So, a really small part of the mess was organized. At least I got something accomplished...
Sunday, August 19, 2012
One Baby Step in the Pantry
I hate it when I get nothing done. Very often I get intimidated by the projects in front of me and become paralyzed, failing to take even the smallest of steps. My pantry is still a mess, despite organizing the dog stuff. Here's the other side (just went shopping this morning so it's extra messy):
It's hard to tell from the picture, but there's a lot of clutter behind the food right in front. The shelves are fairly deep. For a while my husband has hated all the random packages of tea taking up space. I realized I still had a little storage bin that we got as a wedding gift that hadn't been used yet. I had planned to use it to store some type of sugar or other baking essential in there, but never really needed it. So, now I got rid of all the random boxes and something that isn't in use.
So, a really small part of the mess was organized. At least I got something accomplished...
So, a really small part of the mess was organized. At least I got something accomplished...
Friday, August 10, 2012
The 2AM fiasco & utility bill savings
We bought a foreclosure last year, which means there was A LOT we didn't know about our house. I won't get into all of that now, but I'll summarize by saying this:
We bought a bigger space than we needed with more bells & whistles (mostly broken) than we knew how to use...but we bought it at a fantastic price with a payment that we could afford, even if one of us lost a job.
After getting hit with our first utility bill at over $400 (with the temperature averaging around 110 degrees the first month we lived there), we knew we needed to make some adjustments. By working with our utility company to get on a peak/off-peak schedule, we were able to use most of our energy during off-peak times to get a lower rate. Peak time is between 3pm - 6pm on weekdays, so sometimes that means waiting to turn down the thermostat and start doing the laundry when we get home from work. We also keep the thermostat as hot as we can handle, which amounts to 86 when we are away and 82 when we are home. We've gotten used to this, but I wouldn't recommend this in humid climates. When I lived in Florida, I wouldn't have gone above 84/80. Now our utility bill has been under $200 in the summer and below $100 in the winter, which isn't too bad considering we have high ceilings, 2996 sq. ft., and a pool in our backyard. I do think that the high ceilings help us tolerate the higher thermostat settings though!
Within the last few months we've made some minor changes: keeping our cell phone chargers in a drawer and only plugging them in to charge our phones for a few hours (rather than sitting out overnight) and unplugging out laptops and putting them to sleep when we aren't using them.
One of the previously mentioned "bells & whistles" we had when we moved in was a security system that was not actually hooked up to any company. We feel safe in our neighborhood and we don't own anything new/fancy that would be worth a good burglar's time so we didn't want to pay for a security service. Unfortunately, without a code or any instructions, we couldn't figure out how to disable the darn thing! It was on my "to-do" list since it was obviously sucking down some electricity and would randomly screech every month or so to let us know the backup battery was low. We could hit "re-set" and get this to stop...until about 2AM this morning... Nonstop screeching during my valuable sleep time was enough to take some action.
After a google search for directions for our system, searching the whole house trying to locate the main box, and then removing the electrical wiring, we now have a screech-free system that does not use any power. So, if you have moved into a house that has a security system still running (that you aren't using), I'd suggest going ahead and disconnecting it now. It may save you some extra cash and a serious 2AM headache!
We bought a bigger space than we needed with more bells & whistles (mostly broken) than we knew how to use...but we bought it at a fantastic price with a payment that we could afford, even if one of us lost a job.
After getting hit with our first utility bill at over $400 (with the temperature averaging around 110 degrees the first month we lived there), we knew we needed to make some adjustments. By working with our utility company to get on a peak/off-peak schedule, we were able to use most of our energy during off-peak times to get a lower rate. Peak time is between 3pm - 6pm on weekdays, so sometimes that means waiting to turn down the thermostat and start doing the laundry when we get home from work. We also keep the thermostat as hot as we can handle, which amounts to 86 when we are away and 82 when we are home. We've gotten used to this, but I wouldn't recommend this in humid climates. When I lived in Florida, I wouldn't have gone above 84/80. Now our utility bill has been under $200 in the summer and below $100 in the winter, which isn't too bad considering we have high ceilings, 2996 sq. ft., and a pool in our backyard. I do think that the high ceilings help us tolerate the higher thermostat settings though!
Within the last few months we've made some minor changes: keeping our cell phone chargers in a drawer and only plugging them in to charge our phones for a few hours (rather than sitting out overnight) and unplugging out laptops and putting them to sleep when we aren't using them.
One of the previously mentioned "bells & whistles" we had when we moved in was a security system that was not actually hooked up to any company. We feel safe in our neighborhood and we don't own anything new/fancy that would be worth a good burglar's time so we didn't want to pay for a security service. Unfortunately, without a code or any instructions, we couldn't figure out how to disable the darn thing! It was on my "to-do" list since it was obviously sucking down some electricity and would randomly screech every month or so to let us know the backup battery was low. We could hit "re-set" and get this to stop...until about 2AM this morning... Nonstop screeching during my valuable sleep time was enough to take some action.
After a google search for directions for our system, searching the whole house trying to locate the main box, and then removing the electrical wiring, we now have a screech-free system that does not use any power. So, if you have moved into a house that has a security system still running (that you aren't using), I'd suggest going ahead and disconnecting it now. It may save you some extra cash and a serious 2AM headache!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
A crazy pregnancy dream saved me $13!
I've never been one to remember my dreams, but there's something about being pregnant that changed all that. Some dreams have been ridiculous, most have been boring, but last night I actually had a practical dream. I was standing on the side of the freeway in the hot Phoenix sun in August with a broken down car and in a panic about dying of dehydration while pregnant. I woke up all freaked out and concerned that we had forgotten to add roadside assistance to our new car insurance when we switched policies about 7 months ago. I remembered I paid somewhere around $1.50 per 6 months of roadside assistance and thought it was worth that small amount to have someone to call no matter where I got stranded.
So I finally went in and set up an account to "manage our policy online". I do this with everything so I have no idea why I put it off so long and didn't really double check our coverage. Shame on me! But since we saved over $250 by switching companies I thought I must have given up something I had before. Not so! I still had roadside assistance for $1.76 (phew!), but I also had something that we'd be highly unlikely to ever use: rental car coverage! Since we're a two car family with only one car we use regularly, we can almost always figure out a way to get by if something happened to one of our cars. We also have a lot of family nearby who regularly use our extra car and would be able to help us out temporarily if something were to happen. In any case, I saved $13 today by removing a coverage I didn't know I had and don't expect to utilize!
Bonus tip for saving on car insurance: increase your deductibles from $250 or $500 to $1000. It usually pays for itself over the course of a year in premium reductions, and I'd imagine you aren't likely to get in an accident annually! But if you're the type not to always have $1000 on hand for emergencies, then this probably isn't a good way to cut back on spending.
So I finally went in and set up an account to "manage our policy online". I do this with everything so I have no idea why I put it off so long and didn't really double check our coverage. Shame on me! But since we saved over $250 by switching companies I thought I must have given up something I had before. Not so! I still had roadside assistance for $1.76 (phew!), but I also had something that we'd be highly unlikely to ever use: rental car coverage! Since we're a two car family with only one car we use regularly, we can almost always figure out a way to get by if something happened to one of our cars. We also have a lot of family nearby who regularly use our extra car and would be able to help us out temporarily if something were to happen. In any case, I saved $13 today by removing a coverage I didn't know I had and don't expect to utilize!
Bonus tip for saving on car insurance: increase your deductibles from $250 or $500 to $1000. It usually pays for itself over the course of a year in premium reductions, and I'd imagine you aren't likely to get in an accident annually! But if you're the type not to always have $1000 on hand for emergencies, then this probably isn't a good way to cut back on spending.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Common Carpool Conundrums & the Benefits of Solving Them
One of the more common ways you hear about to cut down your budget is "you should carpool." Fantastic idea, right? Gas is expensive and the carpool lane is usually faster than the other lanes! Putting it into practice usually generates more excuses than a kid who didn't do his homework.
My husband and I have been successfully carpooling for about a year now. We still have two cars, but with a baby on the way we've opted to hang on to that second car as our schedules will be changing. I do know a few couples that have saved a ton of money by sharing one car. If you can figure out a system that works well for your family to use one car, that's awesome, but we aren't there yet.
In any case, when we first moved out to the burbs, we had a variety of excuses for not carpooling. Here are our excuses, and the plan we put in place to overcome them.
Problem: Husband's excuse, "I don't want to see people from work when I don't have to, let alone spend an hour a day in the car with them." My excuse, "I don't want to have to have a set time to leave in the morning and exit at night since my schedule can change by day." Our excuse, "If I don't go to the gym on my way home then I won't go. A coworker carpool probably won't stop at the gym for you."
Solution: It doesn't say anywhere that you HAVE to carpool with people you work with. You don't necessarily have to carpool with someone in a nearby office building. We came up with the spousal carpool. Provided that you don't work in opposite directions from your house, this could work for a lot of people that wouldn't necessarily have thought of it. After all, this isn't something that initially occurred to us. Our offices are about 20 minutes apart and we'd take different freeways to work. In fact, if I didn't hate commuting and sitting in traffic so much, we may never have figured this all out. Before, his commute was about 35 to 45 minutes NW and mine was about 25 to 40 minutes N of our house. Now, with the help of the carpool lane, the drive to my work is about 20 minutes and then he continues on another 20 minutes to his work. So even though it takes him approximately the same amount of time to get to work, he drives a few extra miles and rarely sits in traffic. The drive between our offices is on a fairly deserted road, so he prefers that to the freeway.
Why it works for us: Living in the same house makes it easy to coordinate our schedules around one another. Much easier than I expected, in fact. We discuss when we have early meetings or might need to stay late, we hit the gym together and work our carpool around that. Also, you know your carpool is running late / ahead of schedule when you can observe each other's morning routine. We can remind each other of errands and run them on the way home together. The carpool is also a great way to sneak in some extra time together to catch up between working, doing chores, and attending various obligations. This system also works well for us because there aren't many times after arriving at work that I'd need a car. I work in a very "walkable" area of town with many restaurant options (in case I forget to pack lunch or am out of groceries), in addition to a bank and post office and various other errands I can get done during lunch. I also have a few coworkers who live nearby that I can turn to if he gets stuck working late.
Financial benefits: After factoring in the extra 2 miles out of the way on his trip and eliminating my 14 mile drive each way, that saves us 24 miles of driving per day. Also, my car gets about 7 more mpg than his car and has all the maintenance covered under warranty (including oil changes). By using the more efficient car we save even more on maintenance and gas. On average we save about $20 per week by carpooling. Additionally my husband's work has an incentive program for carpooling and we end up with a check for about $70 at the end of each month. Not bad!
Of course, no situation is ever perfect. I spend far more time listening to sports radio now, I clean some trash out of the car that I didn't bring into it, and I end up spending a little more time at work than I might have before. But we save money and I get dropped off at work "princess style" (according to my coworkers) without the stress of sitting in traffic. It's all worth it!
My husband and I have been successfully carpooling for about a year now. We still have two cars, but with a baby on the way we've opted to hang on to that second car as our schedules will be changing. I do know a few couples that have saved a ton of money by sharing one car. If you can figure out a system that works well for your family to use one car, that's awesome, but we aren't there yet.
In any case, when we first moved out to the burbs, we had a variety of excuses for not carpooling. Here are our excuses, and the plan we put in place to overcome them.
Problem: Husband's excuse, "I don't want to see people from work when I don't have to, let alone spend an hour a day in the car with them." My excuse, "I don't want to have to have a set time to leave in the morning and exit at night since my schedule can change by day." Our excuse, "If I don't go to the gym on my way home then I won't go. A coworker carpool probably won't stop at the gym for you."
Solution: It doesn't say anywhere that you HAVE to carpool with people you work with. You don't necessarily have to carpool with someone in a nearby office building. We came up with the spousal carpool. Provided that you don't work in opposite directions from your house, this could work for a lot of people that wouldn't necessarily have thought of it. After all, this isn't something that initially occurred to us. Our offices are about 20 minutes apart and we'd take different freeways to work. In fact, if I didn't hate commuting and sitting in traffic so much, we may never have figured this all out. Before, his commute was about 35 to 45 minutes NW and mine was about 25 to 40 minutes N of our house. Now, with the help of the carpool lane, the drive to my work is about 20 minutes and then he continues on another 20 minutes to his work. So even though it takes him approximately the same amount of time to get to work, he drives a few extra miles and rarely sits in traffic. The drive between our offices is on a fairly deserted road, so he prefers that to the freeway.
Why it works for us: Living in the same house makes it easy to coordinate our schedules around one another. Much easier than I expected, in fact. We discuss when we have early meetings or might need to stay late, we hit the gym together and work our carpool around that. Also, you know your carpool is running late / ahead of schedule when you can observe each other's morning routine. We can remind each other of errands and run them on the way home together. The carpool is also a great way to sneak in some extra time together to catch up between working, doing chores, and attending various obligations. This system also works well for us because there aren't many times after arriving at work that I'd need a car. I work in a very "walkable" area of town with many restaurant options (in case I forget to pack lunch or am out of groceries), in addition to a bank and post office and various other errands I can get done during lunch. I also have a few coworkers who live nearby that I can turn to if he gets stuck working late.
Financial benefits: After factoring in the extra 2 miles out of the way on his trip and eliminating my 14 mile drive each way, that saves us 24 miles of driving per day. Also, my car gets about 7 more mpg than his car and has all the maintenance covered under warranty (including oil changes). By using the more efficient car we save even more on maintenance and gas. On average we save about $20 per week by carpooling. Additionally my husband's work has an incentive program for carpooling and we end up with a check for about $70 at the end of each month. Not bad!
Of course, no situation is ever perfect. I spend far more time listening to sports radio now, I clean some trash out of the car that I didn't bring into it, and I end up spending a little more time at work than I might have before. But we save money and I get dropped off at work "princess style" (according to my coworkers) without the stress of sitting in traffic. It's all worth it!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Packing Burritos for Lunch
One of the quickest ways to save on everyday expenses is to pack lunch. Annoying? Sometimes...but it is fairly easy to do with a little organization. I like to use Sundays to get organized for the week. I clip my coupons, check what is on sale, get my grocery list together, shop, and then prepare lunches in advance so I can just grab what I've already prepared on my way out the door. Finding something that both myself and my husband would agree to eat was somewhat of a challenge, but I finally found something that works very well for both of us. It also stays fresh all week (despite being pre-made) in the fridge.
Introducing our creation: the lunch burrito! Prices fluctuate slightly by week, depending what is on sale, but it should end up costing around 95 cents per burrito and tasting much better than those frozen ones that will have you hungry again an hour later. I will usually make 10 at a time and that lasts us about a week since my husband likes to take 2 for lunch, and we don't eat them everyday.
What you need:
Large tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
rice (we use whole grain brown rice)
1 jar salsa (we generally use medium)
1 bag shredded cheese (we like the Mexican blend from our local store)
Heat up the beans according to the instructions on the can. I use the microwave instructions b/c it's easier and then I'll already have them in tupperware to store any leftovers for the next week. Then just put it all together (I layer in the ingredients in the order above on the list) and wrap up the burritos in aluminum foil. Don't forget to bring something to heat them in the microwave with! I don't want to be responsible for anyone putting foil in the microwave! Happy lunching.
Introducing our creation: the lunch burrito! Prices fluctuate slightly by week, depending what is on sale, but it should end up costing around 95 cents per burrito and tasting much better than those frozen ones that will have you hungry again an hour later. I will usually make 10 at a time and that lasts us about a week since my husband likes to take 2 for lunch, and we don't eat them everyday.
What you need:
Large tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
rice (we use whole grain brown rice)
1 jar salsa (we generally use medium)
1 bag shredded cheese (we like the Mexican blend from our local store)
Heat up the beans according to the instructions on the can. I use the microwave instructions b/c it's easier and then I'll already have them in tupperware to store any leftovers for the next week. Then just put it all together (I layer in the ingredients in the order above on the list) and wrap up the burritos in aluminum foil. Don't forget to bring something to heat them in the microwave with! I don't want to be responsible for anyone putting foil in the microwave! Happy lunching.
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