Our Retirement Home in Oregon

Our Retirement Home in Oregon
A work in progress (we're fixing it up - bit by bit). Retirement is several years off although. I'll Post updates as they happen...

Welcome to the Blog

My name is Dave and this is the first entry in my first Blog. I haven't done too much on the web in quite some time. Like most folks here, I'm a member of several user forums. Lurking mostly. Sometimes, tossing in an opinion or two - but not too often. Actually, I've had several web sites and other assorted projects on the web. I've given up on web site design as I don't seem to have the time nor the inclination. I'm focused on projects at work and entertaining my wife (and our poodles) in my leisure time. Never thought of sharing my viewpoints using a Blog. The wife says that I never talk to her. Hell, we've been married for thirty years - most of the topics have been covered many times over. She does most of the talking anyway, which is OK. Lucky for me, we have two miniature poodles to keep her 'occupied' while I'm on the laptop (which is often). So why in the hell did I start a Blog? Mostly to make comments in someone else's Blog or document the progress that we're making on our personal projects, I guess. Perhaps, I might have something interesting to say from time to time. Most likely, my best entries will be elsewhere. Sometimes I wonder the wisdom in documenting one's thoughts or opinions on the Internet. Google is becoming more powerful as a search tool... I've said too much already...

There is one thing that I can talk about. We bought a retirement house in Eastern Oregon a couple of years back. Being a 'baby boomer', I'm looking at retirement in a few years. Seven years, actually. Figured that we had better look into where retirement was. We presently live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona (in the hottest part of the state). We have lived here for fifteen years and have seen many changes. Weather forecast (during the time of this entry) is 120 Degrees plus. You get the idea... Besides it being hot here, we miss being around 'green' things. Funny thing. Once you have lived in a small town for any length of time, you tend to not miss the stresses of the daily commute or crowds in general. The wife's big concern is the 'quality' of the shopping opportunities. There is always a trade off somewhere. Lake Havasu City is a town of multiple personalities - depending on the time of year. The character of the town as diverse as the Summer and Winter seasons. Actually, the town is delightful during the Winter. Summer is something else. Summer events here revolve around the Colorado River. I get to see my fair share of the River. I work on the River. I'll probably have some comments later in the Blog about the River.

Getting back to our place in Oregon. Several years back we saw real estate prices shoot through the roof here in Havasu. Most folks here believed that it was due to the mass influx of people escaping Southern California. I could have kicked myself for not have investing in real estate before the 'boom'. The price of our own home tripled. This got me to thinking. Havasu would probably price itself outside of my own retirement income. Perhaps, we had better make a Plan 'B' for a retirement location that is more affordable. Many places were discussed between the wife and myself as we hashed our options over. We decided to look for suitable places during our Summer vacations.

It all starts with the Blog entry 'The Road to Retirement'.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Drunken Sailors and the Hangover Afterwards

We all have heard the phrase, 'You're spending money like a drunken sailor'. Our trip to Oregon was a three week spending binge. Every day had a purchase of sorts. Either at a local hardware store or builder's supply. None of which were minor (under $30) purchases. As I found out today, little by little - it all adds up. We made provisions for this earlier, building up both the Checking and Savings Accounts. I had this all planned out too...

Before we left Oregon we paid off our main contractor. Big Hit! Shortly after, the insulation contractor shows up. Boom! Another hit. Third contractor, the gutter guy. Bang! We drive home. Pick up our mail. Bills. Stacks of 'em. Mrs. G (our comptroller general) starts to write checks. Lots of checks.

I think that we survived all the hits we took. As thrifty as we usually are, there are times when money literally flies out of the door.

The hangover has begun.

Speaking of thrift and buying stuff from the hardware store. I never really appreciated how much money you actually save on supplies at places like Lowes and Home Depot as compared to the local supplier hardware store. Case in point: Tubes of Latex Chalking. Price at Ace Hardware = $3.99 per tube. Price at Home Depot = $1.99 (for the same stuff). There are other examples too numerous to post here, but I'm sure that you get the idea. Long story short, I make a list of all anticipated items I need and take a couple of trips down to the closest Home Depot. In this case, Ontario Oregon (120 miles away). I hate saying this but buying supplies locally normally costs nearly double on most common items. The best comparison I can make is doing shopping in an AM-PM Mini-Market verses a Kroger Supermarket. I understand that the local guy has to make a living. Just don't understand the large gap in pricing on common items.

We have become very aware of where the best shopping opportunities are located in Ontario. They consist of Wal-Mart, Bi-Mart and the Home Depot. Honorable mention is the dollar store and some unnamed pawn shop (that has a great selection of dirt cheap Chinese tools). We save money in Ontario.

It will take me several months to rebuild the accounts back up. We have other expensive jobs to do on the place next year. Retiring isn't cheap.

Posted by GageGeek at 8:24 PM

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