About the Current Retirement Plan & Moving Away

First off, I grew up in the South so it's a place I feel more comfortable as a general rule.  I understand the Southern mindset.
Though I've lived in Yankee land since 1984, most of my married life, I had hoped to return
below the Mason-Dixon Line at some point.
Retirement might just be that point and Louisiana just might be that location.

No matter where we move to I'll be fine.  I am a master at being alone.  Big difference between being lonely and being alone and many people don't understand that.  I am comfortable with myself enough to enjoy lots of alone time.  I am good company. ;-)  I have always been most productive when left alone.  If the community we end up living in is unfriendly, I can deal with it, because I've dealt with it for many years already.

I HATED living in northeastern NJ the almost 3 years we were forced to be there.  I met some
lovely people while there but mostly it was a horrible experience......too many pushy people, too noisy, too polluted, crazy drivers, too expensive and full of pretentious *A*holes.  You get the idea.

When we moved into our first house in the Pocono Mountains. of PA, by comparison,  it was heaven.  A community with few year round residents at the beginning, natural beauty and
unspoiled vistas.  A serene place to live and much cheaper.  The drawback was how far we
were to services, stores and having utilities go out in the winter.  AND the winters.......averages
of 100 inches per Winter Season(in a light precipitation year).  Hard to dig out(especially with
just shovels)and hard to get to a job.

In a way I loved the isolation at that time in my life(this was before the internet too)but was also
able to make a few friends.....until they either died(the older people I was friends with) or left to go back to the Metro NY/NJ area because they missed living there so much(which I just can't even imagine! lol)

Then that place changed as we were invaded en masse by New York City-ites and eastern New
Jersey-ites, looking to relocate their families to an area away from crime and expensive living,
while they toiled away at their NYC jobs with large salaries.  The employed in these families
would stay in the city during the week and come home on weekends.

There were nice families among these newer transplants but the migration also brought the big
 city problems of crime, drugs, noise, et cetera with them.  I didn't mind going to the community
pool and never hearing English spoken the whole time(lolz) but some of these new residents thought themselves above the PA laws and because our sleepy little town had little police protection all
kinds of shenanigans made itself known and disrupted our lives on a daily basis.
These transplants brought their big city problems and big city ways along with them.

Wild parties into the wee hours every weekend in good weather and new or unlicensed hunters
with no gun learning using our development to take pot shots at wildlife, which brought up the number of "accidental" gunshot victims.  Then there were the "Summertime only" residents
from NYC and Metro NJ who would invade our hometowns and as many folks on vacation are
known to do, leave their brains at home.
Hey, I grew up in a Tourist town so I know this type of behavior well. lolz

It all got to be too much for our little growing family(who wants to worry about letting their
young kids go outside in a private community-not in a game lands area, in the Fall even with
wearing Orange so some idiot doesn't mistake them for a deer and kill them?!).
Plus Hubs wanted a shorter commute to work so we moved further into PA.  While this put
distance between us and the obnoxious/entitled metro NY/NJ behavior folks, we moved right
into the midst of provincial small town PA behavior.

We've lived here almost 14 years now and I STILL don't fit in.
That's what happens when you move into a small close knit town where everyone has lived
here for 5 generations(at least).
These folks keep to their "own kind" and after 14 years I am still not accepted.
Lord knows how I tried, at least for the sake of my kids so they'd have friends.
I have extended invitations and put myself out numerous times just to be rebuffed.
But I refused to be miserable, so I kept to myself and threw myself into my family and some online activities/groups and had a happy little life.  Well, except for the overspending and hoarding phase...lol

I joined stuff here like the PTA, I was a room mom(what a disaster THAT was! lolz), I volun-
teered for things,  I let them have those kid birthday parties and pool parties, whatever I could do so they would "fit in".
I hope the little shits appreciated the crap I went through...... ;-)

And I tried NOT to influence the kids with my very negative view about the folks I interacted
with in this town.
Even with all I did, the funny thing is.....all 3 of my kids couldn't WAIT to move away from
this town. 
Two did and as soon as he's out of college, the third will be joining them.
They all have maintained very few, if any, friendships with the kids they grew up with.

As my kids left home I have had less need to interact with the people who live around me.
And that suits me fine.  I don't need anybody here to be happy.  With my 3rd kid almost
graduated high school, besides the cashiers at the stores and the bank tellers I'll have no need to
interact with anybody around here anymore. 

I may have been a hermit in a previous life, as that type of living arrangement suits me fine for the most part. 

4 more years and I am out of here!  I am sure we can find a friendlier corner of the country
to live in.
If I could survive in Metro NY/NJ and then here for 14 years(and counting)I am sure I can adapt
and get along most anywhere. 
I don't need a grand house, or even a large house.  Just leave me be, to be who I am.

So even though we are looking at houses/properties in a part of the country we have little
experience in, I am sure we can be happy there, whether or not it's a welcoming community
or not.  I'll patch together some sort of support system and be perfectly content being left alone
by the folks in that town/area.
As long as I have all my long distance friends......

Sluggy

 

The Spring Boring Blog Box Giveaway Reveal

And the winner of this box of goodies........

Is.......

"Longtime Wife"!

Congratulations Longtime Wife.
Please email me within the next 48 hours of posting this message to claim your prize(and provide me your full name and mailing address).
If you fail to reach me within this time limit I'll draw a new winner.

And thanks to everyone else for playing along.

Sluggy


 

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Back to Cooking Dinner, Wish I was Still on Vacation" Edition.......

 

 

And here is what got cooked last week---

 

Nothing since we were on vacation, though I DID cook breakfast once.  ;-)

 

 

As for the food spending update.....I spent a total of $84.42 on $156.44 reg. retail on groceries last weekend between the Bread Outlet, Maine Source(restaurant supply store)and the local Grocer.  Saved 46.04% over regular retail in all. Not a bad savings rate.

I have spent a total of $446.46 in April so far.  This week I have about $15 more food spending planned to close out the month.  I'm hoping I don't hit $500 for food spending for April.

Being so high with the food budget this month is not so good since Hubs and I weren't even HERE for 11 days of April to eat.  But then again, I did buy most of the food daughter prepared for Easter Dinner and Sat. morning's breakfast, so that expense came out of my food budget for April.

 

May just has to be all about tightening the money belt where food spending is concerned!  I'll be digging back into the freezer to get rid of some old dogs laying around in there and watching the food spending like a ravenously hungry hawk.  ;-)

 

And since #2 Son lived on pizzas, nachos and burritos the whole time we were gone, we had some big time food waste.  I had to pitch out not-so-fresh produce(asparagus, celery, cauliflower)and leftover chicken and zuke when we got home.

Sigh

 

Going into the new week here are the leftovers we have......2 servings of spaghetti and meatballs.

 

Here is this week's meal plan----

Sunday--Burger on fresh rolls w/tomato, Potato Salad
Monday--Meatloaf, Green Beans(freezer), Rutabaga
Tuesday--Salmon(freezer), Carrots, Coleslaw(make my own)
Wednesday--Lasagna, Salad
Thursday--Fajitas
Friday--Pork Chop(freezer), Sauted Cabbage, leftover Potato Salad
Saturday--Leftovers

 

For snacks I made fresh pickles and a brownie, and bought and cubed a watermelon--1st one of the season!

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......the ground beef and all the fresh produce was bought on Friday for this week's plan.  I need to pick up mushrooms(fajitas), cottage cheese and noodles for the Lasagna this week.

After perusing the sales ads I'll pick up any loss leaders we use that I see for a great price too.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

 

Sluggy

Adventures in House Shopping Louisiana Style!

Our vacation trip to Louisiana to visit our daughter turned into a vacation/house shopping trip.

I ended up with 2 realtors because the first one I contacted weeks in advance, never got back to me with the emails of possible homes to look at before we arrived.
Ok, she did finally email me 2 days before we left for the trip but I went ahead and found another realtor in the meantime.
Realtor #2 was a bit more responsive.

So in the end we got shown houses by 2 different realtors.
It was funny that even though we gave each one the SAME criteria on what we wanted to look at, between the two of them they only wanted to show us one house in common.
Each one interpreted our needs SO differently it amazed me.

We only had a rapport with one of them, the young and new agent.  She didn't try to show us things at the top or over our price range, as she hadn't learned that "game" yet.  Honest and not trying to upsell us....I liked that.

Realtor #1 showed us mostly foreclosures, Realtor #2 showed us no foreclosures.

#2 showed up a house being sold to settle an estate and 2 regular properties.  None of these were asking less than $65K and most were at or over $80K(the limit I had set for them). 

One of those 3 places had no oven, a nonexistent living room, 1 bath and 3 tiny bedrooms and the asking price was $80K. 

Another house was tiny and had a very small fenced in yard.  The houses in this neighborhood were VERY close together and each yard for as far as the eye could see had at least one dog in it's also fenced in backyard.  Many of these dogs looked to be "outside" dogs and all hell broke loose with barking when they saw us.  I looked at my daughter and said, "If you move here with your own dog who loves to bark at other dogs, you will never have a quiet moment!" lolz

The only even acceptable house #2 showed us was the estate settlement house.  The previous owner loved to garden and the yard was full of flowers and bushes and trees.  The backyard was fenced in and there was a back porch that had been closed in to make a bonus room. Ok, the walls were fake white wood......

  Nothing in the kitchen had been updated from when it was built circa 1970 and all the appliances(except the fridge) and sink were Harvest Gold.

While ugly those appliance probably would outlast that newish fridge.
The house seemed to have the original carpeting and smelled like your grandma. 8-)

This house was in a city neighborhood with sidewalks and street lights and was on a small lot.  It was near the Air Force Base which meant it would hold it's resale value or could be rented out.  Location meant it was WAY overpriced at $89K but it was the cheapest home for sale in the subdivision(others for sale at that time were asking up to $120K).

And the house next door looked like it was a crack den.....ok, maybe not but obviously it was a rental because the outside was a hot mess and all the window blinds looked like a pit bull had played with them....often.  ;-)

Shopping foreclosed homes is an adventure I have to say.
Many of these homes suffer from neglect(if you don't have the money to pay your mortgage, you certainly don't have the money either to fix things that are broken, right?).
And due to the anger by the ex-owners toward the bank holding their mortgage, many of the foreclosed properties suffer from vandalism by the occupants before they leave(as well as actual vandals who break into vacant homes and steal things like wiring and copper pipes and appliances).

Many foreclosures are in bad shape inside.....damage to walls and doors(holes and graffitti, sledgehammers taken to toilets and sinks, cement poured into drains to harden and make the plumbing nonoperational, mirrors and lights shattered, cabinets and/or cabinet doors ripped off, carpet and other flooring ripped up.
You name it, we saw it.

One property we visited, when we got there, the front door was wide open and a huge pile of what looked like cabinetry pieces and carpeting was piled on the front yard, and there was someone inside the house cleaning the rugs. 

 

He was hired by the bank that owned that house to clean it out and up so it was sort of clean(at least the carpeting was), but take a look at the backyard of this place.......

 Besides all the junk and tree stumps, the previous owners had dug a hole and filled it with water in an attempt to make a pond.

A duplex rabbit hutch next to a child's old plastic restaurant buffet table.  I wonder if Hasenpfeffer was ever on the menu?

And take note of the mannequin floating in the "pond".  I neglected to snap a shot of the main part of the backyard, or rather the GARBAGE DUMP that made up most of the backyard.  I counted 15 plastic coolers in various states of repair(ALL of them needing repair), along with every conceivable discarded household and yard item you could think of.   There was a burn pit with what remained of a metal/plastic desk chair someone had attempted to "dispose of" in an unsuitable manner.

Though I didn't get a shot of the garbage dump yard in whole, I did snap a quickie of this shack/shed in the backyard.  You can see some of the trash that littered the yard(along with a cooler or two).  Note the interesting "Louisiana Yard Art" on the shed.  The cross is made up of rusty circular saw blades if you can't make out that much detail.
Such panache, such flavor......

After viewing this yard, I can imagine what the inside of the house looked like BEFORE the bank cleaned it out!

The problem for buyers with a bank foreclosure is that the bank will come in and clean up the property(remove damaged parts)but they don't repair or replace anything(besides roofs or missing walls).  So you see a lot of houses missing flooring, doors, ceiling fans/lighting fixtures, etc.
And since they don't replace or fix anything inside, you know you'll have to spend, to varying degrees, to get any place livable again.

And the fun really comes in when you can't see what hasn't been replaced/repaired.
While some deficits are obvious, like this house where someone took the bathtub with them......

And less obvious was the house where they had taken parts of the HVAC system so that it was nonoperational and needed to be replaced.  While the house seemed like a good deal on the surface, this small detail made it a very expensive deal!

Then we saw a place that had potential, if the previous owners hadn't gone and tried to "remodel" it.
Instead of fixing the foundation/floors of the house, they had just covered it up by installing expensive finishes(fixtures, tile and tubs/sinks)in the bathroom)over the much bigger fundamental problems.  Nice finishes in the bathrooms.....but the floors were all tilted and because of adding tile floors, the doors on the bathrooms couldn't be closed.

This place had an odd building in the front yard(one of just many oddities of this property)......

At first we thought it was an elaborate child's playhouse, but it had electricity running to it and business type stickers on the front window, so we think a previous owner had some kind of workshop upstairs and sold something in the downstairs room.  It was in disrepair(the flooring was rotted through)so we couldn't even go inside it(plus the top room was locked).
I did think, with some repairs/modifications, it would make a really cool chicken house! lolz
It's just too bad the house was a cobbled together mess, the long driveway required at least $5K in repairs, and it had an algae-filled pond "mosquito breeding pool" out front that needed aeration work or draining.

Among all these horror stories, we did find a gem in the end, IF the inspection comes back clean.

Sluggy
 

Last Week on the Dining Table

So we were on vacation the last week and a half to Louisiana so my weekly Menu Plan Post didn't happen.

Being on vacation means I did no cooking and mostly we ate out, which is not on the food budget tab.

My Lunch at Strawn's-the Spinach, Feta, Strawberry, Pecan & Grilled Chicken Salad

Butterscotch Ice Box Pie followed this.

Here is what we ate anyway......

Sunday--B-McDonald's at home /L-Golden China Restaurant in Harrisonburg, VA/D-Morelia's Mexican Grill in Bull's Gap, TN

Monday--B-Hotel freebie Bull's Gap, TN/L-Shoney's in Gatlinburg, TN/D-Krystal in Manchester, TN

 Tuesday--B-Waffle House(Hotel freebie was nasty) Manchester, TN/L-Hardee's in Tullahoma, TN/D-Johnny's BarBQ in Cullman, AL

 Wednesday--B-Hotel freebie(good!) Tuscaloosa, AL/L-The Brickhouse Bar & Grill in Meriden, MS/D-Sue's Country Kitchen in Bossier City, LA

 Thursday--B-Sue's again Bossier City, LA/D-Shane's Seafood & BBQ in Bossier City, LA (no Lunch)

 Friday--B-Hotel freebie(yuck!)Bossier City, LA/D-Podnuh's in Bossier City, LA (no Lunch)

 Saturday--B-I cooked Eggs/Sausage/Bagels/Fruit /L-Strawn's Eat Shop in Shreveport, LA/D-Hardee's Haughton, LA

Sunday--B-Sue's again Bossier City, LA/L&D-My daughter cooked Easter dinner

Monday--B-Hotel freebie(yuck again!)Bossier City, LA/L-Berry's Seafood Catfish House in Magee, MS/D-Danny's Fried Chicken in Fairhope, AL

Tuesday--B-Hotel freebie(best one!)Fairhope, AL/L-Pizza Hut Prattville, AL/D-Waffle House Chattanooga, TN

Wednesday--B-Hotel freebie Chattanooga, TN/L-Smalls Cajun Man Drive-In in Athens, TN/D-Burger King Buchanan, VA

Thursday--B-nothing...slept late/L-Chinese Buffet/D-no dinner(too full from Lunch)

Friday--B-yogurt and Danish at home/L-leftovers at home/D-Brats on rolls and COC

Saturday--B-yogurt and Danish at home/L-something at the Brewpub/D-Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad, Garlic Bread

We've been home 3 days now.  Thursday we went for lunch out as I wasn't up to cooking after being up til 3 am the night before.  So full from lunch we didn't have dinner.  I may have had a donut and yogurt for dinner but don't tell anyone.  ;-)
Regularly prepared meals started up yesterday, Friday, but not without great protestations from me!
Coming back from vacation and having to jump into meal planning and cooking again is just so wrong.....

Obviously, I did little grocery shopping the last 2 weeks.
I did buy the fixings down in LA for the breakfast I cooked and I paid for the spiral ham, rolls and other things my daughter cooked for Sunday dinner, so the food spending on the food budget so far comes to $66.71 on $103.66 regular retail of groceries.

I am up to $362.04 of food spending for April at the moment.
We need groceries so will be spending some more later this weekend and that will surely put me over $400 for the month.
*Sigh*
But it was to be expected so I am not too broken up over it.

I'll be back Monday with the regular "This Week on the Dining Table" post.

Sluggy