$3 Lint Roller

And speaking of practicing for retirement...

As you are aware, I am in the RED ZONE for retirement planning.  This weighs heavily on my mind so I am always looking for opportunities to cut our household expenses.  In my quest for savings, I have turned to "The Dollar Store" (insert appropriate brand name here) for certain items.  One of the said items is the sticky lint rollers you tear off in sheets.

I have 2 cats so fur and lint management is high on the list of things to do in my home.  I keep lint rollers in my closet, suitcases, tote bag and car.  It's amazing how cat hair can show up on your clothes in New York when you defuzzed yourself thoroughly before leaving home, while riding to the airport, in the airport bathroom, and in the hotel room before leaving.  But, sure enough, during a crucial part of your presentation you look down and there is a big fat cat hair riding on your boob.  Could throw you off of your game OR you can pretend it is a part of your accessories and saw Carrie Bradsaw from Sex in the City wearing the same thing on one popular episode.  You get the point.

During an especially busy time in our lives I let our lint roller stock get low.  To be honest, every lint roller stick was bare. Not a sticky sheet to be found, even in my secret stock I hide from my husband.  Luckily, there is a Target right across the street from my office so I breezed by and picked up a dozen on my way home.  Just whisked in there with my pants on fire, talking to 3 people on the phone, typing up a proposal on my iPad and weaving a blanket while stalking and buying those jewels.  Never even knew what the total price was until I got home and reviewed the ticket.

"$36! $36!  You got to be kidding me!  I paid $3 a piece for lint rollers!  (It's ok to suck all of the air out of the room while reading this.  Resume when ready).

My mind began to run the calculations in my mind.  No sweet tea for the next 24 meals, work another 12 years, buying cheaper cuts of meat.  Horrors!  What have I done to my family?  I dare not tell my husband as we might have a hospital bill on our hands from shock therapy.  So I put those little precious items in their appointed places (closet, car, tote bag, suitcases etc.) and pretended nothing had happened to adversely affect our budget.

The next morning I nervously grabbed the lint roller, unveiled the sticky paper and rolled it across my black pants.  What, what??  One roll and the cat hair dissipated.  It was surely a fluke so I tried again, this time across my gray jacket.  Eureka!  Gone.  Then the true magic happened.  I grabbed the used sticky sheet to reveal the next layer and it came off straight and neat. 

No rolling around in the floor to get the used sheet to release, no tattered and torn sides as it ripped halfway revealing part of the stickiness of the next layer, no using 50 sheets to get one unfuzzed leg.  I might have stumbled upon the 13th wonder of the world.

That is when it dawned on me that I could actually save money by using these $3 lint rollers.  It also dawned on me that the reason I was always covered with cat hair was from rolling around on the floor fighting with the cheap ones.

Needless to say, I was relieved to discover my initial panic was unnecessary.  Our budget would survive and sweet tea can be consumed at future meals.  Life is good.

Practicing for Retirement - August 22nd

Many thanks to all of you who have sent e-mails and called indicating the information being shared during this series is of value to you. I am so glad I have several already mentors who are teaching me the ropes. This is the last day for this session of practicing for retirement. Alas, I have to go back to work and get those financial issues in order now. Quite frankly, I've eaten about all of the early bird specials I can stand and ready for some good home cooking. But, today's activities consisted of:

• Church followed by breakfast at the local restaurant that offers a Sunday special. Husband Unit splurged on a short stack of pancakes. I will have to counsel him about that as the extra pancake cost of $2! Holy Cow! If he keeps that up he will blow our iced tea budget!
• Took a Sunday ride in the golf cart around the neighborhood. Husband Unit got embarrassed when I pretended I was a beauty queen and practice my wave. He's just lucky I didn't hide my tiara in the glove compartment.
• Family dinner tonight. Always a tradition on the last evening we are in residence and the activity I cherish the most. You only have so many hours to spend with your family and we love each and every moment.

Thanks for tuning in. This is the last post for this series but I'll be sure to alert you if I get one more practice session in.

Practicing for Retirement - August 21st a.m.

Gotta get a golf cart if you are retired. Doesn't matter if you play golf or not, a golf cart is required equipment in retirement. You do not use it on the golf course but, rather, to transport items from house to house, ride to the pool, and, as Husband Unit and I discovered this a.m., very handy for yard work.

I loaded the trash can in the passenger side of the golf cart and rode that little bugger around the entire yard. I would jump out, trim up the bush or clean out a flower bed and plop the trash right in the bucket. Used a bungie cord to tie my rake on the back and the little containers on the side were just perfect for my trimmers.

PS: Also good to run from alligators if you get too near the pond.

Practicing for Retirement - August17th -20th

I have to be honest, most of the activity over the last several days has been focused on recycling old computers which, I guess, is a practicing for retirement activity. But, I have gotten in a couple of good practice sessions. Such as:

• Wendy's has a hamburger for 89 cents!!! Woo hoo!!! Great lunch.
• Go to the Sam's during lunch if you don't want Wendy's and eat the samples. Wow!
• Watching the sunset on the beach for the millionth time. I will never get tired of that.

Only have a few days left to practice so I guess I better put in that $1 movie and start watching so I don't have to pay a late fee.

Practicing for Retirement August 12th - 15th

I realize I have several years left before I can retire but, in my opinion, one can never start too early with saving to finance your retirement years and, equally as important, one must practice retirement activities often so they will good at it when the day comes. There is a plethora of information on the financial issues of retirement but none that I can tell on the very important tasks that must be mastered to be a successful retiree. I am sharing my personal experiences here to help those younger than me plan accordingly. Please stop back often to get an update.

Thursday evening August 12th - Dinner at the Piccadilly with Husband Unit. Got the $4.99 special which includes entree and 3 vegetables and a choice of cornbread (stick or jalapeno) or roll. Tea is $2 extra and we splurged.

Friday August 13th - Grabbed cheap fare to Florida to visit the family. Had to leave at dark thirty and spend 6 hours traveling because of connections and layovers (non-stop gets there in 1 hour) but we saved $238!! Woo hoo!! We can afford tea at the Piccadilly several more times now!!

Saturday August 14th - Driving my father-in-laws honking big Mercury Marquis around town. The car gets there 30 minutes before I do the hood is so long. I have also backed out in front of 2 people in the parking lot which is also a required driving skill.

Sunday August 15th - Took the day off. This practicing is wearing me out!!!

Monday August 16th -- Headed to Nicola's for the early bird special. You get a big plate of spaghetti, rolls and a salad for $6. We are going to splurge and get tea since we saved so much on airfare.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post...

Practicing for Retirement

My husband and I are practicing for retirement this week. Well, I'm practicing since he is already retired. Does that make me a lone practitioner with a partner? I do need his involvement to practice for retirement since he is going to be heavily involved. Another question to pose to the scientists for resolution after they get this global warming thing worked out.

Anyway, I digress. Whenever we (or rather I) have a week of vacation we escape to our little house near the beach and pretend we (or rather I) don't have to go back to where we (or rather I) work. There are little projects to do everyday to keep our mind active and lots of planning on where to go for the early bird dinner special. We jump out early before the heat of the day hits and then spend the mid-day enjoying our favorite past-times. Mine is scrapbooking or writing while hubby watches the news and solves the world's problems. The only missing element is the RV and budget. It's amazing how we pattern our actions with those who live in our community that are already retired. I can spout off all of the best places to get $1 hot dogs on Tuesday like I've been doing it all of my life.

Speaking of budget, I sometimes think about how scary it can be to retire. To have a finite amount of money that must last until God takes you home. What if you spend too much in the early years (I believe there is a new commercial calling it The Red Zone) or what if you get sick and have to spend a lot of your hard earned savings to cover medical costs not covered by insurance. OK, a perfect example just happened. My computer mouse just died and, if I were retired, I would be stressing about buying a new one because it wasn't budgeted. (Update, crisis averted. Just wasn't plugged in far enough... whew!)

So you can see how practicing for retirement is a good thing and you should start early. There are a lot of things to think about when you abandon your career. I've worked since I was 10 years old. My entire identity is wrapped up in being a business woman. Where do I find a new one when that is gone? Will I be happy vacuuming and dusting as my primary responsibilities? Another stressor of late is hubby announcing the impromptu Chico's shopping sprees will have to cease when I quit work. Oh my!

The phases of life are funny things. Quite frankly I have not enjoyed the transition from one to another at anytime in my life. Cuddly baby to toddler (fall down and go boom). Childhood to puberty (the drama that came with buying that first bra and did I really need it). Teenager to adult (How much is it going to cost me to live in this flea infested apartment?) Adult to retiree... There is always some adjustment to make and I don't make adjustments easily.

Oh well, I'm just practicing right? No need to get stressed today with the beach calling my name. Perhaps I could turn shell collecting into a revenue producing venture to fund my Chicos' addiction. Update ya later...