Penny Pinching Mom

Must Go Clothes Shopping

I wrote a couple of days ago about how Hubby doesn’t have any decent clothes. Apparently I don’t either, because I’ve had to do some serious searching to find stuff to wear for the past two days. I don’t have the time or the money right now, but when Hubby gets back on his feet I’m going to hit the stores running.

I would love to find some wholesale fashion, either in stores or online. If I had any spare time I would go ahead and start scouting for some. But as of right now, I’m doing good to get dressed properly, much less window shop.

Savings from Mickey D’s

I took Pumpkin to McDonald’s yesterday. We don’t go there often because it’s way over on the opposite side of town from where we live, and it takes 15 minutes to get to civilization from here in the first place. But she had a coupon for free fries that expired yesterday, so off we went.

Had I known they were doing the Monopoly thing, I might have dropped by there before now. I think it’s about over with now, but I did get a coupon for 20% off at Foot Locker. That could come in handy when I’m Christmas shopping. I would have rather have had the Toys R Us coupon, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.

A Cozy Cabin

A friend of mine and Hubby’s moved into a cabin a few months ago. It’s a fairly new one, and I had admired it on several occasions. We went to visit her, and I finally got to see what it looked like on the inside.

It is quite beautiful. It has hardwood floors, lots of windows, and beautiful quoizel lighting. If I were single like her, I would give my right arm to live there.

It is a small place, though. It has two tiny bedrooms, and although the layout is easy on the eyes, it doesn’t leave a lot of open space. So I guess I’m not too jealous.

All in One Whack

All of my domains expire in November and December. I’ve been getting renewal notices at least once a week, sometimes more. The first one is due on this coming Friday. I broke down and went ahead and renewed them all, even though I have other things to spend my money on. It’s not like they’re not necessities.

Now I won’t have to worry about any of them for another year. Maybe this time next year I’ll be able to renew them for several years each and save myself some money.

One of These Days

When I get plenty of money, I’m going to do some traveling. I want to see parts of the country I’ve never seen before, and not just the big cities. I’d love to just pick out some semi-random places and drive to them, staying over in a quaint little Bed & Breakfast here and there.

Maybe in a few years things will be better for us, and we can do that one summer when Pumpkin is out of school. Hubby is extremely rooted in this area, and it’s mainly because he’s rarely strayed from it. I want to broaden Pumpkin’s horizons while she’s still young. While there’s nothing wrong with loving the place where you grew up, it’s important to realize that there’s a whole world out there with different things to see and do.

Whether He Likes It or Not

Hubby is one of those men who will not buy clothes. He likes to look nice if we’re going anywhere, but he will not come off of a couple of dollars to buy something to wear. He just complains that he doesn’t have anything and doesn’t do anything about it. If it weren’t for me buying him clothes, he would probably have to go naked.

He even fusses if I buy him clothes for his birthday or Christmas. But I’ve got news for him: He has a birthday coming up, and I am buying him clothes whether he likes it or not.

He is down to one pair of jeans that does not have holes in them or stains all over them. His work pants are all so holey that they might as well be shorts. And two pairs of them now have holes in places where it’s really bad to have holes.

So he can pitch a fit if he wants to, but I can’t afford to get him much for his birthday and I’m going to get him clothes because he needs them. So there.

Hide Your TV

I always thought it would be nice to have a den or living room without a TV in it. Just somewhere you could sit and talk to guests or read without the television being a distraction. Unfortunately, my humble abode only has one such area, and we’ve got to have somewhere for the family to watch TV together.

I was writing about how I would like to have a plasma TV recently, and I found something that would kill two birds with one stone. They’ve come out with these things called tv lifts that store your plasma TV when it’s not in use. Then with a push of a button, it rises up and out of it for your viewing pleasure. Cool!

That kind of defeats the purpose of getting rid of the entertainment center by adding another piece of furniture to the equation. But I kind of like the idea. Of course it doesn’t really matter right now, as I don’t have a plasma screen TV (yet) anyway.

Writing Classes

I’m considering taking some writing classes at the local community college sometime next year. If I’m going to be a writer, it could be helpful to have some college-level writing courses under my belt.

I actually took one semester of English when I went to college full time. But the class was taught at about a sixth grade level, if that. The instructor was this funny little guy who laughed a lot, and he sounded like a rooster crowing when he did. I think he knew about as much about English as I do about term life insurance- not much. One of the movies we watched in class was Babe (yes, the one about the talking pig) if that tells you anything.

I started out majoring in Business Administration, a major that was designed for transfer to a four-year institution. The next semester I was signed up for a higher level English course, and I got a teacher that I might have actually learned something from. But I decided to change my major to Business Management (not designed for transfer), and I ended up dropping it since only one semester of English was required. So that was the end of my college English experience.

Maybe one day when I get more money coming in I can get a degree. With all of the online degree programs there are out there, it shouldn’t be hard to find something I can work with.

Dells at Wal-Mart?

I had to go to Wal-Mart today to pick up a Halloween costume for Pumpkin. As always, I had to go check out their laptop selection. Lately it has been changing a lot, so I have to take a peek to see if they’ve got any outstanding deals.

Today I noticed that they’re now carrying a Dell Inspiron model. That’s something I haven’t seen before. I also noticed two new HP models that looked interesting.

I probably won’t be buying at Wally World when I get a laptop. I plan on having one custom made so I can get all of the features I need without paying for junk that I’ll never use. But I still like to browse their selection. You never know when they might have something that’s too good to pass up.

Celeb Watching

I can’t say that I’m hip to every little thing that goes on in the entertainment industry. But I do like to see what’s going on with my favorite (and least favorite) celebs on occasion. You know, which ones are checking in and out of drug rehabs on a daily basis and such.

One thing that has kept my interest is the whole Britney Spears saga. Most things like that don’t get more than a passing glance from me, but I’ve felt compelled to follow this thing pretty closely, except for the past couple of weeks. And that’s simply because I genuinely haven’t had the time.

From what I’ve gathered in passing, she has apparently lost the right to visit her sons. I can’t say that I’m surprised, but I do hope she gets her head on straight enough to be with them again one day. It sucks to see kids in the middle of something like that.