When we arrived at the house she was waiting for us in the driveway. Needless to say she wasn’t in the best of moods. We came ready with another copy of the mutual release form for her to sign and we also video taped the entire thing… Here, wanna see?

She basically blitzed the walk though and didn’t seem to care much about the condition of the house, not that it was left in poor condition anyway. We always deep clean all the places we vacate.

She did sign our mutual release form which outlines the early termination of the lease, the agreement that all financial obligations have been met and that we are both legally released from the prior contract. Yay!

Her husbands signature isn’t on the forms as he wasn’t present… His is the only signature on the lease so that could be a potential issue but we are just pleased to have some sort of documentation that proves we didn’t make up the whole being let out of the lease thing.

Basically we are super happy to have this chapter of our lives now closed!

Lets, see… Over the weekend N worked on hooking up this free electric dryer we got off Freecycle. I guess we needed to get the vent hose for it and he had to change out the plug for it since it didn’t fit our outlet or something. We are resourceful and try to make due with what we are able to get… The free dryer was a good score and we got a working washer for $40 at a yard sale so we are making strides in the right direction I think.

Apparently the newer plug he put on the dryer still doesn’t fit our outlet so I am hanging clothes out to dry (which is fine by me) but he is still working on getting the proper plug installed on the dryer.

For his belated birthday/ mothers day we went to a local farm and bought some garden goodies. Things like potted herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, collard greens and other stuff we’ll grow and eat. We only spent $20.00! He is working on getting a vegetable garden going now, he made some good progress on it this morning too.

We are hoping to grow as much as we can ourselves to cut down on the grocery costs and save more money. Oh, and we stopped by the Hostess/ Wonder Bread outlet store over the weekend and got 7 loaves of bread and 2 packs of buns for $8.00. Those are in the freezer now and will also help to cut the grocery bill and save money.

On the baby front: In 33 short days I’ll be staying at The Farm, preparing for Tater’s birth. Time is still flying and there are only 45 days until my due date (but we are open to Tater coming either before or after said due date if she feels ready). Things are still going great with the pregnancy and I am feeling good. Totally beginning to slow down energy wise and am having trouble breathing thanks to the cramping of my lungs but it is all good!

We are getting more and more excited and still have so much to do before she comes! We have been showered with many helpful things thanks to many of you and this has left us feeling so much more calm and prepared for Taters arrival. We’ve just about got everything we’ll need for her first week of life now and are focusing our attentions on gathering the medical supplies for the birth kit, then we’ve got to get busy gathering stuff like the cloth diapers and clothes she’ll need in the weeks following her birth.

Slowly but surely we are pulling it all together and before we know it we’ll be parents and it will all just fall right in to place. Exciting! Hopefully everyone had a good mothers day. I am off to read all your blogs now and find out how your weekends went!

The post The Renters and the Slumlords: The drama comes to a close (and other updates). appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I ask because recently I’ve been particularly worried about this one credit card account I have. It was literally the first card I got when I decided to try reestablishing myself credit wise.

This means I had to pay an annual fee for the card and a pretty high interest rate. It was something I felt was necessary though since nobody would extend credit to me otherwise.

Well just the other day I got a notice from that credit card company about how the account terms are being changed. The annual fee is going up and so is the interest rate, big time. It’s been five years since I accepted that car and I actually forgot just how much I was paying them to extend credit to me!

Since accepting that credit card offer I’ve improved my credit tons and I now have several lower APR/ no annual fee cards that are a much better deal. I quickly decided that this first credit card is something I don’t need to be paying for any longer and am closing it.

Well, this all got me thinking about how much N and I are unknowingly throwing away on bank fees and interest charges each month. I was scared to sit down and figure out the exact dollar amount but I also knew that if I didn’t we wouldn’t truly see how much we can cut back and even save if we make some small changes.

Let me tell you adding it all up and listing it all really does put it in perspective folks! It also really helped me to see which accounts we wanted to focus on paying down first. Throwing less money away is always a good thing right? You gotta take those blinders off first though.

Plus, once it is all listed you can go through it and see how the interest rates and owed balances are looking. Available balances and interest rates are two very different things, just because you have the money available to spend doesn’t mean you should.

Listing your monthly interest and fees paid will also help you see if you are using high interest rate cards too often or if you have too much charged to them. It will help you determine if you should be paying more towards one card as opposed to another. It will also help you to see if certain cards are just charging you too much in comparison to all your other accounts. Ignorance is bliss… but it is bliss you probably can’t afford right now!

Are you convinced yet? If so you can use this free spreadsheet right now to plug in your own information. It will figure totals for you over a 6 month period, then you can print it out and keep it as a reference if you want.

I am also curious to see how much individuals are paying each month and how all my readers average so I made an anonymous survey I hope you’ll take.

It is just asking for your January 2009 numbers, no personal information. It’s all recorded on a spreadsheet and then I’ll share the anonymous values with you all in another post so you can see how you compare to other readers.

In these times of economic hardship everyone is looking for ways to cut back and to save money. Watching your monthly budget and spending trends is a simple and obvious way to find areas that you can cut back. How much interest and fees banks charge you is a big one many people overlook!

The post How much do you pay to banks each month? Take a closer look! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

It’s surprising to me that others are also interested in my old-fashioned, simpler ways of doing things obsession and now I am not so embarrassed to share my tips. You know many people think a not so old girl sharing these discoveries/ tips is a strange thing but I am really into all this simple living stuff and I am glad you are too!

So here are a few more of my favorite bits of old fashioned know how & do it yourself remedies. Feel free to share your own in what ever way suits you or to stumble me or link to your favorite tip. Enjoy!

Want to stop smoking? I am not a smoker but my mom is and she reads this… I did find a old-fashioned recipe that is said to help you curb the urge to light up. You just drink it down with your morning tea/ coffee or juice and you will have decreased desire to smoke.

Here is the recipe: Mix 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter, 1/2 teaspoon of rochelle salts (from pharmacy). Or you can simply obtain some Ginseng root and chew it in the morning/ swallow the juice to curb your cravings.

Alright ladies, many of you have tried those facial masks that you apply, allow to dry and the peel off right? They remove dead skin cells, black heads and tons of other junk but are costly and sometimes hard to find so why not make you own facial mask that peels off? Also, If you enjoyed peeling dried glue off your hands as a kid this mask is for you.

All you need is 1/2 cup of apple juice, 1 packet of unflavored gelatin and a drop of essential rose oil (or another oil of your choice). Heat up the apple juice (try using a double boiler if you can, keeps the mixture from burning) and mix in the gelatin. Remove from heat when the gelatin is dissolved and allow to cool. When mixture is almost set (begins to firm) add the essential oil, mix and then apply to your face. The mask will dry, then you can peel it from your face or you can scare little kiddies with your gelatin cover shiny face. Finish by rinsing your face with warm water to remove all excess mask that you couldn’t peel off and you are done!

I have this strange spot on the carpet in my bedroom that I need to spot clean. I have tried those spray on, foamy carpet cleaning solutions and it seems they just make the stain spread. I found a recipe for a non-soapy carpet cleaning solution that only uses stuff you already have in your home!

All you need is 1 cup of white vinegar (don’t worry about the vinegary smell folks!) and 1 quart of “denatured alcohol” (or cheap vodka or rubbing alcohol). You just mix the vinegar and alcohol and then sprinkle drops of it onto the carpet or sponge it onto the bad spots. Next rinse very lightly with cool water, allow carpet to dry- soak up excess moisture with towel and then vacuum.

By the way, I love the vinegar microwave recipe I posted on sunday! All you need is one or two cups of white wine vinegar, a bowl and your nasty microwave oven. Place the uncovered bowl containing the vinegar into your microwave and turn it on full power for 5 minutes (or more if your microwave is extra nasty). When the microwave turns off simply use a dry dish towel to wipe the greasy mess off the top and sides of the microwave oven. I repeated this process twice casue mine was super dirty but it worked great! No elbow grease needed to clean the dang thing and then I poured the vinegar down the garbage disposal to keep it disinfected.

If you like this post consider reading some of these other do it yourself remedies that have been posted:
Homemade Cold Relief
Find the miracle products in your home that will clean and save you money.
Remove sweat/ perspiration stains naturally!
Alternative Hair Removal Recipe (sugaring)

The post Old-Fashioned Know How- Do it yourself remedies part 2 appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

We are planning to dig out our decorations this week and this weekend we will go cut down our own Christmas tree. We are slowly preparing to do the holiday decorations and we have been eying the energy efficient Christmas lights that are for sale in the stores. We plan to buy some, it’s cool how many sizes and style are available. The choices can be confusing and misleading though.

There are several types of holiday lights available I am told that “The LED Christmas lights offered in most big box stores use a 2-piece construction. This configuration limits the life of an otherwise long lasting LED bulb because it is not moisture proof.” It is best to choose LED Christmas lights that utilize a 1-piece construction because these are weatherproof, moisture proof and have a longer life thus saving your more money.

An interesting tidbit of information that I just learned is that LED Christmas lights are stronger than the other alternatives! This is a great news for me because our cats make it a mission to knock all the pretty things off our tree and onto the hardwood floor thus shattering and breaking them. I am hoping that these more efficient LED Christmas lights will be able to with stain the destructive forces of my kitties this holiday season.

The post Have you put up your holiday decorations yet? appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Holiday LED lights are much like the CFL bulbs everyone has been switching to. These make homes more energy efficient, they use less power, burn cooler and even last longer. CLF bulbs can help you save money on your electric bill and they are much better for our environment too! It’s a win-win situation we just have to get people to make the switch.

So, here is my challenge to you… When you are unwrapping those holiday lights and checking to see which strands still work remember the “change a light” pledge. When you go out to buy those replacement bulbs or new strands of lights buy the better quality LED lights instead. Slowly but surely you will replace all those old holiday lights, or if you are like me none of your old light strands will work (or it will be way to hard to untangle them) so you will just ditch the old strands and buy all new energy efficient ones!

You can find out more about switching to LED holiday lights by visiting the holiday LED’s site and you can even participate in the change a light campaign this year! We sure are!

Whether you are switching out your holiday lights or a few lights in your home take the “Change a light pledge” over at energystar.com and “change the world, one light — one energy-saving step — at a time. “

The post Get some energy effcient light bulbs for the holidays!! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.