Frugal Landlord Update

I know I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, but tomorrow I am supposed to sign leases for both my vacant houses. There is also a third property - the one I tried to sell - whose lease will become effective tomorrow. I'm so excited by the prospects of once again having all my properties rented.

Even better, the turnaround time and the rent I am charging are both impressive. On the townhouse, I am charging $650 per month which is $25 more than the last tenant paid. It was vacant for two weeks. I'm most happy about the minor amount of work I had to do to get it ready to rent. The carpet isn't new and has a few stains. It should probably be replaced. But my tenant didn't say anything about it. Same with the paint. It's acceptable but not a fresh coat.

The second property is my condo. The last tenants were there for 18 months and paid $575 per month. They are paid through November (today they are cleaning the carpets and turning over the keys). The new tenants will be paying $625 per month and are moving in Wednesday. Absolutely no down time at all on this property.

I'll be making $75 more per month on the two properties, and have spent less than $200 on repairs. This is perfect timing as I was worried about my cash flow for December.

A Week in the Life of a Mystery Shopper

November 21st - November 27th...

For the second week in a row I made very little from mystery shopping. I'm sure the holiday is to blame. Last week I earned $204 in fees and $46 in reimbursements.

I only shopped on 3 days and shopped just 8 stores: 7 gas stations and 1 payday loan store. Six of the shops were bonused: I shopped 1 gas station for $30, 2 for $26, 1 for $24 and 2 for $23. It worked out well that I had a slow week because I spent most of my free time getting the townhouse ready to rent.

This week I have another property becoming vacant. This is the first time I can remember having two vacancies at once. It would have been three but fortunately I have new tenants moving in to the house I had been trying to sell. This is also my most expensive property so getting it rented is a big relief. Even better: the tenants signed a lease purchase option and the term is 29 months. The tenants can purchase the house at any time in the next 29 months (which is what I really want) but even if they don't buy the house, they are locked into a long term lease, meaning I don't have to shop the property out again for at least that long.

Cutting the Electric Bill - 6 Month Goal Results

It's hard to believe it's been almost six months since I set a goal to reduce my electricity usage by 20%. Technically, it's been a little less than 6 months but my goal was over 6 billing cycles, which is over now.

It was a HOT summer, and I didn't do well at all for the first four months. It wasn't from lack of trying: I set the thermostat to 81 degrees when I was home, and it was completely turned off during the daytime. I also made an effort to zap vampire energy by unplugging things like my TV when they weren't being used.

Here's how I did:

June 2009: 288 kWh

June 2010: 396

Difference: +108

July 2009: 431

July 2010: 428

Difference: -3

August 2009: 314

August 2010: 582

Difference: +268 (ouch!)

September 2009: 290

September 2010: 448

Difference: +158

October 2009: 264

October 2010: 203

Difference: -61

November 2009: 189

November 2010: 187

Difference: -2

RESULTS

6 months of 2009: 1,776 kWh used

6 months of 2010: 2,244 kWh used

Difference: +468 kWh ( over 26% increase)

My goal was to reduce usage by 20%. Instead it increased by 26%. That's horrible. What happened? Two things: According to Science Daily, 2010 was the fourth hottest summer on record. Second, in 2009 I worked full-time either in an office or on the road. In 2010, I was at home much more. When I wasn't out myestery shopping I was at home writing reports and looking for work.

I'm going to continue my goal of reducing usage by 20% each month. Even though these last 6 months were discouraging, I know it helps keep me focused if I have a goal in mind.

Cutting the Electric Bill - November Bill

Back in June I set a goal to reduce my electricity usage 20% over the next 6 months.

In November 2009 I used 189 kWh of electricity over 28 days, which is 6.75 kWh per day. In November of this year, I used 187 kWh over 30 days, which is 6.23 kWh per day. I reduced consumption by just 2 kWh, but my bill covered two extra days this year.

This is the second month since June where I reduced electricity usage. I can attribute this solidly to the fact that I had a goal in mind. I haven't used my heat yet, even though there have been a few cold nights already. If I did not have a goal to achieve, I would have used the heat earlier this month. The low for the past several nights has been in the lower 40s, but no heat for me. Instead, I have an electric blanket, an afghan, and have been wearing extra layers of clothes.

My total bill for November was $34.55.

This marks the end of my six month mini-goal. Tomorrow I will go over the results and set a new one.