Why bother?

look at this. 

this is how one of my oven trays looked like this morning.

I admit I looked at it with actual contempt, and decided to quickly go online shopping for a new tray.

Than i remembered just yesterday i took my car to the shop for its checkup and besides the checkup itself which cost me 200$, i was told to S.O.S go get new front tires, and i did , because you know safety above all- and there went another 400$.

Now I did expect the checkup cost-after all i did make the appointment at the car shop and as much as they like me- they do tend to charge me for the checkups -so I included the cost in my monthly planned expenses  (and btw in my yearly expected  expense report as well) .

But the tire changing is a totally different story.

My car is almost 3 years old, and to be honest, in the past decade, every time the 3 year guaranty expired, I was at the dealers buying a new car.

looking back I can’t say im very proud of myself, but instead of looking back in anger- I am looking forward in anticipation to see how things will look .

So you understand that 1. I had to change the tires, and 2. i wasnt expecting that.

Now you may wonder what the big deal is, well I am working really hard on my savings rate, and attempting to reach 75% savings rate per month.

This is definitely not an easy task to accomplish, but next month some 500$ a month i have been putting into a savings account will finally cease to come off my monthly expenses and I hope I will be close to reaching my destination.

the goal is to be able to retire early next year , as I have understood that spending most of my waking hours sitting under neon lights is not beneficial for my skin.

Now let’s get back to the oven tray.

I ended up not even checking how much it will cost to buy a new one, instead checking if baking soda ans some dish soap with hot water will do the job without having to sacrifice my nails .

So I poured a generous amount of baking soda and added a few cups of boiling hot water and some dish soap to the tray- and let it sit for a few hours. then I put on my cleaning gloves and started scrubbing with a scouring pad.

Can’t say it was easy , it took time, and the result is not perfect- but as bon jovi said- “we’re half way there” (just love that song -livin’ on a prayer).

on sunday my monthly online groceries arrive, including my synthetic vinegar- and this time i will try soaking the tray with baking soda and vinegar and maybe the rest of the dirt will come off.

I must say i’m proud of myself for not giving up and not opting for the quick and easy solution -just buying a new tray.

the experience taught me a little about saving, a little about respecting the stuff I have already at my house, gave me a little arm exercise , and a chance to enjoy the green cleaning method as well.

I could have easily excused myself with saying “I work all week, no way i’m spending my free day cleaning this thing instead of spending just a few $. my free time is worth more than that”.

This is absolutely true- free time is much more important than money, but I actually saw this as a challenge , and ended up enjoying it- wondering if I could beat the scum and rescue the poor tray- and as you can see I won round 1 and everyone is waiting to see what will happen in round 2. ( maybe “everyone” is a bit of an exaggeration ).

cheers- the cooliflower.