Healthy, cost-conscious snacks
Hey! I have my first question, submitted by none other than the lovely Karen Rani of Troll Baby Graphics. Do you see how she gives and gives? Not only coming up with this rockin’ site design (if I do say so, myself), but then jumping right in with a question like that? I had no idea that was included in the site design fee. Whatta woman!
Anyway, Karen wrote me:
Here’s one for you: Grocery budgets – dude…..snacks for lunches cost SO much….I could go on forever. Healthy food costs way more than crap food and organic is outta control!
Karen does not mess around, people. Karen goes straight for my Achilles heel. *deep breath* This is a subject near and dear to my heart, and it’s taking most of my energy at this moment to refrain from shaking my fist in the air while I answer it. read more…
It only happens twice a year
Too rich for my blood, unfortunately, but Hanna Andersson is having their semi-annual sale.
I’m warning you—do NOT look directly at the pictures of the adorable babies in brightly-colored Swedish cottons unless you have money to spend and protective armor on your ovaries.
As long as it’s so cold in here. . .
… let’s talk about freezers.
If there are more than two people in your household, and especially if you have children to feed, you must own a freezer. I mean, a separate freezer. Not one that hangs out over your fridge and launches that same bag of frozen peas at your head every time you have the audacity to open the door. No. A separate freezer. A BIG freezer.
But, I can hear you whining, I can’t afford a freezer!
I am here to tell you that if you’re on a tight budget, you can’t afford not to have a freezer. Start saving your pennies now. read more…
Biting the bullet
Sometimes you have to spend some money (or do something that results in spending money) even though every fiber of your being shrieks, “NOOOOOO!”
It happens. When faced with such a situation, take a tip from a large shoe manufacturer and Just Do It. Agonizing over it helps nothing.
Like, say, when you come downstairs one morning in June and discover that it’s only 58 degrees in your kitchen. Yes, you must turn the heat back on if you don’t want your children to call Child Protective Services. No, you shouldn’t have to turn the heat on in the second week of June. Yes, it sucks. No, whining about it will not help. Yes, oil is expensive. No, it’s not optional if you’ve lost all feeling in the tip of your nose.
Just sayin’.
Pikachuuuuuuuu!
Here’s a fine example of something that’s a great deal ($5.29 with free shipping, down from $14.99), that my son would LOVE, that would make me want to jab hot pokers through my eardrums. Repeatedly.
Here’s the text from the site:
Prepare for ultra excitement with this totally cool figure that makes an electronic battle roar! Push button on Pikachu’s back to prepare for battle and activate electronic sounds! But stay on his good side…Pikachu’s arms raise and its ears go back when it gets angry! With this awesome Pokemon, you’re prepared for the ultra Pokemon battle of a lifetime! Includes 3 AAA batteries. Figure comes with instructions.
Right. Comes with instructions. Let me guess: Insert batteries. Listen to Pikachu roar and squeak a bazillion times. Weep. Fall to your knees and thank the Lord above when the batteries die.
Sometimes, you have to know when to walk away from even the really good deals….
Ask away
I plan to do a regular feature on here that’s sort of advice column-y, based on questions from readers. The rules are pretty simple: You send me an email (wantnotdotnet [at] gmail [dot] com) (could that have some more DOTs and NETs and COMs, do you think?) with your question, and if I think I have something useful to suggest, I’ll answer it here. If you have a blog you want linked, let me know; and if you’d rather be anonymous, make that clear.
You’re welcome to ask me anything, but for make-up and fashion advice you’re better off visiting Amalah, while for grammar, relationship, baseball and cat advice you want to visit Sars.
Also, you have the greatest chance of being answered/published if your question
- is polite and doesn’t insult me
- has something to do with budgeting, shopping, or general money management
- makes me laugh
- tells me I’m pretty
- indicates that you both read the site and have a genuine interest in gaining perspective on your finances, rather than, say, that you’ve clearly never read here because your question has been answered already or that you’re looking for me to tell you how you can get rich quick. (Here a tip for that one: I know this guy in Nigeria; I’d be happy to forward you his email.)
Disclaimer: I’m not a professional financial advisor. I am a professional smartass. And I’m pretty good at squeezing blood from a stone, which is a fun party trick. I’m rarely at a loss for words, but if I honestly haven’t a clue on how to advise you, I’ll tell you that. If I do suggest something, you’re free to follow my advice or not. Doesn’t matter to me. Suggested tips are dispensed with a shaker full of salt unless otherwise indicated.
One for the gift closet
What? You don’t have a gift closet? Everyone should have a gift closet, and that goes double for moms of young kids. There is always an unexpected birthday party invitation, and do you really want to race out the day before or the morning of and overpay for the first suitable hunk of plastic you find? No. A thousand times, no.
I’d say that 80% of the items in my so-called toy stash come from Amazon. They often clearance toys down to almost nothing and then tack on free shipping. That’s the time to stock up.
Yesterday, I got a couple of these.
Genuine Home Depot brand children’s tool set; originally $19.99, down to $5.29 with free shipping (ages 8+). It’s hard to go wrong. Today it seems to be coming in and out of stock, and I promise to be more timely in the future with specific deal links. But this is just one example of the kind of shopping I do; I stock up on items that I might be able to use either for my own kids or other kids, and if Christmas rolls around and I still haven’t given it to anyone? I donate it to Toys for Tots.
Awwww, you shouldn’t have!
Flowers, for me? You really know how to make a girl feel good at a housewarming.
Yes, please, come on in. Have a look around. My home is your home. Or, um, well, you’re welcome to hang out here, anyway. And help with the dishes. If you brought chocolate, you’re welcome to stay over.
So! You may want to check out the brand-spanking-new About section, which should pretty much clear up any questions you might have about who I am and what I’m doing here. I’m thrilled to be starting this new venture and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
For years my friends have often asked me how do you do it? and I guess I thought it was finally time to, well, you know… tell you how I do it.
read more…
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