Friday, October 20, 2017

Five Frugal Things



Kobe sliders-see below


This afternoon, I am enjoying our fall decor, as I finally got out the last of the Halloween decorations-even as I think we've decided not to join the candy crowd this year. Last year we had the bell rung exactly five times!  I'm also attempting to put a Christmas table runner together, after making a wrong cut and ruining a couple of blocks.  I really hate it when that happens!
Meanwhile a few frugal wins for this week:

1.  Some time ago I added my name to the Apple/Amazon anti trust suit. Basically, as I undersand it, at one time Apple was convicted in an anti trust suit of price fixing at a time when Amazon was selling books for $9.99, with the goal of driving up the price of Ebooks-which of course, has happened anyway in some cases. Apple began paying out about 4 million this month, and my little portion of that was $30 buckaroonies. We've been looking for a new stainless steel saucepan or two (moving from all-clad to stainless) so I imagine that will be where this money is put.

2. Tomorrow, I'm heading out to my favorite thrift store. This is a special trip because it's a bit away from me. It was close to where my sister lived previously, so now we only get there every month or so. For clothing, it's by far the best thrift shop in the Denver area (or at least the south half of Denver) so I'm looking for some new sweaters.

3. As most of you know, I do a meal (sometimes cooking, sometimes buying) for a church group on Thursday night as part of a church service, meal, and fun program night. I'm reimbursed for this program and lately we've had leftovers on occasion. Sometimes they can be frozen, sometimes given to homeless kids who are camping on the lawn,  but often I bring stuff home. Last night I got three big packages of chicken and we only ate two so I brought the other ten or so pieces home-along with salad and rolls and potato salad. Since I bake most of the desserts and don't figure those ingredients into my bill, I suspect that we are even to say the least. Never the less, since I had absolutely nothing planned for tonight, this was a win-win all the way!

4. I'm thrilled (and I'll share the why of this event at another time), that I am being treated at this restaurant tomorrow night. The place calls itself a sake restaurant and has tappas (many oriental style) an extremely wide sushi menu just for starters.Their den short ribs and Kobe beef sliders are to die for, and I am looking forward to a fun, gourmet evening.

5. And finally, while we can debate the reasons for renting vs owning until the cows come in, from my perspective this week has again shown me how much financial sense renting makes for me right now.  Two days ago, as I kicked on the furnace to take the morning edge off, it made a terrible grinding sound. It then went to quietly to work, but still, grinding sound, gas furnace..........you get the idea. I emailed the landlord (who is of course my brother), and turned the thermostat off. We've had some folks in to give estimates, and I've had to be here for that. But the decision on whether to repair or replace, the cost, and of course the payment is, well, not up to me.

Now on some level when it comes to number five, I understand that many costs are being paid by me (property taxes, insurance and the like), through my rent. But those are monthly budgeted costs. And not having to deal with the big costs (both in planning and paying) be they broken and dead trees that may need to be taken down, bad furnaces, or other issues, makes life much easier for me. Both from a financial and from a stress point of view.

On to ou. Any frugal wins (or losses) this week?

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, Barb, the menu for Izakaya looks amazing! Hope you have a fabulous time.

    With regard to renting vs owning, I'm with you. We own because it gives me tremendous satisfaction to remodel, refix, and redecorate, but I'm not convinced it's more financially beneficial than renting when you include the not-insignificant run rate of maintaining a home. Glad you are in a position to enjoy living in a home without the base cost of maintaining it.

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    1. And honestly, we used to own a 1940s brownstone duples in DC where we lived for 20 years, so if I never fix up another thing m life will be complete, lol

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  2. Thank you. My brother has a tradition of paying for everyone in the family who is anywhere near him to go to a really nice restaaurant-it's a wierd birthday thing but it's his birthday thing and he will not allow anyone, child, adult or parent or grandparent to pay, and this is his favorite restaurant. Im usually seafood or frecn restaurant tpe first choice, but I do love this one.

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