Frugal living

Summer Garden 2014

I’ve had this Hydrangea shrub for many years.  I admit to having transplanted it several times due to the shade that keeps appearing every couple of years.  Some caused by my trees and shrubs sprouting up in the vicinity and once due to a neighbor planting several very large privacy shrubs near his fence line.  Making up for lost time, it not only decided to bloom all the colors of the rainbow on one shrub.  Nice feat when you consider that the Hydrangea’s color is determined by the PH balance of its soil.

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Check out the 3 butterflies I caught in mid-air to the left of the flower!
Check out the 3 butterflies I caught in mid-air to the left of the flower!

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White butterfly on my oregano

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin’

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I love all the birds and animals in my yard every summer.  Had to completely give up on the vegetable garden this year, but did get a few red and black raspberries.  Enjoy the little chipmunk I bated with a couple of the berries.

Garden Tour

I love the way gardens look in late spring.  When everything has greened and awakened.  If you love blooms, you can check out some of my links and research the bloom times of your favorite plants and plant accordingly to be assured you will always have garden flowers.  Most of mine are for foliage because I love being surrounded with green and I am stuck with mostly shade so I have learned to adjust from poppies and roses to hostas and ferns.

2014MayYardGardenMisc 022Got the red, white and blue motif for my Memorial Day.

I hope you enjoy the garden tour.  Come back anytime.

Have a safe and blessed Memorial Day!

Daily Prompt: No Apologies With Ice Cream!

My super guilty pleasure is Moose Tracks Ice Cream and lots of it!

Didn’t used to matter that much when I was younger and ate super healthy all the time and this was about the only fat and sugar in my diet.

I’m trying to cut down to allow for some of the other unhealthy food I now eat and the other day I picked up some natural vanilla ice cream by Breyers instead of my usual.

I had previously purchased some Dove candies that were on sale so I decided to forgo the usual fudge and peanut butter cups that are in Moose Tracks.

Then I got the bright idea to melt some of the dark chocolate candies in some butter and cream for a fudge sauce and split some of the peanut butter candies and throw them into my vanilla ice cream to see if it was close to the real thing.

It was better!

Daily Prompt: If I Had a Hammer and I Do!

I would love to take some carpentry classes so I can finally build the dry sink I have had the plans for since the 1970’s.

I have owned a couple of homes in my life and we have redone wallpaper and layed floor tiles and carpet ourselves, my husband doing most of the work.  I have actually managed to change my plumbing fixtures and replaced a garbage disposal all on my own as well as other odd repair jobs through the years.

Approximately five years ago I was financially forced to tile my tub surround rather than pay the proposed $3000 to $4000 quoted to me by a reputable kitchen & bath company in my area.  I took a class from my local home depot and along with my previous floor tiling experience and one of their “how-to” DVDs, I was able to tear off the loose wall board and very slowly replace all the backer board (cement board).  I used WonderBoard Lite because they are in 3′ x 5′ sheets and regular cement boards were far too heavy for me to work with by myself.  Once they were installed, I proceeded to spread on tile adhesive, setting the tiles in place with spacers.  After I got used to placement using the spacers I no longer needed them.  Once it dried, I applied the grout with my trowel, sponging off the excess before it dried.  Once cleaned, the grout was allowed to cure for a few days before I placed a grout sealant that has really done it’s job over the years.  I dry the tub once used, but I have never had virtually no mold or mildew grow in all these years.

Thankfully I thought to take a few pictures.  If I would have taken more shots I would have put the instructions on instructables.com.  Please see the following slide show for an idea on how this project went.

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Federal Income Tax Tips

I wanted to devote this post to general Federal income tax information of a nature that many may not be aware of.

  1. First of all you need to verify if you are even liable to file this year.  Find out.
  2. If you are liable, you need to know that the IRS has links from its website for many that qualify for free filing.  Verify if you qualify.
  3. You need to know if you are in an area the Federal Government has deemed an official Disaster Area.  This may effect your filing requirements.  To verify.
  4. You need to be VERY careful in selecting and working with any tax preparer if you go that route.  Many are not who they claim to be.  For more information.
  5. Never work with someone claiming they can get you a larger tax refund unless they can fully explain how they plan to do this.  YOU will answer to anything fraudulent your preparer does.  For more information.
  6. Don’t even dream of trying to pull one over on the IRS because there is nothing you can do they won’t catch you at.  I used to work for them.
  7. Self employed individuals, don’t allow any tax preparer to write things off that you don’t have receipts for because they have started auditing small business / self-employed regularly and if you don’t have documentation, you will end up having to pay back taxes with additional penalties and interest.  Small business & self-employed information.
  8. Also be aware that if you currently owe back taxes or are in arrears with child support or other payments, any refund will be typically offset to pay these debts.  For more information.
  9. If you are planning on filing for an extension, please remember that the extension is for the forms only.  All tax due must be paid no later than April 15th or risk penalties.

If you already find yourself in the ACS Collection area of the IRS there is something you can do to help resolve your current or future tax problems.

“Don’t Mess With The IRS An Unauthorized Customer Service Guide to Resolving Your ACS Collection Issues” was written to walk any taxpayer through the most common IRS tax problems from first contact to final resolution. DntMsWIRS5

You do not need to hire a professional that will charge you thousands of dollars that you could be applying to the tax you have due.  They are not able to do anything legally that you cannot do for yourself with a little knowledge.

This self-help book walks you through your initial contact with ACS, if and how you should select legal representation if you should want or need it, how to resolve the basic problems of Failure to File, any Balance Due situations and what your rights are as a taxpayer.

For the time being, I can no longer offer “Don’t Mess With The IRS An Unauthorized Customer Service Guide to Resolving Your ACS Collection Issues.”