eHow

I signed up to write tutorials over at eHow.com. I've posted three so far: Thomas the Train cake instructions, using a freezer paper stencil, and making a Russian wafer cake. Now, I get paid for how many people visit my tutorials, so feel free to click on any of those links. It's all for charity's sake, right? Also, as I post new tutorials they will show up over in my Twitter feed to the left. So feel free to follow me on Twitter and click on any new links as they come through. The things we'll do to make an extra buck or two. I've lowered myself to grovelling on my blog. But that's okay, because you all love me anyways.

Vacation!!

So after a lot of talk and planning and more talk and more planning, Anton and I finally bit the bullet and booked a vacation, just for us. We're going to go on a week-long cruise that hits 3 stops in Mexico.

My mom is going to come out and watch the kids for us. This will be the first time in the 6 years we've been married that we've gone on vacation without kids. I take that back, when Ella was a baby we had one night away for a wedding, but that was it. We are soooooooo looking forward to this. We both desperately feel like we need a rejuvenating break. And who cares if Anton will be jobless and there's no future proposed date of employment. We can always go on welfare, right? But vacations are a necessity. :)

So, if any of you have ever been to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, or Puerto Vallarta and there is an activity we must do or a place we must go, let me know! We're all about planning our own outings and not doing the cruise ship's expensive ones. I am so excited that it's going to be hard to wait to go. I think I need to go buy some cruise clothes and maybe a new bathing suit. Welfare here I come.

I beg to differ.

So there is a personal finance blog that I read that I really like. I like the guy's methods and train of thought. All, that is, except one thing. He argues that we should spend our time saving money on big ticket items like cars and houses and so on, and he looks down on things like coupon clipping. He doesn't think that coupons are worth the savings. However, I beg to differ. Since most households spend more on food than anything in their budget other than housing and maybe cars, I think it's a great place to save money. Now, if you're only going to use a coupon here and there, it's probably not worth it. But if you take the time to match those coupons with the sales, you can save a boatload of money. For example, here's what I bought today:

1 jar of mayonnaise
2 boxes fruit snacks
3 boxes granola bars
1 six-pack of root beer
1 four-pack yogurt
2 cartons Breyers ice cream
2 deodorants
1 loaf bread
1 gallon milk
15 bottles Powerade
2 4-lb. boxes fresh strawberries
8 boxes of cereal
2 jars peanut butter
2 bottles laundry detergent
1 bottle body wash
1 bottle kids' shampoo
2 bags M&M's (kid bribery)

That was a pretty full cart of groceries. And you know what it all cost me? $43.53 Now, that may not sound terribly cheap, but that's 47 items, some of which are pretty expensive on their own (laundry detergent, ice cream, etc.) You know what I would have paid if I'd bought the same things without coupons and my shopper card? $166.46 That's a savings of 73%. Not too shabby. I saved $122.93 in one shopping trip. That's not small change. And since it took me less than an hour to make my list and get all my coupons together, I'd say that's a pretty good pay rate for my time. If you do that every week, that's $6392.36 over the course of a year. You aren't going to save that much on a car purchase.

So to the personal finance blogger who thinks groceries are small change, I definitely beg to differ.

Anton's First Triathlon

Anton did his first triathlon yesterday. It was a 1/2 mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 3.8 mile run. Here's the photo representation of said event:

Waiting to get in the water. The water was warmer than the air.

At the starting line.

And they're off.

Swimming up to the finish.

Out of the water and on to the bikes!

Changing into biking gear.

Getting his bike.

On the road.

Coming into the transition point.

Changing again.

And he's off and running!

Run, run, run.

Coming into the finish.

Look at that form!

The finish line!

He completed it in 2 hours 1 minute and 26 seconds.

And the faithful spectators.

It was fun, Anton was really happy to have done his first triathlon, and I got a wicked sunburn. Did you know that I've wanted to do a triathlon for a long time? This made me want to do one even more. Too bad I HATE running!

It's Official

We are now officially white trash. The heat has gotten bad enough that I threw all proper decorum and breeding out the window, literally. My windows are now covered in beautiful metallic Mylar blankets (I knew our emergency kit would come in handy some day!). And you know what? I don't think it helped. It's ten o'clock at night and it is still 88 degrees inside my house. I am taking donations to buy a window air conditioner. Feel free to pay the money into my PayPal account.

It's a Miracle

Would you believe, after writing my last post with my various rantings and ravings that three things happened? One, the outside temperature took such a plunge that I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt. Two, we found out that our pool will be opening tomorrow. And three, Anton has gotten two emails about filling out more paperwork for his job. Maybe I need to complain to the world more often!

Letters in my Head

(At the risk of seeming trendy and writing letters for my blog post, it must be done. These things float around in my head and they must be removed before they cause someone (me) to do something unpleasant.)


To the Majority of Home Builders in Washington:

Why? I realize that you feel you live in a temperate zone over here on the west coast of the United States, but why? It has been over 80 degrees for days on end. And do you know what the typical homeowner likes to do when it gets that hot outside? I know what I'd like to do, turn on the AC. However, seeing as you didn't feel it was necessary to put it in any of the homes in the surrounding area, including mine, that is not possible. So when the sun hits the side of our apartment, we just get to sit here and watch the thermometer creep higher and higher. And let me tell you, I have it on good authority that certain moms get crankier and crankier as the temperature gets hotter and hotter. This is a danger to all society. So please, as you set out in the next few months to build new homes, please keep in mind that we will be in the market in a short while, and I would like one with AC. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Hot and Cranky



Dear County Pool Inspector,

I appreciate the fact that you have many, many pools to go around and inspect to make sure they are up to code, but seeing as this is one of the hottest summers on record, it sure would be nice if you could pick up the pace and get around to inspecting our pool so that when our apartment is 80+ degrees in the afternoon, we would have somewhere to cool off. Also, knowing that this immense task was ahead of you, it would have been nice if you had started it sometime before the beginning of summer.

Sincerely,
Considering Buying A Gym Pass Just to Use the Pool



Dear FAA,

I realize that you are a government organization and by that virtue alone are programed to run like molasses on a cold winter day; however, it's getting ridiculous. We've done our hurry up and wait time in the military. We paid our dues. So now that it's a year after Anton applied for a job with you and we are still waiting, it would be nice to see some forward motion. We'd like to be employed before our children leave for college. I hope that's not too much to ask. Also, gainful employment will allow us to move out of the cursed hot closet that we live in.

Sincerely,
Tired of Being the Breadwinner