Hello Everyone! Its been a while since my last post. The holidays and my DIY kitchen remodel is playing havoc on my "time-management" skills.
I think more of us need to realize that Do-It-Youself applies to many things in life. We need to realize that if we want something done, then we NEED TO MAKE SURE ITS DONE AND IF NOT THEN DO IT YOURSELF. Very simple. Very easy to say. It applies to so many things, but some of us tend to think that someone else will take care of it. We need to stop that type of thinking.
I mentioned my kitchen remodel. All of which I'm hoping to do for less than 3 grand...including the bamboo floor. Now its taking me a little while, but I work for free. I sanded/primed/painted my original cabinets and "recycled" old oak ones that someone else took out of their kitchen. I am adding new doors and drawer fronts. I read about how to tile your kitchen countertop, and my husband and I came up with a really nice design for the tile. I shopped around and found porcelain tile for pennies of its original price [at my local Lowe's store.] I found a really nice kitchen sink that was $100 off an Home Depot, because it was a return. I cleaned up my old kitchen faucet and it looks great. I also did the same for my dishwasher, fridge, range-top, and oven. I am reading up on how to install an engineered floor. I am just starting to look around for the flooring, but I am hoping that one of the local stores decides to "dump" one of their lines of engineered bamboo. I didn't spend a lot of money. I don't have granite. I don't have designer appliances. I will have a nice looking kitchen that frees up any other monies to apply towards any future family vacations.
A lot has happened in the last month. We had the terrible shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Now the country in being torn every which way with talks about how to prevent any future violence. The Christmas holidays came and went. I seemed as thought the Cleveland area experienced very mild Christmas weather. I hope that everyone was able to spread Christmas cheer to everyone. For my family, we stayed home and hosted part of my husband's family. Our days were filled with eating and a few nights we enjoyed some of the holiday classics. Of course the movie Elf was watched more than a couple of times.
I wanted to bring up flu season. I am not sure if the flu is really that bad or if the press wants to divert our attention away from all the other bad things that are happening around the US. That being said, please make sure you have your flu shot. If not, you can call your local Board of Health and ask them where their flu shot clinics are in your area. I know that our local supermarket and Walgreens offers flu shots, but often the amounts are limited.
So now it is officially mid-January. Time to start purging your house of unwanted items. Please donate them to the charity of your choice. I am partial to Habitat for Humanity and charities that help out military veterans.
It should also be a time that you are starting to get all your taxes together. Personally, I input all the data into a spreadsheet and provide that to my account. This saves me loads of money, as the actually inputting takes me hours to do..but my labor is free! Taxes are a scary thing. I like my accountant, but some people choose to do their own taxes. If not, then there are lots of free tax clinics to visit in the tri-county area. A simple google search should bring up all the information you need.
I read somewhere that many of the stores start to really clear out their inventory starting January 16th. As you all know, that day is tomorrow. I'll be sure to keep close eye on most of the stores and post any great sales that I see.
