I haven’t had much opportunity to post anything lately because I am now a Dad! Shae and I brought home our son from the hospital almost one week ago on the hour. A lot has changed as we have adjusted our lifestyle and schedules to fit in a wiggly new roommate. I snapped this picture of my budding family the other day. I promise that Shae was smiling right before the shutter closed. I think the picture sums up new parenthood quite well.
How would you caption it?
We just finished our Federal and State 2013 tax returns. We had overpaid on both, so it was imperative to get the returns filed as soon as possible so we could get our refunds. Every year, our goal is to be as close to 0 as possible for refund or amount due. The reasoning is simple, if you owe too much then you could end up with a penalty. If you pay too much and are owed a refund, then you gave the government an interest free loan. That money could have been working for you instead of Uncle Sam.
Over the past three years we have been getting better at estimating our final tax bill.
In 2011, we had an underpayment of almost $9000 (OUCH).
In 2012, we had an underpayment of about $4500.
In 2013, we had an overpayment of $1000.
There is obviously still room for improvement, but it is encouraging to see the numbers moving in the right direction (closer to 0).
One of the benefits of doing your own taxes is that it helps you learn the system. After a few years of filling out your own taxes you can see where you are getting punished and where you can get rewarded. Using this information, you can make informed decisions for the next tax year so you can reduce your effective tax rate. A good CPA should also be able to make recommendations for your specific circumstances, but I doubt your average national tax chain shop like H&R Block or tax software such as TurboTax will give much insight into the process. Those types of places want you to be confused and scared so you keep on coming back to them each year.
Anyway, getting back to the point. I like to use the effective tax rate to see how well we are managing our tax burdens. You can figure your own effective tax rate by taking the number on form 1040 line 61 (or whatever is marked total tax) and dividing it by line 22 (or whatever is marked total income). You can see how our effective tax rate has gone down over the past three years as we have learned to take advantage of tax protected retirement accounts like a 401k.
2011: 17%
2012: 16%
2013: 12%
You can even compare your tax rate to the 2012 presidential candidates courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. Mitt Romney was at 14% and Barack Obama was at 19%. MSN also has some additional reading and statistics on effective tax rates.
I suspect that we will be able to reduce our effective tax rate even further as we add a dependent child to our household and take advantage of tax protected accounts even more (Health Savings, 401k, 529, etc. etc.).
Do you know what your effective tax rate is/was?
If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here.
Picking up where we left off, I decided to replace the downstairs toilet first because it gets used more and if something went wrong, I had easy access to the plumbing from the crawlspace.
The new toilet comes with everything you probably need minus tools. As you can see, the instructions are printed on the top of the box (sorry for the blurry photo).
The tools that you’ll need to remove and install a toilet are:
Start by turning off the water supply valve to the toilet. Then flush the toilet and hold down the handle to empty the tank out as much as possible. Use the rag or sponge to finish emptying the tank of water. Once the tank is emptied, disconnect the supply line and then use the wrench and/or the screwdriver to disconnect the tank from the bowl.
At this point, you’ll probably want to use a plunger to get as much water out of the bowl as possible so it doesn’t go splish splosh on your bathroom floor. To remove the bowl, you’ll need to start by popping off the decorative caps and unthreading the nuts at the base. Once the nuts are removed, the entire base can be lifted away from the floor.
At this point, you will see the toilet flange (a fancy name for the drain pipe). It probably won’t look pretty and it will likely smell worse because of sewer gas escaping from the pipe. Put on those disposable gloves if you haven’t already and use the putty knife to scrape up the old (and gross) wax ring. Just remember the plumbers motto… “The more disgusting it is, the more money I make”. You can plug up the drain pipe with a rag to keep the smell at bay. Just don’t forget to remove it before installing the new toilet! With the toilet flange cleaned off, and the old closet bolts removed we can get started on installing the new toilet.
Start by doing a test fit of the new base. The new closet bolts inserted into the flange should match up with the holes in the bowl base.
Once you know the fit is good, apply the new wax ring to the bottom of the toilet base. Carefully set it down onto the flange and give it a good press down to set the entire thing in place. Thread nuts onto the closet bolts to secure the base to the floor.
The closet bolts probably have to be trimmed in order to fit the decorative caps on. Use the hacksaw to shave off everything above the nuts. I found this step to be the hardest part, most likely because I was using an old blade.
With the base firmly secured, we can go about attaching the tank. Here’s an obligatory plumber butt shot of yours truly.
Each toilet model will differ a little bit in how the connection is made. Just follow the instructions. You will probably need the wrench and screwdriver for this step.
With the tank attached, reconnect the supply line and turn on the water. If there are any leaks, tighten the connection and try again. Sometimes the supply hose is shot and needs to be replaced. They are only about $5 so it’s not worth trying to salvage a 10+ year old hose. Once the tank fills up, give it a couple of flushes and make sure everything works properly.
Finally, place the tank lid on and attach the toilet seat.
TADA! That wasn’t so hard was it? The whole job took only about two hours and that was with no previous toilet experience. Dispose of the old toilet(s) according to the rules and regulations of your municipality. In our case, that meant a trip to the city bulk waste drop off facility.
Goodbye water wasting, easily clogged, smelly toilets! By our calculations it will take about 2 years for the new water saving toilets to pay themselves off. Also, we have yet to have a single clog!
7 1/2 months ago when we moved into our house, none of the existing toilets worked. Due to the huge list of other ‘fixer upper’ projects and a lack of DIY experience, we chose to repair, instead of replace, the existing toilets and continue to use them for the time being. They weren’t great toilets and only kind of worked but it was a quick bandaid fix. This week after reviewing the numbers we decided it was time to replace the two main toilets (first floor and second floor).
We weighed several factors into our decision to replace the two toilets.
Water usage was a big deciding factor. City water costs ¢0.536/gal, sewer costs ¢0.384/gal for a combined cost of ¢0.92/gal. While less than a penny per gallon of water sounds cheap, it does add up quickly. According to the EPA, the average person flushes a toilet 4-6 times a day. Multiply that by the number of occupants in your household and you start to get an idea of how often that toilet is flushed. Going back to our example, it would be 8-12 times a day. Both toilets were older models that used 3.5 gpf (gallons per flush). That means around 28-42 gallons or ¢26-¢39 a day was spent just for flushing the toilet. Well that doesn’t sound to bad does it? Hmm, we have made some assumptions about these toilets that don’t hold up in real life. Firstly, we’ve assumed that they don’t leak. Morning Sickness has a peculiar way of getting you up close for those leak inspections. According to an in-the-know source, both toilets leak water. Secondly, we’ve assumed that they never clog and require a second, third, fourth, etc. flush. Yep, those toilets clog, so our 8-12 flushes a day isn’t exactly accurate.
Our downstairs half bath often smelled of sewer gas. I was fairly certain it was because of the toilet and the bandaid “fix” was to leave the door open so the room could air out. The most often cause of sewer gas is a dried out water trap, but that wasn’t the case with this toilet. The second most likely cause is a bad wax seal on the closet flange. To replace the wax seal, you have to remove the toilet, and while you have the toilet removed, you might as well install a new one.
Finally, there is the issue of comfort. All of the toilets in our house are round seats and fairly low to the ground. Our potty training niece loved the “Ruby Throne” because it was just her height and at 14 1/2 inches tall, it is one of the shortest toilets out there. I am average height for a man and let me tell you, that thing is uncomfortable. Nowadays there is a stronger preference towards chair height toilets and elongated bowls (where they can fit). Chair height or ADA compliant are a great option for older individuals because it is easier to get on and off the seat. We chose to replace the first floor half bath with another short round toilet, but the upstairs we went for an elongated and taller commode.
So you’ve come to the conclusion that you want a new toilet. You also know if you want a round or elongated bowl, height of the seat, and if you’d like a 1.28 gpf or a 1.6 gpf (max allowed by law), but wait! Before you go to the home improvement store, measure the rough in dimension. What is the rough in dimension you ask? It is the distance from the back wall to the middle of the floor bolts that hold the toilet in place. Most toilets are a 12″ rough in.
For the downstairs toilet we found the Kohler Wellworth toilet. It is a 1.28 gpf, round bowl, 14 1/2″ height, 12″ rough, score 10 on flushing, and has a canister flush mechanism. I thought the last part was particularly nice. Most toilets use a flapper that you pull open in the tank (by pressing the handle) and water drains from the tank to the bowl. Kohler has switched over to canisters that lift up and let water flow in from all directions. Not only does this seem to deliver a better flush, it also makes the handle easier to actuate.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where I cover the removal and installation.
With the imminent arrival of our little one, I needed to get cracking and finish up some projects around the house. High up on that ‘Honey Do’ list was to build a changing table. Now strictly speaking, the cheapest option out there is to either use an existing surface in your home to change baby or to buy a used dresser/table and repurpose it. DIY wood working is not very frugal. Tools are a large initial investment, lumber prices seem to climb each year while quality declines, and there is a huge learning curve before finished projects start to look as good as the mass-produced pieces. With that said, it is an enjoyable hobby that gives me a break from the computer (work).
A great beginner resource for wood working is Ana White. Check out her about page for a remarkable short story of how she developed her building skills. Anyway, back to the point, Ana has some free plans for a changing table and that is what I based my design off.
As with most new projects, I had to do a little tool shopping before hand to expand my arsenal. The Kreg Pocket Hole Jig made a nice addition and the thing works like a dream.
I did make some changes to the dimensions of the table. Mine is 16 1/2″ deep and 48″ wide. I wanted to have plenty of storage for all of the accumulated baby stuff.
After some sanding, wood filler, and paint it is ready for action. How is the organizing going Shae?
Good! Here is the finished results.
The Tsavo Lion should keep baby calm during diaper changes. ;-D
