I'm helping the economy

Not that I really want to spend all the money I've been spending. Here is the list:

• New driveway
• New pool liner
• used mini van

Those are the items we have done already. The driveway was graded toward the house and we usually had water in the basement after a hard rain. The new driveway has corrected the problem. The pool liner was continually springing leaks so out with the old in with the new liner. We also purchased an additional mini van. The purpose for the mini van is two fold, one purpose being we can use the existing van for the kids to drive, and two we want to have a newer van for our return trip to Myrtle Beach next year. Okay, the van is a luxury.

Here is the list of items we might be doing:

• Possibly a new drain field for the septic system
• fix the water softener's plumbing
  
• new flooring and cabinet for the bathroom in the basement
• new wallpaper for the kitchen

The drain field would be a big one with no option but to bite the bullet and do it. I hope we don't have to replace the old drain field The other three should be smaller expenditures that we can do out of our savings.

To pay for the big items [but not the van] we refinanced the house and took a some money out of the equity. The good news with the refi is we now have a lower interest rate and if we keep paying the amount we had been paying it will be paid off pretty close to the same time that the original loan had been estimated to pay off. The van we financed through the credit union. More on the van purchase at some later date.