I’ve been looking forward to the rain, really I have. I’m tired of looking at brown mountains and dried out lawns. The much needed rain will green everything up for a bit. However, since we are a town that barely receives our annual 15 inches, this week will be a trying week. Meteorologists are predicting up to 8 inches in a week, that’s more than half our annual rain fall amount.

Most cities across the nation handle much more harrowing weather, like snow, sleet, and ice. There are plenty of people who drive in much worse conditions than just a steady rain fall. Yet our normally arid city slowly comes to a halt with a few inches of that wet matter. For instance, yesterday while driving around town running some errands, every other major stop light was out. At one intersection, our trusty LA Fire Department was putting out a small fire a top a telephone pole….not so nice. Many major roads and intersections were flooded, not because we’ve received our full 8 inches, but because our run-off drains are clogged with leaves and, unfortunately, trash.

Considering our city is one of the most car-dependent, you’d think that our tax dollars could be spent filling pot holes. Not the case, with water filling in the holes, many go undetected, causing havoc to an unsuspecting driver’s automobile. So, with the promise of lots of rain this week which may help us get out of our drought, comes a commuting head ache for many on the road. Drive safely LA!

One of my childhood dreams was to live in a tree house. Of course, this may be because I didn’t have a tree house growing up as a kid. I was lacking a tree house not because I didn’t have any trees that could support the weight or structure, but my parents were quite cautious.  My stepfather was a firefighter and sort of felt it was unsafe; *think broken arms, legs, head, etc.

Climbing up into a little house in a huge, luscious tree sounds fairytale like in some ways. So many childhood novels are based around adventures that take place in a tree house, and this seems to be the inspiration behind some current tree house designs.  To indulge my inner child, I’ve been reading ThisTinyHouse.com.  Hillary writes about tree houses every Monday morning. Here are some of my favorites from her blog:

• This tree house was built in 3 days for a photo shoot. I’m not sure if the family decided to live in it after the magazine was finished with it, but it could definitely be used for summer camping.
• This German tree house also could be used as a weekend retreat.
• Here is a tree house I think you are able to rent out (it’s a little unclear if you can only visit it, or actually rent it for a night or two). The owner of the property turned his 20 acres into a nature preserve and built a couple of tree houses.

Children's Summer Camp Tree House

While browsing another one of my favorite blogs, Inhabitat.com,  for new prefab models, they too had an incredible post about a tree house. This particular tree house was donated to a children’s camp. Not only does the water slide look really fun, but the tree house was also built to be “environmentally sensitive.”

Looking at some of the interior images, it reminds me of Robinson Crusoe’s tree house at Disneyland, another famous novel that incorporated tree house living. Perhaps this new interest in tree houses will grow into an alternative housing movement, especially as land becomes less available to people  in land-locked areas. If tree houses started popping up as an alternative in my area, I would definitely check it out.

Actually, if the home market continues to rise and becomes too expensive by next year, I may have to look at alternatives to owning my own little house, like purchasing land.  I might need to begin investigating land with really strong, large trees!

My first memory of a glass mason jar was my mom preparing and canning apricot jam from the apricots that grew on our backyard tree. I vividly remember her boiling the small mason  jars and lids, preparing the apricot jam, then glueing labels on the jars to give to friends and family. She would purchase the mason jars in cases of 24. That memory sticks with me because it was an annual event that revolved around our apricot tree.

Within the last year or so, my husband and I have become very eco-conscious. We reuse as many items as we can, recycle, and compost our kitchen scraps. Within this awareness that has evolved over time, we noticed that some of our spaghetti sauce jars are Atlas Mason jars, the 24 oz size. Once the label is peeled off and the jar is cleaned, we discovered a ton of uses for these nifty, clear, glass jars. Here are some creative ways to reuse them:

• Drinking glasses. Years ago, at a BBQ restaurant, I remember being served iced tea in a glass mason jar. I really liked the concept then, and I use my mason jars for drinking glasses now. My husband also mentioned that a bar he used to visit served Bloody Mary’s in mason jars because it will hold a lot of ice and the tall celery stick!
• Gift jars. Since we are practicing frugal gift giving this year, way beyond what we have practiced in the past. So, I am creating mason jar gifts from recipes I have found online.
• Pencil holder. The weight of the larger mason jars is perfect for large quantities of pens and pencils, it won’t tip over.
• Spool of twine or ribbon holder. I had to purchase mason jar Ball lids to complete my gift ideas. If you puncture a hole in the top of the thin, aluminum lid, you can push thread through the hole and use it to dispense twine or ribbon.
• Spare coin bank. I dump the contents of my purse out about every two weeks, and lo and behold there is, on average, a ton of change at the bottom that rolls out. Mason jars make a great piggy bank for loose coins.
• Fish Bowl (the large mason jars only). Most fish need an actual aquarium with a pump, but there are some fish that can live in simple fish bowls, like the Beta. These are the colorful fish you find at pet stores in small cups. Our third beta, Gil, recently passed away, he was almost 4 years old. He lived a happy life in a simple fish bowl.
• Building material. I’ve posted about this before, but there are some up and coming architects, like Phoenix Commotion, that use old glass jars and bottles to create alternatives for windows and walls. Just think, if the bottom of the mason jar was facing the outside of the structure, you could use the inside area as containers to hold things like your mail!
• Container for just about anything.

I’m sure there are thousands of other uses for mason jars, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. Do you have any creative ways you’ve used mason jars?

P.S. I found this article that lists a lot more ideas for Mason Jars, and they are a 125 year-old item! click here.

Every now and then, I realize I need to review and tweak my monthly budget to see where I can trim expenses. I do this quite often. Actually, I’m beginning to obsess over the tiniest details. I think one of the reasons this is, is that my monthly expenses are quite high compared to what I’ve been reading on other financial blogs. Rent, utilities, car expenses, and business expenses make up the majority of our (meaning my husband and my) monthly bills. Some expenses I can’t currently reduce, such as my rent. My husband and I have decided to stay put in our rental house, rather than move and accumulate moving expenses. We’ve decided that paying $1,800 a month isn’t too bad after shopping around for similarly priced apartments. Besides, our goal is to own our own place by next year.

Another expense that will remain high are our utilities. Since we don’t own our current property and have decided to stay in our rental  house for the time being, we can only do so much to economize it. We’ve sealed up our windows to reduce the drafts that frequently blow in, and in turn this has slightly reduced our gas bills in the winter. We are using the rental property’s appliances, which are really old and not energy efficient at all. But the thought of purchasing new appliances for the rental house, then having to move these heavy items, just doesn’t appeal to us at the moment. Our electricity and gas bills total approximately $250 a month. At least we won’t be surprised when we do own our own house, we’ve gotten used to the higher utility bills that go along with a house.

Our car is another expensive monthly bill. We have paid more than half of our loan off, but still own another $11,000. At the rate we are paying it off, $475 a month, we will continue making payments for about 30 more months. At least our insurance is a reasonable $92 a month for full coverage. And last but not least, is our monthly business expenses totaling almost $1,000 a month. For now, our employee has taken a reduced work load which has helped us to reduce our business expenses.

On the other hand, I realized there were some items I can reduce to make the monthly bills a little easier to manage. For instance, I think I will be switching to Starbucks Via, their new instant coffee. Each packet will make an 8 oz. hot or cold coffee. If I buy a 12-pack, each coffee only costs $.75 a cup. This is about a $2.00 daily savings from what I currently purchase.  I just have to buy the vanilla syrup to sweeten my drink. I can also continue shopping at the 99-cent store for some grocery items, reducing our overall grocery bill.

Another area where I can reduce our bills is by paying off  our line of credit. My goal is to pay it off, a total of $8,900,  over the next 6 months. The APR is terrible, and we are paying a lot in finance charges. The monthly payment is atrocious, $270 and this barely covers the finance charges, and the sooner I can get this monkey off our back, the better.

Each time I stare at my monthly budget I find places where I can save a little here and there. I guess my obsession will eventually lead to financial freedom!

Saturday evening, my husband and I set up some quick and dirty Halloween decorations: orange twinkle lights lined our walk way, battery-operated tea lights set upon the front porch banister, and one latex decapitated head hanging from a tree branch. We sat on our front porch in the early evening darkness and waited for the little trick-or-treator’s….and waited, and waited. Soon, a group of 5 children came bounding up the path. The little ones were slightly hesitant, due to the scary head, but that’s what Halloween’s all about, being slightly afraid and having fun. (This year my husband had a cold and didn’t want to dress up in his leafy suit and lay in the lawn.)

In between groups of children, my husband and I commented on how few houses were participating, yet again, this Halloween. We noted that only one house across the street was participating, like they do every year. I walked out to the sidewalk and looked up and down, trying to see how many houses were participating this year, or at least had their porch lights on. Between my house and the corner, which is only a total of 6 houses, only two other houses had their front porch lights on or decorations, making it inviting for children to approach. The other direction, I couldn’t see any, due to some tall hedges. Across the street, only the single house with multiple decorations was participating.

We do live on a highly trafficked street. It’s also quite wide, so our neighbor’s across the street aren’t really neighbor’s in any sense of the word. The frequent flow of cars and the 4 lanes makes it a little impossible to be neighborly. But, I also realized, while scanning the sidewalk, that our block is really long. On our one block, there are maybe 20 houses. So, if a group of trick-or-treator’s starts moving down the sidewalk, and soon realizes only one out of every 4 or 5 houses are handing out treats, they soon give up. We saw a few groups of children, turn around and head the other way.

The fact that I live on a very long, busy block, probably discourages some houses from participating in Halloween. Perhaps they feel few children will want to walk down such a busy street, or that parents may feel it is unsafe. Last year, we had many fewer children than this year. At least this year, they came in large groups. That may have made them feel a little safer on the long block. The interior blocks behind my house are a little bit shorter, the streets aren’t nearly as wide, encouraging a zig-zag flow of movement. There is also less traffic, which makes it a little easier to cross over to houses that are giving out treats.

My husband and I don’t plan to be living in our rental house this time next year. My observations about the type of block I live on now, will help influence where we will look for a house to purchase. For instance, my husband likes the flow of traffic on our street, he says it motivates him throughout the day. He works from home, so the noise and motion are comforting to him. However, I don’t like how long our block is. If it were slightly shorter, or maybe a little less trafficked, I think it would help build more of a community feeling and more continuity within the neighborhood. There are so many things to consider when planning to purchase a house, this is just one more thing we will need to think about.

Does anyone live on a really long block? Do you feel that the community is less connected? How about the opposite?