I wrote on May 14 that we'd accepted a settlement from our neighbor's insurance company from when Shane was bitten by their dog. The check finally landed in our hands (and bank account) a couple of days ago.
All the medical bills from that incident have now been paid. The attorney has his cut. We've paid our savings account back for the money we "borrowed" to buy our pop-up camper and gas-saving car.
Now it's time to decide what to do with the rest. I would really like to put all of it toward our van loan, but that isn't going to happen. Shane insists the first thing we are going to do is buy and install a one-way back flow valve to keep our basement from flooding again. I really can't argue with that idea.
He'd also like to buy and put up privacy gates on either side of our house. I like that idea, too. Our patio is located such that we can see and be seen by passers-by in front of the house; some neighbors see us relaxing outside and assume they have an open invitation to join us. Gates will remedy that, not to mention they will improve the curb appeal of the house, in my opinion.
Finally, Shane would like to build a shed. He has the know-how to build it himself, and most of the materials already on hand, but there will be some expense involved for a concrete floor and roofing materials. Again, this is an idea I like. Our garage is small and basically useless for sheltering vehicles (although our Aspire might actually fit there), so we've been using it to house our mowers and other lawn care equipment. It's also home to Shane's tools, our freezer, our second refrigerator, our outdoor Christmas decorations and a host of other things. No big deal; that's what a garage is for, especially if you can't fit your vehicles in it anyway. The problem is that 9 times out of 10, I can't get into the freezer because stuff is piled on it, or I can't get into the spare fridge because the door is blocked. A separate shed for the lawn equipment and Christmas decorations is something we really need.
After that, if there's any money left, we'll probably pay it toward our van loan. At this point, though, that's looking like a pretty big "if".
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Labels:
Home Improvement,
Living Without Debt,
Our Goal,
Real Life
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5 comments:
They're all great ideas...what an awesome feeling to be able to do all that, isn't it? So glad it worked out for you!
Looks like you have a lot of great ideas. It would be nice to be able to have a clear path to the freezer. We had that problem in our last garage.
Toni
Great ideas!! It's heck when you can't get to the freezer!! Happy day sweetie!hughugs
Just the idea of being able to get into the freezer and 2nd refridge would excite me! Let us know how your progress goes.
Good for you both! We have far too many out-of-control dogs (one just moved away, only to attack another person's dog by going in through the victim dog's doggie door!). We have three dogs ourselves, and we understand that you have to be ever vigilant and have to be sure of their characters. Too many flakes own pets.
Your ideas all sound good to me, particularly having an extra freezer. I just put up tons of freezer jam today, and with our tiny bottom one here, I really felt the need for a separate one. Our basement also floods, however, so who can argue with that either? There's just so much to do, especially when you own a home!
Please make sure you at least have a tiny bit of fun, though!!!
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