Day 74: Park with Plastic?

I've mentioned this before, but I almost never carry cash. On the rare occasion that I do have cash on my person something always comes up that I need to spend the cash and then I'm once again in the same position of not having cash.

Today I didn't have cash. And the one thing a person in a city really needs cash for is parking. And I did a lot of parking today. You can see where I'm going with this, right?

Actually, as The Son and I dashed out the door to pick up The Daughter and her classmates before dashing off to get The Son to practice, he remember to ask if I had cash. No, I'd forgotten to raid the quarter dish on the dresser. So I unlocked the door and ran back into the house to grab a handful of quarters.

We picked up the girls and one of The Son's teammates who also needed a ride, dropped the girls at a friend's house (their practice started later in the day and they'd get a ride from another mom), and then dashed to practice. I fed the machine my quarters and for the sum of $2.00 got a receipt that granted me two hour's worth of parking in space #55.

Two hours later, The Son's team was done but The Daughter's team had another hour to go so I went back to the machine and fed it another 4 quarters. In return for my $1.00, I was granted another hour's worth of parking in space #55.

The Daughter's practice was supposed to be over at 6:15 but naturally didn't let out until 6:30. I hustled the kids (just my two at this point, everyone else had a ride home) out to the car and made a bee-line for home. Of course, a bee-line in this metropolis at 6:30pm is not a very fast bee-line. There was still tons of rush-hour traffic slowing things down.

We made it home by 7:10. I dashed into the house for a quick bathroom visit, then flew back out grabbing my purse and blowing a kiss to The Husband and pleading with him to look up the address of my destination on-line and call me on my cell phone to give me directions. My destination was a large local bookstore where author John Elder Robison was giving a reading from his book, "Look Me In The Eye." The reading was scheduled to start at 7:30. Yeah, right, like there was any way I was going to make it on time.

The Husband took his sweet time but finally called just as I was approaching downtown. His directions were off but I found the store without too much trouble only to realize that -- oh, yeah, hello, just where had I thought I'd park and just how did I think I was going to pay for it? This is downtown! People everywhere going out to dinner, hitting the clubs, hitting the bars, doing whatever people do downtown in the evening -- I really have no clue as I'm just a suburban wife and mother with no life of my own anymore ;-).

I had two dimes in my pocket and I might have been able to dig another few pennies or other small change out of my purse.

I drove around scoping out the lots -- $5.00 per night here, $8.00 after 4pm there, 1-hour meters along the streets; I don't even know who much they cost because there wasn't any empty spot for blocks. I drove around in a 3-block circle and on my second pass by the store I'd just about given up hope of getting myself out of this stupid, unpreparedness mess when I noticed a little Visa logo on the parking lot sign. What? Am I dreaming? Can it be true? Will my plastic save my skin and I'll get to go to the reading after all? It was way too good to be true. But it was. I parked, hunted down the kiosk, and after two false starts, figured out how to charge $5.00 to my credit card for unlimited parking between 4pm tonight and 6am tomorrow. Risking an asthma attack, I dashed for the bookstore and made it to the reading just as Mr. Robison was being introduced.

So, Parking -- $8.00, was the sum total of my expenses today and I learned a valuable lesson. Never loose faith in the power of plastic ;-)

In Defense of New Cars

The good bloggers of the M-Network have been talking about cars this week and invited other bloggers to join them in the discussion.

I've owned three new cars and let me tell you, I love new cars. Unapologetically love them.

Growing up, used resuscitated cars were the standard. My first car was an old beat-up Toyota Celica that my brother had driven before me and someone else had beat up before him. When it died, we bought a cute little used Honda Civic CVC that was eventually passed down to my mom when her Dodge Omni died. At that point I bought a used Toyota truck that had sustained hail damage. I loved that truck and eventually gave it to my youngest sister when she went off to college. She killed it on a road trip by not heeding an idiot light. The only used car I owned that didn't last long was a little used Datsun that I bought for my younger sister. One night it was hit and totalled as it sat parked in front of the house.

I bought my first new car, a bare-bones, nothing-extra Toyota Corolla, when I was 19. Actually I leased it and, when the lease was up, I bought it. It was an '84 and when I drove it off the lot it had less than 100 miles on it. I bought it because I was the only one in the family gainfully employed enough to qualify for financing and able afford the $100 monthly payment. I went for the lease instead of a loan because that was the only way to get the payments low enough that I could afford them. In hindsight, I know that in the long run I paid a lot more than the purchase price of the car but live and learn.

By 1995, that Corolla had seen me through three jobs, trade school, two years of college, marriage, and two children.

On July 4, 1995, we bought a brand new Subaru Legacy wagon -- a bare-bones, nothing-extra family wagon. We paid cash and drove it off the lot. It had less than 200 miles on it and I'm pretty sure I put a good 60 of them on myself in the course of my test drives. At this point, I took over the new Subaru and The Husband drove the Corolla.

He drove the Corolla for another four years. It finally gave up the ghost with 170,000+ miles on it. I'm sure it would have lasted longer had it not been for the brutal paper route I drove after The Daughter was born and the four years of gear-grinding abuse it took from The Husband (he had been driving nothing but automatics for umpteen years). When the Corolla died, I was 31 years old.

The Husband replaced the Toyota with a used car -- a really dumb, unresearched impulse buy that he ended up sinking a lot of money into over the next three years. We finally gave up on that car and, in 2002, bought a used Toyota SUV.

At this point The Husband and I switched cars again -- I got the new used SUV to drive and he drove the Subaru.

Just this summer we decided it was time to finally replace the Subaru. It was 12 years old and had over 220,000 miles on it. It was still running pretty well but it had a few slow leaks that we knew were going to need attention before too long. The final straw was that it was a manual transmission and my Fibromyalgia made it virtually impossible for me to drive it when necessary.

Before the Corolla and then the Legacy, The Husband had never owned a car that had managed to top 100k without needing extensive mechanical work. Now he was hooked. In the spirit of "don't mess with sucess," just this July we bought a brand new -- you guessed it, bare-bones, nothing-extra -- Subaru Impreza wagon. It had approximately 200 miles on it when we drove it off the lot. This time I knew more about buying a car. We went through Costco's car-buying program and got a good deal on it (dealer invoice, we retained the $1,500 rebate which was applied to the loan, and a 2-year loan at 1.9% -- we could have paid cash but took the low financing instead).

And that's were we stand today. One brand new Subaru and one reliable but aging used Toyota.

And so you see, I've got nothing against used cars. But I love new cars.

Yup, that's right, I love new cars. And not for the new car smell -- which I happen to hate. And not for any kind of "cool" factor or status symbol. I love new cars because I can account for every mile put on them. I know that they been serviced regularly and carefully maintained. I know they've never been red-lined or otherwise abused. I know that they haven't been smoked in. I know they haven't been puked in, and if they were, it was my own kids' puke. I know every meal that's been eaten in them, every trip they've taken, every repair they've had. I love taking a car from "cradle to grave."

I love new cars because I know what I'll be driving for next 12 to 15 years.

Other articles written this week about cars include:

• Moolanomy writes about new v. used, insurance, maintenance, and hidden expenses in My Cars and My Life
• The Dough Roller tells us about a new website in Service Beacon: A Free Online Tool to Track Your Car's Maintenance Schedule and History
• Gather Little by Little pokes fun at people like me in 5 Reasons You Should Buy a New Car
• Cash Money Life argues for trading v. selling your old car in Save Time and Money by Trading in Your Car
• Budget of destiny asks New or Old what kind of car do YOU buy?

So, what was the last car you bought? Was it new or used? Why'd you buy it? How long do you expect it to last?

Day 73: No Spend Day!

Yipee! Today was a triple-good-day.

First, quite unexpectedly, it was a no spend day.

Normally I would have spent, at the very least, about $3.50 at Wendy's buying The Son a bite to eat between his cello lesson and orchestra rehearsal. But he's still fighting this cold so after the cello lesson we packed it in and just headed for home. Tonight was his first absence from rehearsals so I don't feel too bad about him missing it.

The Son, relieved to be heading straight home, was sorely disappointed when he realized that this meant missing out on this weekly Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and Vanilla Frosty ritual. But I stayed tough and said "no rehearsal, no Wendy's." Then, in true motherly fashion, I proceeded to tell him how lucky he has it. "Just think," I said, "instead of buying you Wendy's each week, I could pack a brown bag dinner for you to eat in the car." That gave him pause. Then I promised to fix a box of Annie's Penne pasta w/Alfredo sauce and everything was good again. ;-)

In addition to the expected Wendy's expense, I had planned to call The Daughter's school and buy a few more grocery cards (I buy them from the school, the school gets 8% of the price, I use them just like cash to buy groceries) but I forgot to make the call. More money not spent.

And I'd planned to run a few errands during The Son's rehearsals: 1) to Marshalls to return the "swish" pants purchased for the nephew; 2) return the frames bought at Target; and 3) pick up a bottle of hardwood cleaner if the floor store was still open. None of that happened, of course, because the rehearsal was skipped. More money not spent today.

The second part of the triple-good-day happened when The Daughter returned home from her day's activities bearing the roll of Sally Foster wrapping paper that had been missing from my order last month. It was a $7.00 roll of wrapping paper in a rather elegant non-holiday-specific pattern that I'd really wanted.

And the third, and possibly most exciting, event in my triple-good-day was the copy of my latest credit card statement. It was the lowest it's been in a very long time. Years, I'd guess. I can't remember the last time it was under $1,000. This month it was under $700! The Husband was impressed and I was proud.

In case you haven't been following my story from the very beginning or in case I only think I've explained this but really haven't, I make almost every single purchase on a credit card. That's simply the way we work our monthly expenses. I purchase everything needed for the house and the kids on one credit card, all of our groceries and dining expenses on a different card, and all of our Costco and Costco gas purchases on a third card. Every month The Husband pays the bills in full. For the few things that can't be charged, I write a check. I almost without exception, I don't handle cash. So this month the household expenses including clothes, gifts, Netflix, HBA, home improvement materials, instrument rental, books, non-Costco gas, etc. -- less some returns -- totalled less than $700.

I can't tell you how psyched I am!

Day 72: Oysters, Hoodies, and Pain Reliever

Walgreens -- $6.45
Does anyone else have a 13-yo who can't swallow pills? In all honesty, I couldn't either at that age. I can't even remember when I learned to swallow pills but I think I may have even been in my 20's. Anyway, The Son can't swallow pills and he's still sick and feeling lousy. Typically I'm not one to medicate myself or my children but I like to keep basic meds on-hand just in case. We were all out of Junior-strength pain reliever so I made a quick stop and picked up a new bottle of Motrin ($5.99).

Safeway -- $51.67
The price of gas is inching up. The Tank's tank was pretty low and we have miles to go tomorrow. Plus the fact that despite the chill, tomorrow's supposed to be chillier so I stopped for a quick (well, not-so-quick) fill up. I pumped 17.23 gallons @ 2.999/gallon. The odometer now reads 116,665.

Vitamin Cottage -- $35.82
We were all out of a few staples but didn't feel up to making a serious list or doing any type of meal planning so I went armed with a very small list of essentials and kept an eye open for sales. I don't know how long there's been such a shortage of sale tags on the shelves.

• organic olive oil -- $8.15
• Rudi's bread -- $4.09
• Amy's frozen cheese snacks -- $3.25
• Alta Dena cheddar cheese -- $5.19
• organic string cheese -- $4.25
• gallon of Horizon organic 2% milk -- $4.95
• 3 tins of smoked oysters -- $1.69/ea (saved $1.98/ea.)

That's a great price on the smoked oysters. The sale lasts through mid-December. I'm going to have to remember to pick up a few tins for Santa -- I'm pretty sure he'll want to put a few in The Son's stocking this year ;-)

Cello Teacher -- $105.00
Check for 4 upcoming lessons. Tomorrow we'll look at our calendars to see which weeks will be missed due to the upcoming holidays. This check might very well take us to the end of the year.

The Daughter's School -- $90.00
The Daughter approached me last night with an order form for sports team paraphernalia. I took it to be a good sign that she was embarrassed and hesitant to show it to me. It means she's taking my budget-keeping seriously and had a clear sense of the gravity of her request.

She wanted to know if The Husband and I would purchase any or all of the available team-related gear being made available. The most expensive ($60) is a hoodie sweatshirt in the team/school colors customized with her last name and jersey number. Next was a pair of breakaway track pants ($20) in the team colors. And finally a long-sleeved t-shirt ($10) with the team mascot/name on the sleeve and school logo on the chest.

The Daughter said she'd be more than willing to count the items as her Christmas gifts this year.

I showed the list to The Husband and he didn't bat an eye; just said fine, cut a check from the joint household account. He's so amazingly easy-going. Actually, he just loves being able to provide these extras when they are important to the recipient. The Daughter's having a great time attending school (she was homeschooled for her first 8 grades) and he loves being able to provide the experience. She's having a great time participating in the school sports and he loves that he can facilitate that.

The school's athletic director didn't get his stuff together early enough last year to make these things available to the kids. The Daughter's a Sophomore and will keep the same jersey and jersey number this year and the next two so whatever we buy her now will still be applicable all the way through her senior year. And lastly, the school doesn't have letters and therefore letter jackets so this gear is in lieu of a letterman's jacket.

Maintenance Monday: Getting all Steamed Up

I am of the "quality, not quantity" philosophy. But quality will only get you so far; proper maintenance of your possessions is a very important component to getting the most value out of the quality products you buy. I'm starting a new weekly "column" of sorts where I'll share a maintance tip that I employ to help keep my house and my possession in tip-top shape.

~~ o O o ~ ~

Having remodeled two bathrooms in the past year, proper bathroom maintenance is a high priority around here. I sure don't want to put out that kind of cash again for a very long time! At least not for bathrooms ;-)

The most important maintenance consideration for bathrooms is to avoid any situation which will allow, or even worse encourage, the growth of mold and mildew. And an important weapon in the fight against mold and mildew is your average, everyday mild-mannered bathroom fan.

My contractor kept telling me that bathroom venting fans cannot pull moisture out of a room. I politely smiled and nodded and went about my business leaving him to install the new fans.

The truth is he was absolutely correct -- bathroom fans cannot and will not pull moisture (steam) out of a bathroom. But they can do something even better -- they can keep the steam from even forming.

The right time to turn on your bathroom fan is before you get in the shower. The fan keeps the temperature in the room cool so steam doesn't form. I'm sure you're familiar with what a steamy bathroom is like -- moisture on every single surface: the walls, the mirror, the ceiling. The warmth and moisture content of steam is like steroids to mold and mildew. Don't feed the monster! Use your bathroom fan!

Day 71: No Spend Day!

The Son is still sick and The Husband was able to pick up The Daughter from practice so I stayed home all day and didn't spend a penny! Of course, I'll make up for it tomorrow ;-)

Reaching Out to my Readers for Advice

I got such great feedback on my basketball shoe dilemma that I'm turning to my readers with another puzzle.

The Son takes weekly cello lessons. His teacher is a young man who recently completed his graduate degree in music performance. He's terrific -- not just in general as a music teacher but also in that he's a perfect fit for my quirky-might-have-Asperger's son. The teacher never takes offense at The Son's lack of communication or eye-contact and doesn't lose patience with him when it's obvious that not much energy went into practicing that week. In addition, on the odd occasion when the next student is late or absent, the teacher has extended The Son's 45-minute lesson to an hour without asking for additional pay.

Each 45-minute lesson costs $26.25 and we don't pay for weeks during which The Son does not have a lesson. So, my question is this: how much and in what form should we give the teacher as a Christmas/appreciation gift/bonus?

-- opinions of tutors or private-lesson teachers are particularly appreciated but all feedback and opinions are welcome --