Penny Pinching Mom

Soon, I Hope

I’m ready for my new laptop any time now. I’ve been doing some research, and I’ve found an HP model that I think I’m going to go with. Now if I could just get the money to get it…

Maybe now that I’ll have more time to write I can save more money. My day job doesn’t pay very well, and the time I spend working there will be better spent writing once I’m done with it. If Hubby can just make some extra money to help me as promised, I’ll hopefully have it within a month or two.

Cheap Vacation Idea

We never have gotten to go on that vacation I wanted so badly this summer. I hope we’ll at least get to go to Tweetsie Railroad before Pumpkin goes back to school.

I’ve thought about trying to get Hubby to go up north next summer. I visited Amish country on my senior trip in high school, and I’ve always wanted to go back. Where I live isn’t all that far removed from it, but I love the little shops and tours they have up there.

We could stay at a Pennsylvania bed and breakfast and visit Hershey while up there. I doubt I could talk him into going on up to New York, but I might give it a try anyhow.

Amish country is a great destination for a cheap vacation. No outrageous amusement park ticket prices or other exorbitant fees. But one could get carried away shopping there.

Saying Goodbye to My Day Job

I finally put in my notice at my day job on Tuesday. I think I’ve got enough writing work coming in to justify it already, and I’m supposed to be getting more. Rock and roll!

I’ll be glad when I can get my laptop so I can get my work done without having to fight with my poky PC. Maybe one day I’ll have a state-of-the-art office and have to worry about things like power supply repair, but for now I’ll just be glad to have a computer that runs at a reasonable speed and doesn’t keep me chained to my desk all the time.

Once I work out my notice it will be time for Pumpkin to go back to school. I was hoping to quit earlier in the summer and get to spend more time with her, but unfortunately it didn’t happen that way. On the bright side, I’ll have several hours of uninterrupted writing time each day. Once I get adjusted to not having her around, that is.

Getting Fit

Hubby keeps complaining about being out of shape. I love him the way he is, but he wants to lose weight and gain muscle. Maybe I should buy him some Muscle Milk.

Seriously, we both need to start eating healthier. But it’s hard because he’s such a picky eater. He likes some fresh fruits, so I should be buying more of them. He also likes things out of the garden, but a lot of it he wants cooked with loads of fat and butter. And that kind of defeats the whole purpose of including them in your diet.

I’m on a mission to find ways for us to eat healthier foods. Will keep you posted.

Saving Money By Not Paying the Bills

I have been so busy lately that I haven’t gotten around to paying most of the bills. As a matter of fact, I should be paying the cellphone bill right now- today is the past due due date.

Hubby is going to have a fit when I tell him how much money I need from him to get everything caught up. It’s times like these that I wish we pooled all of our money together, because it would make things quicker and easier. But we’re really better off keeping our own separate stashes, because both of us spend more responsibly that way.

Must go pay cell phone bill to now.

Didn’t Win Any Laptop Money

My wishing at the Robinhood Fund didn’t pay off. I may try again, or I might just wait and see if I can save up enough to get a new laptop on my own. I’ve found several low-end models that appear to meet my needs, and if I could just save up a few hundred dollars I could have one in my hands.

Dell is one brand I’ve been considering. Their prices are pretty reasonable, and they make quality stuff. I’ve seen one that offers a free upgrade to 2 gigs of memory for a total price of under $800. Sweet.

Or I could always get one of the cheaper ones with less memory. You can easily upgrade to more Dell memory when the need arises. As you can tell, I’ve been shopping around for when the time comes.

Wishing for a Laptop

As you know by now if you’re a regular reader, I desperately want a laptop. My desktop PC is getting old and decrepit, and just driving me insane. It’s slowing me way down on my writing work and taking away my family time. And that sucks.

A laptop would be better than my desktop because I could take it wherever I go. And on hot days I could either go outside or go to a local cafe that has air conditioning. No, my AC still isn’t working, and it’s hard to write when you’re sitting there wiping sweat from your forehead every couple of minutes.

I went to the Robinhood Fund and made a wish for money to help me get a laptop. If you could take a look at my wish and vote me up it would be much appreciated. And if you make a wish of your own let me know and I’ll be happy to return the favor.

I’m not the type to rush anyone, but voting ends on my wish tomorrow. If you could head on over there and take a second or two to vote I would be eternally grateful.

My Beautiful Picture

I’m not talking about the above picture of me. I’m less than thrilled with that one, thanks to Hubby’s impatience and lack of photography skills. Not to mention the horrible sunburn I’m sporting. But the one I’m holding in that picture is truly a work of art.

The picture within the picture is my new masterpiece from Canvas on Demand. They’re a company from the fine state of North Carolina who can take your favorite pictures and put them on canvas. The results are outstanding, as you can see. And their prices are quite reasonable for this type of service.

I got the opportunity to get a great deal on this picture, and it took me a while to decide which picture to use. But the one I chose is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ll bet you can guess who that little angel in it is. This canvas features their light brushstrokes technique, which gives the effect of an oil painting without the high cost and long wait. I ordered my canvas on Monday night, and it was waiting on my doorstep when I got home this afternoon. Granted, it didn’t have far to travel, but that’s still pretty darn impressive.

This won’t be the last order I place with Canvas on Demand. This one is going up on my living room wall, but these also make wonderful gifts. For example, you could have one of your parents’ wedding pictures done for a nostalgic anniversary gift. Or for a pet lover, you could have a favorite pet picture done as a gift for any occasion. The possibilities are endless.

A Different Approach to Our New Home Dilemma

We’ve been trying to find a way to come up with a down payment on a new home, but so far have been unable to do so. Then I decided to think outside the box a little, and I’ve come up with an idea. I’m not sure whether it will work or not, but it’s worth looking into.

I was looking at the website of a local real estate broker when I ran across some unimproved land. There were lots of small parcels available for less than $10,000. When looking at houses, I was hoping to find something with a down payment of 6 or 7 thousand. But if we could save up just a little more than that, we could pay cash for a small piece of land. Then we could start saving on getting whatever we needed done to it accomplished, and then worry about putting a dwelling there.

I don’t know how long it would take to do all of that, but if we could manage to do it while borrowing little or no money it would be awesome. No interest or mortgage payments to worry about would totally rock. It’s something to think about.

Officially Out of Groceries

My cabinets are bare. Well, they’ve got a few canned vegetables in them, but nothing to speak of. I’ve just been too busy to grocery shop lately. That’s bad. I’ve got to go to the store today.

I rarely make a list when going to the store, and it usually works out pretty well. Sometimes I’ll forget something, but usually not anything of great importance. But there’s so much I need to get this time that I should probably at least make a tentative list.

A lot of people find that if they make a list and stick to it they spend less, but I usually experience quite the opposite. If I don’t bother with a list, I’m more apt to seek out good deals and get them instead of whatever I had in mind when writing the list. Whereas if I have a list, I feel obligated to get everything on it plus whatever good deals I find along the way.

I do probably make more trips to the store than I should, but I rarely go to town just to get groceries. Today I have other things that I would have to go out for whether I went to the store or not. And a lot of times I swing by the store after work to avoid using too much gas. And when I have something specific in mind to buy, I go straight to it, pick it up, and hightail it to a register so I don’t get tempted to buy more stuff.

If there’s anyone out there not using them, get a frequent shopper card from each grocery store you shop at (if offered). They can save you a respectable amount of money, and some of them carry other rewards as well. I do most of my shopping at Food Lion, and they have a promotion going on now where you get a ticket each time you buy a gallon of store brand milk. Once you collect six of them, you can turn them in for a free gallon.

And let’s not forget coupons. I’m the world’s worst for not using them. But every little bit helps.

That’s about it for my grocery advice for now. If anyone has anything to add, feel free to do so in the comments.