<$Monday, June 23, 2008$>
What I've Been Up To Lately
| As I mentioned last month (o.O), we've officially started our house hunt. But we didn't get very far out of the gate before we got tripped up and had to take a step back to compose ourselves. Unfortunately, the real estate agent we were going with--who is a great guy and and a very knowledgeable agent--is just too busy right now to accommodate our weird schedule. After the second time he's had to cancel an appointment on us--we had cleared Friday afternoon to go look at houses, but he got tied up in closing rigmarole with other clients and couldn't take us--we're stepping back to take a deep breath and decide whether we want to stick with this agent or try out my sister's favorite realtor. So that bit sucks. We did get to go out one afternoon a few weeks ago, and found a house we both really liked, but we were dithering on the location, and while we were doing that somebody else snatched it up. So much for that. Apart from that, I've begun revamping my web site (a redesign for this blog is next on my list), which entails re-self-teaching myself CSS and various other web languages. I also revamped my Etsy shop and added some new items, and have still more stuff to add once I get a sunny afternoon free to take pictures. And I've been writing. I think I'm only 20,000 words or so from the end of my novel. That looks like a lot, until you hold it up next to the 70,000 words (or somewhere thereabouts) that I've already written. Finally, I took a much needed vacation, in which I didn't go anywhere, slept as much as I pleased, got lots of "me" time, and discovered a thrift shop where the clothes are expensive but the price tags are so very not. We're talking brand names that I gave up thinking I'd ever wear a long time ago, and nothing over $5.99. No, I'm not telling you where it is. I don't want you snurching all the good stuff out from under me. But today, I feel stylish and cute and like I belong in a cotton commercial. It's the fabric of our lives! Labels: house-hunt, meta, personal, shopping |
<$Monday, April 14, 2008$>
Mother's Day Flower Coupons
| The count down is on: only 26 more shopping days till Mother's Day. If you're shopping the Internet for ways to show your mother you love and appreciate her (do we really need a special holiday for that?), that leaves plenty of time to get your orders in. At the Bauhaushold we tend to opt for a semi-frugal mother’s day by spending the most precious thing we have to give: our time. Our mom's tend to love that. Go figure. We're not total cheapskates, though, so our time usually comes with treating them to a nice restaurant and the requisite card and flowers. 1-800-Flowers is making the latter part a little easier and a little more cost-effective this year. In addition to some already discounted sale items, they're also offering the following coupon codes for early bird shoppers:
These could come in especially handy if you're having to celebrate Mother's Day long distance. Flowers are certainly no substitute for the loving presence of the fruit of her labor, but answering her door to a gorgeous bouquet will be a nice reminder that you're thinking of her and appreciating all that she put up with from you over the years. |
<$Thursday, April 10, 2008$>
Food, revisited
| I picked up some Naan bread the last time I was at Whole Foods, and last night I had it on my mind as I did some mid-pay period grocery shopping. Knowing I had to eat it soon before it went moldy but not quite knowing what I wanted to do with it, inspiration struck in the organic frozen dinner section in the form of a frozen Chicken Tikka Masala. I snatched it up, took it home, nuked it while my Naan heated in the toaster oven, put it all together and, oh, wow. So good. I wish I could remember the brand of the Indian dinner -- it had the word "Ethnic" in it, that much I remember, and the box was dark red with gold writing -- because it was as good as any I've had at Indian restaurants. It was filling, too, which means I got to put half of it up for today's lunch, and I've been looking forward to eating it all morning. It was a bit of a splurge at $3.95, but cheaper than a restaurant visit, and I don't regret it one bit. Speaking of which, back on the subject of the food problem: we've pretty much "solved" it by agreeing to cut back in other areas so we could increase our food budget to keep up with our standards plus inflation. It's not a perfect solution, but I don't have the patience/attention span to consistently do the coupons & sale fliers thing, and good, healthy food is one area where we're not willing to compromise. I think part of being frugal is learning to pick your battles. Decide what's important to your ability to enjoy life, and allow yourself leeway to spend in those areas. Cut back and scale down in the areas that don't matter as much. For us, this means we both had to give up a portion of our personal spending allowances, which was only painful until we realized that we usually spent that money on food anyway. I still expect, though, that our food bill will decrease after we move and we have a real kitchen of our very own. While I think life without the occasional Tikka Masala is hardly a life worth living, I'm also pretty certain that buying the ingredients to cook it ourselves will be less expensive than buying it pre-made. And that goes for the vast majority of what we currently eat. Labels: budgeting, cooking, food problem, shopping |
<$Tuesday, March 11, 2008$>
Product Love: Naked Naturals Shampoo
 I'm having a great hair day, if I do say so myself. A couple of weeks ago I was given samples of naked naturals shampoo and conditioner, and I finally remembered to take them to the gym with me this morning. Specifically, I was given awapuhi and lavender shampoo for color-treated hair. I used to color my hair pretty regularly, but it's been quite a while since I've bothered, mainly because of all the swimming I do. The chlorine can be pretty rough on my hair, though, so anything that targets any kind of chemical damage is a good thing. What's more, I've finally got the hang of putting on my swim cap (not as simple as it sounds, trust me), so between that and finding a great shampoo & conditioner, I'm planning on trying out a henna treatment sometime in the next couple of pay periods.For today, though, my hair is softer than it's been since pretty much before I started swimming. It's more manageable than it's been in a long time, too. I'm not generally one to believe claims that shampoo can magically give you better hair, but this one almost has me convinced. After a single use, my hair looks better than it has in a long time (and it smells great, too. Mmm, lavender), so I'm guessing that regular use of this stuff would give me some pretty great-looking hair. That this all natural shampoo is environmentally friendly is icing on the cake. I just wish it was available in the places I normally shop. You can buy it online directly from the source, but the MSRP of $9.00 is frankly too steep for my Suave-level budget, no matter how great the shampoo is. Walgreen's price of $7.99 is a bit more like it, and there's one right across the corner from my office. That's still more than I'd like to spend, but between coupons and watching for sales, I could probably squeeze it into the beauty budget. If and when I do start coloring my hair again, I definitely will, because I'm pretty confident that it will not only protect and strengthen my hair, but also help preserve the color longer, which will mean more time between touch-ups, which will only save me money in the long run. Labels: beauty, disclosure, green, product love, reviews, shopping |
<$Wednesday, February 13, 2008$>
Discount Diabetic Supplies
| In all fairness to my husband, one reason we spend so much on food is because he's diabetic, which requires some specialty shopping, especially given our current "lack of a real kitchen in which to cook real food" situation. This, of course, is not the only area where diabetes is expensive. Monitoring his glucose runs up a pretty good-sized bill, too. The monitors themselves don't tend to cost that much, but the manufacturers make up for that by charging out the wazoo for the testing strips. Take One Touch Ultra Strips, for instance, which retail for $52.99 for a box of 50--more than the meter that uses them. American Diabetes Wholesale has them going for only $34.65, which is a little more like it. All of their diabetes supplies are sold at pretty steep discounts, which has to be great news for the uninsured, especially given how widespread Type II diabetes is becoming in the US. Of course, the best way to save money on this stuff is not to become diabetic in the first place--something I have to watch out for in myself, because my doctor suspects I have a predisposition towards it. One of these days when we get ourselves that real kitchen, I think it will become a lot easier for us both to cook healthy meals and control this stuff through lifestyle and healthy eating choices (and to save money on food, too). But even then, staying on top of Husband's glucose levels will be key. These are supplies we'll most likely need for the rest of our lives. Even with insurance, it's good to find more affordable options. Labels: food problem, healthy living, resources, shopping |
<$Monday, February 4, 2008$>
1-Spot Shopping
| It's no secret that I love Target. So much so that for the most part I had to stop shopping there, because every time I went I was overcome with temptation to spend money on things I don't really need. However, on occasion, if I want to treat myself, I'll let myself go in with $10 and go crazy in the 1-Spot. If you don't know what the 1-Spot is, it's the little section at the front of the store where they sell everything for a dollar. Well, it used to be everything for a dollar. They've changed it to "nothing over $2.50." Still, you can get some pretty great stuff there. During some of my 1-Spot Sprees I've scored the following:
...and much more. Most recently, I picked up this stuffed puppy dog that made a perfect topper for the diaper cake I made for my sister's baby shower. I saw a lot of other baby items there that day, too, but as I had already blown my budget shopping elsewhere, I left them alone. :( My husband has put a moratorium on my 1-Spot shopping, especially for household items, until after we move, saying we've got enough to pack as it is. Once we do move, though, I know where I'll go first for household odds & ends and small decorating touches. I love the 1-Spot, even more than the dollar store. What about you, dear reader? What kind of 1-Spot treasures have you scored? |
<$Wednesday, January 30, 2008$>
Do sacrifices alter your personal style?
| I used to love to wear jewelry. Costume jewelry, mainly--I've never been in a position to afford or be gifted with much of the real stuff. In my younger days working in retail, I usually ended up working in the jewelry department, surrounded by cute baubles that I couldn't resist. My jewelry was a big part of my personal style. The old me would have adored some of this wholesale fashion jewelry. But that was back in the days when I didn't think much about my spending, or about putting shiny things on a credit card. The new me hardly wears any jewelry. Other than my wedding ring and a necklace my husband let me pick out for my birthday last year, all I usually wear are a few pairs of inexpensive discount store earrings that I rotate, and often I don't even bother with those. I'm not sure when or why I stopped being a costume jewelry ho. It happened pretty gradually, although I'm sure lack of funds had something to do with it. Being forced into frugal habits had a major impact on my personal style, but I'm sure getting older (and busier) also had something to do with it. Where I used to love trendy outfits, now I wear more classic clothes that won't go out of style. I still have girly phases where I love to dress up and put on makeup, but for the most part I've got a pretty basic beauty routine that lets me get ready for work in fifteen minutes. These things cost less to maintain, too. A lot of jewelry just doesn't fit into that equation. Sometimes, this makes me sad, and I wish I could go back to my girly-girl days of yore. Mostly, though, I'm proud of myself for scaling down and figuring out how to look feminine and stylish while saving a lot of time and money. My new personal style fits in a lot better with my new lifestyle. There's no room here for the old, fashion-conscious, spendy me. Labels: bargains, disclosure, frugality, personal, shopping |
<$Friday, January 25, 2008$>
Furnishing my dream house
 I'm once again hypothetically shopping for my hypothetical future house. I know I really shouldn't, since it will only lead to temptation to get spendy after we move. Really, we plan to make the most of the furniture we've already got, and fill any gaps with Craigslist and thrift shop finds. I consider myself to be fairly creative, and once I get a sewing machine, between that and knitting and borrowed ingenuity from Curbly and other web sources, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to make our new house look like a cozy home without breaking the bank.One thing we do need to replace, though, is our bed. Our bed--actually, our entire fashion bed group, is a matching set of antique hand-me-ups that came to me only after a few years of rough treatment at the hands of my then teenage sister. It's all pretty battered, and not in that stylishly distressed way. I never use the vanity table, anyway, since when I'm not getting dressed at the gym I usually do so in the bathroom, and the chest-of-drawers isn't big enough for the two of us. Neither, really, is my full-size bed, with its broken foot board and aging mattress. So one thing I keep shopping around for to get an idea of how much money I need to save up is a quality bed. I figure once we get a new bed, we'll have it for at least a decade, so to me it's well worth it to shell out for something as sturdy and durable as it is comfortable. I really like the looks of these platform beds; right now they're on sale at prices that wouldn't kill us. It's doubtful that they still will be when we move, but we're not in a huge hurry. We can wait until they go on sale again, even if we have to sleep on our mattress on the floor for a while. Actually, a lot of the prices at Home and Bedroom look pretty reasonable. I'm going to have to bookmark this site for the future and remember to come back to it when we're ready to actually buy new furniture. Their Hillsdale Furniture collections include some gorgeous beds that I might consider if we decide to go with a more traditional look, and those prices aren't making me cringe, either. Once we get our 2007 taxes done, we'll finish our mortgage application and, hopefully, start shopping for a house. Our goal is to be in our own place by this summer. The thought of it is both scary and exhilarating, and despite the scary, I can't wait. This sort of web-window-shopping for good furniture and decorating bargains and dreaming about what I want my new home to look like helps me to wait patiently until it all become a reality. It can be agonizing to wait, but sometimes the best part of waiting is the anticipation and imagining what it will be like when the time finally comes. Labels: bargains, disclosure, frugality, house-hunt, shopping |
<$Monday, January 21, 2008$>
Discount Blinds
| *Sponsored post* I can't stop myself from mentally dressing my hypothetical future house. As such, I waste a lot of spare time "window shopping" on the web for good decorating and furniture bargains. Even though I suspect our decorating style will be primarily "Second-hand Chic," at least for the first few years, it's still fun to dream. One thing I must have when we move is good window coverings. Ever since my cat tore down the mini blinds in my current apartment, I haven't bothered to replace them. Well, I did once, when I made curtains--she destroyed those, too. Cats are jerks. I think by now, though, she's old enough and fat enough that we can safely hang blinds in our hypothetical future house. Although they're a bit pricier than the mini blinds, I really like the look of these basswood wood blinds. If I were buying them today, I'd get 25% off the regular price, and they would actually be pretty affordable. I also like the fact that Select Blinds has donated products to Extreme Home Makeover; sure, it's good for them in the way of exposure and publicity, but it also goes to a good cause, and I like to support businesses that give generously to those in need. Labels: charity, disclosure, house-hunt, PPP, shopping |
<$Thursday, January 17, 2008$>
Good News for Busty Gals
| *Sponsored Post* I'm a busty gal. That usually ends up being more of a curse than a blessing. It can be pretty hard to find full busted lingerie, for one thing. I once tried shopping at Victoria's Secret for wedding lingerie, and they didn't have a single thing in my cup size. I usually have to go to specialty stores to find things that fit, and even then, it's hard to find one-piece or paired items that fit both my top and my bottom properly. Luckily, I just discovered Biggerbras.com, where I should have no problem finding things that fit. Not only do they have sexy lingerie in my size (which I'm sure will please my husband to no end), but they also sell tops and bottoms separately--great news for anyone with ample bosoms whose ever tried shopping for swimwear that fits. They even have vintage-looking swimsuits in my size! These things aren't cheap, but I've found that lingerie--especially bras--are one thing where you usually get what you pay for. I'd rather shell out money for a quality, well-fitted bra that will last a couple of years than have to buy a new cheap bra every few months because it wears out and stops doing its job. Cheap has a way of being expensive. This is one area where quality definitely counts. Labels: disclosure, PPP, reviews, shopping |