Blow That Dough! - 2019

[Canoesmith]

Building a big garage and retiring in July

With my retirement date of July 5th 2019 I am finalizing a deal with a builder to construct a 1024 sf garage at our cabin this coming spring to be completed by my retirement. This will give me room for more toys once I get up there for the summers. Seems decadent to spend so much on an outbuilding but it will be insulated and finished like a home. But that space will be so helpful for storage and as a work area. It will really make our place complete.

Blowing the dough already here in 2019!

 

[googily]

Have signed a contract to spend a fortune to have a landscape designer tackle my front yard, which has gone completely to seed and which needs far more assistance than I am capable of or interested in. I think once it is overhauled I will be happy to get back to maintaining it, though. Been in this house 25 years, so I think yanking everything out and starting over is not a complete boondoggle in and of itself, but I did choose one of the most expensive outfits to do it. But he does amazing work.

 

[Ronstar]

With my retirement date of July 5th 2019 I am finalizing a deal with a builder to construct a 1024 sf garage at our cabin this coming spring to be completed by my retirement. This will give me room for more toys once I get up there for the summers. Seems decadent to spend so much on an outbuilding but it will be insulated and finished like a home. But that space will be so helpful for storage and as a work area. It will really make our place complete.



Blowing the dough already here in 2019!

That doesn’t seem decadent to me. Seems like a pre-retirement necessity. I wish I would have done it.

 

[audreyh1]

Have signed a contract to spend a fortune to have a landscape designer tackle my front yard, which has gone completely to seed and which needs far more assistance than I am capable of or interested in. I think once it is overhauled I will be happy to get back to maintaining it, though. Been in this house 25 years, so I think yanking everything out and starting over is not a complete boondoggle in and of itself, but I did choose one of the most expensive outfits to do it. But he does amazing work.

Something that you will enjoy for years, and ultimately will contribute to the resale of your home. Totally worth getting the best outfit to do it assuming they give superior results!

 

[Ginny]

A week in NO for the Jazz & Heritage Festival in May with friends. One more completion from the bucket list.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DH turned 70 last month and we now will pay a snow-removal company $35 per visit to take care of our sidewalks, stairs, and short driveway. DH honestly loves shoveling snow and will still do the backyard deck and short pathways, but it’s time. We both worked through Saturday’s snow and it was a workout for sure.

 

[Nick12]

My parents who are seniors recently bought an $11k Generac generator that powers the whole house in case of a power outage. Money well spent for piece of mind and increases resale value of the home.

 

[W2R]

I feel like I have been spending like a drunken sailor this month! So I just looked at my spending log, and here is some of the extra spending that stands out:

$277 for a big box of grass fed beef steaks that I am enjoying
$215 for video games + accessories, and non-gaming software
$200 for clothes from Lands End

This adds up! Almost $700 total, and deliveries about every other day all month.

And then, there's quarterly estimated taxes plus my usual spending.
Blow That Dough!

 

[Winemaker]

DW picked out an Ethan Allen all leather couch with full protection plan on leather for just under $3500. Sure beats the $16,000 Natuzzi!

 

[W2R]

DW picked out an Ethan Allen all leather couch with full protection plan on leather for just under $3500. Sure beats the $16,000 Natuzzi!

Good job! And now you have $12,500 left over to blow on other stuff, should you be so inclined...

 

[Winemaker]

Good job! And now you have $12,500 left over to blow on other stuff, should you be so inclined...

Grapes!

 

[travelover]

Don't know whether to post this in My Recent Repair, What did You Do Today? or Blow that Dough. Our attached garage's roof started leaking at a valley and I really couldn't find an easy explanation, so I called out a roof repair guy to see if he could find the problem. Long story short, the roof was not installed correctly in this area compounded by a slope transition to a flatter roof half way down the valley. Because part of the roof already has two layers, they were not willing to just redo the valley area alone, so I'm going to have to re-roof most of the garage to the tune of $7000. Sucks, but so does water damage.

 

[Scuba]

We just had an emergency large vet inpatient visit that will probably be in the mid- to high four digits. There goes our discretionary spending for a while! #BlowThatDough

Yikes! I hope your pet is ok.

 

[Scuba]

Yeah, it was a Natuzzi. Yes we like nice things, but $16,000 is a an obscene amount to spent on a light colored leather couch with a glass of red wine. If she let's me drink anything hile sitting on any couch. The first couch we ever bought was a Ethan Allen sleeper and it's downstairs in the cellar with the wine. DW reupholstered it about 5 years ago. It's 36 years old, and we might be due.

Ha ha, one nice thing about Italian leather couches is that you can spill wine on them and it wipes right up, unlike a fabric sofa. Ours is white.

 

[Scuba]

A week in NO for the Jazz & Heritage Festival in May with friends. One more completion from the bucket list.

Jazz Fest is very fun but insanely crowded. Enjoy! Try the Crawfish Monica.

 

[Scuba]

I feel like I have been spending like a drunken sailor this month! So I just looked at my spending log, and here is some of the extra spending that stands out:



$277 for a big box of grass fed beef steaks that I am enjoying

$215 for video games + accessories, and non-gaming software

$200 for clothes from Lands End



This adds up! Almost $700 total, and deliveries about every other day all month.



And then, there's quarterly estimated taxes plus my usual spending.

Blow That Dough!

That sounds great, W2R. Enjoy!

 

[Scuba]

DW picked out an Ethan Allen all leather couch with full protection plan on leather for just under $3500. Sure beats the $16,000 Natuzzi!

Wow! Just curious, does it look like the Natuzzi? We have never been able to find a couch we like that isn’t very expensive and made in Italy or France. We have a very modern decor and don’t care for the high backs and puffy look of many of the sofas on the market. Ours is only a few years old now, but I sure huge we can find a less expensive one that looks sleek and modern next time!

 

[Scuba]

We have Hunter Douglas roller shades in our condo. We don’t have a blackout shade in our master BR and are considering adding two - one slider and one large window. Quote is around $3K! Yikes!! We can buy a lot of eyeshades for $3K.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Yikes! I hope your pet is ok.

Thanks, Scuba. He's back home now, very happy...and hungry! We're just very grateful that we have the ability to take care of this without going into debt.

 

[Dawg52]

Here's a low end blow that dough item. Bought a Bose soundbar for my condo. New at Best Buy cost $250. Got an open box one on the net for $160. Some spend that much on lunch. Ha. Works great and really improves the sound. Cable out last night so streamed music from my mp3 player. Nice combo with my beer.

 

[steelyman]

Here's a low end blow that dough item. Bought a Bose soundbar for my condo. New at Best Buy cost $250. Got an open box one on the net for $160. Some spend that much on lunch. Ha. Works great and really improves the sound. Cable out last night so streamed music from my mp3 player. Nice combo with my beer.

Nice choice. I’ve been slowly building a Bose system for the past few years and love it, it sees daily use. The initial choice was Bose or Sonos (nothing against the latter). In-store listening guided the final selection.

 

[NW-Bound]

DW picked out an Ethan Allen all leather couch with full protection plan on leather for just under $3500. Sure beats the $16,000 Natuzzi!

We bought our Natuzzi set some years ago, and still have it. Did not pay anywhere near $16K though.

Maybe fake Natuzzi, despite buying from a large upscale department store?

 

[Winemaker]

Wow! Just curious, does it look like the Natuzzi? We have never been able to find a couch we like that isn’t very expensive and made in Italy or France. We have a very modern decor and don’t care for the high backs and puffy look of many of the sofas on the market. Ours is only a few years old now, but I sure huge we can find a less expensive one that looks sleek and modern next time!

The couch we got was a Ethan Allen "Bennet" frame style at a 86" long. We were replacing a 96" Ethan Allen sleeper, that well was hardly ever used as a sleeper. While we were trying to make the living room "cozier" by reducing the size, we also went with a more natural leather style instead of a pebble grained purse or handbag leather. While they are attractive, we wanted to be able sit in them, and they look much more inviting. It is not modern; they look "hard" to me.

 

[Winemaker]

We bought our Natuzzi set some years ago, and still have it. Did not pay anywhere near $16K though.

Maybe fake Natuzzi, despite buying from a large upscale department store?

The $16,000 Natuzzi sofa/couch was at the Natuzzi Store at the King of Prussia Mall near Philly. Not a knockoff, but it was as big as an aircraft carrier minus the tower. There are many real Natuzzi's that we saw locally that were sold at other furniture stores that were in our price range (<$6000) but just didn't tickle our fancy. The $16,000 model had fingertip controls between the leather cushions, as well as individual power headrests, recliners, lumbar support,and USB ports.

We just wanted a leather couch, not a car without the engine, tires and wheels in our living room. Call me a cheap boring fuddyduddy.

 

[audreyh1]

We have Hunter Douglas roller shades in our condo. We don’t have a blackout shade in our master BR and are considering adding two - one slider and one large window. Quote is around $3K! Yikes!! We can buy a lot of eyeshades for $3K.

Budget Blinds carries less expensive lines of Hunter Douglas. Maybe there is a less expensive alternative that is still nice enough.