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A Tornado and $888 in Extra Income

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 103 Comments

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Hey everyone! Happy Monday. This past week was okay, and that is because of the wild weather that we have been having in Missouri lately. There was a tornado in my city on Wednesday and it actually landed in our neighborhood. There are also reports that there was a SECOND tornado that landed on the opposite end of my neighborhood at the same time.

Me and W were out eating at a restaurant when the tornado sirens went off. In Missouri, the tornado sirens seem to go off weekly, so it’s hard to take them seriously. That was a big mistake! I know, I know, a lot of you will think we are very stupid. We were at a restaurant (and this restaurant was PACKED, so it just shows that no one else takes them seriously) and once the sirens stopped, the rain seems to slow down as well. We thought we would take the chance and drive home. Keep in mind that this restaurant is at the beginning of our subdivision, and only about .25 miles from our house.

We got in the car and everything seemed to go downhill. We made the turn to enter our subdivision and couldn’t even see out the car window because it was so windy and the rain was coming down so hard. We stopped the car for a second, but we felt like the car was picking up from the wind and had no where to go. Then a power line started to spark and catch on fire right next to us, so we decided that stopping was not a good idea and that we should just try and make it home. So we are driving and are ALMOST home (we could see our house) and a huge tree falls down right before us and blocks the whole road and we can’t even drive into anyone’s yards because of the tree blocking everything. Also, trees were falling down everywhere, with at least 20 or 30 gigantic trees down in our neighborhood. So we pulled the Camaro into someone’s driveway and noticed that their garage door was open and ran inside their garage. We of course didn’t feel comfortable in someone’s random garage that could easily blow over, so we started banging on their front door.

However, it was extremely loud because of the tornado, and we couldn’t even hear ourselves knocking on their door. No one came. So we cowered on their front porch (it was a pretty deep porch) and hid their for about 5 minutes. The wind then seemed to die down, so we decided it was our chance to gun it home. We couldn’t see anywhere in front of us and didn’t even know where we were in our own neighborhood because of all of the trees that were laying in the streets. We saw our neighbors’ roofs on the street, trampolines and sheds in front yards and on top of houses and so on. We had to jump out of the car very quickly and move trees and branches multiple times so that we could drive.

Definitely the most terrifying thing ever. Everything at our house is fine, and we most likely need a new roof and a couple of other things. We’re just happy that we were safe! Oh yeah, and then our power was out until Friday at around 3pm. That was a joy. We have definitely learned our lesson and whenever the sirens come on (which is every single time it rains here), we will be searching for a basement. I’ve never been or seen a tornado before this past week, so it changed my life.

Anyways, I’m still winning when it comes to my student loans. My student loan plan is still on track and I will be paying them completely within the next couple of weeks. I know I’m going to have a hard time parting with so much money, but in the end it will be best. No longer having student loan payments will feel like heaven, and it’ll be so nice to know that I have paid them off so quickly.

Spending

We did some major shopping this weekend, but it was all free because of a large amount of money that W has on a gift card that he received from his work. We have been trying to spend money on ourselves this whole weekend and it was hard! The gift card is also good at Lowes, and we plan on buying a new grill, some nice patio furniture, lights to light a pathway in the front yard, and tons of plants. Can’t wait until we go shopping for that, especially since it is all free.

I also contacted a landscaper, as many of you suggested. We just don’t have the time, and we have so many things that we need done. We found a flyer at our front door, and it turns out this guy just lives 3 doors down. I called him and he came over on Friday. We need a front and backyard cleanup (there is tons of trash because of the tornado), gutters cleaned, trash hauled (we have tons of branches and leaves in bags, and also carpet that needs to be gone), and vines killed in the backyard. He said he would do all of this for $175, which I think is great. Is this a normal price? We’ve never had this done before and don’t know. We’re also going to have him mow the lawn for at least a couple of months as well, which he quoted us a price of $28 per week. I’m guessing that’s normal also. I plan on calling him today, so give me your input!

Anyways, I’m fine with paying money in order to get things done. Would you pay to get things like this done if it meant that you have more time for yourself? Or are we crazy?

A Tornado and $888 in Extra Income

Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)

Extra income was lower in the past week, mainly because the power went out at our house from Wednesday through Friday because of the tornado. Most of my extra income efforts are from things that I do online, so of course it’s hard to do any of my side hustles if I have no power! It’s hard to make any extra money online when you don’t have internet for half of the week! I could have done things this weekend, but I prefer to have weekends to myself. Oh well, I will catch up with everything next week.

Posts from my blog:

  1. We set a wedding date and $2,336 in extra income
  2. How To Make Money Blogging
  3. How To Spend Your Extra Income
  4. Girl Meets Debt Repayment

 

Link Love

  1. What are you sacrificing for Money? Monster Piggy Bank
  2. Is living in a small town better?  Eyes on the Dollar
  3. Will I ever need to work again? One Frugal Girl
  4. I freak out when my inbox is empty – Freelancing The Happy Homeowner
  5. Is your blog really a business? Nuts and Bolts Media
  6. I’m buying a condo in Portland Frugal Portland

 

Food

We’re doing good with our food spending, but not the greatest. We had to throw away almost all of our food in our fridge since the power was out and most of the food spoiled. The food in the freezer was fine though and still COMPLETELY frozen (which we were very surprised by), and we kept all of that.

Being healthy

I’m still doing good with this. Since a lot of our food spoiled, I replaced everything with more healtheir options and was able to get rid of a ton of junk food. Because of this, I consider this the only good thing that happened when the power was out haha. Also, I have been addicted to eating kiwis, and got a great deal at Aldi the other day. 24 kiwis for only $4! Yes, I said $4! The grocery store that I normally shops at would price that at $12, and the quality of fruit at Aldi always seems to be better.

Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. eemusings says

    Oh wow, that's scary! I can sympathise with not taking the warnings seriously- we are the same here with tsunami warnings. I guess we are lucky here in that it's relatively safe crime wise and natural disaster wise. I hope your repairs will be covered by insurance?
    My recent post Foods I never used to like

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  2. Stephanie says

    Wow, that sounds so scary!!! I’m so glad you guys are ok. And $888 in extra income on a bad week still sounds pretty darn good to me. 😉

    I’ve been getting some extra library shifts lately, which is both nice and a little tough. The extra money sure is nice, but some weeks they’ve nearly cancelled out the fact that I’m on a reduced schedule for my maternity leave. But Amelia gets so quality time with her daddy when I’m at the library, so it’s not all bad. 😉

    Reply

  5. Sara says

    Yikes, glad you and W are okay! As for the landscaping cost I think that's a great deal. I spend $75.00 just to get my gutters cleaned.

    Reply

  6. [email protected] Adult Money says

    Wow, that's really an incredible story and I'm glad you guys are safe. The closest I've come was driving down the interstate one night where there was almost no cars and everything was pitch black with extremely high winds…I shouldn't have been driving.

    Being healthy has been a focus of mine and I have been doing pretty good at working out 4-5x week at work plus 1-2 times a week at the gym. Definitely making it a priority this Spring/Summer.
    My recent post How to Start a WordPress Blog in 5 Easy Steps

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  7. [email protected] Seahorse says

    “Anyways, I’m still winning when it comes to my student loans”. I love your transition from mega scary tornado to paying off student loans. :-). I’m happy to hear you are okay and a roof is all that’s needed. I’ve never been close to a tornado nor do I want to be. I can’t imagine how frightening that was. I just picture Helen hunt in the movie Twister.

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  8. [email protected] says

    Sorry to hear about the tornado! Sounds scary!

    We are having someone mow our yard this year too (and fertilize). We are always running out time to mow and I don't think my neighbors appreciate it!

    Reply

  9. plantingourpennies says

    So glad that you guys are okay! I hid from a water spout once (like a baby tornado, but mostly made of water since they come off of the ocean), and it was scary enough. I can't imagine a full-blown tornado that can knock down trees and damage homes!
    My recent post Actual Cost Of Owning A Pool – Part 1

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  10. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    So, glad you're ok Michelle! We get the sirens all the time here in Omaha as well and thankfully there's not been anything major the last couple of years. This time of year they seem to go off several times a week, so I can relate to how it can be difficult to take them seriously. Awesome that you're nearly paid off with the student loans!

    Reply

  11. Glen @ MPB says

    That sounds super scary, I am really glad that you made it home safely! I think there have only ever been a handful of tornadoes ever in Australia so I am hopeful that I never have to experience one as closely as you did.

    Also – thanks for the link love 🙂
    My recent post How Getting to Work Costs Money

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  14. Brian says

    I know the feeling of being that close to a tornado and it is truely terrifying (we live in Indiana). I'm glad you all are ok.

    We have a generator (which we are going to replace) for when the power goes out. I basically only use it to run the sump pump and the fridge for a few minutes since it is so loud. I'm pretty sure it was built circa 1983 so it is almost as old as I am!

    Reply

  15. Jenny @ FrugalGuru says

    Wow! That's a little too exciting. I listen to tornado warnings. Watches? Erm…not so much.

    Glad to see that you are safe and sound!

    Reply

  17. Catherine says

    Wow. So glad you guys are safe! I actually lived through a tornado about 6 years ago- we were at our family's cottage (in Canada, close to Maine),We were sitting outside on a beautiful summer day when the weather changed DRASTICALLY in about 3 mins. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen. Beautifully hot summer day turn almost pitch black and rain/wind. We had NO idea what was going on so we just ran inside for cover. We were joking that it was almost like a tornado. The wind let up and we went outside to see what was going on. Holy Crap. Our camp was fine but there was a TON of damage done. It was random given our geographic location but it was a perfect weather system I guess.
    My recent post Fun Infographic: Creative Money Savers for Newlyweds

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  19. Budget & the Beach says

    That is really scary! You were so lucky that a tree did no fall on the car. Glad to hear you went with a landscaper. Unless you are into that kind of work, bit can be a real drag. Doing great with working out and eating right (although I got movie popcorn last night which I haven't gotten in so long), and today (in an hour actually) I find out the results of my MRI. I'm nervous as hell!
    My recent post When Bankruptcy Makes Cents

    Reply

    • MakingSenseofCents says

      I know we were extremely lucky. We thought the Camaro would have had a lot of damages too since we had to drive over tons of trees and branches, but nothing was wrong!

      Hope your results come back good 🙂

      Reply

  20. Sharon says

    Holy crap Michelle! How scary! You were very lucky the tree did not fall on your car. I'm so glad you are safe, and the only damage was to your house, not you!!

    Sometimes it's not about the money, it's about time. You can always earn more money, but you can never get your time back.
    My recent post Menu Monday: The no grocery shop week menu.

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  24. alwayshungry4 says

    Oh my gosh, sorry to hear about the tornado, but I'm glad things are okay with you! That picture is so sad, I can't even imagine what they're going through right now. :/
    My recent post Resistance is futile?

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  27. Katie says

    Im in MO as well, but was not affected by the tornado. I was at a restaurant also when the storm started. There was a live band playing they stopped when one of the patio chairs was picked up by the wind and thrown into the window of the restaurant. They turned the news on for about an hour. Thankfully it was just strong winds and rain where we were.

    Glad you guys are ok!! I can't imagine seeing a tornado happen let alone not be inside somewhere. Very lucky!!.

    Reply

  31. Girl Meets Debt says

    Glad to hear you and W are safe and sound! That’s exciting to be student loan debt-free soon!!! I loooove kiwis as well 😉

    Reply

  33. Laurie says

    Oh my goodness, Michelle – SO happy that you are ok!!!! That must've been terrifying. We had a situation with straight-line winds at our old house that was pretty scary too. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

    Reply

  35. Sara says

    Glad that everything is ok. We are down in South City and we were so shocked to see all the damage on the Hill which is like 5 seconds from my house. We didn't even have ny debris at our house. Again, glad nothing was seriously damaged or destroyed.
    My recent post Weekend Activities

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  41. studentdebtsurvivor says

    Sounds terrifying. So glad you guys (and your house) are OK. Bf and I didn't really take hurricane Sandy that seriously (they had told us the year before that we'd have a huge hurricane and it was just rain and wind). Needless to say, we all know how Sandy turned out in NYC, disaster. I'll never forget how scary that night (and then next week were).
    My recent post 3 Tips to Handle Marrying into Student Loan Debt

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  42. kimateyesonthedollar says

    After reading this post and Laurie's about possums today, I'm really glad to be in Colorado with neither of those things. I remember the tornado sirens from growing up in KY. My mom is super over protective and always made us go to the basement, even it if was every night during tornado season. I always thought it a bit extreme, but I'm glad she's so careful. I'm glad you guys are OK.
    My recent post Changing Careers: Is it a Smart or Dumb Move?

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  44. Canadianbudgetbinder says

    Glad to hear you are ok. All the stuff that was damaged can be replaced and keeping yourselves safe was priority. We've had a few warnings since I moved to Canada and the wife goes nuts. I've never been involved with one nor do I ever want to. No more student debts.. that's awesome. All your hard work is paying off, well done.
    My recent post How We Saved $146.90 By Reading The Paper

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  48. Laurence says

    I really like your writing style, superb information, regards for putting up :D. "All words are pegs to hang ideas on." by Henry Ward Beecher.

    Reply

  49. Belfor West Chicago says

    That's scary I can't imagine going through that especially where you think it's business as usual when the siren goes off
    .

    Reply

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