Blow That Dough! - 2019

[atmsmshr]

Remodeling

Blowing the dough - but still have contractors beak down the bids to pick and choose.

First project - The week prior to Dorian approaching Florida, we had impact windows and door entrance installed at the front of the house. (Bid was contracted in June) $5k worth of Accordion shutters previously installed 2 years ago by myself on the other sides plus one flex screen makes now boarding up a 'breeze'. (Pun intended)

$14k for new 10 premium windows installed (including large bay) and front door with two sidelights. Still being a little frugal, I did the exterior finish carpentry and painting to save $2.5k. Lotta work that I could now do in retirement.

Another project - Last week the contractors started on our pool resurfacing and paver deck installation. 20 year old pool needed a do over.

$16k - We went with premium deck and pebble pool surface. My frugal contribution is to repair the leak in the pool light niche, replace the light base and rewire for a $2k savings. Ridiculously easy light work with the pool drained. Don't know how they get away with charging so much for a simple job of fixing the light.

Spending our kids inheritance.

 

[Winemaker]

$1340 for 500# of Suisun Valley and Russian River California Pinot Noir grapes. After a 3 day cold soak, they are fermenting nicely. The Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Albarino are finishing up, about $600 worth. About $600 worth of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from same, due by end of week, with a ~$1200 drum of Valdiguie juice. 1000# of Petite Sirah, about $2400, hopefully will arrive 2nd week in October. I would like a week of cool temps then to help me out.

 

[JDARNELL]

$1340 for 500# of Suisun Valley and Russian River California Pinot Noir grapes. After a 3 day cold soak, they are fermenting nicely. The Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Albarino are finishing up, about $600 worth. About $600 worth of Sauvignon Blanc grapes from same, due by end of week, with a ~$1200 drum of Valdiguie juice. 1000# of Petite Sirah, about $2400, hopefully will arrive 2nd week in October. I would like a week of cool temps then to help me out.

How much will that produce?

 

[Winemaker]

The Pinot will produce a little over 150 750 ml bottles, the Petite Sirah and Valdiguie about 300 750 ml bottles each. The Gewurtz, Riesling and Albarino, 200 bottles total and the Sauv Blanc, 200 bottles.

I also purchased an 59 gallon barrel earlier this year for $600 for the Petite Sirah, but I should get 3-300 gallon vintages out of it over 6 years. The Pinot will be going into a 4 year old French Oak barrel that I paid $675.

 

[JDARNELL]

The Pinot will produce a little over 150 750 ml bottles, the Petite Sirah and Valdiguie about 300 750 ml bottles each. The Gewurtz, Riesling and Albarino, 200 bottles total and the Sauv Blanc, 200 bottles.

I also purchased an 59 gallon barrel earlier this year for $600 for the Petite Sirah, but I should get 3-300 gallon vintages out of it over 6 years. The Pinot will be going into a 4 year old French Oak barrel that I paid $675.

Nice. I know nothing about wine.

 

[HFWR]

Nice. I know nothing about wine.

I know that it’s around $10 at the wine store. [emoji12]

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I know that it’s around $10 at the [-]wine store[/-] gas station. [emoji12]

Fixed that for you. Us LBYM types don't go for that fancy "wine store" wine!

 

[Walt34]

Bought a 4-foot platform ladder at Lowes. They are also called a "podium ladder". They allow you about the same reach as a 6-foot stepladder but are safer because the part you stand on is bigger, and the "podium" is sort of a guardrail that helps with your sense of position. They cost half again as much as a stepladder but many (including me) feel they're safer.

 

[tmm99]

We renovated our kitchen (only resurfacing the cabinet doors instead of a whole gut job and we didn't redo the floor but did everything else) and replaced a bathtub, and bought some appliances/dining set within the last 12 months - It cost maybe around $25KCAD? It didn't feel like "blowing the dough" per se, but I'm very happy with my new kitchen look/feel...

 

[tmm99]

We've been eating out a little more than before. Nothing expensive, but I'm glad that I don't have to be neurotic about spending a small amount of money here and there. I got extremely frugal right after I FIRE'd, but now, I do a small hobby job that brings in pocket money, and my pension getting closer, I am feeling a little more at ease spending a little more. I think I spent like 2.5-2.6% of my liquid asset or something last year, so I think it's OK to blow that dough a little, is what I'm feeling lately. I may increase my travel budget.

 

[kevdude]

Flew from Seattle to Houston over the weekend to meet a buddy (who flew in from Denver) and see Iron Maiden in concert. Great weekend and show!

 

[dm]

Haven’t done it yet, but we are planning on selling our current home and buying one on the water. The new house will cost twice what our home sold for when we were working.

So much for downsizing.

Next will be a boat.

 

[ckelly78z]

I have a daughter getting married in 2 weeks, all of my $$ have been spoken for !

 

[athena53]

Got back yesterday from 2 nights in Chicago with my 5-year old granddaughter. This was the third (the first was only an overnight as a trial run). I wanted to make sure we got a room at the Hilton O'Hare facing the airport because she LOVES watching the planes, and paid for it (didn't have enough Hilton points)- the room alone was something like $800 for 2 nights all-in. Had dinner at the hotel Night 1. She likes the hotel restaurant. $76 including wine for Grandma. The Children's Museum and a boat ride on the lake. A day pass at the Admiral's Club before our trip home. Snacks at airport prices on both ends. (After awhile she wanted to leave the AC and explore the airport. Then she got hungry.)

SO worth it. Her little sister is greatly anticipating her chance to do this but she's not quite 3 and not out of diapers. The 5-year old is happy to have me to herself for a while longer.

 

[W2R]

Got back yesterday from 2 nights in Chicago with my 5-year old granddaughter. This was the third (the first was only an overnight as a trial run). I wanted to make sure we got a room at the Hilton O'Hare facing the airport because she LOVES watching the planes, and paid for it (didn't have enough Hilton points)- the room alone was something like $800 for 2 nights all-in. Had dinner at the hotel Night 1. She likes the hotel restaurant. $76 including wine for Grandma. The Children's Museum and a boat ride on the lake. A day pass at the Admiral's Club before our trip home. Snacks at airport prices on both ends. (After awhile she wanted to leave the AC and explore the airport. Then she got hungry.)

SO worth it. Her little sister is greatly anticipating her chance to do this but she's not quite 3 and not out of diapers. The 5-year old is happy to have me to herself for a while longer.

Wow!!! That's a staggering amount of dough to blow for the room and dinner, Athena, but what a rewarding way to spend money.

Sounds like your little granddaughter had the time of her life.

 

[Cavechild]

Going Solar

Just about $28k after the Federal Tax Credit. The calculated payback is about 8-9 years. I didn't do it for the payback, but was a little worried that it would only be about break-even as I hope to move to a mountain town in about 10 years when the kids go off to college. But Mrs. Chavechild said she wants to keep the house no matter what. So, no worries on that front.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My mom used to take each of my 3 boys to separate events and dinner and they really enjoyed it. When my sister moved to California she took one boy a year. When it was the third ones turn my sister had moved back locally so since he was 4 they drove to Wisconsin dells. My grandparents used to take us separately on a weekend. It’s nice to feel special. My grandparents didn’t have a lot of money so occasionally we would eat lunch at Woolworths and go to the movies. The rest of the weekend was walks, cards and home cooking. I would call her in advance and order my meals. I have fond memories of our time together.

 

[aja8888]

Ok AJ that is a nice thing to have, but really really inappropriate for a birthday. How depressing to be told " You're Old Here is your badge."

She's been asking for one for a year now and it was a case of timing. I also got her another Bday gift, plus a nite out on the "town". It's all good.

HEY! both of us are in our 70's and still pretty active. For her, it's important to have a way to summon aid if she takes a fall and no one is around.

 

[MBAustin]

Enjoyed my annual "blow that dough" lunch of steamed hard crabs FedEx'd in from Crisfield, MD, along with a nice cold beer. Actually I only cracked 4 of the dozen (and saved the jumbo lumps for a dinner this weekend - DH thinks cracking crabs is too much work). I decided a few years ago to do this each fall as the crabs are big and generally on sale, and it's a birthday present to myself.

 

[RobbieB]

Good for you!

Besides it's much cheaper to send the east coast fish to wherever you are than to send yourself to the East Coast.

 

[aja8888]

Enjoyed my annual "blow that dough" lunch of steamed hard crabs FedEx'd in from Crisfield, MD, along with a nice cold beer. Actually I only cracked 4 of the dozen (and saved the jumbo lumps for a dinner this weekend - DH thinks cracking crabs is too much work). I decided a few years ago to do this each fall as the crabs are big and generally on sale, and it's a birthday present to myself.

MB, what shop did you order the crabs from? I may order some for my BDay in a week or so.

 

[Walt34]

Not exactly the last of the big spenders here, but a few days ago I bought a Milwaukee electric caulking gun. I'd heard of such things before but figured they were really only of reasonable value to someone working in a trade that requires that you apply lots of caulking, like a guy who installs windows for a living. Or maybe if you own a wooden boat.

I've discovered another category that the marketing people have so far neglected, and that is boomer DIY guys who are not yet ready to hang up their toolboxes and who have developed arthritis in their hands. I made this discovery a few weeks ago when I went to squeeze the trigger on my trusty Hechinger's brand caulking gun (Washington, D.C. area old-timers will recognize that name) and I let out a "YEOW!" followed by a string that if written here would get me sent traveling.

It's a nice caulking gun. I already had the batteries and charger for other tools so I bought the tool only. A neat feature is that when you let off the trigger it automatically "backs off" the plunger a bit, maybe 1/8" so the caulk won't continue to flow after you let off the trigger and make a mess. Anyone who has ever used a caulking gun will know what I mean. And even if you have arthritic hands it's easy to use.

 

[pb4uski]

Haven’t done it yet, but we are planning on selling our current home and buying one on the water. The new house will cost twice what our home sold for when we were working.

So much for downsizing.

Next will be a boat.

Just came in from an hour-long pontoon boat ride/cocktail cruise/social hour around the lake with two other couples that are neighbors.... beautiful fall afternoon.... all part of the lakefront lifestyle that we pay a handsome premium for.

 

[RobbieB]

Got me a pound of sushi grade salmon and a pound of swordfish fresh from Catalina Offshore in today on FedEx. Gonna be a nice weekend!

 

[athena53]

Wow!!! That's a staggering amount of dough to blow for the room and dinner, Athena, but what a rewarding way to spend money.

Sounds like your little granddaughter had the time of her life.

Yeah, it was a bit of a ripoff. I'd redeemed Hilton points the first 2 visits. This time I didn't have enough. I thought I could use points to pay for one night and cash for the second but the room with the runway view was a $7/night "upgrade" but required 128,000 points for one night instead of 50,000. My granddaughter LOVES the view of the airport, which we got by chance the first time and by choosing the room on check-in the second. Hilton has been allowing its properties to call some pretty ordinary rooms "premium" and require insane amounts of points to redeem. Paying for more points that I needed would have cost almost as much as paying cash for both nights. Next time I should have 100K points and will take my chances.

We did economize in 2 places: used the subway/bus in and out of the city instead of Uber (she LOVED the subway) and had a "picnic" in the room for dinner the second night, with her leftover pizza from the previous night and a sandwich I got from the gift shop.