Getting Ready for Staycation, and The Last Day of the Month

Hi Friends!  Today is the last day of the month.  I know for most of the world, this is just another day.  But to me, as a landlord, it is a busy day.  At least I HOPE so!  I get off work at 12:00 noon.  As soon as I am off, I go to our two Post Office Boxes to see if we have any mail.  Mail is a code word for "rent".  I always try to get as much money as possible in the bank on the last day of the month.  It is an allusion to me, I guess.  If we have money in the bank the last day of the month, all is well.

I first stop at a post office on the parkway in a small town we used to live in.  If there is rent in that box, I immediately take it to the bank branch in that town.  If there are any tenants that haven't paid for the month yet, I try to call them.  I leave them nasty messages, or try to set up appointments to meet them if they answer.

Then I go to the town we live in.  They are about 12 miles apart.  If there is rent there, I go to the bank branch in that area also.  I used to save the rent in the first town, and wait till I had been both places, but this way if there is no rent at the second box, I don't have to drive to a bank.  I was trying out the box in the second town, but we are in the process of moving all our mail back to the box in the town we do not live in.  There is a reason for that.  The town we live in is very small, and it only has two post men.  So even though we are not listed anywhere, and have a PO box, one day a tenant showed up at my home.  I don't like when that happens!  So I'm moving all my mail back to the larger town, to the box I've had about 15 years.  That way if tenants decide they need to find me, they will look there.

Some days I have a lot of appointments to meet people to pay.  Today I was finished relatively early.  Some days I have to check houses to see if they are empty.  People just move out like that, and don't tell you.  Today I know I have two coming available the first of the month.  Two people are giving back their homes.  Another is getting evicted.  So that is three we have that we need to rent.  I hope they go fast, but since school just started here, I don't know if they will or not.

Tomorrow I will get off at 12 as usual, and that starts our "staycation".  I believe I already told you that we usually go away to a river town an hour from here.  We do this every Labor Day.  We leave on Thursday before, and come home Tuesday morning, in time for me to go to work.  Because we have the farm, and cattle every where, we have to stay close to home.  If someone calls at 2 in the morning as says the cows are out, one of us (usually Pappy) has to go see about them.  Well this year because of the tornado and its damage to the park, we were unable to have our reservations.  We always rent a chalet at the state park.  We love this house idea, because I take all our food, it has a full kitchen, our kids have their friends along.  It is great for us.  We junk shop, and go to the beach.  Just do nothing and relax.  The first year, I would come back and forth to collect rent and make bank deposits.  Then Pappy started telling me I had to stay over in the other town.  I was "vacating".  When we didn't get our reservations, I decided we would sleep at home, and just drive to do the things we want to do.  I think this will save a lot of money.  Pappy doesn't know if he can sit home and do "nothing".  We'll see how this goes.  I'm starting to get excited.

See you tomorrow!  Honey