Penny Pinching Mom

Who Needs Satellite When You’ve Got YouTube?

Hubby and Pumpkin have been clamoring to get the satellite turned back on ever since I had it cut off. I did it for budget reasons, but I don’t really miss it at all. The only things I watched were VH1 Classic and reruns of That 70s Show, besides what I watched with those two just because they wanted to.

Some friends came over this past Friday night. I was showing the wife some funny videos on YouTube while the husband and Hubby worked on a four-wheeler. It was some of those Literal Video things where they take a music video and change the lyrics so that it tells what’s going on in the video. I thought it would be about as interesting to Pumpkin as a Colonix review. But she came in and started watching, and as soon as one was over, she wanted to watch another one.

We watched those for a long time, until I finally got her interested in a game. But that got me thinking. The next time she starts complaining about not having satellite TV, I’m going to put her in front of the computer and find some kid-appropriate YouTube videos to watch. Then maybe she’ll forget about the boob tube for a while.

Moderation Is a Good Thing

Last weekend, Hubby, Pumpkin and I played horseshoes at his parents’ house. We had fun, but Pumpkin was the only one who suffered no ill effects. Hubby got a wicked bad sunburn. I got burned slightly, but my biggest problem was soreness in my wrist and side. It felt like I’d overdone the kettlebell training or something.

Hubby wanted to play horseshoes again on Saturday, and I told him to take Pumpkin and go on. I wasn’t in the mood to play horseshoes (or even be sociable for that matter, but that’s a whole other story). And I didn’t want my wrist getting sore again. My arthritis hasn’t been flaring up there for a while now, and I’d like to keep it that way.

Yesterday we went to a cookout, and guess what activity our hosts had planned? That’s right, horseshoes. I was in a better mood, so I threw a few games. But after about three, I quit. And today, I’m not the least little bit sore. My knee is acting up a little from walking up and down a small hill, but that’s it.

So I’ve got to remember to only throw a few games when I play. Maybe I can gradually build up to more eventually. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities, because throwing horseshoes is one of Hubby’s favorite activities.

Have You Heard of Swagbucks?

No, it’s nothing like Starbucks. Swagbucks is a search engine that offers rewards for searching the web. You just sign up, do your regular searching with them instead of Google or whoever, and you win swagbucks every so often. Coolness.

You don’t have to install anything on your computer if you don’t want to. But I got the Firefox plugin that allows you to search with your browser’s search box. So I don’t even have to do anything different. I’ve been using it for a couple of days now, and so far it’s brought up good results. They get results from Google and Ask.com, so in most cases you should find what you need quickly.

There’s also a referral program in which you can earn extra swagbucks, and you can also earn them by shopping online. You can redeem them for all sorts of cool stuff, including gift certificates, apparel, electronics and more. If you haven’t signed up, follow this link to do so. Happy searching!

Paid Vacation

Last year Hubby didn’t get a paid vacation because his old job didn’t offer it and he wasn’t at his new one long enough. But this year, he gets one. Unfortunately we can’t really afford to go anywhere, so I won’t be shopping around for travel insurance.

We’ll be lucky if we even get to go camping. The guy who owns our old camping spot has had his land up for sale. If he’s sold it, that’s definitely out of the question. If not, he still might not want to let us camp there. So if we want to go, we’ll probably have to rent space at a campground, and Hubby probably won’t go for that.

I had hoped to be able to get season passes to Tweetsie Railroad this year, but that probably won’t happen either. Maybe we can at least scrape up the cash to take Pumpkin one day during his vacation. Not quite what I had in mind for vacation this year (was hoping we’d get a real vacation plus be able to take her there a few times), but it’s something.

I’m beginning to lose hope of ever getting to take a real vacation. I’ve been wanting to ever since we got married, and we’ve been married nearly 8 years and it hasn’t happened yet.

Little Country Store

There’s a store about half a mile from my house that has been shut down for a while. I’m not sure how long, because it wasn’t open when we moved in. But the sign has gas priced at $1.99 a gallon, so I’m guessing 4 or 5 years.

I’ve often wondered why they closed up shop. There’s another store a couple of miles away on a more-traveled road, so maybe they weren’t getting enough business. Or maybe they had to stop selling gas. Or maybe the owners couldn’t run it anymore, didn’t have any family that was interested at the time but didn’t want to sell or rent it out. Who knows.

I just noticed a couple of days ago that it also had a small garage attached to it where they once did oil changes and lubes. I’m not sure how I’ve missed that in a year of living here. But I’m betting Hubby hasn’t noticed it either. If he had, he would be trying to find the owners and rent it from them. He has often talked about starting a business doing those things, and a place that close that already had auto lifts and everything would be perfect.

I haven’t asked him if he’s noticed it yet. Maybe I’ll mention it when we have more money. I can’t say whether or not the owners would do that, but there’s no point in asking right now.

Houdoggy

Hubby’s Walker puppy has never been my favorite dog in the world. I normally love dogs, but this one just gets on my last nerve. She just has no sense whatsoever.

We keep her tied because we haven’t been able to build her a lot yet. She has a nice, long chain, but she spends most of her time getting herself tangled up. I don’t know how she manages to get tangled up so badly, because there’s only the tree that she’s tied to that’s close enough for her to get around. But there’s a root sticking up out of the ground just a little, and somehow she manages to wrap that chain around it and the tree a zillion times until she can only walk a foot or two in any direction.

Here’s what’s really got me baffled: She keeps managing to get loose. At first, she somehow got the chain unhooked from her collar. Hubby finally managed to fix that so she couldn’t do it any more after many attempts. But now she’s unhooking the chain from the tree. How can a dog that can’t figure out how not to get tangled up when there’s so little to get tangled on be such an escape artist?

If we keep her, I guess we’re going to have to start saving for some dog supplies. If we can’t fix that chain, we’ll have to get her a new one very soon. For the long term, we need to get the supplies to build her and the other Walker a lot. Either that or a tall fence to keep them out of the road.

He Wants Me to Fix His Cell Phone

Hubby and I got new cell phones last year. He wanted one that could play MP3 ringtones and had bluetooth, and the only ones our cellular provider had that met those criteria and were within our price range were RAZRs. I was leery about getting one for Hubbs, because he is so rough on phones. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. We each got one.

They were refurbished, so there was no warranty and we couldn’t get insurance on them. Heh. Within a couple of months, he had shattered the caller ID screen cover on his. Not a huge deal, because the display still worked. But shortly after that, he shut it up in a car door. Miraculously it still worked, but the inner screen went almost completely black.

I made the mistake of looking for and finding the parts to fix it online. Now he wants me to order them and repair it. WTF??? I know about as much about cell phone repair as I know about curing mesothelioma.

I’m all for doing it yourself to save money. But if I screw it up, he’ll have to either pay full price for a new phone or sign another contract to get one at a discount (if they’ll even let him do that since our current one is still in force). I think he’d be better off to have it sent off and put the repair bill on his credit card.

I found a repair manual that tells how to take everything apart and put it back together. But I’m still really nervous about it. Maybe if I keep putting off ordering the parts he’ll take a hint and get someone who knows what they’re doing to do it.

Tax Day

If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, now would be a good time to do so. Today is the deadline for federal taxes, as well as state taxes in most states.

I got mine filed a couple of months ago, because I was expecting a refund. Had I had to pay in, I would probably be scrambling to get them done right about now. I still kind of wish I could have afforded to have them professionally prepared, but I guess I came out okay with TurboTax.

If you owe taxes but can’t pay them all up front, check out the IRS website and/or your state’s Department of Revenue site. You may be eligible for a payment plan. But whatever you do, don’t file late if you can help it. If you do, you will be subject to penalties you wouldn’t have had to pay otherwise.

My First Score from Freecycle

I posted about Freecycle not too long ago, and I mentioned that I had yet to get anything from my local group. Well, that changed this week. I managed to get my hands on a free computer desk for Pumpkin!

I saw the message about an hour after it was posted. I almost didn’t reply, because I’ve sent replies that quickly before and things were already gone. But then I decided there was no harm in trying, so I did. And lucky for me, it was still available. I wasn’t able to pick it up that day, but the next evening I talked Hubbs into going with me to get it.

It’s a nice little corner desk, a bit larger than I was hoping for, but it fits where I wanted to put it for the time being. I’m hoping to move it to the living room whenever we get the air hockey table out of there (if that ever happens), and it should fit nicely in there.

I’m just glad to finally have her computer out of the floor. Now I can scan it thoroughly to make sure it doesn’t have any viruses or malware and try to get it running better, and work on getting the rest of my files transferred. As for Freecycle, I plan to pay it forward. I already have a couple of items in mind to offer, and I’m sure I’ll run across some more as I continue with my spring cleaning.

Being Healthy Isn’t Cheap

I think I’ve finally figured out why I’m not as healthy as I used to be. I can’t afford it!

I can’t really say I’m in poor health, but I do have some problems. There’s my ADD, knee and wrist pain, sinus problems, and the fact that I’m tired all the time. And as much as I would like to get it all straightened out, I don’t have insurance any more so I can’t make trips to the doctor that aren’t absolutely necessary.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And I do believe that eating healthy foods and maintaining a healthy weight can help a person be well. But unhealthy foods are just so much cheaper. And when you have as picky a family as I do, working out a menu on a budget and keeping things healthy is very difficult.

Then there are all these things on the market that are supposed to make us healthier. Such as Colonix. I can go along with the idea that cleansing the colon would make the whole body function better. But at the prices they’re charging for that stuff, I don’t guess I’ll be finding out for myself any time soon.

I’m not making excuses here. Really, I’m not. I plan to start walking in an effort to lose weight and increase my energy level. And I’m seriously considering attempting to put out a garden so I can have fresh produce without paying an arm and a leg for it. But it would be nice to be able to take care of myself without money being an issue.