’t spring clean regularly, there is a lot of stuff to sell. I’m on a quest to clean out every room, every closet, every nook, cranny and attic (we have 3) until everything we don’t need and isn’t a family heirloom is gone.

I grew up in a military family so we moved often. When you move regularly you clean everything out then. I’ve never had to clean things out without getting ready to move before. I’m learning a whole new way of living by having to clean things out and not pack them up. I’m also going to have to look the house over and start repainting rooms that haven’t been painted since we moved in 15 years ago. That’s another thing I never did growing up. We were never in a residence long enough to have to repaint anything, or re-wallpaper, or remodel.

If I wait until next month, I’ll have my paycheck, a new budget in which I can include this item, and the money from the garage sale. I’ll probably wait to bring it in until the end of March so I won’t have to pay for the repairs until I pick it up in April. I can bring it to the shop on March 30 or 31.

Two Working Computers for Less Than the Price of a New One

For $450 we’ll have two working computers that will last awhile. I’ve started another savings fund for computer repairs, upgrades, software, and replacement. By the time we need to replace a computer I’ll have the cash saved for it. Computer prices keep going down, and I hope by the time we need to buy one, we’ll have more than enough saved. Otherwise, we’ll be sharing the working machine until we have enough for a replacement.

Some of you will ask, and rightly so, why I need a computer. Some will ask why I need two computers, again a valid question.

Here are the answers. I make part of my living online from my blogs through affiliate sales and advertising. If I can’t get on a computer and work productively, I don’t make some of my living. We need a second computer most of the time because my son is homeschooled and he attends an online school. He needs to get on the computer frequently to get his work done. When we have to share a computer neither of us gets as much done as we should. Temporarily, it’s okay, but long-term, we each need our own machine.

I hope you all will leave comments on what you would do in this situation. It helps me a lot when others make suggestions. It gets me thinking about alternatives to situations I may not see.

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March 13th, 2008 Posted by joubess | Cost Reductions, Unexpected Costs | one comment

Another Way I Saved Some Money

This week I’m saving over $100 by trimming my own bushes, and I’m saving at least $80 this month by cutting the grass myself. I also got plenty of free exercise. That’s more money to put toward the debt.

When I had money, and was working 50-60 hours a week for a 40 hr a week salary, I didn’t have time to cut the grass and take care of the bushes and flower beds. I also didn’t have time to clean my house. So I paid someone to clean my house every other week and someone else to take care of my lawn. Before that, I was married and my husband took care of the outside work alone after our son was born. We divorced when our son was 3 1/2 . After my lay-off I had roommates who liked doing outside work, so they cut grass and trimmed bushes as a way to reduce their cash rent costs. I haven’t done yard work on a regular basis for 13 years. That means I stopped when I was 33. A lot happens to your body in 13 years, especially between thirtysomething and mid-40. But I digress….

I bought some trimming shears and a pair of small cutters (I don’t know what they’re called, but you use them to cut flowers and small weeds). They cost me less than $18 total. My son went “trash picking” last week and came home with an electric edger that works very well, so he’s doing the edging and helping me cut grass.

I cut the grass last week and I wasn’t too sore or too tired afterwards. It wasn’t too hot or humid so I wasn’t overheated either. I took that as a good sign that maybe I’m not as out of shape as I thought, but I judged too soon.

Yesterday was a nice, hot, sunny, humid day. All my bushes need trimming and all my flower beds need weeding. There are oak trees coming up everywhere from where the squirrels buried their acorns last fall, and thus, there is a lot of yard work to do. The grass doesn’t need cutting yet this week, so I started on the first flower bed by the driveway. It’s small and has three Indian Hawthorne bushes in it. I used the small cutters to cut the oak trees off at ground level and to cut some of the weeds growing over the bushes. Then I got out the trimming shears to trim the bushes. I chopped and chopped, and the bushes were finally the size and shape they should be. I was hot, but not too tired. It was getting close to dinner time and the trash and recycleables had to be taken out, so I finished picking up the cut pieces and bagging them. Then I took the garbage and the recycleables carts to the curb. (We have automated trucks that have arms that pick the carts up and dump them and put them back down. That was how the mayor found money in the city budget to give the police and firefighters a raise. He bought automated trash trucks and downsized the humanpower needed for trash and recycle collection. Now there is only one person per garbage truck and two per recycle truck. They haven’t gotten the automated recycle trucks in yet, but we already have the carts).

When I got done with that, my son asked me to help him finish peeling the potatos for dinner, and I could barely hold up a potato with my left arm! The chopping had taken all the strength out of my left arm, and I was suddenly very tired all over. After eating, I took a hot bath and went to bed! I drank 64 oz of iced tea in 3 hours, so I had to get up during the night, but otherwise I would have been dehydrated.

Today I’ve spent a lot of time on the computer because my arms, chest and back are so sore and weak I can hardly move. I found I have muscles I didn’t know about. As soon as I’m not sore anymore I’ll do another section of bushes and hopefully I won’t be so sore the next time. I’ll probably have to split the whole job into about 6 parts unless I grow some hard muscle really fast. I’ve done about 1/6 of the bushes and trimming. I just have some weed cutting to do in the back yard. I also have some large downed limbs to cut up for fire wood for the iron pot on the porch. The boys like to build a fire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows in it. And the grass will need cutting by the middle of the week, so I’ll have to take a day off from trimming to mow. That’s assuming I can trim another day this week. I’m really sore.

I used to be able to do this stuff and not feel it, or feel a little sore the next day, but not so sore I could hardly move. But having to do all this manual labor will help to get me back into shape and strong again while I save money doing it myself. Now I understand why those guys charge so much to take care of your lawn. It’s very hard work! I just don’t remember it being this hard when I was younger and stronger. They also have better tools than I do — gas-powered trimmers, weedeaters, and edgers; and big, riding mowers with a zero-turn radius. I have a push mower, an electric edger (wow, luxury!) and hand trimmers. Sweat equity.

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June 12th, 2007 Posted by joubess | Cost Reductions | no comments