Outdoor Gazebo

After spending 2.5 hours putting together our new gazebo, which I used my birthday money to pay for, a very important piece broke. The small center hub which holds the canopy. At first we got frustrated then we thought about it. Our first solution was take the part back to the Home Depot and see if they could exchange it for a new one. That didn't happen...they were sold out of our model in the district.
Before our last resort which was take down the entire thing and take it back to the Home Depot we called the manufacture and they are sending us a replacement part. The bad part is it will take 7-10 days for the replacement to get to our house.

In the mean time we have a half put together gazebo in our backyard. Sometimes - time is more valuable than money. I'm so glad we don't have to take this down and put a new one back up again.

Have you ever had a time when something like this happened to you? Was the item made right?

Tax Exemptions

If you are geting substantial money back from the IRS every year it means you are giving the Federal Government an interest free loan. I assure you they will not return the favor. The solution is to go to your employer and revise your W-4 form. This form can be downloaded from the IRS's website and by their standards is fairly easy to understand. There are several ways you can estimate the number of exemptions you should claim on your W-4 depending on charitable giving, mortgage interest, state taxes and income bracket. If you come up with a number you are not totally comfortable with simply back it down one expemtion. It is always an option to revisit your exemption status after the following tax year.

Earth Day Tips

Since it is Earth Day Frugal Chick and I decided to go over the things we do that save money and are also Earth friendly. I am by no means the most green person out there (just last week Frugal Chick and I argued over the use of Sevin Dust in our garden) but, I do consider myself a conservationist. Here are some of the things we do to save money and the Earth's resources.

We try to use energy efficient bulbs in our house and try to turn off unused lights and appliances. Frugal Chick makes our own detergent which does not have any harsh chemicals and is is much cheaper than store bought detergents. We installed a programable thermostat which really saves us energy late at night and during the day. Most programable thermostats have 8 hour cycles and weekend settings. Plants around your house provides oxygen to the air, looks good and cools your house. We have installed ceiling fans and have a space heater which helps cool and heat the house without using the energy drain that is the heat pump.

A few years ago our hot water heater died we purchased an energy efficient hot water heater. If you have the opportunity I would suggest (if price feasable) a solar powered water heater, a friend of mine had one in his old house and just raved about it. Another way to conserve water is by using low flow shower heads. We have used these for several years and there really is no dicernable differance. Our biggest energy and dollar conserver is carpooling (we work a couple of blocks apart and have the same work schedule), if you can possibly find someone to carpool with it will save both gas and cash.

As I stated at the begining I am not the greenest person out there, but I am a conservationist and there is another kind of green that I always like to save.

Block The Sun

When Accounting Dude and I first meet he already had a house and I lived in an apartment. So it made sense that I would move into his house. Well, lets just say that it was a man's house, and it was decorated by a man in his late 20s-early 30s. Meaning - big TV and white wall, not much more.So I had to make some changes. I started with the inside, but eventually moved to the outside.

You see this brick wall behind the azaleas gets nothing but afternoon sun beating down on it. For the longest time it had nothing in front of it until I realized that it would help our cooling cost if we planted something along that wall to help cool it. Azaleas are some of my favorite plants so that is what I choose. I know they don't look that big now, but in a few years I hope that they cover most of this wall and help with our cooling cost. So is there somewhere around your house that a few plants could help reduce your cooling cost?

Tip on Tuesday

To days Tip - Don't toss out pantyhose or knee highs that have a run in them re-use them to help your plants stand up straighter.

This strong, soft, and stretch material works great as a support without cutting into the plant.

Earth Week

This week won't be a normal week of saving and spending. This week we will be talking about different ways that Accounting Dude and I try to be green and save money while doing it. I'll let you know right off the bat we aren't the most green people out there, but we do try!
Up first this week;
The new trees we planted this weekend. We planted two pear trees. Actually, we got them at a really good deal. I'm a member of the Home Depot garden club. You should join if you aren't already a member because they send out some great coupons.
This club sent me a coupon to buy one tree get one free. Well, Home Depot didn't have pear trees and that is what I really wanted to plant. Like most cities Home Depot is right next to Lowes, so Accounting Dude and I drove to Lowes went in to customer service and asked them if they would match the coupon. The manager read the coupon several times and then said sure. So for $18.96 AC and I got two pear trees. Let me tell you we picked the two tallest and strongest looking trees they had.
We were prepaired for the manger to say no about the coupon, but we were pleasantly surprised when he said yes.
Now, we just hope that the trees will live and that in a few years we will have some fruit.