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This week I want to discuss the unknowns of moving to Groovy Ranch plus a few other topics. Individually, the unknowns I refer to are not very complex—but together, they add up to a whole bunch of questions.
The Great Unknowns
Internet
The only game in town at Groovy Ranch is CenturyLink. We can’t get Spectrum/Time Warner where we live, outside the city limits. In the past, we’ve gone to a brick and mortar Spectrum location, signed up, got a modem, and hooked it up. But since we built our home on raw land, we probably need a technician to come out to run lines, or connect us to the nearest ones. But I’m not sure. I plan to give CenturyLink a call this week to find out what’s involved. If an appointment is necessary, I’m not ready yet to set one up so I’m stalling a little.
Cell Phones
Mr. Groovy and I currently use Total Wireless which runs on Verizon. I pay $62 a month for the two lines with 15 GB of shared data. I’ve been very happy with the service, but it doesn’t work well out by Groovy Ranch. Our builder, Terry, his sons Jeremy and Cameron, and his worker Brian, all use U.S. Cellular with no issues. U.S. Cellular runs on Verizon, too, but has a partner agreement with another carrier for rural areas. I think that’s what makes the difference.
So I think we’ll go with U.S. Cellular, but I’m not happy about it. We’ll be doubling our cost for cell phones. The good thing is that we’re not locked into any one carrier so we can try a few. Sprint may be okay in terms of signal strength, but it doesn’t appear to be any cheaper than U.S. Cellular. I’ll try to check with a few more people in town about the service they use before making a change.
Trash Disposal
Outside of the city limits we won’t get regular trash pickup. Our only option for pickup is to hire a private service. But the local dump is only three miles down the road from us and we wouldn’t mind hauling away our own trash—hey, we’re retired! But we don’t have a truck or SUV. We need to get some sort of heavy duty container that will fit in the trunk of our Toyota Camry—one that will be secure enough, with a tight lid, to drop our trash bags in on a daily basis.
Any suggestions?
Ranch Update
Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets
Jeremy installed the kitchen and bathroom cabinets and did an amazing job. You know you’re in good hands when the cabinet installer is your builder’s son, and he’s gushing about how good they look. Jeremy’s a real perfectionist. He pointed out that the cabinet company sent the wrong stays for the drawers. These stays prevent the drawers from opening all the way. We probably would not have noticed that the last inch of drawer space is inaccessible, but Jeremy did. And he ordered twenty sets of new stays from the cabinet company and will swap them out—a chore that will take him a few hours to complete.
Counter Tops
This week the folks who install the counter tops will come to the house to measure the template. Most likely, the tops will be installed next week. Mr. Groovy and I are picking out the back splash tile today. I scheduled appliances to be delivered this week, initially, but pushed that out to next week. Depending on the work flow, I may delay that one more week.
Window Treatments
Last week Mr. Groovy and I ordered window treatments. Lowe’s had a sale on Bali products and we also decided to use their installation service. They charge $99 for up to nine windows and $10 per window after that—that includes the installer making a trip to measure the windows. We decided on faux wood blinds for nine windows, a roller shade for the three casement windows in the kitchen, and matching panels for the sliding doors leading to the screened-in porch.
I wavered on the price of the panels—vertical blinds in the same material cost a few hundred dollars less. But Mr. Groovy is not a fan of vertical blinds and the panels provide a neater, more modern look. So he convinced me to spend the money. We chose a color scheme that ties in the wood floors, gray and white cabinets, counter tops, back splash, and wood dining table we plan to have built. We’re also adding texture to the room.
All in, we’re spending approximately $1,400 on the window treatments. I seriously thought we’d buy off the rack blinds cut to size for the nine windows. Mr. Groovy would then install them, and we’d leave the kitchen windows and sliders for a later time. I envisioned spending $600 to $700 for the blinds and installation. But after the installer measured, it occurred to me we need the additional coverage for privacy. And I trust that the installer really knows his business—he’s been installing window treatments for 18 years. He’s a man of faith with his own company, and does independent contractor work for Lowe’s on the side.
Move-In Date
It looks like we’ll be in around Thanksgiving. We’ve still got plumbing, electrical, counter tops, another coat of poly on the wood floors, and a few other things that need to be done. We hear getting a final inspection and a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) takes little time. So we’re getting close!
Book Update and One for the Books
Book Update
Books sold: 149 and holding. Did The Groovy Guide To Financial Independence plateau? Say it ain’t so!
Perhaps we can use some positive book reviews? Ahem—if any of you PF bloggers out there would write and publish a review on your site, you’d be helping us out. If you’re willing and haven’t already purchased the book let me know. I can send you a PDF copy.
On the podcast front, Mr. Groovy taped several soon-to-be-released episodes and he is getting more comfortable with the process. He’s now working on his next book, The Groovy Guide To the Muscle-Up. My book, however,The Groovy Guide to Moving Back In With Your Parents is up next in the Groovy Book Empire.
Following Mr. Groovy’s book example, I decided to include stories from several people in the community who’ve moved back in with their parents at some point. However, my book will be much shorter than the “Opus” and will not include sidebar contributions. I’ll share the stories and include a smattering of quotes from the people I interviewed.
So far I’ve talked with and received great material from Jason from Winning Personal Finance, Bob from Tawcan, and Tim from Life for the Better. I have several calls lined up over the next few weeks and a few more I’d like to schedule. If you’ve moved back in with your parents (other than right after college because I’ve got a number of folks in that category), and lived to tell the tale, feel free to reach out.
One for the Books
As Editor, Public Relations Manager, and Chief Bottle Washer for The Groovy Guide To Financial Independence, I’ve reached out to podcast hosts to get interviews for Mr. Groovy. My success rate has been around 75%. Not bad. But this week I had an exchange with a personal finance podcaster that was a little unsettling.
This particular podcaster expects his guests to pay $350 to appear on his show. That takes a lot of chutzpah! The podcaster calls his offer a “sponsored guest” appearance. You can dress it up any way you like, but you’re still requiring guests to pay to be on your show. Now that I know all his guests cough up money to be interviewed, I hit “unsubscribe” on my podcast app. The show lost its validity to me.
The sponsorship opportunities I want to be involved in are those that support the community. This past month Mr. Groovy and I proudly sponsored Women Who Money because Amy and Vicki are doing great work in the community and we want to stand behind them and with them. We asked to become sponsors.
But pay to be on someone’s show? No way. Believe me, I consider it an honor for Mr. Groovy to be invited on anyone’s show. It’s certainly a win/win situation, especially since he has a book to promote. But he also has knowledge and wisdom to share with an audience. And that, alone, should be more than sufficient to warrant a podcast appearance—if the podcaster is interested in Mr. Groovy’s message, rather than his wallet.
Okay thanks for letting me blow off some steam. I didn’t reply to said podcaster because I feared I’d bite his head off. A blog comes in handy for venting once in a while!
A Question for Our Readers
I’m interested in developing a list of inspirational books. What do you recommend?
I’m not looking for books on finance, investing, saving money, goal setting, time management, productivity, frugality, or any of the common topics we normally discuss on personal finance blogs. I’m looking for purely inspirational books—emotionally, spiritually, or books that are biographical, scientific—anything uplifting that makes you feel like a better person after reading it.
For example, one of the most inspiring books I’ve read this year is Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s A Gift from the Sea.
To use my dear husband’s phrase—what say you?
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