It's kind of ironic to me that back when I was working, I was in journalism, which I was always very careful to explain to people was completly seperate from advertising. But now that I'm at home, my extra income comes from writing ads, which is kind of what I said I was "too good for" when I was working. Ha ha ha. I guess that just goes to show you that you should never say never. After all, even when I worked at the newspaper, I was totally dependent on advertising. I mean, that's where my paycheck came from, right?
Ads are responsible for sponsoring a lot of things that we use every day that are "free" to us, like large portions of the internet. And since people buy stuff online all the time, it works out good for each Advertising Agency as well, because they want to get their names out there, gain some exposure and make some new business. Somtimes I click on various ads I see at the side of people's Web sites, especially if it is something I'm interested in, because you never know when you're going to find a good deal that you wouldn't have even thought to look for. :-)
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Houses on sale
One of the things that's always been hard for me to understand about economics is the whole buyers market/sellers market thing. Like if the rates are low, then it seems like people would want to look into purchasing homes. But at the same time, how are they going to sell their previous home if rates are low and there are so many homes to choose from? Does that make any sense?
Not to mention, if rates are low, that means things aren't going so well in the economy. Which means no one has any spare money, and everyone is looking into mortgage refinancing. People can't afford to move, so they hope to just save money on the place they already have.
I know that if Stephen hadn't gotten that new job, that's what we'd be doing about now. And we actually got some pretty good mortgage rates when we bought our house about 18 months ago. Seriously, the highest rate we're paying right now is 7 percent and that's on a loan that we used for home improvement.
Not to mention, if rates are low, that means things aren't going so well in the economy. Which means no one has any spare money, and everyone is looking into mortgage refinancing. People can't afford to move, so they hope to just save money on the place they already have.
I know that if Stephen hadn't gotten that new job, that's what we'd be doing about now. And we actually got some pretty good mortgage rates when we bought our house about 18 months ago. Seriously, the highest rate we're paying right now is 7 percent and that's on a loan that we used for home improvement.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Save some money
It was about a year ago when my husband convinced me to at least let him call and check if we could save some money on our car insurance. We were previously with progressive and I was pretty loyal to them, but I said, hey, money is money, right? So he called some little company that I'd never heard of, and sure enough, they saved us a TON of money!!!
I was shocked! The price was seriously like 1/5 of what we were previously paying. I highly recommend getting quotes from anyone and everyone who is selling car insurance. I mean, what do you have to lose?
I was shocked! The price was seriously like 1/5 of what we were previously paying. I highly recommend getting quotes from anyone and everyone who is selling car insurance. I mean, what do you have to lose?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Time to be proactive
It's so hard to think of myself as an adult, you know? I mean, sure I'm married and have a kid, and am closer to 30 than to 20, but some things, like retirement, seem like things that only GROWNUPS have to worry about. But I've seen those articles that state how much money you'll have if you invest $5,000 at various ages. The main point is the earlier you invest, the more your money can do for you. On this NewRetirement Web site, it explains a lot of the things you need to know in order to be prepared for your future.
I wish we were in a position to actually follow all these suggestions, but its so hard with the amount of debt that we have to justify not putting every extra penny toward reducing it. I mean, with the interest we're paying, we're really got to get this stuff paid off before we can even think about future plans.
I wish we were in a position to actually follow all these suggestions, but its so hard with the amount of debt that we have to justify not putting every extra penny toward reducing it. I mean, with the interest we're paying, we're really got to get this stuff paid off before we can even think about future plans.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Waste not, want not
I heard a factoid in 8th grade that has stuck with me throughout my life. "Your garbabge disposal eats better than half of the world's population"
At the time, I didn't really understand it. I thought, why would people want to eat orange peels and egg shells. But once I did get it, I strove to make sure it wasn't true. If I didn't finish my meal, even if it was only by a few bites, it went back in the fridge.
The same held true for Ben, and since he's a baby, this obviously happens a lot. He doesn't eat a whole yogurt, he eats like 1/5 of it. So I usually put the rest back and he finishes it over the next couple days.
Well, my mom took one look at how fast her fridge was filling up with open yogurt and cans of peaches and half-eaten string cheeses, and she snipped at me that this wasn't going to work.
So now I'm stuck with either finishing everything that Ben doesn't eat (yipes! that will make me fat quickly) or throwing it away. That's pretty sad too. I've already thrown away pieces of hot dog bun and smashed banana. And I know I'm not really stealing food from third world countries when I do it, but it still sucks.
At the time, I didn't really understand it. I thought, why would people want to eat orange peels and egg shells. But once I did get it, I strove to make sure it wasn't true. If I didn't finish my meal, even if it was only by a few bites, it went back in the fridge.
The same held true for Ben, and since he's a baby, this obviously happens a lot. He doesn't eat a whole yogurt, he eats like 1/5 of it. So I usually put the rest back and he finishes it over the next couple days.
Well, my mom took one look at how fast her fridge was filling up with open yogurt and cans of peaches and half-eaten string cheeses, and she snipped at me that this wasn't going to work.
So now I'm stuck with either finishing everything that Ben doesn't eat (yipes! that will make me fat quickly) or throwing it away. That's pretty sad too. I've already thrown away pieces of hot dog bun and smashed banana. And I know I'm not really stealing food from third world countries when I do it, but it still sucks.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Clean again
I was just talking today about how nice it feels to be warm and not have to worry about how much every degree is costing, but there's even more than that. I was in our "apartment" with Ben, letting him have some free play (it's almost toddler proof!) while I put laundry away. I was folding some of his older T-shirts, which are now only used as pajamas because they're so gross. I don't know if you've ever smelled a shirt that has been constantly drooled on, but it really is gross. Most of Ben's shirts smell like dishrags.
So we get him new clothes every so often (thankfully, this has so far corresponded approximately with when he would outgrow things anyway) and make his old clothes for sleeping only so that no one thinks he's gross for smelling like a dishrag. It totally ruins the sweet smell of his soft skin and freshly washed hair.
Anyway, I was folding the shirts, and noticed that I didn't notice the smell. So I bravely pressed my nose into the collar of the T-shirt. Mmmm. Detergent.
!!!
Who knew that all this time, our discount detergent was the cause of Ben's clothes not coming clean? Our clothes came clean just fine, so I always thought that it was just some sort of toxic toddler goo that didn't come out. Nope. Mom's super pricy stuff did the trick. Man, it sure is nice to have luxery stuff around without having to pay for it ourselves!
So we get him new clothes every so often (thankfully, this has so far corresponded approximately with when he would outgrow things anyway) and make his old clothes for sleeping only so that no one thinks he's gross for smelling like a dishrag. It totally ruins the sweet smell of his soft skin and freshly washed hair.
Anyway, I was folding the shirts, and noticed that I didn't notice the smell. So I bravely pressed my nose into the collar of the T-shirt. Mmmm. Detergent.
!!!
Who knew that all this time, our discount detergent was the cause of Ben's clothes not coming clean? Our clothes came clean just fine, so I always thought that it was just some sort of toxic toddler goo that didn't come out. Nope. Mom's super pricy stuff did the trick. Man, it sure is nice to have luxery stuff around without having to pay for it ourselves!
Friday, January 11, 2008
It's so hard to say good-bye
Stephen and I both agreed that after the storm, we'd lost a lot of the attachment we'd previously had for our house. When we got home, it was trashed and cold and stinky and just so empty. It wasn't home, it was a big nagging chore.
We think that this was one of the main factors in encouraging him to go ahead and apply for out-of-area jobs. Sure, it would be a big deal to move, and a big deal to sell, but a manageable deal. No longer the emotional heartache that it would have been when I was in love with our house and dreaming of never having to move ever again.
But, first things first, in order to get other people to actually want to purchase your house, it can't be the pit of despair. So we've been pouring lots of $$$, as well as blood, sweat and tears into making it nice. Not just nice. Beautiful. The house I fell in love with. BETTER than the house I fell in love with.
For example, we boarded up the fireplace last winter (or was it fall?) when baby Benjamin, who was just learning to cruise, broke one of the glass panes. When we looked into having it repaired, we learned you couldn't buy that sort of replacement part and the whole fireplace front would have to be replaced — and a new one was $600 or so. We thought about it, but then just decided to leave it boarded up. And somewhere in my mind, I equated "boarded up fireplace" with "fireplace is broken." It had a bandaid for its ouchie, you know? :-) And soon, I pretty much forgot we had one at all. It just blended into the background.
It was actually Stephen's dad who pointed out that the doors just unscrew. There is still a metal screen behind them, and a perfectly functioning fireplace. The house flippers said they've sold many houses that just have the black screen and no glass doors. So we took them off, cleaned up the whole thing and had a fire, just for the hell of it. It was so bittersweet, I can't even begin to explain. Here I was, sitting in my beautiful house, in front of a roaring fire, cuddling on the couch with my husband for pretty much the last time ever. Sniff sniffle. And the worst part is, it was never really broken. We could have enjoyed our fireplace for all this time, with the help of a simple screwdriver and some dust rags.
It sucks that all the things we're doing to make our house sell make me want to stay. The emotional attachment is coming back worse than before. But if we don't do them, then we'll be stuck with the house! Who cares if I'm not emotionally attached to it if we can't unload it on someone else?
Anyway, it's starting to look really smashing. About $200 on repairs and accessories has really gone a long way. And I think it's a great investment, because not only are we going to get a better price for our house, we get to take a lot of the stuff with us. Yay!
I should have photos to post of how it all turned out sometime early next week. Stay tuned!
We think that this was one of the main factors in encouraging him to go ahead and apply for out-of-area jobs. Sure, it would be a big deal to move, and a big deal to sell, but a manageable deal. No longer the emotional heartache that it would have been when I was in love with our house and dreaming of never having to move ever again.
But, first things first, in order to get other people to actually want to purchase your house, it can't be the pit of despair. So we've been pouring lots of $$$, as well as blood, sweat and tears into making it nice. Not just nice. Beautiful. The house I fell in love with. BETTER than the house I fell in love with.
For example, we boarded up the fireplace last winter (or was it fall?) when baby Benjamin, who was just learning to cruise, broke one of the glass panes. When we looked into having it repaired, we learned you couldn't buy that sort of replacement part and the whole fireplace front would have to be replaced — and a new one was $600 or so. We thought about it, but then just decided to leave it boarded up. And somewhere in my mind, I equated "boarded up fireplace" with "fireplace is broken." It had a bandaid for its ouchie, you know? :-) And soon, I pretty much forgot we had one at all. It just blended into the background.
It was actually Stephen's dad who pointed out that the doors just unscrew. There is still a metal screen behind them, and a perfectly functioning fireplace. The house flippers said they've sold many houses that just have the black screen and no glass doors. So we took them off, cleaned up the whole thing and had a fire, just for the hell of it. It was so bittersweet, I can't even begin to explain. Here I was, sitting in my beautiful house, in front of a roaring fire, cuddling on the couch with my husband for pretty much the last time ever. Sniff sniffle. And the worst part is, it was never really broken. We could have enjoyed our fireplace for all this time, with the help of a simple screwdriver and some dust rags.
It sucks that all the things we're doing to make our house sell make me want to stay. The emotional attachment is coming back worse than before. But if we don't do them, then we'll be stuck with the house! Who cares if I'm not emotionally attached to it if we can't unload it on someone else?
Anyway, it's starting to look really smashing. About $200 on repairs and accessories has really gone a long way. And I think it's a great investment, because not only are we going to get a better price for our house, we get to take a lot of the stuff with us. Yay!
I should have photos to post of how it all turned out sometime early next week. Stay tuned!
Monday, December 31, 2007
It's not "stealing" its "borrowing"
We've sunk lower than low. We have a bunch of medical bills we've been ignoring that are starting to charge interest that we need to get paid. There are huge changes coming up soon in our lives, so I'm not worried about being able to pay the money back in the long run, but for now, we've decided that the best course of action to avoid increasing interest and borrowing more from credit cards that we then will not be able to pay down as fast because we're messing with our balance transfer interest rates is to use Ben's birthday/Hannukah money to pay down our bills. :-(
We both truly believe with all our hearts that it is his money, and we will be returning it ASAP and keeping it safe for him until he's old enough to choose what he wants to do with it. His grandpa has created a college account for him (I honestly have no idea how much is in there) but since none of the givers of this money specified that it be earmarked for college, we aren't going to add that requirement ourselves. It's Ben's money, to do with as he sees fit, as soon as he's old enough to understand there are other aspects to money besides "quarters for balls." We imagined how long he'd stay and play Skee-Ball at the arcade if he had 1,200 quarters and the answer is probably the rest of his life. :-)
We both truly believe with all our hearts that it is his money, and we will be returning it ASAP and keeping it safe for him until he's old enough to choose what he wants to do with it. His grandpa has created a college account for him (I honestly have no idea how much is in there) but since none of the givers of this money specified that it be earmarked for college, we aren't going to add that requirement ourselves. It's Ben's money, to do with as he sees fit, as soon as he's old enough to understand there are other aspects to money besides "quarters for balls." We imagined how long he'd stay and play Skee-Ball at the arcade if he had 1,200 quarters and the answer is probably the rest of his life. :-)
Friday, November 23, 2007
Deal or no deal
Stephen had this brilliant idea that we should shop around for a good deal on a laptop this morning since we were already in civilization for Thanksgiving. He wanted to get up early and shop with the crazy people! Dude — there many reasons why that is not a good idea. Here are a few of them.
1. My mom would have to be in charge of watching sleeping Ben, and they'd be on opposite ends of her ginormous house with no monitor. So realistically, one of them would have to wake up and move. Neither of them would really be thrilled about this.
2. I am working tonight until 1:30 a.m. Getting up at 4 and staying up until 1 equals death.
3. I am really hoping to either get a laptop for Christmas, or at least use the money we get to buy one in January. I do not want to buy it on credit unless its a really good deal.
So as a compromise, we decided to go window shopping for laptops with my mom and Ben at about 10 a.m. We figured most of the sales last until noon or 1 p.m. Well, we didn't find anything under $600 and I know I can get one online for $500 easily, and maybe even $450. That's the lowest advertised price that I've seen. Anyway, we gave up and went home. I had to work at 3 p.m. so we wanted to leave my mom's house by 12:30, just in case we hit traffic. (And we did! Everything was fine until the last 10 minuts of the trip, which ended up taking about 45 minutes!!!!) So we arrived in town exactly at 3 p.m., and they just dropped me off here. About 20 minutes later, Stephen called me ranting and raving about something.
Apparently, our local Staples had laptops on sale for $350 until 10 a.m. Here! Not in Kent.
He was mucho frustrated :-(
1. My mom would have to be in charge of watching sleeping Ben, and they'd be on opposite ends of her ginormous house with no monitor. So realistically, one of them would have to wake up and move. Neither of them would really be thrilled about this.
2. I am working tonight until 1:30 a.m. Getting up at 4 and staying up until 1 equals death.
3. I am really hoping to either get a laptop for Christmas, or at least use the money we get to buy one in January. I do not want to buy it on credit unless its a really good deal.
So as a compromise, we decided to go window shopping for laptops with my mom and Ben at about 10 a.m. We figured most of the sales last until noon or 1 p.m. Well, we didn't find anything under $600 and I know I can get one online for $500 easily, and maybe even $450. That's the lowest advertised price that I've seen. Anyway, we gave up and went home. I had to work at 3 p.m. so we wanted to leave my mom's house by 12:30, just in case we hit traffic. (And we did! Everything was fine until the last 10 minuts of the trip, which ended up taking about 45 minutes!!!!) So we arrived in town exactly at 3 p.m., and they just dropped me off here. About 20 minutes later, Stephen called me ranting and raving about something.
Apparently, our local Staples had laptops on sale for $350 until 10 a.m. Here! Not in Kent.
He was mucho frustrated :-(
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Oh noez! Another etiquette question ...
The last one didn't go over well, but hopefully I won't get in too much trouble for asking about birthday party etiquette for a 2-year-old.
We decided that we wanted to have Ben's birthday at the Olympia Chuck E. Cheese for a number of reasons. It's not as far for everyone to drive. Ben and the other little kids will have a better time with something fun to do than just running around our teeny tiny house. My dad and step-mom are allergic to cats and couldn't come if it were at our house.
But just yesterday, it occured to me that we are probably expected to pay for everything. Isn't that how birthday parties work? The parents bring their kid with a present for your kid, but you buy their kid food and pay for some tokens? Stephen flicked me for not having thought of this. I already told a bunch of people that it was going to be there too, so I can't really back out now. Gulp. Maybe I'll ask my mom to get Ben a birthday party as his gift. (She won't want to. Her style is to get something that will continue to be used every day for a long time so he'll always remember that it was from Nana.)
We decided that we wanted to have Ben's birthday at the Olympia Chuck E. Cheese for a number of reasons. It's not as far for everyone to drive. Ben and the other little kids will have a better time with something fun to do than just running around our teeny tiny house. My dad and step-mom are allergic to cats and couldn't come if it were at our house.
But just yesterday, it occured to me that we are probably expected to pay for everything. Isn't that how birthday parties work? The parents bring their kid with a present for your kid, but you buy their kid food and pay for some tokens? Stephen flicked me for not having thought of this. I already told a bunch of people that it was going to be there too, so I can't really back out now. Gulp. Maybe I'll ask my mom to get Ben a birthday party as his gift. (She won't want to. Her style is to get something that will continue to be used every day for a long time so he'll always remember that it was from Nana.)
Cost me all of 50 cents
After procrastinating for way too long, I finally dragged Stephen out today to pick up some invitations for Ben's rapidly approaching 2nd birthday party. We are mega-busy and now is not a good time to do this, but if I wait until I actual have the time, it will be like three days before the party and then I'll be sad when no one can come.
Anyway, I asked to go to Staples because I remember them having some really nice stuff and I wanted the invites to have a nicer, quality type appearance. Well, strangly, they don't have birthday invitations. They have thank you cards and baby announcements and baby shower invitations, but no birthday ones. Lame.
So, since there's really nowhere else to go in this little town, we ended up at Mal-Wart, again, and I picked out some invites that I liked. They were $6 for 20 invitations, which I thought was pretty fair. (Hopefully I don't need more than 20, yipes!) When we went to pay for them, they rang up for $0.50. They were clearance.
Sweet!
Anyway, I asked to go to Staples because I remember them having some really nice stuff and I wanted the invites to have a nicer, quality type appearance. Well, strangly, they don't have birthday invitations. They have thank you cards and baby announcements and baby shower invitations, but no birthday ones. Lame.
So, since there's really nowhere else to go in this little town, we ended up at Mal-Wart, again, and I picked out some invites that I liked. They were $6 for 20 invitations, which I thought was pretty fair. (Hopefully I don't need more than 20, yipes!) When we went to pay for them, they rang up for $0.50. They were clearance.
Sweet!
Travel the world and the seven seas
It's fun to dream about what you could do with money if you had it. I like to think we'd travel all over the world, but of course, always shopping for deals and grabbing the cheap flights when we see them. A lot of companies have holiday offers going on right now that I'd love to take advantage of if we had the extra funds. But even better than dreaming about what you would buy for yourself if you had money, is dreaming about what you would buy for others, especially at this time of years. When I saw cheap flights to Christchurch advertised on Dialaflight, I thought immediately of my mother-in-law, who I know would be so very touched by such a gift. Someday I'd love to be able to return some of the kindness and generosity that she has bestowed on our family over the years.
Made with love
Somehow, (I'm still not sure exactly what happened) my SIL's offer to teach me to knit cost about $15. She claims she wasn't meaning for me to buy circular needles (straight ones are only a couple of $$$) but she did insist that I get a book in case I needed some help when she wasn't around. I don't really learn well from books, but it's there for emergencies. My husband was not thrilled about the whole knitting thing though. ("Let's see, you spent money we don't have to take up a new hobby that's going to take up time that we could either spend together or use to be productive.")
OK, so our house is trashed again/like always, and I never clean anything much. I realize this. But previously I spent the time that he was putting Ben to bed reading or on the phone, and he didn't object to either of those things. I guess that might be because they don't cost any money. I read books I already have or I get them from the library. I tried to tell him that knitting is not expensive ... you only need to buy the needles once, and the yarn is like $3 for enough to make a ton of stuff. AND, I can make stuff that we need so we don't have to buy it. Not to mention the awesomeness of homemade items vs. made-in-China crap that supports our disposable society. I want my son to own clothes (are scarves considered clothes?) that were made with love. It really makes a difference, just like buying whole foods and home cooking them vs. buying frozen/processed crap in boxes and cans.
So now its my goal to be sure and actually FINISH a scarf and have it be useable this winter so that we don't have to buy him one. Plus, I thought it would be really super cool if I was fast enough to get one done before Christmas, I could give it to my nephew Cameron and then do one for Ben and they could match. I would love love love to make my own gifts. It's not only less expensive, it's more personal.
OK, so our house is trashed again/like always, and I never clean anything much. I realize this. But previously I spent the time that he was putting Ben to bed reading or on the phone, and he didn't object to either of those things. I guess that might be because they don't cost any money. I read books I already have or I get them from the library. I tried to tell him that knitting is not expensive ... you only need to buy the needles once, and the yarn is like $3 for enough to make a ton of stuff. AND, I can make stuff that we need so we don't have to buy it. Not to mention the awesomeness of homemade items vs. made-in-China crap that supports our disposable society. I want my son to own clothes (are scarves considered clothes?) that were made with love. It really makes a difference, just like buying whole foods and home cooking them vs. buying frozen/processed crap in boxes and cans.
So now its my goal to be sure and actually FINISH a scarf and have it be useable this winter so that we don't have to buy him one. Plus, I thought it would be really super cool if I was fast enough to get one done before Christmas, I could give it to my nephew Cameron and then do one for Ben and they could match. I would love love love to make my own gifts. It's not only less expensive, it's more personal.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Bed from heaven
When I was pregnant, I admit that it was nice to have a massage therapist for a husband. But what I really wanted was a new bed. Our mattress was ancient and sagged in the middle. I used a body pillow from like week 10 and on, but it wasn't enough. By the time I was about six months along, my back ached more and more each and every day, no matter what my husband did to fix it. We decided that we would use my birthday money to get ourselves a new mattress.
While shopping, we had a chance to lay down on lots of different kinds of mattresses, but we both agreed that we liked the tempurpedic mattresses the best. Sadly, they were WAY out of our price range (we've pretty much always struggled to make ends meet, even then) so we went with a regular mattress with a memory foam topper. It was very awesome — a huge improvement from what our bed was before. But sometimes, I still wonder how blissfully happy we'd be now if we'd gotten the tempurpedic mattress. Seriously, it was like laying on a cloud.
While shopping, we had a chance to lay down on lots of different kinds of mattresses, but we both agreed that we liked the tempurpedic mattresses the best. Sadly, they were WAY out of our price range (we've pretty much always struggled to make ends meet, even then) so we went with a regular mattress with a memory foam topper. It was very awesome — a huge improvement from what our bed was before. But sometimes, I still wonder how blissfully happy we'd be now if we'd gotten the tempurpedic mattress. Seriously, it was like laying on a cloud.
Ka-pow = oh no
So even though we’re still struggling with the $$$, I approved of spending $4 on a new video for Ben. He watches a movie everysingletime he uses his potty, which is basically all the time now. As long as we’re home, the pull-ups are just catching accidents. (And poo-poo, but boy is that another story.)
Anyway, I wanted him to have a new movie because he was (or maybe Stephen was) getting tired of just watching Elmo all the time. First, Stephen put on Cars for him, which I was OK with, because it was rated G and really cute. But next, it was Powerpuff Girls, which is PG. OK, fine, because they were just watching the opening scenes where the girls are born and then go to Kindergarten and then play tag. Well, then Stephen kept letting him watch a little more each day and it was getting more and more violent. You knew it was bad because Ben was acting scared at the movie. So what do we do? Turn it off? Well, that’s what I wanted to do, but Stephen was talking him through it, helping him to feel excited instead of scared. And it wasn’t long before I found myself doing it too. We were trying to cheer him up by desentizing him to the violence.
“Ka-pow! Go Powerpuff Girls! Get those bad monkeys! Yay, Powerpuff Girls save the day!”
And sure enough, he wasn’t bothered by it anymore. And even surer enough, it was only a few more hours before it occured to him to take a pillow off the couch and attack Blinx with it. “Bad kitty! Ben-Ben get you!” I pulled the pillow from him, told him he could hit the pillow with his fists or yell into it, but he couldn’t hit the cat with it. I turn around 30 seconds later and he’s hitting Blinx with his fists! Dammit.
What frustrates me the most is that Stephen just doesn’t seem to see this. He thinks, “Oh, he’s being a boy. All boys go through this type of stage. We teach him that kitties have feelings and put him in time-out if he does it again and he learns what the rules are. No biggie.”
And I guess those things are fine enough, but why set him up to fail, you know? We show him videos of little girls beating up on monkeys, we cheer them on, and then we tell him he can’t beat on his cats? Why aren’t we cheering for him? You get the idea. Whoever thinks violence on television doesn’t cause it in kids clearly never sat down and actually paid attention to their kids. It’s quite obvious to me.
Anyway, I wanted him to have a new movie because he was (or maybe Stephen was) getting tired of just watching Elmo all the time. First, Stephen put on Cars for him, which I was OK with, because it was rated G and really cute. But next, it was Powerpuff Girls, which is PG. OK, fine, because they were just watching the opening scenes where the girls are born and then go to Kindergarten and then play tag. Well, then Stephen kept letting him watch a little more each day and it was getting more and more violent. You knew it was bad because Ben was acting scared at the movie. So what do we do? Turn it off? Well, that’s what I wanted to do, but Stephen was talking him through it, helping him to feel excited instead of scared. And it wasn’t long before I found myself doing it too. We were trying to cheer him up by desentizing him to the violence.
“Ka-pow! Go Powerpuff Girls! Get those bad monkeys! Yay, Powerpuff Girls save the day!”
And sure enough, he wasn’t bothered by it anymore. And even surer enough, it was only a few more hours before it occured to him to take a pillow off the couch and attack Blinx with it. “Bad kitty! Ben-Ben get you!” I pulled the pillow from him, told him he could hit the pillow with his fists or yell into it, but he couldn’t hit the cat with it. I turn around 30 seconds later and he’s hitting Blinx with his fists! Dammit.
What frustrates me the most is that Stephen just doesn’t seem to see this. He thinks, “Oh, he’s being a boy. All boys go through this type of stage. We teach him that kitties have feelings and put him in time-out if he does it again and he learns what the rules are. No biggie.”
And I guess those things are fine enough, but why set him up to fail, you know? We show him videos of little girls beating up on monkeys, we cheer them on, and then we tell him he can’t beat on his cats? Why aren’t we cheering for him? You get the idea. Whoever thinks violence on television doesn’t cause it in kids clearly never sat down and actually paid attention to their kids. It’s quite obvious to me.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Buried in bills
I thought for sure we'd be able to survive until January because November is a three paycheck month and we've got plenty of gifts not only already purchased, but even already paid for. But that was before the mail came yesterday and we have not one, but TWO huge bills. One was for getting Stephen's "suspicious" mole removed, which was $400. Guess how much insurance paid? Go on, guess. That's right — $0. Why do we have insurance again?
The other was the last dental bill from all the work I had done last summer. That one was $800, and $300 was covered by insurance. Why just $300? Well, obviously because I've already maxed out all the benefits I can get for this whole year. Horray.
So, I guess all that money I was thrilled about making the other day will just get thrown into bills. And we'll probably still have to make payments on them. Why not? We're making payments on everything else ...
The other was the last dental bill from all the work I had done last summer. That one was $800, and $300 was covered by insurance. Why just $300? Well, obviously because I've already maxed out all the benefits I can get for this whole year. Horray.
So, I guess all that money I was thrilled about making the other day will just get thrown into bills. And we'll probably still have to make payments on them. Why not? We're making payments on everything else ...
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Getting back on track
All it takes is one little disaster, one unexpected issue, and suddenly you can be flat broke. For us, it was having our son in the NICU for the first eight days of his life and finding out that our house was rotting underneath our feet. But whatever it is, once you're stuck in a cycle of not being able to afford your life, it can be so hard to get out.
Nothing quite as brilliant as the typical theory of only lending money to those who can prove they don't need it. That's why there's now bad credit loans for people who might have fallen on hard times and just need a boost to get out. This site lets you compare a lot of different offers and choose the one that is the best fit for your situation. For example, if your car breaks down beyond repair, but you have to have a vehicle, you can get an autoloan. As long as you choose one with payments you can afford, and remember to make them on-time, you will be able to build your credit back up again. And by the time you can qualify for a regular loan, hopefully, you won't need one anymore!
Nothing quite as brilliant as the typical theory of only lending money to those who can prove they don't need it. That's why there's now bad credit loans for people who might have fallen on hard times and just need a boost to get out. This site lets you compare a lot of different offers and choose the one that is the best fit for your situation. For example, if your car breaks down beyond repair, but you have to have a vehicle, you can get an autoloan. As long as you choose one with payments you can afford, and remember to make them on-time, you will be able to build your credit back up again. And by the time you can qualify for a regular loan, hopefully, you won't need one anymore!
Friday, November 9, 2007
These boots were made for splashing
I insisted on celebrating last night, even though it would make more sense to celebrate making money by not spending it, that isn't how I work. So we went out to dinner at Happy Teriyaki and then did a little shopping. It was mostly necessary shopping though, I swear! We got more pull-up ("Carrots still there, bunnies on 'em") diapers and a really cheap movie. (Seriously, this is what Ben says to differentiate between the pull-ups and the old baby diapers. Unless he uses one and then it's "Carrots all gone, bunnies on 'em") We also got him some new shoes to replace the ones we ruined. I know, poor people should not ruin their child's only pair of shoes, but we didn't do it on purpose!
We'd gone for a walk in the rain the other day and managed to get all the way to the school (they have a covered play area that both the kid and the dog really appreciate visiting when it's raining) and most of the way home with no incidents when Ben took off running and started stomping in a puddle. His shoes were soaked all the way through, but we still had to go grocery shopping that day. Since they are his only shoes, our options were: Go another day, bring him without shoes, have one of us stay home with him and the other go alone, or try to dry out the shoes. We chose option 4, try to dry out the shoes. We propped them up by the heater vent and turned it up full-blast. Well, the shoes were dry in about 15 minutes but the little liner things in the soles shrunk up and fell out. (They were $10 shoes from Payless. Why spend a lot on shoes he's just going to outgrow?) Well, we'd only had them for a few months and they were still a little big on him ... so we were very sad. Stephen said we'd just make do and have him wear them anyway, making sure that he always has socks on (he hates socks and usually doesn't wear them). This worked OK I guess, but I just feel like a bad person. They can't be comforatable with no cushion under his feet. If I'm bringing in all this extra money that we weren't even counting on, surely we can afford a new pair of shoes for our son.
So we shopped around and I didn't really like anything that we saw. Everything was either ugly or expensive. Some pairs were both! So we headed back to Payless. (It wasn't THEIR fault that the first pair fell apart, you know?) We tried three pairs on him, the $10 pair were kinda cute, but wouldn't really go with very many of his outfits. The second pair, $17, were pretty cute, and actually looked a lot like the pair we were replacing. We were just about to get them when I saw a pair of brown boots — also $17 on sale. The giant sign on them said "WATERPROOF" and I heard the cheesy little "Hallelujah" chorus in my head. Brilliant! All children's shoes should be waterproof.
We bought them and he wore them out of the store. He wasn't thrilled, because they are heavy and clunky and slow him down quite a bit. Plus, he likes to take his shoes off in the car and he was extra grumpy that he couldn't kick these off. (They are tie shoes, but have a secret zipper on the inside for easy on and off for parents. Again, I restate that these are awesome shoes!) So when I got up this morning, I was happy to see that it had rained last night. We'll be sure to go for an afternoon walk today and I'll show him that it's OK to jump in the puddles now because new boots protect our feet. After that, I bet he'll take to them just fine.
We'd gone for a walk in the rain the other day and managed to get all the way to the school (they have a covered play area that both the kid and the dog really appreciate visiting when it's raining) and most of the way home with no incidents when Ben took off running and started stomping in a puddle. His shoes were soaked all the way through, but we still had to go grocery shopping that day. Since they are his only shoes, our options were: Go another day, bring him without shoes, have one of us stay home with him and the other go alone, or try to dry out the shoes. We chose option 4, try to dry out the shoes. We propped them up by the heater vent and turned it up full-blast. Well, the shoes were dry in about 15 minutes but the little liner things in the soles shrunk up and fell out. (They were $10 shoes from Payless. Why spend a lot on shoes he's just going to outgrow?) Well, we'd only had them for a few months and they were still a little big on him ... so we were very sad. Stephen said we'd just make do and have him wear them anyway, making sure that he always has socks on (he hates socks and usually doesn't wear them). This worked OK I guess, but I just feel like a bad person. They can't be comforatable with no cushion under his feet. If I'm bringing in all this extra money that we weren't even counting on, surely we can afford a new pair of shoes for our son.
So we shopped around and I didn't really like anything that we saw. Everything was either ugly or expensive. Some pairs were both! So we headed back to Payless. (It wasn't THEIR fault that the first pair fell apart, you know?) We tried three pairs on him, the $10 pair were kinda cute, but wouldn't really go with very many of his outfits. The second pair, $17, were pretty cute, and actually looked a lot like the pair we were replacing. We were just about to get them when I saw a pair of brown boots — also $17 on sale. The giant sign on them said "WATERPROOF" and I heard the cheesy little "Hallelujah" chorus in my head. Brilliant! All children's shoes should be waterproof.
We bought them and he wore them out of the store. He wasn't thrilled, because they are heavy and clunky and slow him down quite a bit. Plus, he likes to take his shoes off in the car and he was extra grumpy that he couldn't kick these off. (They are tie shoes, but have a secret zipper on the inside for easy on and off for parents. Again, I restate that these are awesome shoes!) So when I got up this morning, I was happy to see that it had rained last night. We'll be sure to go for an afternoon walk today and I'll show him that it's OK to jump in the puddles now because new boots protect our feet. After that, I bet he'll take to them just fine.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
You have got to be kidding me
This is just not OK.
Date rape drug found in children’s toy
I know we’re having money problems. And the shiny made-in-China stuff at Mal-Wart sure can look tempting. But I am just not OK with the industry regulations right now. I am this close to limiting Ben’s new toys to solid pieces of American wood, carved and sanded by myself or my husband only. We’ll do it in our own house and make them into cute shapes like teddy bears and trains. That’s a toy right? I’m sure kids got along fine before brightly colored plastics and battery-operated light-up things were invented.
I mean, a choking hazard is one thing, and if these kids swallowed small toys that were meant for older kids and choked on them, I could maybe see blaming the parents a little more. You know, like the toys have an age on the outside of the package for a reason. You don’t sue the bleach company if your kid drinks bleach and dies you know? It’s bleach, it’s SUPOSSED to be toxic.
But when toys for kids of any age contain the date rape drug and kids who eat the toy go into a coma? There is something majorly wrong with our world. It’s almost like someone is doing this on purpose. And seriously, I don’t care how much you hate Amercia, you just don’t target children. You just don’t. And if its not on purpose, but just people being lazy and trying to cut costs to drive up profit margins? Well, shame on them. They certainly won’t be making any more profits now, huh?
Date rape drug found in children’s toy
I know we’re having money problems. And the shiny made-in-China stuff at Mal-Wart sure can look tempting. But I am just not OK with the industry regulations right now. I am this close to limiting Ben’s new toys to solid pieces of American wood, carved and sanded by myself or my husband only. We’ll do it in our own house and make them into cute shapes like teddy bears and trains. That’s a toy right? I’m sure kids got along fine before brightly colored plastics and battery-operated light-up things were invented.
I mean, a choking hazard is one thing, and if these kids swallowed small toys that were meant for older kids and choked on them, I could maybe see blaming the parents a little more. You know, like the toys have an age on the outside of the package for a reason. You don’t sue the bleach company if your kid drinks bleach and dies you know? It’s bleach, it’s SUPOSSED to be toxic.
But when toys for kids of any age contain the date rape drug and kids who eat the toy go into a coma? There is something majorly wrong with our world. It’s almost like someone is doing this on purpose. And seriously, I don’t care how much you hate Amercia, you just don’t target children. You just don’t. And if its not on purpose, but just people being lazy and trying to cut costs to drive up profit margins? Well, shame on them. They certainly won’t be making any more profits now, huh?
Achieve it
You know that cheesy old addage, "Anything you can conceive and believe, you can achieve"? That kind of inspriational message is usually found on posters in the guidance counselor's office at a high school. And even when I was IN high school, and like the cheeriest, giggliest girl you could ever imagine meeting, those posters made me want to barf. There was one of a bird trying to eat a frog and the frog was already in the bird's mouth but he used his froggy hands to squeeze the bird's neck closed and the text read, "Never, ever give up" or something like that. It's kind of a nice idea, but even then I knew that there are some things that you should just give up on.
Take me for example. A realistic dream was to be a journalist. Everyone told me that I was good at writing, I seemed to enjoy it, and I really loved layout. But if my dream was to be a singer, a la Carrie Underwood? There are not enough voice lessons in the world to fix the fact that my tone is bad and when I think I'm matching what I hear, I'm actually painfully flat. (I can hear this quite clearly when listening to myself played back on a tape. Just not while I'm actually singing for some unknown reason.)
So the dream I entertained as a child of being a rock star was out. Just plain out. No amount of dreaming and believing was going to make it happen.
Well, what about my current dream? To be at home with my kid(s) and maybe someday train to help and support other nursing women? With our family's finances? How will we get by without my steady income?
For awhile, it felt like that dream was too far on the rock star side of things. I struggled to earn a few extra $$$ here and there. I was thrilled to make $5 every few days. And now? With hard work, perserverance and some dumb luck, I really feel like I am starting to turn my life around. We had problems and I said, I will not let these problems stop me from following my dreams. I found a solution and I worked at it, HARD, for a very long time. And now everything looks so rosy I'm starting to wonder what else I could accomplish if I set my mind to it. I am very stubborn, you know :-)
Take me for example. A realistic dream was to be a journalist. Everyone told me that I was good at writing, I seemed to enjoy it, and I really loved layout. But if my dream was to be a singer, a la Carrie Underwood? There are not enough voice lessons in the world to fix the fact that my tone is bad and when I think I'm matching what I hear, I'm actually painfully flat. (I can hear this quite clearly when listening to myself played back on a tape. Just not while I'm actually singing for some unknown reason.)
So the dream I entertained as a child of being a rock star was out. Just plain out. No amount of dreaming and believing was going to make it happen.
Well, what about my current dream? To be at home with my kid(s) and maybe someday train to help and support other nursing women? With our family's finances? How will we get by without my steady income?
For awhile, it felt like that dream was too far on the rock star side of things. I struggled to earn a few extra $$$ here and there. I was thrilled to make $5 every few days. And now? With hard work, perserverance and some dumb luck, I really feel like I am starting to turn my life around. We had problems and I said, I will not let these problems stop me from following my dreams. I found a solution and I worked at it, HARD, for a very long time. And now everything looks so rosy I'm starting to wonder what else I could accomplish if I set my mind to it. I am very stubborn, you know :-)
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