Archive for August, 2006
August 31st, 2006 - Update on the storage unit
Eric stopped by to let them know we had vacated and learned that we have to give 30 days notice. Darn. We would have done that at the end of July had we realized! Well, they will at least not charge us for the month. Instead, they keep the security deposit, which is $10 less than the monthly fee. I had forgotten we’d paid a deposit, so I’m not too disappointed.
At the moment, no, we don’t need another bookcase. I’m not sure where the current ones will go! However, we got rid of two bookcases (one was broken and trashed, the other Freecycled) so we may not be able to fit everything back on the shelves. Of course, I’m hoping we donate quite a few books, movies, and cds……
August 31st, 2006 - And we emptied the storage unit!
Well, actually my husband and my coworker with a truck emptied it. We didn’t have much left, and if we emptied it by today of course we wouldn’t have to pay for next month. So they finished off the few big and heavy things. Everything’s back at the house. But now we have to find room for the bookcases, books, and other things in those boxes.
I wonder if Eric would be interested in getting rid of all the books. We’ve lived just fine all summer without them. And the den and the guest room feel so much better with that extra space…..
August 30th, 2006 - Other frugal things I did yesterday
A) I went to the dentist for my 6-month checkup. Always a good idea to regularly see your dentist! Sadly, I have a cavity under one of my back fillings that he rec’d I get fixed. Darn, it’s been a few years since I’ve had to have a filling and I was hoping to keep it up!
B) I bought a set of gaskets for my blender. A couple weeks ago, I didn’t put the assembly on correctly when grinding Maggies dried veggies and I ground up the rubber gasket. I had an old blender whose gasket fit, but it was old and hard. I tried it out with some water and indeed it doesn’t seal. New gasket cost: $0.99 through Amazon marketplace. Shipping brought the total to $6 however. But it will mean that I can make pesto (I need to finish a bit that’s still in the freezer first anyway) and strawberry gelatin (a recipe from TWG that involves blending up whole strawberries of which I still have plenty in the freezer from last summer).
C) I fixed the worm bin. I eschew the use of rubber gloves in most instances, but not this one. We bought a box of cheap disposable gloves when we painted our living room. I’m so glad because this job was gross enough with the glove on. I put in some fresh food in a different corner of the box and will also give them all the trimmings from making the soup. (I’m now considering purchasing another bin to try composting the litter on its own. I wonder how long it would take to compost inside? Could I stand the smell and would other animals avoid the bin if I left it outside?)
August 30th, 2006 - My beautiful rainbow garden
Last night, in preparation for the soup I was going to make today (I realized at 3am that I have to work late tonight so will make it tomorrow instead), I picked the following in the garden
* dragon carrots, purple on the outside and orange on the inside
* dragon beans
* blue potatoes, although they currently are purple. I’d swear they were blue when I planted them but maybe I’m wrong and did buy purple ones. Purple does seem to be a theme in the garden right now. It was fun to dig up the first potatoes. Once again, I’m thrilled by them and am thinking that maybe I should plant them again next year. Maybe I will plant just a few–4 hills perhaps.
* orange pepper
* red pepper
* multiple varieties of tomatoes, I can’t remember what’s what in the garden and always have to look at the signs so I can’t remember once I pick them either. But there are green ones with pink undertones, dark red ones that are turning blackish (Purple Cherokee and Black Krim, neither of which appears to be getting as dark as they should, but I picked some that would go bad otherwise) at the least. The Mr. Stripy tomatoes have turned orange enough yet. And the orange tomatoes area beautiful shade of red-pink that looks ripe and nothing at all like it could turn into orange. I hope the plant was labeled correctly!
I also picked cherry tomatoes (red and orange), cucumbers, and Thumbelina carrots for lunch. Cut back some more the squash vines and found another pumpkin growing. Also found one more Yugoslavian finger fruit so there’s hope for another batch of grated zucchini for the winter.
August 29th, 2006 - Organic chocolate bars
I enjoy purchasing luxury organic chocolate bars at The Red Radish. I started because of the fuss over dark chocolate being so good for you. Sounds like a good enough reason to me to eat more chocolate! However, I gulp every time at the cost–$2.50 compared to $0.79 for a regular chocolate bar. One saving grace is that my favorite, Endagered Species Chocolate’s Elephant Bar donates proceeds to my favority charity, The Elephant Sanctuary.
I realized yesterday as I was eating a Dagoba lavendar bar (doesn’t taste of lavendar at all) that the saving grace is that I never eat an entire organic chocolate bar at once! In fact, they generally last 4-5 days of lunchtime desserts. They are simply more filling and satisfying than a typical chocolate bar, which almost always is eaten in one go. In actuality, they cost less per serving then–$2.50/5 days = $0.50/serving ($2.50/4 days = $0.63/serv) vs. $0.79/serv or over $3/week. (However, I wouldn’t actually eat a regular chocolate bar every day.)
This weekend, I read in TWG again about the Cost Per Wow (or CPW). The CPW helps you determine whether a more expensive option or activity is worth it. How much of a WOW! factor does it give you? Eating at a fast food restaurant costs, let’s say, $10 for a family of 3. Eating dinner at home costs $3. Is eating out 3x better than eating in? If so, the CPW is worth is. But is fast food really going to produce that much wow? Amy’s example is that she occasionally buys a junior ice cream cone for the kids at the mall. The kids wow factor is pretty high…because they rarely get one. She doesn’t buy one every week or even every time they go to the mall. So the CPW remains low because it’s a rare treat that generates lots of WOWs. On the other hand, for me, the CPW of purchased ice cream is pretty low as my homemade ice cream, although more expensive is fantastic. This is an example of a something that costs more and takes more time is worth it due to the CPW.
I realized yesterday that it also applies to the amount of what you eat. The first 1/5th of the Dagoba candy bar was excellent and luxurious. So I broke off another 1/5th and then realized that I was indeed full, did not need more calories, and that I likely would not enjoy the next piece as much so I put it back.
CPW, of course, can be applied outside of food. Is a $40 new backpack 10x the wow as a used $4 backpack from a garage sale? Is a $19.95 plastic toddler toy that will break in 10 days 1000x better than the free cardboard papertowel tube that can be recycled after she obliterates it? (10 days and it’s flattened but still played with. Actually, empty boxes are her Favorite. Toy. Ever. Along with Daddy’s shoes. I’m still not sure why I can’t convince myself to get rid of all but a couple dozen toys. She prefers, these days, to pull all the toys out of her toy box [an unused plastic bin we had] and play with the box instead. It gets dragged all around the house, sat in, stood on, pushed around.) [Actually, none of her purchased toys have broken yet, although she has destroyed some books. But I hear all the time about broken plastic toys and I know she eventually will do so. Another reason I prefer woods ones that will last generations.]
August 29th, 2006 - 2000 new pets
I have completely forgotten to write about our new pets! Two days before leaving on our vacation, 1000 new pets arrived: my worms!!!!
Unfortunately, I had asked the company to not send them until after our vacation. I didn’t relish starting a worm bin and leaving it empty for a week. I had expected the worms to be mail a day or two after I ordered them (on a Thursday), in mid July. Then I got the confirmation email which said they mail on Mon and Wed. I went back to the website to see if this information was present anywhere. It was–in the midst of a VERY long page of information. You’d only read that page if you weren’t familiar with worms. I had read it earlier in the summer when figuring out what I needed. I hadn’t read it when ordering since I already knew the info (about how they’d be shipped in peat moss, how to treat them afterwards, and how to do a worm bin). In addition, the webpage said they’d only be shipping on Mondays. So promptly dropped them an email pointing out the discrepancy along with a suggestion that the shipping days be noted where people buy the item instead of the info area.
I didn’t hear back from them. Although my credit card was billed the day I made the order. Most places don’t bill until they ship.
A week later, they sent a message to everyone with pending orders saying that shipments for the next week wouldn’t occur due to the heat wave. This meant they’d arrive just before our vacation. So I wrote and asked that mine shipment be held. I didn’t complain about how I’d expected them to arrive that week already! I did get a response this time saying they’d be shipped on the 21st.
Luckily, Eric and I made the worm bin (he drilled all the holes for me) the weekend I was originally waiting for the worms since they arrived before we left. It was the day after I sprained my ankle, so setting up a worm bin in the basement was not a pleasant job to contemplate. But, I had an 11 year old (SIL) and a 12 year old (niece) who were thrilled to assist me on Friday! And then our housesitter said she’d put some food in the bin while we were gone. So it all turned out okay. We now had 1004 pets! (Approx. 1000 worms to a pound. I did not count them.)
I idlely wondered if I’d get another pound of worms shipped on the 21st. But then I forgot about it when Thursday rolled around and nothing arrived. They arrived on Friday instead. I spent time that evening and Sat morning tearing newspaper into strips for the second worm bin. Eric drilled more holes–I’d gotten 3 plastic bins the first time around! I’d intended to eventually start a second bin and try vermicomposting cat litter. I wasn’t sure it would work, so I figured trying it with free worms was the way to go. I did run across a note that cat litter might not do well as the ammonia (from the urine) could kill the worms. But if I could vermicompost instead of throwing them (plus the plastic bag) into the trash 3x/week, I’d be thrilled!
Unfortunately, it’s not working. The two times I’ve checked the bin since putting in the first batch of litter worms have been trying to escape. I put a couple right on the litter and, except for one that burrowed, they writhed around and fled. And worms don’t usually flee quickly. Oh well. At least I tried. We’ve been producing enough scaps for two bins anyway, at least so far. So I’ll remove the litter and switch to regular food. I’m concerned about having enough in the middle of winter, but Maggie and I do eat plenty of veggies and fruit plus there’s always bread crusts (sometimes my bread comes out a bit hard), uneaten pasta, etc. Especially with a young child, there’s always table scraps! (If Eric or I don’t eat something from our plates, we generally stick it in the fridge. But Maggie’s food is a bit less appealing after being played with, having milk dumped on it, etc. So it’s more likely to go in the compost bucket.)
So, we now have 2004 pets!
I’m conflicted about the ethics of accepting the second shipment of worms. Due to the horrible customer service, I feel justified. But I’m still a bit conflicted. I don’t want to pay for a second pound of worms (over $30) that I didn’t ask for. But they’d have died if I sent them back without opening the box.
p.s. But I wonder if the litter would decompose on it’s own? It didn’t smell bad 3 days later and I had it well covered with the newspaper bedding. I’d happily compost it indoors if this remained true. I guess I could try that, although I’ll need another bin to attempt it…..
August 28th, 2006 - Practicing what I read
This weekend, I picked up The Tightwad Gazette (TWG) again. This is at least the 5th time I’ve read it; I’d bet I read it at least once a year, although I do not recall reading it since Maggie was born. But I’m not sure. Anyway, as usual, I’m being inspired all over the place. Previously, Ive placed bunches of bookmarks throughout the book. But, in reality, I don’t tend to think, “Gee, why don’t I go do something I read in TWG?” and then choose one.
I had a brilliant idea: Write the ideas down in a small notebook and pledge to do something frugal/simple every week. I’ve had the second thought a number of times, but find it hard to think of what to do each week. The notebook solves both problems. My first thought was that I needed to go buy a memo book. Then I thought twice and figured I probably had something workable in my “office supplies” box…if I was lucky enough to be able to find it. Luckily, it was right where it’s supposed to be (we haven’t unpacked completely from the non-move). I found a couple possibilities, along with some notepaper which was just what we needed for shopping lists as our other pad had just run out. The thing I’m using is hard to describe but I’ll try. It’s a set of bright yellow note cards, about 1″x2″ with a ring holding them together. It’s openable, so I can rearrange the cards. The intention, I believe, is to use it for school-stuff like flash cards for language classes. It’s perfect for my idea list because I can write all the ideas down and it doesn’t matter what order they are in!
I’m writing one idea per card. Each week, I intend to choose one, put it on the top, write the date down, and then write smaller goals on the back. This week, my goal is to make one soup (with all the fresh veggies from the garden). My smaller goals are to remove 2 items/day from the dining table (a MAJOR hotspot that is becoming a hazard because Maggie can now remove things from it) and to make better-for-you-Rice-Krispie-Bars (a recipe from Good Eats for which I bought Kashi puffed cereal months ago!).
My only problem so far is that the veggie soups tend to take 2 hours to cook–or 5 hours in the crock pot. Neither of these timings work very well during a work day (I eat an hour after getting home and 5 hours earlier is the middle of the work day). So it might have to wait for the weekend. A late dinner doesn’t work well because I’d be starving as would Maggie (I intend for her to eat the veggies since she can’t do soup quite yet).
August 28th, 2006 - Hello again!
**aargh** I discovered Monday morning that I forgot and simply saved this post instead of publishing it. I’m sorry!
Not a whole to write on the frugal/simple side of things. The vacation was…well….let’s say I’ve had better ones. The worst part for me was that we were in the middle of a forest and I couldn’t walk around. Eric got pretty sick (later, we figured it wasn’t allergies to the out-doors but rather the damp basement we slept in) and we left two days early. Maggie, as someone put it, got “very creative” and ended up with 5 baths in 24 hours due, to put it delicately, creativeness with her diaper during naps. When we got back, after planning some things to do in Oshkosh for a day or two, my MIL got an asthma attack from the pets and they all spent the night in a hotel and left on Friday.
I suppose the shorter vacation did save us money however as we spent at least $30/day between eating out, groceries (not seeking sales), and taking the girls to the lumberjack show (the highlight of the trip, I believe!).
Oh, and when we returned, I was stricken with either allergies or a cold and have been sick since. I’m feeling better this morning for the first time in a week.
August 28th, 2006 - What *was* that meal?
Liz emailed me wondering what exactly my local meals had been lately, since I just posted a list of vegetables. Well, I probably eat a little strangely–my meals actually were just the veggies. I adore fresh raw veggies! I simply ate them either with some cheese (pesto Gouda, local of course, which was just fantastic!) or some salad dressing (not local, but I was inspired yesterday with some recipes in The Tightwad Gazette and plan to make some this week or next with my dried veggies from last summer). The taste of raw veggies straight from the garden (or the next day, or the day after) is so fantastic that if you haven’t ever tried them you are really missing something. I think my husband, who hates raw tomatoes, hates them because as a kid (and an adult) he was never offered anything other than a tomato from the store which pales greatly in comparison. I can’t eat them that way anymore! (I never ate many–I tried them occasionally during grad school and didn’t understand why they weren’t very good. Now I understand!)
I am trying to find a vegetarian vegetable soup to make this week to make something different…. None of my cookbooks have recipes using fresh summer vegetables in vegetarian soups.
August 24th, 2006 - One Local Summer Weeks 6-8?
I did not post my meals two weeks ago due to the sprained ankle taking me out of work and thus away from the computer I most often use. Then we were on vacation. But, I have been eating locally!
Week 6: garden veggies, particularly my cherry tomatoes, are coming in. I had a lovely meal of tomatoes and cheese.
Week 7: I brought garden veggies to the lake house but forgot to eat them! But I did have some once we got home, plus a Black Krum (I think) tomato. I was unable to buy anything local while we were there. Had I been feeling better, I would have–we passed a driveway with a sign for produce. I would have gone back out on my own….they even had berries which I would have loved to have!
Week 8: Meals have included fresh cucumbers (heirloom True Lemons which I don’t actually like), cherry tomatoes, Dragon Tongue beans (cream with purple stripes), Thumbelina carrots, ivory pepper, and zucchini. I tried to pull a dragon carrot (purple), but the ground was too dry and the tops just broke off. Need to go back out tonight (it rained off and on yesterday and through the night) and try again. Or get out my garden fork.
My peppers are starting to turn colors and I think I’ll be able to pick some red ones tonight. Turns out one of my unknonwn squashes is actually a Yugoslavian finger fruit woohoo!!! They look so cool that I was disappointed when I thought I only had zukes and pumpkins. I’ve picked two but haven’t eaten either yet. One was too big so will be grated and dried for zuke bread. One pumpkin grew and is already orange. Since almost all of of the squash plants have powdery mildew, I suspect this will be my entire take for the year.
Oh, and my corn! Some of it is over NINE feet tall. I can’t recall corn in our garden back in SD ever being that large. Oh my goodness! I need to harvest on Friday and freeze it on Saturday. I just wish my foot didn’t hurt so that this was all easier. I would prefer to do a batch or two each night, but I’m so tired after work that I just veg in front of the TV once Maggie goes to bed. Maybe I’ll feel better tonight and will at least get some beans frozen.
August 10th, 2006 - Off track
I thought I was off the exercise track yesterday, until I realized that I’m probably burning more calories and gaining more muscles with these DARN CRUTCHES than going to class. Yesterday morning I missed the last step at home and sprained my ankle. It’s only noon, and I’m already so sore that going anywhere is exhuasting. Luckily, the next three hours are a training seminar, so I get to sit at the computer (once I get to the room, which luckily is right here!). I’m leading the seminar; usually Nick runs the computer and walk and talk and help people. This time, I’ll sit and talk while he does the walking part.
Saturday begins our big summer vacation: 7 days at a northwoods lake house. I was really looking forward to walking in the woods. Which I might be able to do by Wednesday. If not, I hope it rains the whole time. Well, not really, because then the little kids (12, 11, and 3) will be cooped up inside with me the whole time. (Plus our 20-month old, but she won’t be outside w/o an adult while the other 3 can go out together.) And I haven’t packed a thing yet. I’m hoping my niece will be willing to help me with that. Or my MIL. Depends on whether she arrives tonight or not…..
August 7th, 2006 - Great garden lunch
I’m eating lunch at my desk today, and I kept thinking, “I should post about this” and so I finally am. I am eating such a wonderful tasting lunch, that I can’t decide what tastes best! I like the keep the tasty part of lunch for last, so I keep changing what I’m eating. I have, fresh from the garden: cherry tomatoes, Amish sugar snap peas, dragon bean, and Thumbelina carrots (plus cheese curds from local company). It’s all so very yummy, plus the delight of all the veggies from the garden. Wow……this will probably be my lunch all week long!
August 3rd, 2006 - Frugal kids clothes
When kids are infants, it’s fairly common to put them in larger clothes if that’s what you have. Many new parents get lots of gifted clothes so are quite likely to have larger sizes sooner than needed. Why buy 6 month onsies when you have 9 month ones?
Don’t forget this money saver as your little one gets older! Maggie, who was just 18 months in May, received a lovely gift of 5 or 6 sets of 24mo tops and skorts (back when she was brand new). Unfortunately, she’s probably going to be size 24 months in the middle of winter.* But they are great clothes and are mix and match. I really hated to just give them away…so when this summer rolled around, I tried them on her. Actually, I’m not sure they’d fit her when she’s 24mo! The shirts are the perfect size NOW. The skorts will probably work again next summer, although I really like their length this summer: at the knee. (I really hate little girls’ skirts that show off the diaper/panties. I don’t appreciate that look in adults, teens, tweens, kids, NOR toddlers!) Since she’s skinny, if she didn’t wear a diaper still, they’d probably fall right off. As it is, they hang a bit low, but any bottoms do on her since her waist/hips are the same size.
So we didn’t have to buy her any summer play clothes. (I did buy two summer dresses for church.)
* I have one of those never-seen children who has fit the size to the age most of the time. Last summer, however, she actually wore 6 month clothes all summer long so she was behind–mostly because her height seems to be in her legs so we didn’t need to bother with new clothes then either, she just wore her spring onsies all summer. It’s funny that this summer she’s in size 6 months ahead now.
August 3rd, 2006 - One Local Summer Week 5
From Sun-Wed, I was at a business conference in Guelph, Ontario. In advance, I decided that I would try to eat local on Tuesday when we had dinner on our own. I thought the easiest thing to find would be a bakery for bread and a grocery store for cheese. At the grocery store, I first found a Canadian Spartan apple (I think EVERYTHING else was from the US or tropical countries!) that was fantastic. One of the best tasting apples I’ve ever had! Then I found a rather small selection of domestic cheeses; I chose a Royal Canadian sharp cheddar. I thought the name quite fitting for this project. Finally, I spent quite a bit of time finding the local bakery, after which I passed it another 4 or 5 times trying to find other places LOL. The bread, although lovely looking, I realized was far too much for me to finish in one or two meals. Instead, I purchased a package of oatcakes, which I thought was nicely non-American as well.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t found the park I was seeking to have a nice lunch outside. It was probably too hot and humid anyway. The cheese and apple were fantastic together, and easy to eat as I attempted to find the butterfly place. (Fittingly for my ability to find and get places on time, I ended up at the donkey sanctuary instead, and spent about 1.25 hours going less than 20 miles from where I started. Not counting the hour to find the bakery which was only 2 miles away….) I had enough leftover cheese and oatcakesto bring home. I look forward to having them for lunch tomorrow.
The meal was definitely more fun than simply going to the store and picking up some American, familiar items. I probably would have done that–or bought the store bakery bread which was actually trucked in. It was a lot more fun looking around the store to see if I could find Canadian/Ontario-produced items. Which is much harder than it might seem–mostly, the store could have been in the US and you wouldn’t have noticed a difference in the brands.
PS, While away, my brother told me that the comments field isn’t working. He didn’t say if he fixed it yet, so probably not. My apologies to anyone who has tried to comment. Although, on the positive side, my spam count has been quite down! It has to do with the new theme we installed. I’ll let you know when it works again!