Two Coyotes Are In The Neighborhood

Not a lot went on over Christmas. A LOT of reading and studying what I was reading. Of course the hounds and the dog kept me busy being their 'doorman'. Walter, after three years, has started barking when he wants to go outside or come back inside. They sleep as I watch movies or documentaries on Amazon Video or Peacock. Amazon has notified me and millions of other people that at the end of January we will have to pay $2.99 per month more to escape commercials. I will get to expenses for normal stuff later with some surprising results. Watson will sit like that a lot and at times will even lay his head on the top of the love seat and sleep.

Believe it or not, these photos take in our current backyard were on Christmas morning. By the end of the day the temperature was a degree below 60°. I immediately thought of Christmas Day in 2015 right after Winston had hurt his back and could no longer walk.

It was the same temperature that day in 2015 at the older house up north.

In 2015 Winston looked for snow but could not figure out where the snow was and couldn't believe how warm it was.

Last week sometime I heard Watson barking/baying in a way I had never heard of before. It was at night. He and Henry always like to go out after dark and explore their yard. His bark was loud enough that I could hear it over a movie and it was unlike I had ever heard before. I cannot remember if I mentioned that here a few posts ago.

I went outside that night to see what was bothering Watson. Next door it was clear to see, what I thought were two coyotes. I could see them clearly since the neighbor has a security light high on her electrical pole that lights up her whole backyard. They were almost too healthy for coyotes yet their color and their pointed noses told me they were coyotes. They both turned to look at me was they ran out of her yard toward the opposite corner.

I sent her a text telling her what I saw but she thought it is two stray puppies she saw a few days prior. 

I get a text from that same neighbor on the 27th telling me she just saw two coyotes running through her backyard toward someone else's house in the neighborhood. Daytime. She said the neighbor on the other side of me saw two of them running across her front yard and then crossing the street on Christmas Day.

So until further notice I will be keeping an eye out for them before I let the hounds and dog outside. Of course it is too cold to leave them in the yard when I am gone, like I do in the summer. She called Animal Control. They will be out here after the 1st to "look around". Isn't that brown Zoysia grass ugly?

This morning we had our first snow of the winter, if you want to call it that. It would not last long with the temperature hovering around 33°. It is suppose to be in the 40's on Saturday. That did not keep Watson from spending time out in the light rain/snow as he explored every inch of the backyard with his nose. That is a daily thing for him before he comes to the patio step and waits for me to let him back in. He never barks to come in, he will just stand there looking for me.

Some of you might remember a few months back where I bought this cactus for the third time since moving from Arizona. The other two died for some reason, maybe too much water?? What is really strange about this one, that dead spot is soft and flexible yet it has not moved any further up the cactus like the other two did before they were totally dead. This cactus has not flopped over either, like the other two did.  I do not water it much and not until the dirt is completely dried out. Any ideas what is going on? It will be interesting to see if this recovers or not.

With the year coming to an end I like to look at the total numbers for the money I spent on the spreadsheet I keep. I found some interesting data this year when I did that ---

• I spent over $800 more on food this year but was below my 20% budget for groceries
• I drove the same number of miles as last year but spent $82 less on gas for the year
• I spent $157 less on dog food with the same hounds and dog but cheaper food and still rated 4-stars.
• Forcing myself to have less trips to restaurants and drive-thru, I spent $497 less this year
• But last trip to Five Guys - a small coke, small fries, a Jr cheeseburger and a Regular cheeseburger was $24.95 before their tip. I have not gone back since that bill.
• CenterPoint Utilities makes us the highest cost in the state of Indiana yet I spent $161 less than last year for gas heat and electricity.

This is the big one ... the hidden cost of inflation ... those numbers might look good but this next data point was eye opening and ... confusing.

With my monthly income sources valued at 100%, my total expenditures for fun and normal living was 132%. I call that monthly income 'salary' and it does not include 'other' income. I do that because my goal every year is just to spend what my retirement and social security brings in. I only have data back to 2007 due to my computer crashing where I lost everything I had, nothing was backed up at the time.

132% over my monthly income sources for 2023.

No matter how much I tried to cut back on normal expenses, impulse buying or eating out I still spent that much more than what I brought in. But that $132% was based on just using my sources of income. That income did not include interest made, dividends, tax refunds, etc that I call "Other Income". When I add "total income" I was able to put money back into savings.

Compare that to other years ---

• 2020 -- 188% over income sources but after total income I was a little more than break even.
• 2021 -- 292% over income sources, that include a move in May from AZ to IN ... moving expenses 
• 2022 -- 121% over income sources, but after total income I broke even
• 2023 -- 132% over income sources, but after total income on the plus side

I also found it interesting that in the years 2019 and 2020 while living in Arizona my grocery bill was MORE than what it has been living here. You would have thought living so close to all the sources of fresh vegetables my grocery bill would be less. Did I eat more out there? No. For years I have bought basically the same groceries as I always have.

Some of you might think I am making those stats 'political' since I won't list 2019 but in 2019 I moved from IN to AZ in May and there was unexpected spending that threw that expense to income percentage off the charts. For example --

I bought 4 bicycles that year. You will remember that I was going through cars, trucks and FJ like water, I had an unexpected hip replacement after a bike wreck and did not have Medicare Part B (I know I know LOL) so I did have to pay some out of pocket expenses that Medicare Part B would have covered. Stella had surgery that year a week before I had my surgery, vet surgery is almost as expensive as human surgery. 

So 2019 data would be too skewed to be compared to. In the years of my retirement 2014 - 2018 my spending was close to what I brought in. Total expenditures ranged from 90% -107% for those five years.

Not much will change between now and December 31st as far as data goes. Yes I do have all my spreadsheets set up for the whole year for 2024. 

Since it is an election year I predict the cost of gas, and food to decrease so by the election in November 2024 I will be hearing "prices have barely gone up or in fact decreased this past year" ... like it was just my imagination what I was spending even going through self-checkout at the store.

I did pay only $2.879 for a gallon of 87 octane gas yesterday. So I splurged and filled up the tank instead of buying my normal $30 at a time. LOL.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year!!!