Think it's too hard to cook?

I used to.


I know that, for some folks, cooking is no big deal. (Some people even find it... fun.) If cooking comes relatively easily to you, you probably have no idea what all the fuss is about.


Chances are, though, that you know exactly what I'm talking about. It seems like, starting with Generation X, people just don't cook as much as they used to. It's not as much of a norm, these days.


Some of that probably has to do with the sheer number of takeout now available. You have hosts of fast food places, various kinds of cuisine you can get to go, and some restaurants will bring the food to you. What's not to love?


Well, the dent it leaves in your wallet, for a start. And it's rarely good for you.


But if, like me, food is a huge source of stress, what's the alternative? Well, to borrow a phrase from personal finance: Set it and forget it.


That phrase usually refers to automating your finances. By creating systems to automatically pay bills, you avoid late fees and finances charges. You can also save yourself some money by automating your cooking.


Don't get too excited. Robot chefs don't exist yet. I checked.


But you can get pretty close by using that ever-lauded kitchen device: the slow cooker. It's perfect for busy people or people who don't like to cook. Or busy people who don't like to cook.


You throw in the ingredients and walk away. Depending on the recipe, you have a meal 3-7 hours later. You don't have to wait for anything boil. No worries about something burning. You don't even have to keep a strict eye on the time. Heck, you don't even have to be home!



The first steps

For years, I have dreaded even the subject of cooking. I knew I should do more, in order to cut down our food budget. But I rarely had the energy. Tim took over for awhile, but he would try to get me to choose a dish for him to cook. And I never knew what I wanted. After awhile, he'd give up in frustration. It wasn't good.


Now that we're down in Arizona, though, I felt a stronger urge to get a coordinated cooking effort started. So I got out the slow cooker and started looking up recipes.


I ended up finding a few, very useful sites. Readers steered me toward A Year of Slow Cooking. I also did some searches and found good caches at All Recipes, Slow and Simple and Betty Crocker.


That still left me with a lot of options, though. I didn't want to get too overwhelmed, and I definitely didn't want to get too grandiose in my efforts. So I went through the sites with some very basic rules:

• Nothing that required "real" cooking. By that, I mean anything that required you to pan fry/sear/etc any of the ingredients. I was looking to make my life easier, not more complex.

• Nothing with too many ingredients. I preferred to keep it under 10. Closer to 5 was better. I wanted to be able to prep the the meals in under 15 minutes -- preferably under 10.

• Nothing with specialty items. I tried to stick to items that we already had, or those we could get relatively cheaply. The point here was to save money, not to increase our grocery bill.

Stick to the plan

In the end, I had a long list of promising recipes bookmarked in our browser. But it was still hard to cook. I would get up that day and feel indecisive about what to make. Even when I started trying to plan the night before, it was just no good.


I resisted meal planning for a long time. I was worried that, when the time came, I wouldn't want to eat that recipe. Finally, I had a "duh" moment and realized that I could always switch things around. The plan doesn't have to be exact.


Instead, I sat down with my copy of Make It Fast, Cook It Slow and wrote down five meals. Each time I needed to cook, I chose something off that list. It was easy, and I wasn't locked into a schedule. What's more, that list lasted almost two weeks, thanks to leftovers and "fend for yourself days."


So far, this system is working well. By not scheduling specific days, I give myself some leeway. Some days, I just can't face cooking. So I put it off for a day and have leftovers, while Tim makes himself a burger.


The looser schedule also means I'm not stressed about getting the dishes done every night I cook. I have a day or two in between, in case I'm busy. Or just tired. Again, taking the stress out of the situation has really helped me manage better.



Researching


I've mentioned some good sites on here, but I'd love to hear about any of your favorite slow cooker recipes or websites.


The point is to know where you can go when you need inspiration. Make It Fast, Cook It Slow has tons of tasty-looking meals, some of which are available for free at her blog A Year of Slow Cooking. I'm definitely interested in some of her fondue recipes. I've already made her applesauce, which I then put on her applesauce chicken. I highly recommend both.


All Recipes and Slow and Simple both have user feedback, which is nice. But All Recipes seems to have more feedback. Slow and Simple had a lot of unrated dishes. Both sites allow you to save items to a recipe box, if you sign up. Betty Crocker also has this function, plus it will print you out a grocery list, based on the recipes you choose.



Be flexible about ingredients


This step can save you a lot of hassle and a lot of money. If you choose to follow the ingredient list faithfully, that's terrific. But many of us are going for ease and economy. In that case, we need to be willing to make substitutions.


Plenty of recipes call for diced onion or minced garlic. It's not all that expensive to obtain either one. But I can guarantee that the unused half of the onion will end up rotting in my vegetable drawer. And peeling, then dicing, garlic can be very annoying.


Instead, I reach over to my spice cupboard and get out the onion flakes and garlic powder. Each spice was $1, and neither will go bad waiting for further use.


Similarly, I was amused by a recipe calling for the juice of one lemon. There was no way I was going to squeeze a lemon myself. My hands get tired easily, and we don't have a juicer. We did, however, have a container of lemon juice around. A quick search on the Internet found me the tablespoon equivalent. (Two to three, in case anyone cares.) No fuss, no muss.


These little substitutions and alternatives make life a lot easier. They mean fewer trips to the grocery store, and fewer items going unused in the fridge. It's win-win.


Like most areas of frugality, cooking will save you money. But you'll see the best results when you concentrate on making use of what you have.


How do you deal with meal preparation? What are your favorite, easy meals? Anyone want to come and cook for me? Please?

Skip the doctor

Before anyone jumps all over me, I'm not suggesting you avoid regular medical care. In fact, I'm saying quite the opposite.


Too many Americans avoid being seen by a medical professional for financial reasons. Whether they are uninsured or they simply have high co-pays/deductibles and low funds, they try to ignore symptoms that could be very serious indeed.


It's a stupid risk to take. From a health standpoint, you're risking your life in order to save some money. And you can't spend money if you're dead. Yeah, what you have probably isn't life-threatening. But what if it is? You can bet Jim Henson had health insurance, but for whatever reason, he dismissed his symptoms and it cost him his life.


Meanwhile, it's also a bad financial bet to make. Great, you saved $150-200 by not going to the doctor. But once those symptoms worsen and get to the point that you are worried enough to get seen, you may be forced to go to the ER. Even if you're not admitted to the hospital, you'll be getting a bill about twice as steep as a normal doctor. It's also possible that, by waiting to be seen, your condition will have gotten severe enough to necessitate a hospital stay. Then you're really looking at the big bucks.


In the end, you need to find balance between saving your bank account and saving your health. Here are a few tips to help you along your way:



Know what it isn't

Despite my little lecture above, I'm well aware that a lot of Americans go to the doctor unnecessarily. They become convinced they're very sick, and no amount of logic can dissuade them. When money is tight, of course, this is less likely to happen. But it's good to be cautious. There's nothing worse than sucking up the cost of a doctor's visit only to discover there's really nothing wrong.


Know the difference between a sprain and a break. I know from personal experience just how painful sprains can be. But you should be able to tell the difference between a sprain and a break. For one, sprains tend to swell up. I know the old wisdom is that if you can move it, it's not broken. I don't know how true that is, but it may be one guideline.


At any rate, the best treatment for a sprain is RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation. Also consider some ibuprofen. Other than that, there's not much to be done. Except to pledge to be more careful next time.


Also, know the difference between the flu and... everything else. It's a popular one to get wrong. People think a stomach flu is the flu. They think a bad cold is the flu. In short, they think anything that is highly unpleasant must be the flu.


In fact, if you're throwing up, you probably don't have the flu. Usually, it's a stomach bug, which is often a case of mild food poisoning. Drink some flat Coke or the juice from some canned fruit. The pectin will settle your stomach. You should feel better in 24 hours.


If you're stuffed up and/or have a sore throat, you probably don't have the flu. You have a cold. It's hardly fun, but there are tons of products out there and lots of Walgreen's Register Rewards/CVS Extra Bucks to get when you stock up. So take some Nyquil and see if some rest helps. (To be fair, if the sore throat lasts, you may have strep. Usually, this is will involve a sore throat without any sort of relief for a couple days on end.)


Finally -- and this is the acid test -- if you don't want to die, you probably don't have the flu. I've had the flu. It was only two years after I had been in the hospital, on life support, for 3 straight months. And I remember, in the middle of it, thinking, "This is the worst I've ever felt." (About two minutes later, I realized how absurd that was. On the other hand, I got narcotics in the hospital.)


I felt fine that morning. By 1p.m., I started a tad "ooky" to use the technical term. By 4 p.m., my skin ached from contact with my (softest) shirt. By 7 p.m., I was lying prostrate on the couch, being racked by coughing fits. That night, I had alternating fever and chills. After a day or two of medication, I began to feel human again. But it was miserable in the meantime.


Of course, I can't say how H1N1 feels, but Tim's mom did have it. When her friend asked her how she felt, she said, "Like I got hit by a truck." So I'm guessing that one is self-evident too.




Nurse line:

This may be one of the best ways to get some quick, free medical advice. Most hospitals have a line you can call to speak with a nurse. While this is hardly a substitute for a real visit to a health professional, it can be a good first step. There are a lot of times that we go into the doctor's office unnecessarily.


If you can't find the number, simply call the hospital's main number and ask if they have a nurse on call to answer a couple of questions. It helps if you jot down a list of symptoms or concerns before you call. Once you have a professional on the line, try to be concise without skipping over anything.


Don't expect a diagnosis over the phone. This person isn't a mind reader. But you should come away with a bit of advice. Most often, you're told to try one or two things from home. If the symptoms don't get better or worsen, the nurse will tell you to make an appointment with your doctor. (Depending on the type of symptoms and their severity, you may be ordered into the doctor/ER immediately. But it's rare.)



MD? Nah, ARNP:

If you do need to be seen -- but not in an emergency room -- your best bet is to find an ARNP. These professionals can order tests and prescribe medication just like a doctor. But their rates tend to be significantly less.


I can't quote you a general price range. Tim is new to the world of being uninsured. But the one I found for him charges $75 to a new patient -- at least, one paying out of pocket -- and $50 thereafter.


The exception to this rule can be specialists. For example, the psychiatric nurses I've found around Phoenix are far pricier than their non-specializing counterparts. The first appointment is $150-220, with the follow-up appointments going for about $60-75. That's the same as a lot of psychiatrists.


Actually finding a medical professional without an insurance database can sometimes be trying. My suggestion is to google "ARNP" and your city. If that doesn't provide enough results, you can always try using the Medicare website. You don't have to be on Medicare to find a provider through the website. Just go to the site and look for "Find a provider." You can specify what kind of medical professional you want, from ARNP to general practitioner to specialists. You can put in your exact address and see results by distance.


One note of warning: This is a large database. A lot of the information is old or not terribly clear. Doctors tend to have a lot of ties to various offices. So getting the right number can be a pain. I ended up calling a heart hospital once, looking for a GP. Another doctor I was looking for had outdated information. I did some searches and found a newer number, only to find out she was no longer there. After calling three more places, I found out she was now working in the Air Force.


In other words, be prepared for some frustration. And a lot of calling. The best thing will be to do the research before you need an appointment.

Some new reasons to call it Black Friday

"Black Friday." It's a well-known phrase, and there are plenty of reasons for the name. If you haven't heard them, then you better check out the PF Blogosphere more carefully, because at least two bloggers covered the subject.


So, we know why it's called "Black Friday," but surely we can think of a few more fun explanations, can't we?


Black is:

1. The sky, because it's not even 5 a.m. and sane people are still sleeping
2. The color of the circles under your eyes from getting up so early
   
3. The bruise on your wallet from your "Oh, but it's so cheap!" spending
4. Your mood as you stand in line and move only incrementally.
   
5. The color of the ink you'll be fingerprinted with. (You probably shouldn't have punched that lady over the last of the $170 netbooks.)

Kidding aside, most of us have a love/hate relationship with Black Friday. The deals are so enticing, but the lines and crowds make us wonder if it's worthwhile.


It was for me -- if only barely. At Wal-Mart, my line took over 90 minutes. (Later, we found out people had been letting their friends in line. And here I thought "cuts" ended in elementary school.)


Then again, I got an HP all-in-one printer for $25. I have missed having a scanner lately -- you use it for a surprising number of things, especially if you mystery shop -- but I didn't want to spend too much. I also picked up some Rubbermaid containers for $7. We don't have a lot of stuff to put the leftovers in.


We also got some good deals at GameStop. I wanted Tim to have a protective case for his PSP, and the store offered one in a travel kit for $9.99. It also comes with a car adapter, which is handy. There was a Dax and Jaxter game for $6.99 that I picked up, as well. Later, Tim used store credit to take advantage of the "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale on used games.


So, for $54, we came away with a printer/scanner/copier, 15 Rubbermaid containers, a travel kit with case, adapter, headphones, and 4 PSP games. To me, that's worth a little sleep deprivation and even a bit of claustrophobia as the crowds press in.


What about you guys? Did you make forays into the wilderness that is Black Friday?

Frugal moving?

First, I just want to thank you all for your patience. I know posting has been intermittent (at best) during these last couple of weeks. It will get better again soon. It's just that selling off/donating half your belongings takes up some time -- and then you still have to pack the rest. Oh, and keep working in the meantime.


The good news is that we were officially moved out of the apartment yesterday around 6 p.m. It was stressful and came down to the wire. I suppose it just about always does, but it's still frustrating. I definitely suggest that any couples sit down and create a game plan prior to any move. Tim and I had different theories about moving. He completely underestimated the amount of time it takes to move when you have so much stuff. I completely underestimated just how badly two weeks' bad sleep would burn up any sense of patience I had. Let's just say there was a lot of yelling on both sides. And, depending on how you look at it, we were either both completely justified or completely unjustified. Either way, I figure we were even.


So. What have I learned so far about frugal moving? Well, I've learned that moving to a new state generally means that 'cheap' is thrown out the window.


First and foremost, there's the question of getting your stuff there. You have a few options:

Get it there yourself (car).

• What: You could only take things that you can fit in your car. The rest would be shipped or sold/donated.
  

• Sacrifice: You'll arrive with no furniture whatsoever. The older you get, the less this is a really viable option. For example, I have a hard time sleeping in the best of conditions, so I am reluctant to part with my Tempurpedic. And just replacing that would cost more than we're paying for the move.
  

• Benefit: If you're okay getting rid of everything, this is by far the cheapest option. Items will get jostled around less in your car than in a moving van, so you won't need as much bubble wrap (which runs about $20 for 200 feet) or boxes ($3-5 each).
  

• Caution: Remember that a loaded-down car will get sub-par miles per gallon. Plan to spend more than normal for gas.
  

• Costs: Really, just gas. As for gas, we'd assume 20 mpg. (It's probably closer to 25 when loaded down, but it's best to plan for the worst.) For a 1500-mile trip, that's 75 gallons or about $225.
  

• Total cost: $225
  

Get it there yourself (U-Haul van).

• What: You can choose among several sizes of van. For out-of-state moves, there's a flat rate.

• Sacrifice: Those vans are not comfortable to drive for long periods of time.

• Benefit: You'd have to pay for a plane/train ticket anyway, and you'd still have to get your stuff there. This is probably cheaper. Also, you don't have to worry about anyone mishandling your stuff. It's under your control.

• Caution: These vans get terrible mileage. The one I was looking at was 12 mpg. (I'm assuming that's loaded up, but it didn't say.)

• Costs: We were quoted $800 for a 7-day rental of the van. Gas, though, really makes the price skyrocket. For a 1,500-mile trip, that's 125 gallons, or about $350-375.
  

• Total cost: About $1150

Get it there yourself (car + U-Haul):

• What: You drive your car but tow a trailer. This is only possible if your car either has a hitch or can have one attached.

• Sacrifice: You'll get worse gas mileage than normal. You'll still have to get rid of a lot of furniture.
  

• Benefit: Gas mileage will still be better than U-Haul vans.

• Caution: Not all cars can do this. Also, you may have to be more careful driving when you're towing something.

• Costs: The bigger trailer (5' x 8') would be $200. That plus gas for a truck or utility vehicle loaded down would probably be pretty steep. Assume a worst-case scenario of 15-20 mpg.

• Total cost: About $500
  

Storage cube:

• What: A large cube delivered to your house. You can hire movers to load or unload, if you prefer. You generally have 3 business days to get everything in, so it's best to order one close to the weekend.

• Benefits: You don't have to load it all in a couple of hours. That's huge for people with medical conditions. Also, this way you can choose to fly rather than having to drive down. And did I mention you don't have to drive a moving van?
  

• Sacrifices: Taking your stuff with you will inevitably cost more. You'll still have to get rid of some stuff -- the cube is about 6'x7'x8'. Ordering a second one is possible but completely demolishes your budget. And if you have a car and want it transported for you, that will definitely up the costs. Finally, if you live in an apartment building, finding a spot to put the cube can be difficult. Our front parking spaces are technically on city property. The company refuses to park there without a permit, which would have been $176. The garage has low-hanging pipes, so that was a no-go. Luckily, there was a space out back that we could use.
  

• Costs: ABF U-Pack is charging us $1,136. (PODS wanted $2,300, so stay away from that company!) Then there's still the travel costs. We're driving down, so about $200; if we flew, it'd be around $450 after taxes.

• Total cost: About $1,300-1,500.

Moving truck:

• What: Companies like ABF U-Pack offer space in a trailer. Your items are then sealed away with a bulkhead. The rest of the truck is filled with commercial shipments.

• Benefits: The truck option is cool because you can use whatever space you need. They quote you a price for a 6'x7'x8' space. For each foot of space you don't use, you get a discount (with a minimum of 5'x5'x8'). Other companies go by the poundage. The estimator figures out what he thinks things should weigh. For each 100 lbs under that, you get money off. Either way, you have the chance to lower costs.

• Sacrifices: Having all the room you need might mean you go overboard and don't pare down your stuff enough. And for each foot of space more than the quote, you pay extra. This also means you need to have a space that a tractor trailer can park for a few hours without any problems. They refuse to block traffic. And, of course, you're on a time crunch of getting everything loaded in a 2-4 hour period. Finally, your stuff will get jostled around when the cube is moved and loaded onto the truck, when it's driven around, and when it's unloaded from the truck/delivered to your new address. That means packing carefully, which means a lot of moving supplies like bubble wrap.
  

• Costs: ABF U-Pack offered about $1300 for this option. Another company (the one using poundage) came in around $1900. So it varies. Call around. A lot. Then there's still getting yourself down there. Between $200-400, depending on whether you drive or fly.
  

• Total cost: At least $1,500.
  

Professional movers:

• What: People who come in and take all your boxes, load them onto a truck and then unload them at your new destination.

• Benefits: You don't do any heavy lifting. It's fabulous. They will also, for a price, pack your items for you.

• Sacrifices: There are a lot of terrifying reports out there. We had gone with a place that gave us a $995 quote until we read terrible things about the parent company on MovingScams.com. Some of the reports were really scary: Movers sitting around chatting then charging overtime when the move took over 4 hours, end prices being up to 200% more than the initial quote, and the company withholding your items until you paid. The more well-known companies like Bekins, are pricey. Very pricey.
  

• Cost: For an affordable place? Anywhere from $1,000-$2,000. Places like Bekins? Between $2,000-3,000, if I recall.
  

• Total costs: Too much, unless you know the company is reputable.

So, is there such a thing as a frugal move? Well... Again, frugal is a relative term. There are certainly ways to cut down on costs:

• Call all of your friends, even ones who work in office jobs, and see if their workplace has boxes that get thrown out. Offices have copy-paper boxes, which are great. We lucked out with a friend who works at Arby's. He offered a bunch of boxes after hearing how much store-bought ones cost. That saved us a bundle.

• If friends can't help for some reason, start calling stores. Office supply stores are tricky. They crush and/or shred boxes early in the day. It might be best to call at the end of the day and ask them to leave a note for the morning crew. Grocery stores often only have produce boxes, which aren't great for long moves. Call liquor stores and see what days/times they get restocked. Those tend to be some of the best boxes, since liters and liters of alcohol are quite heavy.
  

• Watch office supply stores for sales. This means, like most frugal hacks, getting a head start. With my mom's help, I found a sale on bubble wrap: buy one, get one free. Mom also had 2 coupons for $10 off a purchase of $30 or more. With each of us using one, the end total was about $60 for 4, 200-foot spools of bubble wrap and 5 boxes. Each bubble wrap roll retailed for $20.

• If you want to try and avoid bubble wrap -- which I wouldn't recommend you skip completely -- save up plastic bags and get more from friends and family. These and newspaper help pad fragile items and keep them from shifting.

• Remember to get different sizes of boxes. Unless you're using a professional moving service, you will want to make the most of your space. That means thinking of the box placement as a sort of Tetris game. (That's how Tim and Seth referred to it, anyway, and it helped them.)

• Make use of your storage items. That refers both to storage bins and organizational storage like wicker baskets. Obviously, if you can use storage bins, it cuts down on the number of boxes you have to buy. But what about those baskets you have holding all your lotions and hair stuff? Fill the baskets as much as possible, then place the baskets in boxes. That way, you don't have to pack it twice -- the items held by the basket and the basket itself.

• Finally, and I hope this is a no-brainer for everyone, keep a marker by your side as you pack. Then make notes on the boxes about the contents. Whether you want to be specifc -- shoes, jewelry, socks -- or more vague -- "Kitchen" -- you'll at least know where the box goes. If you use movers, you can tell them the correct room to put the box in. If you move the items yourself, you won't have to carry the box any extra steps.

Again, sorry for the long silence. Things have been crazed. But we officially have an apartment secured, our stuff is in transit and we're trying to decompress before we start our long road trip down to the land o' sun.

Free rent, the sleazy way

Photo by extremeezine

While perusing the Phoenix housing ads, I stumbled on this little tidbit (twice now!) and I thought it should be shared.

Hi, I've got a room across from the Glendale Community College campus with access to pools, jacuzzi, tennis/racquetball courts etc... I'm offering Free Rent + Utilities in exchange for "Personal Services". The room is unfurnished, but furniture may be arranged for the right roommate. During the fall and spring semesters I both go to school and work full time, I'm in my mid twenties and I'm not hung up on ethnicity, I'm just looking for someone laid back and preferably 420 friendly :-) so if you're interested then by all means drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you {^_^}

Okay, of course, I'm not advocating selling yourself for free rent. There's also a reason that this ad continues to be up: No woman has called just begging to take the place. But it's an interesting reminder that we all have a lot more options to make or save money than we admit to.


We think about things like a second job, selling off items around the house or cutting all meals out. Once that stuff has been exhausted, we tend to assume we've done everything we can. That's not true. Instead, we've done everything that we're willing to consider.


Again, I'm not saying that every woman should consider selling herself -- de facto or literally. It does, however, raise an interesting question about our options as we see them. Dog Ate My Finances actually talked a bit about this in a rant about how people see themselves as having fewer options than they actually do. In fact, most of us have more choices than we let on, or perhaps even realize. (This is something Dog pointed out to me once in comments. While I still don't love the way she generalized some things, she does have a point about the choices we make -- often without realizing it.)


Point being, if some woman is really having a hard time making ends meet, would this be such a bad thing? Maybe she's easygoing about sex. God knows, men don't exactly tend toward picky, but if women act even a quarter as cavalierly as men they get called sluts. Or maybe she meets the guy and decides he's someone she'd probably consider sleeping with anyone. So, at least now, she gets free rent rather than a couple of drinks bought for her. Or maybe she's just really can't afford rent and this is her best bet at keeping a roof over her head. No matter what the scenario, I guess I wonder why it's a big deal. Why most of us -- myself included -- have that initial reaction of disgust. It's really just another example, if an intimate one, of bartering.


After all, you could argue that this situation isn't all that different from others where sex is involved. A lot of women stay in unhappy relationships/marriages because they can't (or believe they can't) survive financially on their own.


At least here, the woman might find the guy tolerable. She also wouldn't experience the resentment that builds as a relationship founders. Nor would she have to mourn the loss of "happily ever after." There'd be no starry-eyed idealism about that in the first place.


Yet, for some, that makes the situation that much worse.


This sort of thing fascinates me. I suppose it's because our knee-jerk reactions tend to be based on societal norms. This is especially true of anything that smacks of prostitution.


I know the arguments against it: it's demeaning, dangerous, etc. But is that the act itself, or the conditions created because the act is illegal? I don't ever want to sell my body, but I also don't think we have a right to tell a woman she can't sell hers.


But back to the main point of this piece: What you are willing to do to get or save money is very different from what you can do.


You could sell illegal drugs or steal cars to sell to chop shops. These things are illegal though, and even if you're not worried about getting caught, you probably have ethical problems with these. I don't think marijuana should be illegal, for example, but I'm not willing to risk jail time to sell it. And I have far too active a guilt complex to steal things.


You could sell items that are of great sentimental value. But if you have a steady job, then it's usually not worth the sacrifice. For example, I have a couple of pieces that my grandmother gave me before she died. Even when the jewelry market was better, I didn't want to sell them. I would, if it became necessary, but I prefer to pay down debt more slowly and keep these.


You could sell every scrap of furniture in your house, but most of us would rather pay off debt more slowly and be comfortable in the interim. While Tim and I are slowly winnowing down our possessions, we are putting most of the furniture sales off until closer to the move date. Even so, we will take the bed, the couch, and a dresser with us; the items are more expensive to replace than to move. That said, if we did get a caretaking job that meant free rent but just a single room, I would sell off the couch before we left.


You could eat the cheapest food available. I'm not talking junk food with coupons, though that sometimes qualifies. I'm talking rice and beans, chili with rice and tortillas, chicken and then boil the chicken carcass for stock for chicken soup later. My mom still mainly eats things like this. She gets very sick of leftovers at times; but the meals are simple, easy to cook and cheap. Most of us want a little more variety in life and cuisine. Most of us would rather keep going out to eat at least on occasion. So we find room in the budget for it.


You could sell everything except the absolute, bare essentials. Most of us are unwilling to live this way on purpose, though. When I was an infant, my mom was single and working as a clerk. She had just enough clothes to get through the week. She'd wash them on the weekend and start again. Three decades later, in some debt from a divorce, she didn't go back to that lifestyle. She did buy pretty much exclusively from thrift stores and had a bunch of my old shirts -- as in, high school castoffs -- for wearing around the house. Still, as much as she hates debt and worries about money, she was unwilling to go back to near-deprivation to cope.


I guess it simply boils down to what you are willing to do for money. And a lot of that, I think, is predicated on your situation. Some people consider sacrifice to be taking their kids out of private school. For others, it's about getting a second job. There's a wide range of choices -- so much so that we often don't realize how many choices we rule out automatically.


So ask yourself: What have you automatically ruled out? What is an absolute no, and what are you willing to reconsider?

Bargain-shopping for school supplies

Photo by c.a.muller

It's that time of year again: School supplies season! (Which is weird, since it's only mid-June, but that's a subject for another day.)


I actually kind of enjoy this period because it's another chance to get deals you feel triumphant about -- especially since we're not actually keeping most of the items.


In fact, it's important for everyone to remember that you don't have to have kids to take advantage of school supplies sales. There are plenty of families who can't afford their children's supplies, especially as the lists of items get longer and longer every year.


It should be a no-brainer to check your circulars, since different stores will have different loss-leaders. And those of you with kids are probably old pros at finding the most expedient route.


So let's look at the less obvious things:


Don't shop alone.

Most of the cheapest items have very low maximum purchases. Usually it's right around two per customer. So the more people you have with you, the easier it is to stock up. (Though some folks simply do a revolving-door strategy: Buy, put items in car, go back in, buy more.)


If you can't get a friend to go along with you, use your kids. (Besides tax deductions, that's what they're there for, right?) Give each one enough cash to get the items and have them each get in line. There is no minimum age for being a customer. Although I recommend using only kids who are verbal/no longer in diapers.


Don't be lured away from your list.

You should know better, but sometimes it's tempting. You're tired or the price seems reasonable enough to just buy it and be done. But this early in the game, there's no need to get everything at once. (Unless you are going on an extended vacation.)


In school supplies, as in everything frugal, it's worthwhile to wait to see how things play out. Keep an eye on prices and whatever you need will probably go on sale in the coming weeks.


Know what goes on sale

I suppose this is part and parcel with the one above, but it bear mentioning. Staples and Office Depot routinely have backpacks for 25-50% off. Usually the themed ones are only 25% and don't last long enough to go to half off. But there are plenty of basic backpacks that can be found for under $10 when on sale.


Wide-ruled paper, crayons and pencils are usually offered for a penny, at least once before school starts. Usually pencils can be found that cheaply throughout the supply-buying season.


You should be able to find 3 notebooks and/or composition books for $1 several times before September. Basic binders should never cost you more than $1 each. If they are more, wait for a better sale.


Scissors aren't discounted as often, nor are glue and rulers. That said, stores are always Though stores are always changing the rules, so keep your eyes open.


If money is an issue, get blander stuff

Yeah, your daughter wants that Jonas Brothers backpack, and your son is begging for that GI Joe bag. (Apologies for stereotyping genders, but sometimes cliches exist for a reason.) And they'll be kind when "all the other kids" get what they don't.


But if you're even partially concerned about money in the future, you probably want to err on the side of caution. Like most boy bands, Jonas Brothers will soon be a thing of the past. (And your daughter will be mortified she ever liked them. Which does give some value to a themed backpack as blackmail, but still...)


Get backpacks made from hardy material, in colors they'll continue to like. (Hint: Not pink.) Get binders that are dark so that marks won't show as well. Depending on your kids' personalities, consider one or two nicer pens. Some people lose fewer writing utensils when they feel the utensils are special. Of course, if your kids would lose the socks while still on their feet, just wait for a sale on those bulk pen packs.


Know your rewards programs

Walgreen's Register Rewards are pretty easy to get and could help you afford a few extra items. Just be sure that you don't get too high of a reward. This week, for example, you can get a $10 Register Reward when you buy two sunscreens. But the RR has to be used on a single item, and neither Tim nor I buy anything there that is $10 or more.


Staples and Office Max/Depot rewards are really awesome for free supplies. You get a percentage back based on what you spend, as well as credit for recycled ink cartridges. Most of the stores only reward these monthly or quarterly, so you have to think ahead.


Don't use much ink at home? Ask friends and family for theirs. Most people throw them out anyway. Also, look around at work and see if there's a bin for them. If you feel awkward, go ahead and ask the boss or IT people if it's kosher to grab them. Most places really don't care. My mom picks them up at the University of Washington computer labs. They're just going to be recycled anyway, so the school doesn't care.


You can turn in plenty of ink cartridges at the supplies stores, so you can get a relatively hefty reward. Mom already had two $30 checks waiting for her. And with that Tim and I were able to afford a bunch of school supplies for a friend with a kid.


Know about carnivals

The friends we were buying for usually go to school supply carnivals. This way, lower income families can pick up donated items and cut down on what they have to buy. Usually, I'm told, you have to go to several to get a whole list done. Still, if you're having trouble making ends meet, this could save some vital dollars



How we did

Tim and I got permission from Mom to use one of her Rewards checks, which gave us a $30 credit. I also grabbed a $5 off of $20 coupon from Staple's Sunday ad.

As a result, we came away with:


For the kids:

1 GI Joe backpack ($14.99 on sale)
1 Lightning McQueen backpack ($14.99 on sale)
1 ruler
1 two-pack of scissors
1 bottle of glue
2 boxes of crayons
4 sets of 8 pencils


For my mom:

1 box of Sweet 'N Low (400 packets)
4 reams of copy paper



The copy paper has a rebate and will end up being one cent. That means, in total, we will have spent about $11 of our own money to help out some friends. (And to help out my mom who keeps us in copy paper all the time.)


Have any other tips for thrifty school supplies?

What's your favorite cheap/geeky vacation?

Photo by Sharat Ganapati

Blogging Away Debt talked about the cheap vacation she and her husband plan on. (I'd never even considered beach camping, which is kind of sad, given that I've been to New Jersey a lot. The Jersey shore used to be infamous for people staying under the boardwalk, hence the song.)


She urged people to talk about their favorite in-state location to get away cheaply. And it got me thinking...


Well, not about Washington. I'm a tad embarrassed to say that I've seen very little of the state. It's kind of understandable, I suppose, since I've only had regular access to a car in the last 5 of my 13 years here. The point is, I mainly have secondhand knowledge of cool places in this state.


I've heard wonderful things about Ocean Shores. I was never terribly interested in going there, mind you. And Tim can't really enjoy the whole beach since salt water + open skin = very unhappy Tim. Still, I had a friend who loved to go there.


I've also heard tell that we have a friggin' rain forest in this state. That kind of interests me, but not enough to gather up the energy to go. It makes me kind of sad that I'm this apathetic about the state. Maybe it isn't such a bad idea to move...


I will say that I've been to Snoqualmie Falls, mainly thanks to an enthusiastic friend who asked me to tag along. It was very pretty, very awe-inspiring. And it is a relatively easy day trip for most people. We admired the sheer enormity of the water rushing down. We didn't do any of the trails because none of us felt up to it, but the basic sight of the waterfall was well-worth the trip. And we went to the cafe from Twin Peaks. On their menu it even says it's the home of "damn fine cherry pie." I chose apple and it was quite tasty, too.


At any rate, all this vacation talk made me remember what a great time Tim and I had on our honeymoon. I'm not sure I've actually discussed how we spent ours. We went down to Florida and went to a bunch of entertainment parks.


I think I'll actually make a separate post about our honeymoon, since we took in a lot of rides and such. But, suffice to say, it was great. Nothing like some roller coasters to really relieve the stress of a wedding!


In that vein, I wrote on Blogging Away Debt's page that my ideal in-state trip would be to Spokane, Washington. But really that's because just over the border in Idaho there's apparently a very fun amusement/water park. I'm a sucker for water parks especially. The hotels in Spokane are very cheap, so it makes up for a slightly longer drive to the park than staying right nearby.


I told Tim that one day we have to go to West Edmonton Mall in Canada. It houses the world's largest indoor amusement park and a five-acre water park. (!!!) Is it sad that that is one of my dream vacations?


Don't get me wrong, I want to take Tim to DC sometime, where there is a ton to see and do -- a lot of it for free. The zoo, the memorials, etc. Plus there's the spy museum and a bunch of other interesting spots.


And Tim definitely needs to go to New York at some point. He's never been. But that's going to be a pricey getaway, given hotel costs there. As for entertainment, there's plenty to see just walking around, plus you can save money with last-minute rush tickets. Still, the price of hotels (to get anything without a shared bath, you're looking at $100+ a night, probably closer to $150) is going to kill any budget.


So, when it comes to domestic, affordable travel, my sites are set a little low, I suppose. But there is something triumphant about having a great time and spending little to no money.


Do any of you have geeky and/or frugal travel ideas?

Coinstar lives up to its name

My mom recently suggested that I start checking these machines whenever I'm in the grocery store. Apparently more than half of the time, there's money left in there.


Apparently, the problem is that some coins don't go in. Either a foreign nickel slips past you, or something too old/worn to be accepted by the machine. So the machine spits the coins into the receptacle, allowing people to take them back.


Thing is, though, that our instant gratification culture has trained us to take the money and run. So people, gift card in hand, go on their merry way without pawing through the discarded change leftover.


I finally remembered to try this out myself. Sure enough, there was 12 cents just sitting there. Someone had actually put it up on the counter. I was more than happy to relieve said counter of its heavy dime-and-two-pennies burden.


And, okay, that didn't exactly pay for our grocery trip or anything. But now that there are no pay phones to check for loose change, what are we grab-fueled Americans supposed to snoop around in?


Has anyone else noticed this about Coinstar? Or some other venue? I'd be interested to hear some feedback on this.

Want vs need: Is it too simplistic?

As I reviewed the budget yesterday, seeing if we could pare the budget down to $1,000 a month, I began to really consider the PF idea of "wants vs. needs." It's one of the most basic PF tenets -- and for good reason. When people's financial lives are out of control, they tend to have very skewed ideas of what is a "need."


But how long should that last?


Is it really a good idea to keep this idea of things being either expendable or not? Of course, there are three basic needs: food, shelter, clothing. Once those are met, the rest are luxuries.


But are they, really? Obviously, my medications are not luxuries. If I don't have them -- or don't have enough of them -- I stop being able to function. I am either too exhausted to accomplish much of anything, or I am too severely depressed to cope with the world. Similarly, Tim needs his inhaler. And if he doesn't see a doctor regularly, his skin tends to become so terrible that he can't wear clothes. So, medical items, and medical services, should probably be added as necessities.


At the moment, that about taps out my ideas of absolute necessities. Anything else is technically a luxury. But aren't there gradations? When people get rid of non-vital expenses, they tend to prioritize. Sometimes it's based on cost -- a weekly breakfast with friends is going to be more tenable than a weekly massage -- but other times it's based priorities.


For example, Tim and I pay $60 for Dish TV. It isn't technically a necessity. But since we're both home all the time, it's a closer to the bottom of the "Expendable expenses" list. So, it's not really a need, but our lives would be a lot worse without it. My energy issues prevent us from forgoing TV in favor of hiking or other sporty activities that offer hours-long entertainment. While Tim and I could spend more time online, it would mean more evenings of each of us doing our own thing and not interacting -- not great for a marriage. It would also probably make us more prone to cabin fever, which can result in more outings (and, thereby, more unnecessary spending).


Whether or not you agree with this line of thinking, we all have things that we acknowledge aren't actually "needs," but are loathe to call "luxuries." We think of them as things we "need" inasmuch as we can possibly find a way to afford it.


Of course, most of us have more than one luxury. Even the most dedicated PF bloggers aren't going to go completely bare bones. Living that way tends to lead to frugal burnout. Most of us have a range of "wants" -- some large, some small. Most of us also have prioritized them, in case fat needs to be trimmed from the budget.


So we have things we could give up relatively easily (if somewhat reluctantly) and things that we will cling to tenaciously until there is absolutely no reasonable way to afford/justify it anymore. But we have the same term for both. How much sense does that make?


Thus far, I've only come up with "needxuries" (or maybe "neexuries" but I think the former looks better).


Some of you may be wondering why such a distinction is important. There is an awful lot of comments in the blogosphere that cast aspersions on people's budgets. While people have a right to their own opinions, they often have different priorities than the person who has to live with the budget. Wouldn't it be nice, when talking about expenses, to have a kind of shorthand for "very important" expense? Rather than answering various readers' suggestions that you cut the items most dear to you, they would know better what you could do without.


Granted, this isn't a huge issue. But I know some bloggers deal with very judgmental readers. (I'm lucky to have escaped most of that with you awesome folks!) And there is simply the annoyance of having to listen to people tell you to cut the item that you want to hold onto the most.


So, yeah, we could all start laying out our budgets by priority level. But isn't making up a new word more fun? Someone had to come up with "smores" and "blog," right? So let's brake some new ground here.


What words or terms would you use to denote the importance of your various expenses?

Can cookie & brownie mixes be frugal?

I don't do a lot of cooking or baking.


Part of me knows that I should. It would save money on premade snacks. But we don't have a mixer and my arms tend to get tired easily. And I just don't really like cooking or baking all that much. Which is actually the real driving factor.


But, in an effort to save a bit on junk food, I have been trying to stick more to things I can make at home. This is where mixes come in. They're fast, they're easy and... Well, actually, that's pretty much the whole selling point.


Part of me hopes I can work my way up to cooking from scratch. The other part of me is based in reality. Either way, at least this seems to be cheaper than buying cookies in the grocery store. The stores have a pretty decent number of sales on these things.


You can get Betty Crocker cake mixes on sale for about a dollar. The icing sometimes goes on sale, and it's always sold pretty cheaply at Grocery Outlet. With a recent sale, I tried some of BC's brownie mix. Very tasty. And for a dollar, who can argue? (Although, the price goes up a tad if, like me, you like to add chocolate chips to the mixes. Mom has also had success adding pudding mix to the cake for extra moistness.)


Tim and I also quite like Betty Crocker's cornbread mix, though for a 9" by 9" pan, I find two packets work best. Considering you can get them on sale for 50 cents, it's really quite a fabulous deal!


This week, Safeway is having a sale where you save $5 if you buy 10 sale products. Tim and I loaded up on BBQ sauce, since we had finally run out from last time. (His chili recipe calls for it.) So we bought 8 BBQ sauces for an end price of 70 cents each, and 2 Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie dough mixes, end price $1.50.


Is this cheaper than homemade? If you stock up on sales, probably not. Flour comes in pretty good-sized packages. Sugar goes on sale quite often. Eggs can be gotten for about $1/dozen if you watch sales closely. Vanilla is pricey but goes a long way.... You get the idea.


Still, I'd say the price difference is within 50 cents to a dollar of homemade. So, as usual, my frugality may not quite reach the ideal, but it still gets pretty close. And a heck of a lot better than the alternatives: ready-made cookie dough for $3-4, brownies for $3-4, (decorated) cakes for around $7.



Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make up some chocolate chip cookie dough. Heck, I might even bake some of it!


****

Random thought: Has anyone ever tried to make their own chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream? It seems like it would be messy and/or difficult. Still, let me know!

February 15th: The frugalist's Valentine's Day

One of the biggest complaints about Valentine's Day is that romance shouldn't be forced and it definitely shouldn't all be squeezed into one day a year.



Have Vday your way


So why not schedule Valentine's Day for more convenience (and affordability)?
This year, Tim and I are celebrating on February 15th. It will make things eminently more affordable:

• The candy will be half price.

• Vday cards will be remaindered cheaply. (While you're at it, stock up for next year!)

• Vday-themed gifts (jewelry, trinkets, lingerie, lotion sets, etc) will be clearanced.

• Flowers will be back to their normal prices.

• Restaurants won't require reservations weeks in advance.

• It will be more intimate. Since so many ate out the night before, crowds should be nearly non-existent.

• If we want to see something romantic, we won't be in a packed movie theater.

What's not to love?

Actually, this idea was a practical solution for Tim and I. He likes to celebrate the holiday. (There is part of me that does, too. But the practical -- aka miser -- side of me thinks it's silly to put so much emphasis -- and money -- into one day.)

In addition, one of Tim's good friends is in a newly long-distance relationship. Tim wanted to celebrate with me, but also wanted to keep his friend distracted. This way, we get the best of both worlds: We're supportive friends, I still get to disregard a lot of the Valetine's hype, and then we still do something (affordably) romantic.

We will exchange gifts, but we have agreed to keep them small. I'd tell you the gift, but my guy is a faithful reader of the blog. And I'm all about surprise. (Okay, that and I'm still not completely decided.)

A very merry unValentine's Day to you

For any of you who are actually actively anti-Valentine's Day, I will also use this post as a time to make some suggestions. I have had a few different unValentine's Days. They can be quite fun.

The first time was my freshman year. A friend and I were both single. So we had dinner (at TGIFriday's -- and only appetizers and dessert, no entree) then saw the least romantic movie we could find (the updated Star Wars Episode IV) and went to a club where everyone was dancing by themselves.

More recently (and on more of a budget), I finally got around to renting Saw, though any scary flick will do. I made spaghetti for dinner, so that the red sauce would be in keeping with both the Vday and bloodfest theme.

This year, I think we've decided that we'll take Tim's friend out a bit. We'll eat only at fast food restaurants (nothing romantic about those) and then go see some action or slasher flick. After that, we'll come back home. We'll do some drinking while watching and heckling particularly bad movies. At the end of the night, he'll crash out on our couch and we'll have had a successful unValentine's Day.

If you have your own Valentine's Day traditions -- whether they're about rebelling against the day or celebrating it affordably -- I would love to hear about them!

I warrant you'll be wantin' a warranty

"Extended Warranty, how could I lose?!"

--Homer Simpson

Okay, fine, so we all know about the dreaded 'extended warranty' on a car. It ranks up there with 'undercoating.'


But in this increasingly electronics-filled society, aren't warranties becoming almost second nature? And shouldn't they be?


Some say no. Liz Pulliam Weston believes that, other than laptops, extended warranties aren't a good use of your money. That's because laptops are far more difficult to fix yourself. On the other hand, I suppose, most people know someone who can help with a PC.


I guess this makes sense, but a lot depends on your situation. When my computer went kablooey, I was doing contract work to make ends meet. (Or, to be more precise, to make the ends be less far apart.) The state of Washington was giving me $330 a month; my mom was helping me with the rest of my rent; and I had about $100 in food stamps each month. So that contract work, even when it was only $60 a week, was a big deal.


In other words, I couldn't go without a computer. I found Best Buy had some eMachines with incredible rebates. But since I needed the money upfront, I opened a 0% Best Buy card, giving me a 6-month window to get the rebate checks and slowly pay down the balance. The end cost was around $250 for the actual computer.


But because even $250 was difficult to cough up, I knew that if this computer died I'd be in big trouble. I wouldn't be able to get 0% a second time, and I didn't know anyone who was PC-savvy. So I invested in the 2-year warranty.


Just the peace of mind the warranty offered was worth it.


But if you are in a position where you can save up relatively quickly for a cheap computer -- or you know someone who can likely fix it for you -- you probably regard the extended warranty with suspicion.


Then there are things that aren't so easily fixed: MP3 players, audio equipment, video game consoles.


I guess the question is: How much do you need to spend before you're willing to protect it for an extra two years?


For me, the decision comes down to how much a replacement would be, versus the assurance I have that the item will last. For example, my vacuum cleaner came with a three-year warranty. I think that's acceptable. On the other hand, if it's only going to cost $10 to get an extra year or two out of a $20 MP3 player, why not go for it?


A lot of people (including some store employees) encourage you to take advantage of the warranty process. Some warranties aren't pledging to fix items -- they are pledging to replace them. So if your camera spontaneously "breaks" toward the end of your warranty, you'll get a gift card for the purchase price. And then you have a brand new camera. Personally, this kind of thing makes me a little queasy. But I'm a tad too honest, I suppose.




Have you ever taken this approach? Do you buy warranties on your electronics? Are PC warranties a total waste of money?

My fabulous (and frugal) birthday

Hello to everyone, from the newly-30 me!

I'm am back and still kind of riding a sugar high from my birthday festivities last night.

It was a small affair -- two of us to be exact, since my friends and I are kind of informal about birthdays. (When we remember to celebrate them, it generally involves taking each other out for a free drink or two.)

But Tim and I had a great time -- and I wanted to recount how much bang we got for our bucks.

• First of all, we took the bus down. Parking downtown during the day is expensive! The bus, which is four blocks from our front door, is $1.50 each.

• We are slow-moving in the mornings, so we didn't even leave the house until 2 p.m. Tim needed to do some mailing (he resells unwanted Magic the Gathering cards in order to afford new ones he needs).

• So this meant we got to the restaurant around 3:30. But we found out that in half an hour, happy hour started. This included the $7.95 wings that Tim so dearly loves (for $4.95).
  

• We window-shopped to kill time. The mall around the restaurant has high-end stores like Tiffany's, Cartier, BCBG and Barney's New York. I love looking at all the pretty stuff in BCBG, then looking at the price tags which tends to instantly quell any desire to buy the stuff. (Plus then I get to feel great about my $15-30 finds at Marshalls.) I thought Tim was going to swallow his own tongue at Barney's, which he insisted on going in.

Lunch/Dinner

• We then sat down at the restaurant and showed the waitress that I had a "buy one entree, get one" due to my birthday
• We ordered the wings as an appetizer. Tim was not kidding when he said they are the best thing he's ever tasted. They had a medley of flavors. I know there was a sweet & sour sauce; I think I may have detected an orange glaze, as well. There were also small pieces of a sweetish/hot pepper, and finally the wings were sprinkled in sesame seeds.
  
• I found out they offered their own brand of root beer. Before ordering, I checked to be sure they give refills. It was wonderful stuff!
• Great food (they have the best garlic fries in the universe. I can state this unilaterally, without even checking any of the outer planets... or Europe)
• Our bill was $33 before tip (most of the food is $15-20, plus wings and two sodas). We could have gone some place cheaper but it was a special occasion, the food was amazing and we both drank an appalling amount of that root beer.
  
• This also turned out to be the only real meal we needed, as it was late in the day.

Wandering

• More window shopping -- this time at an all-silver jewelry store. Gorgeous stuff. But I still can't bring myself to pay $40+ for most pretty necklaces. And most of their wares were closer to $70-100.
• We went to Cold Stone to get my free birthday signature creation. Tim was still full from the food, so it didn't cost us anything.
• We also had the option of going to a free movie, thanks to Coke Rewards, but I didn't see anything all that thrilling in the theaters.

A small reality check

• It was about 71% humidity here yesterday which made Tim's knee act up.
  
• So we stopped by a couple drug stores until we could find the right kind of knee brace.
  
• The ones we bought abuot a year and a half ago have finally been declared unfindable -- after about a year's worth of searching for them.
  
• Since we needed these anyway, I don't count these as a birthday expense.

Gameworks

• We got to Gameworks very thirsty (don't ask me why, given all the root beer we drank)

• Before Tim ordered, I asked if they had happy hour specials. They did, so the whiskey/colas we ordered were $2.60 each. (We each had one, then Tim ordered a $2.50)

• We went to check our card balance, since we knew there was a small balance left. The machine ate our card.

• The woman couldn't determine which of three cards was ours, since we didn't know the balance. So she gave us one with more than 200 credits on it -- about a $35 value. We couldn't have had more than $10 left on our card.

• We played a whole lot of skeeball and did well enough to get a stuffed Stewie from Family Guy. He's creepy with his big head, as seen below:

I'm pretty sure that expression says, "Confound it, woman!" Which is a lot funnier if you watch the show.

Cheesecake Factory

• Our final stop was the Cheesecake Factory, where a giant slice of ridiculously chocolate cake was waiting for me and an apple strudel cheesecake was waiting for Tim.

• Mom, being kind of heart, had given us a $25 Cheesecake Factory gift card (probably from MyPoints -- or from some of her extra money for buying Albertson's gift cards) So our dessert was free (and we still have $6.77 on the card)

• Even better, when our check came, it offered us a $10 gift card for a feedback survey online. As soon as I came home, I filled it out and was informed the card would be mailed to me within 3 weeks!

By then it was 10:30 and my mom was kind enough to pick us up, as we were quite weary. I'm sure I'll pay for this for a few days to come, but it was a great day full of great-tasting food and some juvenile fun! In all, the activities listed here (other than the knee-brace) cost $46.70 over 7 hours.


A post-script: Okay, I really debated about putting this is in, but I think I need to be honest and not hide stuff from you guys. On our wanderings from the drug store to Gameworks, we window-shopped some more. But at Banana Republic we ended up finding two sale items I really liked.

Tim and I argued for around ten minutes about whether to get them. (He was in favor of it, I was in favor of not buying while in debt.) In the end, he insisted that it was my birthday and this was part of his gift. Also, that since we put $100 on the credit cards each week, these shirts would be more than taken care of in two days when we made the payment.

His main point was that it's tradition. On both of my other birthdays we've spent together, we've found and bought a dress I liked and an accessory or two to match.

Technically, while I wouldn't return them, I do feel bad about putting money on the card while in debt. This is the kind of thing I would generally preach against. But people have weaknesses. In this case, one of mine overrode my financial rules. Time will tell if it was "okay" or not.