Hurray for used things! For once I’m not talking about baby stuff. Recently we’ve saved a metric crap ton of money thanks to my people being awesome about giving us their cast offs.
First off, my parents brought down their old Rav4 to give to us when they came to visit Maggie. They knew they weren’t going to get much on a trade in for it, so they figured ‘why the heck not’ and gifted it to us. We did have to pay some taxes and fees on it (and $30 a month in insurance) but it’s well worth the price to have a second car for emergencies. Best of all, we know it’s in fabulous shape because my parents are obsessive about taking care of their vehicles.
Secondly, good ol’ Mom and Dad packed the car up with my old bedroom furniture, which they had refinished. It was chilling in their house and not getting used a whole lot. The whole set is solid oak and the current cost of a single piece of furniture of that quality was more expensive than getting the whole set (bed, two dressers, mirror, 2 nightstands) refinished. Now we have furniture for the guest room and it will be Maggie’s furniture when she eventually transitions out of the nursery. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Geek.
And finally, my mom sanded down, replaced the trim on and repainted the old dresser that our roommate gave us. He didn’t want it because it was his ex-wife’s and she certainly wasn’t going to claim it (or any of the other crap she left behind which spent months in our basement). It came out really well, but I don’t have pictures yet because it’s still chilling in our garage until our friend comes over to get it up the stairs.
So yeah. We owe a lot to my parent and their generosity.
Have you ever gotten an awesome hand-me-down?
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Please excuse the mess, I’m trying to type with a passed out baby on my chest.
In the one week that Baby Geek has been with us, she’s cost another ~$300. Unfortunately, I was having issues with my milk, so we had to get a pump plus the accompanying bottles, cleaning stuff, storage, etc. Then we needed to buy saline for her stuffy little nose, a new suction bulb because the one we had was too big and irritated her mucus membranes, and prescription eye drops for the gunk in her eye.
Oh, and we did cave a little and purchase professional photos, because she’ll only be a newborn once.
(And that’s not counting the bouncer Grandma Geek bought her. Of course she can’t use it yet, but they were at BabiesRUs with a 20% off coupon -and it was on sale- so she got it because she’s Grandma and it’s her mission in life to spoil her grandbabies rotten. I have a feeling Grandma Geek will also be buying a microphone and webcam for Baby Geek as well since she lives 8 hours away.)
Today we’re off to the doctor again to get her nose and eye checked out, which is $20 for the copay. Thankfully well visits are ‘free’ with our insurance, so we won’t have to fork out for those too.
I don’t begrudge any penny spent on Baby Geek, but if you are planning to spawn, make sure you’ve got a big wad of cash ready for all the extra expenses. We were positive we had everything covered, but obviously we were wront.
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Tomorrow I will go in for Cervidil and on Friday I will be induced via Pitocin if I don’t start labor from the procedure Thursday.
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I am a human time bomb.
Had the induction discussion with my doctor at my appointment yesterday and I’m scheduled for an NST next Wednesday (my 41wk appointment). I’m not as anxious to have the baby as I am anxious to avoid the induction because I’m trying to go without pain medication and an IV/monitor makes moving around and the alternate pain management options more difficult.
I’ve been doing a LOT of walking to try to convince mini-me to come on out. Unfortunately, a lot of that is done in Potomac Mills, which may not be the best thing on my wallet. I’ve been very good, but today we’re taking the 30% Friends and Family coupon to Old Navy so I can pick up the elastic waist skirts I’ve been eyeing (Ebates was offering 7% back online as which stacks with the 30%, but that barely covers shipping and most of the skirts are sold out online).
I also finally got my act together and we sold back all of our old games that we are never going to play again. All together, we ended up with $125 in Gamestop credit because they’re offering an extra 50% back with the Edge card. We also happened to be selling back the games for the God of War III trade in so, Mr. got and finished it Tuesday. (He really liked it) We also have $100 in gift cards, so we’re trying to figure out what games we want. Obviously things that can just be picked up intermittently would be best with mini-me’s imminent arrival, so we’re thinking of snagging the new Final Fantasy (I’ve been playing since the first one).
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If you didn’t know already, I’m a hard core Nintendo Fan Girl. How hard core? Well, you’re likely to find me wandering around geek conventions dressed as various Nintendo characters. That kind of level of dedication. So for me to say that I’m unhappy with Nintendo is akin to me announcing that I don’t like food anymore. It just doesn’t happen.
Until now.
50lbs ago...
My DSlite has died. Or more accurately, Mr’s DSlite has died. I had the original DS but played it to death by using it 3-4 hours a day between classes and on the bus back and forth to PSU. Then I started on Mr’s DSlite and it lasted a lot longer because it was a better build and an improvement on the original. I had my eyes on getting a DSi for my birthday in April until I learned of one little fact.
The DSi isn’t backwards compatible with GBA games.
What the hell, Nintendo?
I loved my DS because I could buy up the older GBA games used. We got a ton of really good games (Metroid Fusion, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, etc) for the system for dirt cheap, but I sold my GBA a few weeks after I got it because the screen was too darn hard to see.
Now I’m looking around for a new DSlite instead of jumping on the new technology because Nintendo apparently decided backwards compatibility isn’t cool anymore. They even came out with a larger DSi (supposedly for older players who have trouble with the screen) and there was still no room for the GBA slot. Gah!
So, when you buy a new system, is backwards compatibility important?
Way back when, the leaps in technology were so huge that nothing was backwards compatible. You know the different Atari systems weren’t going to play each others games or that the SNES wasn’t going to play regular NES games because the cartridges were so different. Now that we’ve entered the world of discs, things are a little different.
We generally don’t get rid of our old systems until they completely die, but it’s still obnoxious to realize that once the old guy goes, you’ll have to track down and buy a new one. We actually got our new PS2 around the same time as our PS3 thanks to Sony deciding not to include compatibility.
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This past weekend I spent a couple hours filling my freezer with food so I won’t have to worry about cooking in the first few weeks after baby comes. For the most part I cooked the building blocks of meals and not whole entrees (although I did partially bake a few meatloaves and such). By not making full meals, I left myself with lots of flexibility but significantly cut down on the time Mr. and I would need to cook dinner.
To freeze ground beef, I use:
- 4-5lbs bulk beef (since I drain the fat, I often buy 80% which is cheaper.
- 1 bag of frozen, diced onions (you can dice them yourself, but onions are cheap and this is faster)
- small holed colander
If you don’t have a big griddle, this is best done in 2lb batches so you don’t just end up steaming the meat on top. Basically, just fry the onions for a minute or two and then brown the beef. Drain the whole mess in the colander and then portion it out into meal sized servings (.5lb packages for Mr and I). You can obviously repeat for as many meals as you need.
I find the meat stores (and defrosts) better if you squish the meat down in a freezer bag and lay them flat. You may need to use gallon sized bags depending on how big the portion is.
Straight up, the beef won’t have any real flavor because there’s no seasoning, but that’s on purpose. The lack of seasoning allows you to make different meals with it, but if you know you almost always make the same thing, go ahead and flavor the meat for that.
To thaw your beef, simply take it out the night before (I remember better if I do it while I’m cooking dinner) and pop it in the fridge. If you’re in a hurry, either take advantage of the defrost setting on your microwave or let it sit in a bowl full of cool water.
Recipes for Pre-Cooked Beef: (most of these recipes prize convenience, simplicity and speed over anything else, so anyone can make them if mom and dad are busy. They usually feed about 4, but you can double most easily.)
Meat Sauce (for Pasta)
- 1/2 ground beef
- 1 Tbsp garlic (minced)*
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1 can or bottle prepared spaghetti sauce (Traditional)
Fry the beef briefly with the seasonings and dump in the sauce. Let simmer until heated through. Serve over pasta (works best with chunky styles). This sauce freezes well, so you can make it ahead of time and freeze it as well.
Chili
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1 Tbsp garlic (minced)*
- 3 tsp chili powder
- couple shakes red pepper flakes
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 15.5 oz can black or pinto beans
Fry first 4 ingredients together. Add tomatoes and beans. The longer it simmers the better. Serve over rice. Also freezes and reheats well.
Sloppy Joes
- 3/4 pound ground beef
- 2 cups tomato sauce (not pasta sauce)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp Worcester sauce
- 1 Tbsp mustard
- 1 Tbsp garlic (minced)*
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Simmer ingredients together. Serve on hamburger buns.
“Stir Fry“
- 3/4 lbs ground beef
- 1 package of favorite frozen veggie (broccoli works well)
- 1/2 bottle favorite stir fry sauce
I’m pretty sure you don’t actually need directions here. Serve over rice.
Beef ‘Helper’ *cough*
- 3/4lbs ground beef
- 1tsp garlic*
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom or celery soup
- 1/2 can water or milk
- ~ 1 Tbsp seasoning salt or whatever looks good from your spice rack
- 1/2 lb egg noodles
Mix ingredients together and simmer until noodles are tender. You can also add a bag of frozen veggies to the mix instead of cooking a vegetable separately.
*I buy it pre-minced in water. Doesn’t taste quite the same, but the goal here is speed and ease of use.
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It’s time for me to whine again.
Why are 99% of personal finance blogs so freakin’ boring? Ugh. it’s like pulling teeth sometimes and I can only read about Roth IRAs, Walgreens or how credit cards are evil so many times before my eyes start to roll back into my head and I get the urge to run out and buy the most expensive thing I can find out of spite.
That’s not to say that dry posts don’t have a place in the world. I have a few blogs with posts like that or blogs that are only grocery/home economics deals that I check about once a week or so, but those aren’t what I want to read with my morning tea. I just don’t feel like getting preached at first thing in the morning (says the hypocrite whose last post is a gigantic rant against taxes), I’d much rather get my money thoughts for the day in entertaining chunks.
So I’m asking everyone else: What are your favorite PF blogs?
They don’t need to be specific to any one topic or lifestyle. I happily read the blogs of SAHM, young professionals, retired folks, or anyone else who can impart advice, whether or not I think of myself as like them.
To give you an idea of the kind of blogs I read:
All awesome blogs with personality.
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Unfortunately, the pitter patter of little paws in the kitchen is not a new puppy or kitten, but a mouse. Using what little I know of scatology, it seems like it’s a field mouse. If you’ve seen the snow outside my window, you wouldn’t blame the little guy(s) from trying to come inside.
Clearly, I need to get one of these ferocious beasts.
That doesn’t mean he’s a welcome guest though, especially now that we need to devote the time we’d use to getting ready for baby to getting glass storage for all our grains, etc. So f-ing annoying and part of the reason I haven’t been posting much this week.
Our pest control service (we have an annual contract) was supposed to come do their yearly inspection on Saturday, but I guess we’ll have to move that up. While they will take care of the problem, we’re going to have to insist on them using non-chemically baited traps because of my obvious condition and the fact I don’t want that crap in my kitchen. Normally, I’m a bleeding heart when it comes to animals, but when they are pests in my house, I am not afraid to snap a few mousey necks.
Having an annual contract with the pest company seems expensive at first, but the nice thing is we don’t have to worry about paying anything for the rest of the year, no matter how many calls we put in. We see crickets? They come out for free. Ants in the bathroom? Out they come. Bees in the siding? Our heroes to the rescue. One (probably vastly inflated) price.
So how do you handle pest control? Do you have a contracted exterminator? Do it yourself with natural/non-chemical pesticides? Just pick a name from the phone book?
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