New Favorite Old Show

So, I don't have a TV and hence am behind the times on shows.

I've probably blogged about my hoarder show issue.  Well, I found a healthier way to satisfy my yen for thinking others are more messed up than me.

"Til Debt Do Us Part" which I am watching on youtube with a mobile wifi hotspot I checked out from the library for free.

This is a Canadian reality show.  The Canadians are generally more realistic in their reality shows than the 'Mericans are.  This one features a financial advisor who goes to a family with financial woes and works with them for 1 month.  If they behave well, have a good attitude, and demonstrate major life/money changes, they get $5000.00 (Canadian presumably).  Not the huge pay off that 'Mericans would expect.  Like much of Canada, it's toned down and more modest.

Each week there are the predictable plot points which I love in reality TV.  The genre reminds me of the old Batman series in reruns during my childhood.  If it was 5 minutes in to the show, you KNEW the villain would show up, half way and the dynamic duo is trapped in a ridiculously easy to escape predicament, and then it all resolves nicely.

In this show, the premise is that money is a mystery to most people.  Corollary premises (premia?) are that talking about money is taboo, people are unaware of what they spend, that people estimate income based on gross (ignore taxes and other deductions), and outgo based on net (ignore interest paid on credit cards and loans and the expense of ownership for things like vehicles and pets and kids and homes).  The advisor states that the primary reason for divorce or break up is money.  So, facing money issues and being open and solving them together sorts out the relationship as well as the debt problem.

The couples in each show discuss what they THINK is going on.  Some are realistic, most are NOT.  Most also blame each other for the issue.  The advisor goes through months of expenses and tells them what is actually happening.  She includes how much more they spend each month than they bring home.  She shows them where they will be in 5 years if they don't change.   It's a good point.  Not so distant in time that people think they can sort it out late, but not so overwhelming that they give up before they start.

Then, Gail, advisor,she cuts up cards (credit and debit).  She shows them a budget that will work for them each month.  Then she puts money in jars, cash money, for area of expense and they have to make it through the month on that.   That's week 1/day 1.

Each week for the month they have an assignment.  The first week is usually dealing with debt.  Some call credit card companies to get lower interest, some have to get a consolidation loan put on their mortgage to get rid of the credit card debt.

The next week they generally have to show how they can cut expenses more and/or bring home more money.

During relationship assignment week they have to usually talk to each other about money. Sometimes they get to do research like how much it would cost for a stay at home parent to go back to work vs what that work will bring in NET (not gross).  Often, with 2 or more kids, they can save more with a stay at home parent cooking and maybe taking in a kid to babysit, they come out ahead of a full time job.  Sometimes, turns out the spouse has to go to work.

In the end Advisor Gail gives them $5000 or less.  If they are turds or think they could do better than her and hence don't do their tasks, they get less.  One couple that I've seen so far, got bupkis.  Nada. Zero.  Zip.  Zilch.  They did nothing and were snotty little twerps.  It's like the one time Batman and Robin didn't defeat the villain and you knew that one was still out there...haunting.

I am surprised EVERY EPISODE (like 40 so far) that people are SOOO unrealistic about their $$.  Of course, I'm single and thrifty as crap.   There are things in my life that I don't want to face (we won't be blogging about those so bite me), but money isn't one of them.

Most couples, or at least one of the pair, just can't be honest with themselves about their money and where it goes or how much there is.  Geez!  It's like the hoarders who can't see the hoard or the folks on "My 600lb Life" (another of my favorite shows to binge watch), who can't see that they are eating enough to support 600lbs...must be glandular?  The money must be evaporating?  The hoard is "good stuff" that is useful in the immediate future...etc.

I think it's rewarding for me to watch because I have work3ed on most of the issue presented already in the past or don't have a tendency toward those particular vices.
It's nice to see what I already do or know that the advisor points out.  I also get some validation on things I've advocated but not done, and encouragement to keep following my own money choices even if something else MIGHT be more profitable.  I'm doing fine, I don't have to be rich.  I pay my own freight and am prepared for the occasional mid level crisis cost.  It also shows me the stress I no longer have since the debt is gone.  Zero.  Zilch. Nada.  Nil. Bupkis.

So, things I do that got validated:

1) Write down what I spend on a daily basis.  I do that MOST days.  Once in a while I miss a day or forget to bring a receipt home to record.  I try to write down 10-15% more than I guesstimate the costs to be.  Most people underestimate spending (and calorie intake) so I bump it up just in case.

2) Have a planned monthly budget.  It fluctuates and since expenses are fluctuating with construction and life...I write up a target for each category each month.  I "WRITE" with pencil on graph paper.  That works for me.  I don't want to turn on an electronic device to track my money.  It isn't "in the cloud" and when the computer or whatever device craps out, I still have all my information.

3) Each month I try to shave down an area that is creeping up in costs. Last month I spent too much on food in all categories:  Groceries (which is just food, not TP or soap or etc), dinner out, work lunches out, and coffee out.  I suspect I will be able to cut groceries but with visitors and lots of work trips, will probably not be able to cut the dining out.  So, I cut the grocery $$ and made a list of what I have on hand and a few things I could make with what I have.  I left the dining out lines high this month because being realistic makes for better success than being in fantasy land.

4) I plan for income interruptions or decreases.  It's happened in the past and could happen again.  Best to live on less than I bring in and get used to it.

5) I do NOT borrow to invest.  CRIPES!  I can't believe people do that but apparently it is common.  Actually, right now I don't borrow for anything.

6) I live mostly on cash.  She makes people live entirely on cash and I have done that.  Right now I use the credit card for gas, travel, storage unit bill, and a few other things that I may choose to buy online.  Otherwise, cash (or check) and immediately put it on the budget sheet.  I pay the credit card off weekly and I never buy material rewards, I just wait until I can get a credit put on the card.  Thus, I do not pay interest (ANY interest at this moment) and instead I take that 1% credit card points deal and put it back on the card.  That's 1% off my gas and storage bills.   I don't put those cash back things in the budget sheet.  I also don't put savings interest on the income on the budget sheet.  The total of those two is under 400$/year most years.  If times get tight, I will put those things on the sheet and track even more closely.

7) I track my income on the budget sheet.  When I get paid at work, get a tax refund, or a windfall, it goes on the sheet.  I leave off the stuff noted in #6 for now.   At the end of the month I total up the income and the outgo on the same sheet of paper and see the difference.

These last three the advisor hasn't recommended in the episodes I've seen, but I them and they work for me:

8) I not only track the monthly totals, I do a daily running total and a daily average.


9) Each month I have a target for the number of "no spend" days.  Those are days with zero money going out.  It makes me remember to gas up on days I'm already doing errands...and it makes me skip the occasional trip to town if it means a fuel up on a day that is otherwise "no spend."  I can usually get 10 no spends.  With more focus, I can get it up to 15.

10)  I get a real paycheck and deposit it. I just had someone tsk at me for doing that and I lashed out a tad.  She said something about my living in 1989 for not having direct deposit.  I said something about being the only one in the general vicinity with no debt and no current financial woes, hence I will just keep doing what works for me.

Western Montana Artisanal Kombucha and Good Food

I took a work trip to Whitefish, Montana.  While the hotel wasn't thrifty, frugal, or particularly impressive for the $$, it was paid for by work so what the hell.
For the record, it was the "Lodge at Whitefish Lake."  It's fine, but at about 100$ a night I got much less than I get at my usual 50-70$ a night hotels.  No free breakfast, slow wifi, no control of room heat (several of the conference attendees agreed that the thermostats had no effect on the room temp).  My room was 71degs F the WHOLE TIME.  I can't sleep that warm.  I only had a sliding glass door to a patio, which was lovely, but no window to crack and leave open in hopes of cooling off a bit.   The gas fireplace had 2 temperature settings, 1: world's biggest pilot light  2: center of the sun.

The good bits were the food elsewhere.  I didn't try food at the "Lodge."  The prices were not in my approved range for standard fare.

So, road trip!

Just down the road 1/2 mile was the Montana Tap House.  The food...meh.  Cheap and edible.  It looked like the "cook" had to go out the back door and back in to bring food.
The brews though!  Good!  My colleague tried a beer and said it was excellent.
I had a beet kombucha on tap from Dark Side Fermenters.   It was most excellent!!!

I know one of the fermenters...kombuchers...one of the people who owns the company who makes the stuff.  OK, I sort of know him.  He's adorbs.  Hi Pete!

Had I known I could get them to fill a growler I would have gone to a thrift store and gotten one of those football-sideline-beverage-cooler things and brought home about 5 gallons.  Damn.  Next time.

The colleague and I headed south one day to tour some work relevant sites.  Really.

We of course, had to eat as well.  

Polson, Montana...who knew the food was so good???  

First we stopped at Flathead Lake Cheese.  Go get some.  I don't even eat cheese (damn you dairy!)

I tasted a tiny bit.  It was good.  I got some for office gifts and it was well received.  Smoked gouda and some garlicky cheese curds.  The place is all solar and you buy cheese out the side window of the old house.  It's the bomb.

Next door, across the alley actually, is the Cherries BBQ Pit.  OMG!  Brisket sandwich is awesome.  For reals.  It came with 2 sides, 8$ total.  I got "ribbon fries" and coleslaw.  A ribbon fry turns out to be a giant russet potato sent through a veggie spiralizer into hot fat.  It was HUGE.  And delicious.  The coleslaw was quite nice.  I also ordered some pork rinds for the table.  They come sprinkled with the house rub.  Very very very good.  And huge.

This was the first time in ages I could not finish a meal.  I took it with me and had it for supper.  2 meals for 11$ (including the rinds).  I tried to buy a bottle of the jack daniels sauce, but the waitress lady never quite figured out that my saying "I want to buy a bottle of that" meant that I wanted to buy a bottle of that.

There is a drive through but I went inside and sat down like a grown up.

No great meals on the way home sadly.  We had to just drive straight through.  Oh well.  I plan to take a road trip to the area again as a leisure trip and to bring my stretchy pants.

Excellent Thrifty Food in Tensed Idaho

OMG!!!!!  I am beyond excited.
There are new owners at The Big Store in tiny Tensed, Idaho and the Mrs can COOK.

I stopped once to see the new stock and was pleased to see some almond milk and fresh fruit and veg.  Not much.  It's a big store, but they have everything from soup to nuts to fresh food and essential oils and a tiny cafe area so there actually isn't room for a lot of back stock.  Hence, buying not in bulk.  I always include the price of gas to get to another town when seeing is something is thrifty and it will be much cheaper to buy an onion or apple there on my way home, I drive by anyway, than running into Moscow or Coeur d'Alene for a single thing.

Now for the excellent thrifty food.
There was a sign out front advertising 4 tacos for 5$ so I slammed on the subaru breaks and turned in to the lot. 

These are street tacos made fresh to order with fresh chopped cilantro, two salsa options and fresh chopped onion that you get to put on yourself.  Nice.  The seasoned meat (I didn't bother to ask what it was) was fan-freaking-tastic.  I'm just back to North Idaho from a trip to Louisiana where people know there spices.  I was feeling a bit whiny about leaving the food behind.  Hence, my extreme excitement about the tacos.  I will be going back to try other options and the various specials.  I had these on a Saturday.  I don't usually drive by on Saturday and wouldn't want o spend the gas $$ to make a trip, but if I have guests then definitely.  When I mentioned that the owners, including the cook said they would change up the days things are offered.  Sweet!!!

I think I should mention the farmers market in Plummer and that we want some hot food served there....street tacos would be the bomb.

Go to the BIG STORE in Tensed, Idaho if you are on the way by!  Or make a trip.  Totally worth it.
http://big-store-deli.business.site/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-big-store-tensed

Comparison of Cheap Motels in Moscow, Idaho

So, sometimes I spend the night in town because I'm lazy or tired or it's icy or whatever.  It's in the budget.  The total cost so far has been less than rent each month.  We'll see if it lasts.

It has allowed me to sample 3 of the cheap motels in Moscow, Idaho.

The Royal Motor Inn
Well, it's turning into a boutique motel/hotel so it won't be cheap for that long.  In fact for no apparent reason the rate was raised on the rooms even those that haven't been upgraded by the new owners.  It is now nearly 70$/night, making it no cheaper than the other two options.

Pros:
Close to downtown.  In fact, it's right downtown.
You can walk to the movies, restaurants, everything but the laundromat.
Cheap. 70$ or under
Has a fridge and microwave

Cons:
No in room coffee
The light switches INSIDE the tub/shower surround seem unsafe
I could see a gap all the way around the door and the wind through said gap made it hard to keep the room remotely warm
The window blinds fall off at random causing the resident to be exposed
It's right downtown, by the bars and the highway so it's loud.
Wifi said to exist, but I have yet to successfully find/use it

It has had weekly and monthly rates but I've been told by the new management that as of March 2015 that will end.  We'll see.


The Palouse Inn (but now it's changing to a Motel 6)

Pros:
Cheap. 70$ or just under.
Mediocre wifi
Off the main drag so it's quiet.
Pool, though it's outside and I've never used it so I can't speak to the quality of the pool
Guest laundry
If you eat fast food, it's right next to the motel
Coffee in the room
Continental Breakfast (don't know if this will continue as Motel 6 takes over)

Cons:
Chilly rooms take forever to warm up
The laundry room was mostly out of service when I needed it
Staff varies widely in their level of competence
Rooms have parts missing, like the toilet handle
No tub
Too few outlets means that there are too many cords plugged into those that exist.

Idaho Inn
This place was rented as studio apartments so each room has a kitchenette

Pros:
Kitchenettes!
Good wifi
Cheap. 70$ or just under
Continental breakfast
Close to my storage unit (not a "pro" for everyone)
Lots of closet space
Iron and ironing board

Cons:
RIGHT on the RR tracks so if you are upset by trains going by, that could be a challenge.  Personally I don't even hear them
Hard to get a room that doesn't require going up or down steps from the parking lot.
Wear and tear not always repaired (e.g. the black mold behind the toilet)
The fridge wasn't on when I arrived
NO literature in the room...don't know the check in/out time