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As often seems the case, Money Saving Monday is about spending, which is not precisely saving.
This probably happens because I am a reformed spender. Mostly. Once upon a time, I really enjoyed putting down the plastic with reckless abandon. If I’m going to be perfectly honest, in some small way, I still do.
Today I am on strike. On strike from leaving the house.
I am skipping the gym, visits with friends, errands, thrifting, anything and everything that involves me departing from my residence. I am burying myself in blogging, cleaning, organizing, and other generally neglected tasks. I do not even think I will shower today. So there.
Included in my strike list, is grocery shopping. Leaving The Husband on a solo mission. He came back in record time with…
A mission in two stops.
Read more
Sometime last year, our power company took it upon themselves to start sending us a report card. Every few months or so, we get a single sheet of paper telling us how we stack up against our neighbors on the energy consumption front.
Can you read that ranking? In the bottom right corner. Where it says we are #7 out of 100?
Heh. Let me not trip while I am busy patting myself on the back. Read more
In which they become strikingly similar to real chickens and move out of my damn house!
That’s right girls are moving on up! And more importantly out! They’ve feathers of their own, no longer needing supplementary heat. They are ready for their very own digs.
See for yourself. Our girl Cherie at six weeks.
I like how she matches the hardwoods. Its Rhode Island Red Camouflage.
Otherwise known as my little black book.
Organizational maven, I am not. I bow down to Miser Mom for all things resembling an actual “solution”. You should too. Especially, if like me, you have a love/hate, but-still-not-buying-it relationship with iPads and their ilk. I can buy a whole lot of $12 Moleskin notebooks for the price of one tablet gadget something or other. How many? Oh about ten years worth, if I stick with my iPad analogy. That’s assuming I buy them, which is not always the case.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. Why is this little book so damn useful?
Crystal over at Wayward Dogs and I are teaming up for our review of Mr. Chewy. After you’ve read what I have to say, go check out Crystal’s perspective!
I was asked to try a service. One I’d never tried before.
Buying pet supplies on-line. I buy a lot of things online, unconventional things even; Borax, Washing Soda, Lye, even paper clips for the Garden. Not pet supplies though. For that, I support my local peeps whenever possible.
However, I am fortunate to live in a part of the country with a robust community of independent Pet Supply Stores. Stores that don’t sell animals, of any type. Stores that carry the best of the best in regards to food and supplements. Sometimes when I reference foods I would feed, I worry people are at a disadvantage not having access to those.
With that in mind, when I got an email from a representative at MrChewy.com offering a $50 coupon, if I should choose to do an honest interview (no-strings attached), I did two things:
#1. I checked their selection.
#2. I pondered the usefulness of this to my readers.
This was closely followed by #3 sending an email to confirm that this was truly going to be an honest review. I sent them this warning: I’ve no shortage of opinions.
Big changes a-foot this week. Huge. Major milestones on the Dogs or Dollars Homefront.
The Refinance. After months and months of muddling this over, and a couple false starts, we are doing it. It will be done. Signing papers today. The last four years of payments on The Big Fat Mortgage will be swallowed by the lower rate and renewed thirty year term of our shiny, new, not-so-big-fat, Mortgage. I have mixed feelings about this. Turmoil even. On the one hand, its going to lower our monthly payment by $400. Talk about reducing overhead in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, my goal was to reduce it by $600. Read more
Last week there was no Sunday Spending post. Shhhh. Don’t tell.
This week, I am playing catch-up, but I will not be gracing you with a picture of my groceries.
No. Instead you get…
Fluffy Chicken butts in the sunshine.
I think that’s more entertaining, don’t you? And definitely more indicative of how we’ve been spending our time. That is to say, not on grocery shopping.
April has gotten away from us with no strategy and very little planning in the people feeding department. Things haven’t been out of control on a spending level, but with crunch time in the garden well underway, we’ve been…distracted.
Let’s get caught up though, shall we?
I should not be allowed into a bookstore unchaperoned.
This is what happens. In no time flat.
I had a legitimate excuse. I had filled up my current Moleskine and exhausted my notebook backstock. I do not survive without a notebook on my person (more on this later). A lovely book store is located conveniently close to other lunch time errands.
Oops.
I don’t meditate. I run.
Depending on who you talk to, running is controversial. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “You’ll ruin your knees!”. It’s true (maybe), it’s the highest of high impact, and perhaps not for everyone. For me though, its a habit. One I like. Picked up during our weight loss journey, it’s one I maintain.
Course, in some ways, I’m a wimp about it. I should get my butt outside into the cold, drippity-droppety weather a lot more. I don’t. Most of the year my runs look like this.
Excuse the crappy cell phone pictures. I did not think to haul my SLR to the YMCA.
