Stimulus check spending wish list, anyone?

[Sally PB]

Still waiting for our stimulus check because we don't do the direct deposit. Surprisingly, our tax refunds have already come. Having a lower income qualified us for a property tax credit that we haven't gotten in the past. Made a huge difference.

My wish list is improvements to the coop and run. Both will be reasonable in cost... sort of. Depends on materials we go with, obviously. Hubby wants to get some welding equipment. I want a hubby who can do welding. So that works.

We still might look into solar energy.

All of our vehicles are old. They all run well at the moment, but that can change at any time.

We do tend to shop local versus get stuff from Amazon. We always have, since we've always worked at small businesses. Every sale counts. I try to go to the small stores before I hit up the big box places, but even going to those keeps local people employed.

 

[gtaus]

My wish list is improvements to the coop and run. Both will be reasonable in cost... sort of. Depends on materials we go with, obviously. Hubby wants to get some welding equipment. I want a hubby who can do welding. So that works.

I was going to expand my chicken run by building wooden frames and 2X4 welded wire. That would look really nice. But the current price of lumber was about 3X-4X more expensive than a few years ago, so I have decided to use metal T-Posts instead. It won't look as nice, but in the end, the chickens don't care. I picked up some 8 foot tall T-Posts a few days ago and now am just waiting for warmer weather to put in the new fencings.

I don't know much about welding, but I did buy a flux core welder from Harbor Freight a few years ago. I have used it to fix a few things around the house instead of having to throw it away and buy new. Our local welders charge about $80 per hour for welding, so, in theory, it will not take me very many small jobs to pay for my welder and supplies. Also, I like to fix things myself if I can. That's just me.

Good to hear that you support your hubby about that welder. Dear Wife did not care when I came home with a welder, but I guess that is her way of supporting me. She knows I have to maintain all our yard equipment, so she just leaves all that stuff to me to work out.

We do tend to shop local versus get stuff from Amazon. We always have, since we've always worked at small businesses. Every sale counts. I try to go to the small stores before I hit up the big box places, but even going to those keeps local people employed.

I hear you. Almost all our small stores have gone out of business and now we just have larger, big box stores for most of the products I buy. If the local stores don't have the item I need, then I hit up Amazon or eBay for a seller. It's good to have options.

We have a local Menards, which I shop. Sometimes they don't have an item at our local store, but they can transfer it from another store. I wanted to buy a $25.00 item from them that was not carried at our local store, so I checked into ordering from a store-to-store transfer. Menards wanted to charge $35.00 to transfer the item from a store 90 miles down the road to the local store. No thanks. I ordered from Amazon for $20.00, shipped directly to my house.

Also made it known to the local Menards manager that their excessive store-to-store shipping rates are killing them. She said she was aware of the problem but would forward my comments.

Home Depot offers free store-to-store shipping, and I often order something online from them shipped directly to my house. Both online orders and store-to-store transfers count as local sales for our Home Depot, or at least that is what I was told by our Home Depot customer service desk. I asked, because at the height of the Covid-19 restrictions, I preferred to order online rather than going into town for the item(s).

We still might look into solar energy.

The cost of solar energy seems to be coming down every year. A few years ago when I was interested in the numbers, the payback period was about 25 years. At the time, I was pushing 60 years old and lost interest. Also, we live under snow for about 6 months of the year, and I don't know of anyone locally who has a solar setup. Location matters...

All of our vehicles are old. They all run well at the moment, but that can change at any time.

Same boat, here. Fingers crossed for good luck. I budget for car repairs, but there comes a time when an old car needs to be retired.

Anyway, thanks for sharing.

 

[gtaus]

More stimulus money spent today. I broke my old 8 sheet paper shredder this morning. It was working fine, then a terrible grinding noise, then it stopped. Must have broken the inside gears. Probably made of plastic.

So I had this Amazon Basics 12 Sheet Paper Shredder on my wish list:

Dropped the order early this afternoon and expected delivery this Friday. My old 8 sheet paper shredder worked fine for shredding paper for the past ~10 years, so I felt I got my money's worth.

I upgraded the shredder this time to the 12 sheet shredder by Amazon because it is strong enough to shred cardboard. I have been shredding all my paper for use in the chicken coop and for composting. Now, I'll be able to shred cardboard too. I have had this item on my wish list for over a year, but I was too cheap to replace my old shredder as long as it was still working.

 

[Sally PB]

I have had this item on my wish list for over a year, but I was too cheap to replace my old shredder as long as it was still working.

I know that feeling!

I broke my $20 sunglasses last weekend. Hubby fixed it with some duct tape. I thought if the store had another pair, I'd get them because, well, duct tape...

They did have them. I almost didn't buy them because they had gone up to $22!
I got them and I'm glad I did.

 

[gtaus]

Hubby fixed it with some duct tape.

The great Red Green show on PBS had a saying, "Spare the duct tape, spoil the job." He used duct tape for just about everything. Along with using duct tape, he was well known for his quote, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

I got them and I'm glad I did.

Yes, comes a time when you have to replace something.

I have watched a lot of Justin Rhodes YouTube videos over the past couple of years. I like his saying I heard in one episode, "Use it up, wear it out, fix it up, or do without." He said that it was a farmer's motto passed on to him from his father. Pretty much my sentiments on most things I own.

However, sometimes you just have to buy a new replacement. That is where I was with my broken shredder. Having said that, I am thinking about cracking the case on the broken shredder and maybe hacking it up for some other use. I have watched some YouTube videos of guys hooking up a drill directly to the shredding mechanism to bypass the broken gears. Maybe it would have enough drill power to shred/crack whole corn?

 

[Sally PB]

The great Red Green show on PBS had a saying, "Spare the duct tape, spoil the job." He used duct tape for just about everything. Along with using duct tape, he was well known for his quote, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

At work, one guy tried to fix just about everything with duct tape and c-clamps.

We loved the Red Green Show. There are some lines from that show that we use over and over again.

"Use it up, wear it out, fix it up, or do without."

I've been in "use it up" mode with a lot of things lately.

I've been tracking what I spend at the local grocery/big box store, and aiming for $100 a week, average. (That's food, most clothing, a replacement headlight, etc.) I'm more than $200 under for the year so far. Just by paying attention to what I have in my cart.

Maybe it would have enough drill power to shred/crack whole corn?

That would be cool. If you do it, post about it. A friend rigged up a way to use his power drill to shred green beans for canning. Geared waaaay down, or else they'd be on the ceiling.

 

[gtaus]

That [hacking a paper shredder to crack whole corn] would be cool. If you do it, post about it. A friend rigged up a way to use his power drill to shred green beans for canning. Geared waaaay down, or else they'd be on the ceiling.

Yes, this is way down on the list of things to do someday. I don't expect it to work very well as the YouTube videos hacking shredders has not met with success. But, if I ever get something like that to work, you bet I will post it. Seems like a waste to throw out a shredder just because some plastic gears broke.

 

[CNJ]

I bought a cheap automatic chicken feeder from Amazon that scares the heck out of my chickens. I came across a better one and bought it. It has a hydraulic lid, it opens when they step on the peddle, but won't slap down when they step off. I am happy to see them using it. I have a dove problem, so it cuts down on feed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y279HSX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[gtaus]

I bought a cheap automatic chicken feeder from Amazon that scares the heck out of my chickens. I came across a better one and bought it. It has a hydraulic lid, it opens when they step on the peddle, but won't slap down when they step off. I am happy to see them using it. I have a dove problem, so it cuts down on feed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y279HSX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am lucky in that I have no problems with other animals stealing the chicken feed I keep in the coop. I just use a hanging 5 gallon bucket with PVC elbows. Very low tech, but works great for me.

 

[CNJ]

I also had to buy hen pads, the feathers on their backs are getting damaged by the young roosters. I am going to have to separate them to night. They are too aggressive.