Food Waste and Fun Money

I have once again accomplished 0 food waste. Mainly by eating the same thing four times in the same week. It's a good thing that I don't mind leftovers or my Masters studies might just drive me nuts. That said I have half a head of lettuce that is still in good shape but needs to be eaten in the next week, or it will cease to be in such good shape. I also have a container of plain yogurt that I haven't even cracked the seal on. That too needs to be eaten this week. But I think that those are manageable tasks.

I'm returning to the fun money that I got back in March. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about I got a large sum of money earlier this year from Veterans Affairs in order to compensate me for the damage that was done to my knee while in the military. The first $44,000.00 went to sensible stuff like paying down my mortgage and funding my Masters degree. The last $788.20 was put aside for me to have fun with, anything I wanted any time I wanted. Eight months later and I haven't touched a dime of it. Guess there isn't much that I want.

There have been lots of things that I've thought about spending it on. Some things got rejected because I don't have the time at the moment to start a new project or hobby, and other ideas got nixed because I wanted to make sure I got the most bang for my buck when it came to happiness. After all I spend that money it's gone along with the anticipation of spending it. There was also a bit of an emotional tag attached to it. The money was given as a payoff for a bad thing happening, and as far as I'm concerned there is not amount of money for the loss of my dream career let alone living with chronic pain. So buying something trite like a new book would make it seem more like a payoff.

So it's sat there and sat there. The first $44,000.00 was so simple. Spending it on education and my house made sense and felt good because it increased my financial security and quality of life. The last bit not so much. That said a decision has finally been made on the fun money. I'm getting a cat.

Before you start thinking that I'm going out and buying a supper expensive cat; I'm not. In fact I'm planning on buying one on sale from the Humane Society. What the money will do is pay for the cat's expenses for the first year which will get me through most of my masters before my new best friend starts diverting funds from my cash flow. A cat will provide me company which is greatly needed when you live alone and away from family. So hang around and hopefully I'll be able to introduce you to the newest member of my house hold shortly.

Wedding Season

Let me first wish each and every one of you a happy Canada Day.  There is nothing like spending a day celebrating the fact that you live in one of the most privileged and peaceful places on earth.  But I digress.

My weekend absence from this blog was for a very good reason.  My brother got married on Saturday, which naturally necessitated a three day long celebration (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.)  I must say that their wedding was exemplary in it's sensibility.  (I know that's what every bride wants to hear.)  But it really was nice and only once did I see someone running around like a chicken with his head cut off (and that fire was but out quite quickly.)

Instead of pomp and circumstance the emphasis was on spending time with family.  Friends supplied both the venue and the play list.  Family hosted the parties on Friday and Sunday, and supplied the cakes.  Knowing that most family members would be coming a great distance to join in the festivities the bride and the groom requested that there be no presents.  For them having family come to spend the day with them was present enough.

Of course several family members brought presents anyways, myself included.  (Let's be realistic now, it's been years since I did what my brother told me.)  That said, I didn't go over board on the present.  It cost me maybe $10, oh yes, and about 150 hours of work.  I don't think that popular culture appreciates home made gifts as much as they use to.  Even though making something yourself takes much more effort and thought than picking something up at the store (no matter the price) ever could.

Freeniture not furniture

On occasion when I have visitors to my house I'll get the comment, "looks like you need to go to the furniture store."  Normally I'll just smile and nod.  You see I own somewhat of a large house for one person and most of my furniture came with me from my university apartment.  Because of that one bed room is almost empty, my front room held a solitary (though quite comfy chair) and I have an area of the basement that is not furnished at all.  At the end of the day though, I had no need to go to the furniture store.  After all I had a bed to sleep on, a dresser for storage, a table to eat at, and the comfiest chair in the world.  I needed nothing else.  After all I can only sit on one chair at a time.

I knew that more furnishings would come into my house eventually, which is a good thing seeing as I am hosting a number of relatives for my brother's wedding this summer and I am in the process of being approved as a foster parent.  So I kept my eyes peeled looking for freeniture instead of furniture.

I had the advantage of lots of time, I moved to my new house in November and my brother's wedding / approval to foster won't come until June/July.  Patience won out for me twice in the past week.  First find was a look-like-new couch that was being moved out of my office building to make room for another desk.  A co-worker with a pick-up was kind enough to deliver it to my house after my boss asked me if I wanted it.  (Though the programmers and I were a bit put out to see it go, not that anyone sat on the couch, rather we would no longer have a place to store our stuff!)

The second find was equally awesome.  I chanced to see a lovely little dresser on someone's front lawn Saturday morning.  This one is a fixer-upper for sure.  It needs a new paint job and some of the drawers need a bit of fixing, but I figure I can do that myself for minimal costs.  To be entirely honest I am really looking forward to the project.  It should be a great learning experience and I am planning on having a lot of fun doing it.  I also had a good bit of fun bringing it home.  As you can see from the picture the drawers came home in my snazzy wagon.  The base I ended up carrying home by hand.  The whole process took almost two hours.  I know that some people are gasping at the idea of spending two hours carrying home a piece of furniture that will need to be fixed.  Just go to the store, it's not worth it!  They might say.  But to me it is worth it.  I got out in the sun and used my muscles for something other than sitting and typing.  I spent the time planning how best to fix it up and figuring out what I'd need, trying to use my ingenuity to keep the costs low.  Add to that the amusing and encouraging remarks that you'll get from people when they see you walking along with a dresser balanced on your back!  So much more entertaining than two hours at the movies.

Have a question?  I'd love to hear it!

The Second Sober Though

            During the process of buying my first home, and first car, I became a big fan of what I like to call “the second sober thought.”  Big purchases tend to involve a fair bit of emotion in the process, especially if it’s a house you’re going to be living and raising a family in.  I like to think of myself as a fairly rational and logical person especially when it comes to my money.  Turns out I was getting a little bit overconfident. 

            During my house inspection (the second one on the house I eventually bought) I brought along my parents.  As we worked through the various structures of the house we ended the inspection upstairs, where almost all the floors are finished with parquet flooring.  The floors in my house are a bit beat up, in some places they’ve lost their gloss and in other places there are gouges in the floor.  Off handed I commented that the floors up stairs would have to be replaced.  My father became the second sober thought.  Why would you need to replace it?  He asked.  Though my floor is somewhat worn it is still in one piece and as long as I don’t pour water on the places that have lost their varnish (which I should be able to avoid) they should last a long while yet.   Turns out the only reason I wanted new floor is that parquet is kind of old school, and after four months in the house I don’t even notice the type of floor I have.  My money is better of spent elsewhere. 

            A couple of months later I lost the use of the car I was borrowing and was considering buying myself.  I was back and forth on the issue, while I really didn’t want to go carless (how would I get around?) I wasn’t sure how to make it fit into my budget.  Fortunately the first car I enquired about fell through and I was back at the drawing board.  At this point my father mentioned that most people in our society don’t truly need a car.  It is simply something that is socially acceptable to do.  I wasn’t sure if I could get everywhere I wanted to go without a car but decided to try it and see what happened.  It’s been two months and I love being carless.  No payments, insurance, maintenance or gas and I don’t have to shovel my drive way. 

            So where do you go for a sober second thought?  Try to find someone who you trust who has no stake in the purchase.  Hopefully they will have a good bit of common sense and financial know how.  For me it’s often my father.  Who do you go to for a sober second thought?  

Saving on the Big Ticket Items - Washer and Dryer

I must admit I've been putting this post off for a while.  In fact I almost had myself convinced that I shouldn't write this post.  After all I didn't really buy them, well ok I did buy them.  I just didn't have to pay for them.  They were a house warming gift from my parents.  I had originally planned to buy the washer and dryer at a local second hand appliance store in order to stretch my limited budget.  So, when my parents told me that they were paying for them we simply went along with my pre-made plans.

We picked out what appeared to be the nicest washer and dryer set at the store.  They were a set of Kenmore's that looked almost new.  I estimate that new they would have costed $1,300 after taxes, this set I got for $620 after taxes.  More then half price off didn't sound too bad, unfortunately the washer did sound bad.

When I ran the washer it gave off this not too comforting clunking sound.  Of course there is only one company who is able to repair Kenmore appliances and the second hand shop had a less then stellar repair policy.  I took me $73.44 for a 20 min appointment which basically consisted of the repair man telling me that it was going to cost me an additional $340 to get a washer that worked properly.

I didn't have much of a choice, the only place I would find a washer for $340 would be the second hand store where I bought the broken washer to begin with.  I preferred to take my chances with the repair man (who's company guaranteed the repair for a year).

So I paid up and got it fixed.  The final cost of the washer and dryer set? $1,033.44 a total savings of $266.56,  Was it worth the heart ache?  It's a bit of a tough call.  I wouldn't buy appliances from that second hand store again, simply because I do not like the way that I was treated.  Likely in the future I would only buy major appliances second hand if I new the person selling.  There is a lot of trust that goes into a purchase like that and there is simply no way to test it out in the store.

That said I don't regret my purchase.  (You will probably notice I don't spend all that much time with regrets, I prefer to learn and move on.)  While the total cost of the appliances was not all that much less then one would have paid for the same set new there was one major benefit.  Because I (unlike the previous owner to obviously dumped the broken set and ran out and bought a new set) took the time and the money to repair the washer that is one less washer in the dump.  It may seem silly, but I am a strong believer in the big R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair), and I am always looking for ways to make the Lorax proud.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.   - Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Saving on the Big Ticket Items - Couches

I deliberated a bit on whether or not I should add couches to my list of big ticket items.  How the ones I currently own came into my possession is a bit of a funny story.  When I moved into my my new home I moved out of a two bedroom apartment that I had shared with my sister.  Because my parents were over seas when my sister and I first rented the apartment we had the luxury of furnishing our place with the furniture that otherwise would have gone into long term storage.

Included in the loaned furniture was a pull-out sofa bed and a one seater.  These were quite old so when my parents came back to Canada I was told I could keep the couches.  Conveniently I was moving into my house the same month that my parents were moving into theirs.  So to save money we had one moving company load up the contents of my apartment, drop off my portion of the furniture and then deliver the rest to my parent's house.

This was working out great until the movers tried to get my pull-out sofa down my stairs.  Let's just say that I preferred to keep the walls where they are for now.  Since I really didn't have anywhere to put the sofa upstairs I called my mom at work and said something along the lines of: "Hey mom, trade you a green pull-out for two brown love seats."

When my parents moved into their new place and were waiting for their furniture to come back to them (some of which was being held hostage in my apartment) they were given a set of love seats that the neighbours were trying to get rid of.  I'm not even going to try and guess when they were new, but they are solidly built and quite comfy.  So the pull-out sofa went back on the moving truck and the two brown love seats came to me.

I must admit I love hand me downs.  Why spend $1,000 on a sofa set when you can get one for free?  Granted I would at some point like to recover the sofa's (preferably by myself) but for now they are great.

Lessons Learned
-Don't be shy, ask around if you need something that a friend of neighbour might be getting rid of.  You could save them the cost of a trip to the dump.
-You get what you get.  Obviously it's a take it or leave it deal, if you want it to match your decor you will probably have to make some changes and it will cost you money.
-Be reasonable.  Obviously I didn't expect my parents to let me keep everything that they had lent.  (They were very clear about wanting the big screen back.)  On the other hand it wasn't over the moon to ask to keep the desk that was bought for my room as a teenager.  My parents didn't need or want the desks that they had bought for our rooms when we were teenagers.
-Be thankful.  Make sure you show your appreciation to the people who give you stuff.  My parent's neighbours have been over for supper or deserts a couple times since their initial generosity.  (I also provide my parents with free labour on request, but I don't think anyone is keeping track of who's done more favours for whom.)

(Please ignore the evidence of my needle work obsession on the coffee table)

Saving on Big Ticket Items - The Dresser

The latest on my list of BTI's was a dresser for my spare room.  I wanted to get it right away so that I could have the possibility of renting out one of my spare rooms to a colleague who will be working for my company for a few months.  I haven't heard anything back on that front yet, however it will get used since I plan on applying to be a respite foster parent.

I started, and ended my search at a furniture surplus store in town.  To be entirely honest the front of the store's prices were not all that much lower then, say waiting for a sale at a big box store.  Fortunately  the store also has a back area where they keep the scratched and dented furniture.  There were only two dressers in the section.  Both were rather nice looking, though not solid wood.  That said at the moment I am happy with a dresser that will get 10 years of good use and then can be down graded to a lighter task.

I was undecided weither to buy then and there or to shop around some more and see if I could find something better in another store.  Then I got talking to one of the sale's persons who noticed that the price on the dresser was lower then it was suppose to be.  He told me that he would honour that price if I decided to buy right away, but once I left the price would be corrected.  So I took the deal.  Instead of a regular price of $415 after tax I got it for $157 after tax, for a savings of 63%.  Not a bad buy considering the only thing wrong with it is a chip in the corner the size of a pea.

Lessons Learned

-Surplus stores have a slight markdown on prices but are not the cheapest way to go.  

-When it comes to the dented and scratched sections of a store you need to be patient and check regularly.  Often the selection is very small and there is no guarantee when new stock will come in or how much it will be marked down by.  

-Learn to be patient.  (I have trouble with this one.)  You need to take your time and look.  Preferably the scratch and dent section of a store should probably be one of a couple options that you are considering.  

On the bright side, my spare room is now fully furnished.

Saving on Big Ticket Items - Kitchen Table + Chairs

When it came to furnishing my first house I wanted a really good kitchen table.  I also didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on them.  (And let me be honest, I didn't have all that much left to spend on them.)  While in the strictest sense I didn't NEED a table and chairs, the idea of sitting at my desk on the one chair that I owned every night for dinner was even worse than the idea of being 23 and still sleeping in a twin bed that is part of a bunk bed set.

I did a bit more looking and research for the table than I did for my bed frame.  A new set was pretty much out of my price range, so I started my search in the scratched and dented section of some furniture stores.  While I did find some tables marked down for some minor cosmetic scratches there wasn't a whole lot of variety, so I expanded my search.

Enter Kijiji.  Truthfully this was the first time that I looked for something to buy on Kijiji, and it took a little getting use to.  I was tentative and not quite sure I was up for the idea of going to strangers' houses to look at furniture.  However, I was even more put out by the idea of paying lots of money for a table, so I sent out half a dozen inquires.

A few days later I went to check out one of the tables that I had asked about. (With my Dad-even though it was a perfectly respectable neighbourhood, you can never be too careful.)  I walked away with a solid wood table and four chairs for $75.  (Incidentally, the set was made the same year I was born, which is the same year my house was built.  What can I say?  1989 was a good year.)

I have since compared the table to what a new set would cost.  A similar new solid wood set would cost about $490 after taxes.  Which means that my set was about 85% off with plenty of wear left in it.

Lessons Learned

-Send out lots of inquires.  Make sure you are polite though; when you find what you need send an e-mail out to all those you had contacted and let them know that you are no longer interested.
-Be patient.  The best time to look is long before you need it, that way you can wait for the right one to come along and you won't feel like you are settling.
-Set criteria for what you want, it may be price, size, colour.  Have a good idea what you want.  At the same time don't be overly restrictive.  If you want a solid wood dark brown table that seats 8 and was built in the last 5 years for under $100 you are probably going to be waiting for a while.
-Safety first.  When it comes to furniture, obviously you can't meet the seller at the local Tim Horton's, but be sensible.  Go during the day, bring a friend, make sure people know where you're going and when you're going to be back, and for goodness sake, if any thing about the situation seems off make a quick exit.  A good deal isn't worth getting in harm's way.

I would use Kijiji again to find furniture: I had a great find with my table set.  Follow some common sense, do some research, and I'm sure that you will have the same satisfaction.

Saving on the Big Ticket Items - Bed

Since buying my first home I have had the chance to make a number of large purchases.  As much as I tried to avoid going all out in the first month, buying stuff for the new home was reality, as I was moving from a two-bedroom apartment to a three-bedroom house.  Naturally, not everything in the apartment was mine; some was my sisters', and a large portion was on loan from my parents.  I was lucky enough to inherit a fair bit of furniture from the apartment, but there were some major gaps that needed to be filled.

When I first moved into my house I needed a number of things:

-Full sized bed
-Kitchen table and chairs
-Dresser
-Couches
-Washer and dryer

I acquired these in a number of different ways, some saved me money, some less so.  Fortunately I managed to learn every step of the way.

THE BED

Granted, I already owned a bed.  Actually, I owned two.  They are a detached set of twin bunk beds, and I have been sleeping on one or the other for the last 20 years.  (Same mattress too.) I could have kept on sleeping on one of the twins, but to be entirely honest, I really wanted to move to a full sized bed.

I shopped for the bed at a used furniture store, and I was on a bit of a tight budget.  I wanted to keep my spending under $300.  I ended up with an antique double bed frame that was plain and a bit worn, but that I loved.  It cost me about $280 after taxes.  I probably should have taken it as an omen when I got it home, tried to assemble it and the slats that held the mattress were too long.  (I could have cut them but I didn't want the second-hand store to not have the slats that they needed for the bigger bed, so I sent them back.  Ironically, the owner decided to trim them anyways and sent them back.  Unfortunately they didn't manage to trim them to the appropriate size, so I had to trim them again once I got home.)

Because the bed was an antique I had to order a posture board instead of a box spring.  Fortunately this didn't cost me any more.  Unfortunately I had been so preoccupied about getting the right depth and width of mattress for my lovely antique bed frame that I never considered the length.  Turns out my bed frame is too short for what is now a standard double mattress.

I didn't want to part with my bed frame (and I doubt that the second-hand store would have taken it back.)  So I had to come up with another solution.  I bought a metal bed frame that can have my head board and foot board attached.  This cost me another $100.  So at the end of the day I was $80 over budget, but I did have a bed to sleep on.

Lessons Learned

-Second-hand stores aren't always a cheaper solution.  The bed frames sold at Ikea can range anywhere from $60 to $800.
-Measure, write, and measure.  Measure every dimension of what you are getting, write it down and bring it with you and then measure all of the parts in the store before you go home.  I don't care if they think you are silly measuring things in the middle of the store.  It is a lot better to know ahead of time than to find out later.
-Shop and compare.  I did do a bit of looking but not nearly enough.  The Internet makes it much easier these days to get an idea of the cost of an item.  It pays to get a good idea what is out there.

At the end of the day I don't regret my purchase.  I do love my antique bed frame and am planning on keeping it for a very long time.  I hope you can learn something from my experience and avoid the less than pleasant surprises that came up for me.