Bills... and stuff.

I hate bills. I really do. So I try to have as few of them as possible.

House payment
Phone/DSL payment
Gas and electric payment
Water payment

And... that's it. Yup, those are all the bills that I currently have. Which is, of course, why I'm able to live on less than $10,000 a year.

House payment puts a roof over my head. Pretty decent one at that. I wouldn't say it's in the best neighborhood, but it's not the worst, either. The most excitement we've had was when the brother's living in two houses across the street got drunk and got in a fight a couple of months ago... Two story, three bedroom, full basement, and a nice yard. For $18,000, on a zero interest land contract at $375 a month, which means I'll have it paid of in four years. Yup, beat that one, babay!

Phone/DSL is a necessity. I shopped around for the lowest price options amongst the very few available providers in my area. Comcast, AT&T, and Cavalier are it for options that would get me phone and high-speed internet service. Comcast, well... I wasn't going there. Installation alone was nearly $200, and monthly payment for phone and internet was going to be $100. For just $30 more I could add cable... no thank you. AT&T wasn't bad for DSL, just $14.95 a month, if you had a phone. That would have rounded the bill out to $110 a month after taxes and fees. Youch! Cavalier was my bet. $50 a month plus taxes and fees for unlimited local and long distance with all the options AND 6G DSL. It works out to just over $60 a month. Yuppers, that's the one I've got.

Gas and electric... well, there's a monopoly going there. Sure, you can contract with a different gas provider for lower gas rates, but Consumers still charges up the ASS for delivery fees to make up for it, so you really end up saving zilch. In the summer, bill is around $60. In the winter... well, let's just say I save all summer to pay my winter bill...

And water is only about $40 a month.

No cable TV. Yes, that's right, I don't have cable TV. And my TV doesn't pick up broadcast channels, so I don't really watch TV. We have DVDs, I have a Zune with dock that allows me to download video and play it on TV, and for those shows I REALLY HAVE TO WATCH (House, Heroes, The Starter Wife, Psych, Life, Fringe, etc...) I get them on Hulu. Thus another reason to have broadband internet :D Well, besided the fact I make my living online...

No car. Yes, I have no car. I'm debating getting one in January when I get my nice fat tax return. I could buy a car, and pay a year insurance, and put a chunk on a gas card to get me through several months, but... then I wouldn't be able to spend that money on other stuff. Still debating. Cars are expensive. My [ex] Husband bought a cheap car shortly after he moved out, and he and his GF are CONSTANTLY forking out cash they don't have to fix that thing. And with a 9-month-old son, they are always broke because of it. Cars ain't that appealing to me.... I take the bus. And have an [ex] Husband who I'm still sleeping with to take me to the grocery store once or twice a week... Car is not a necessity. But it sure would be nice to be able to hop in the car and head to Borders or to the YMCA for a workout on a whim, instead of having to wait for the bus...

Don't have credit cards. My credit sucks, so couldn't really get them anyway. At least not without paying out the ass in interest rates. No thank you.

There's a couple of reasons that I don't have that many bills. First, I can't afford them. I mean, come on, I make less than $10,000 a year!

But also, I don't want that many bills. I have, literally, everything I need, and most of what I want. If I don't have what I want, it goes on the TAX REFUND LIST. This is the list of things that I want to buy each year when I get my tax refund, which will be HUMONGOUS this year, due to buying a house and getting a nice credit for doing so. Every year, I get a very nice tax refund. Because I pay out extra in taxes. Sure, it doesn't earn interest like it would in a savings account, but I can't get to it but once a year, so it actually gets saved.

Last year, I bought two computers. One crashed in the summer. I haven't had a chance to send it in, though it is still under warranty until March. [ex] Husband has it at his house, as soon as I call the company and change the address, he's going to send it in for me. I'm working on the other computer right now. And they're good computers. Even if I bought a new one, it would be pretty much the same thing that I bought last year. So, I don't need to buy a computer.

I'm going to Las Vegas with some of the tax refund money this year. No, not to gamble. And not to get married, either. My son's father lives in Vegas, and we're taking a week or two to go see him. He was supposed to be a one night stand, a fling. Yeah... 11 years later...

And I've got a few Tarot decks on my list, ones that I just haven't had the money to get, but that I really, really, really, really want. So I'll get those.

I'm going to buy a refrigerator (don't have one), a stove (don't have one of those, either), and a washer and dryer (nope, don't have them). All used. That'll run me less than $500 for all of them, including delivery and installation.

And... that's it. That's my big spender list for the year. About $1500, total. Out of about a $6000 tax return.

So what do I do with the rest of the money? I pay my bills ahead.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

you sleep with your EX (who has a GIRLFRIEND and a KID) for groceries?? wow..!