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Archive for January, 2008

Another grocery receipt:

January 30th, 2008 at 08:49 pm

$0.58 1 onion
$3.47 0.87lb tomatoes (2 small ones)
$3.49 small box of lettice
$7.98 Irish small cooking otmeal
$3.00 halapeno sause
$1.50 can of green salsa
$3.68 1/4 watermelon - 4lb
$3.98 2 tiny boxes of bluberies on sale

Total: 27.58

Farmers market:
$6 -- 3 almond crossaints
$21 -- 12 yougurt dringks plus 12oz milk - I asked and got volume discount - yogurts are $2 each.

Total: 54.58

and I can't even make a dinner out of this

How to make weekends last?

January 28th, 2008 at 05:50 pm

It seems that we look forward to weekend and it passes in a blink.
Take this weekend: Sat - went to the store to fix ski boot problem, went out to dinner, a short trip to the store to buy something I needed for a while, came home, cleaned up kitchen and washed floors in half of the apartment.
Sun - friends came over, I cooked waffles for breakfast for everyone, than played Wii, stepped out to ship Wii that sold on ebay(after all the fees I only made $65 profit on it), went out for nice dinner with everyone, came back(with everyone), made some pina-coladas, played more Wii, sorted the laundry.

So now I have to go to work again. The laundry is still undone(it involves 3 trips to the laundromat and therefore entire evening). Half the apartment that I did not have time to clean is messy. There is a sink full of dishes (and we don't have washing machine - NYC apartment). I did not study Chinese, did not mail return to the amazon, did not find a stub to claim missing airline miles, did not do a million of other things.

We spend a lot of money going out, but getting home hungry after 8 pm is not fun. To shop, to plan, to cook... I want to relax on weekends - but stuff builds up.

Big savings on fun through a little effort

January 27th, 2008 at 04:49 am

When we bought our ski gear one month ago there was no sale (beginning of the season) Right now there is a great sale - 25% off.

Unfortunately it is too late for us. We used the stuff and therefore can't return and re-buy it.

I went with my receipts and talked to the manager.
While he would not grant the difference, seeing how we spend a huge sum of money on top grade equipment, he gave us 4 lift tickets to the nearby mountain. ($62 each)

So we got $248 in lift tickets, for just talking to them nicely and explaining our situation.

That shop has a good service and they tried to help.

Also, yesterday I bought a lift ticket(for another mountain) of craigslist. 30$ instead of 60.

So now I have over $300 of lift tickets for which I only paid $30. I intend to use every one of them! (and go on super-saver sundays when the lift is half off).

I got Wii at base price!

January 25th, 2008 at 04:24 pm

Yesterday, on the spur of the moment we went out to eat in Time Sq. Afterwards we still had some time left on a meter, and just taking a chance I suggested going to Toys R Us just to check "what if".
And imagine, that was the day when they got Wiis! Nobody knew about them, so they were just sitting there. They were only selling one per person (quite strict about it). So I got up early today, to be there when the store opened. Waited in the cold... And got another one! (I'll sell that one on ebay and hopefully make $100+) And we are keeping one for ourselves, of course.

I love Vermont! and boot problem

January 22nd, 2008 at 04:13 pm

I went on a 4 day ski trip (good deal through the ski club)
Besides skiing (which was great) I am once again amazed how much space people have. Even delapidated trailers we passed on route are sitting on like 800sf lots.
For 200K you can buy a huge beautiful log house... The snow, the mountain, nice service in shops.... Makes me daydream of moving. Not seriously, of course, but would it not be nice to ski every weekend on uncrowded slopes, see everything around covered in fresh white snow. I love winter, and that is how winter supposed to be.

On the down side, my new ski boots were killing me so much I had to get a rental. I used them for one day and could not take it anymore. So I am not sure what to do. Since I used them, I may not be able to return them - and they cost 350$. But it is impossible to ski in them. I will go to the store and see what they can do. They felt comfortable in the store. Frown

I am soooo tempted!!

January 10th, 2008 at 09:47 pm

There is a little studio for sale few minutes from my office! 330SF, $329,000.

Only $450 maintenance. (that is very low for Manhattan)

It is so tempting to cut my commute from 3 hours to 10 minutes a day! Hey, I could go home for lunch Smile It sounds unbelievable to me.

I could live in a space this small with my honey, I've done it before (but without 2 active cats).

There are obvious concerns, besides the space (people who don't live in NYC won't understand. They talk of McMansions but to us 800sf is luxury).

Besides the cost that would make things tight, there are commuting implications for DH. It may take him much longer to get to NJ in the morning - only one tunnel goes in that direction and he would have to go all the way cross town first. And to come back there is always traffic as well.
Second, there is no free parking ever on any day available in that area. So we would have to pay a huge sum for the garage, or park far away and take a bus to the apartment. His commute cost would go even higher than 40$ a day he is currently paying plus $350 a month for insurance.

So our vacation/going out/fun money would have to be slashed very drastically. (at the time when we'd be living so close to so many options)

Those are major drawbacks. But to live so close to work... I can dream, can't I?

Our dream car

January 5th, 2008 at 07:40 pm

Isn't this a beauty? Compact, green, and so attractive. I do not share the love of what seems to be 95% of Americans for giant tank-like polluting monstrosities.


Prius

We are not planning to buy a new car now. I hope our good old Mitsubishi will last many more years. It is a modest responsive work horse and we are fond of it. But it is nice to dream and plan.

How much do we walk? how much do we need to walk

January 3rd, 2008 at 03:31 am

For me during daily commute - 7 minutes to the train station, 4 min train to train transfer, 9 min from train to work.
20 min

Commute back: 7 min to bus, 4 min bus to train, 7 min train to home. 18 min

lunch break at least 15 min to grab something from a place nearby.

53 min total (not including shopping and normal walking around)

yet somehow it is not enough. Walking to the train after work would add another 30 minutes, but after work I am tired and just want to get home. I get off work at 6:30 and only get home at 8. This is also the reason I don't go to the gym - I'd get home at 10:30.