Property
Landscaping
What a long month. I bought a tree pruner and started pruning a big tree that sits right in between me and my neighbor’s house. The plan is to prune all the branches that aren’t in danger of falling on my neighbor’s deck. So far, nothing devastating has happened. One branch took a while to cut. I even left it partially cut when I went on vacation. When I came back, it had snapped, but thankfully it fell into some other branches.
Plumbing
The basement now has a nice little kitchen sink. It took a long time to figure out what would work. I had my eye on an all-in-one sink/cabinet/faucet combo, but I chickened out and bought a cheaper laundry sink. The laundry sink was alluring because it was smaller and lighter. The combo sink was bigger and more permanent. It also didn’t fit in my car as I’d find out later. After setting up the laundry sink, I decided to go with the combo sink after all. I had to have it delivered because it didn’t fit in my car. That was kind of embarrassing, but it was worth a shot. Figuring out which fittings to use wasn’t too difficult. Two T fittings for the water supply lines, some stretchy tubing for the drain, and three holes in the bathroom wall did it. I was able to use the bathroom’s drain and water supply.
Renting
My first renter found someone else for one of the rooms. I was on the fence because I wanted to rent out the whole top part of the house eventually since I have a little kitchen in the basement, but renting out rooms has benefits too I guess. And disadvantages. The new renter was parking a little too close to the neighbors driveway, and the neighbor must’ve gotten upset because he parked his car on my street. That ticked me off a little, but they’re good neighbors otherwise. I did some more pruning, and now the two renters are using the parking spaces, and I’m parked in the middle on the lawn where the tree stump used to be.
Lending
I gave out another big loan at the beginning of the month, even though I said I wouldn’t. Fingers crossed that one works out. However, the borrower did pay back some other largish loans. Besides that, a lot of loans are stuck. People are sick; their jobs aren’t going well, etc, etc. The good people keep on taking out more loans though. I’ve completely stopped looking for new people. Not sure if I’ll keep lending. It’s pretty stressful having to constantly remind people about their loans. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I basically have to pay for new people. Some people just won’t return the money, no matter what, and some people will return the money and continue taking out more loans. A-people (good people) and B-people. I’ve noticed that, more often than not, if someone completes one loan, he’ll be much more likely to complete another one, even if it’s a bigger one. At least, that’s one more thing that increases the chances that they’ll repay. The question is, would I get enough A-people to offset the B-people. Right now, I’m not so sure, especially if that big loan doesn’t work out. I might run out of money before I actually start making money.
Knife Sharpening
No progress, but I am cleaning out the shed a little bit and hoping to set up a small work shop in there.