A Second Look--August 28, 2013

We had a few wonderful days of cooler weather that lulled us into thinking that maybe fall was here. However, real August days returned with temperatures in the 90's with high humidity soon enough. The flower workhorses of the summer have continued to add their color. Some of these include blanket flowers, marigolds, celosia and coneflowers. Acutally most of the coneflowers have finished blooming and the goldfinch are starting to enjoy their seed heads.

The bird feeder has had a lot of activity and is interesting to watch as we see which birds don't mind sharing and which birds would rather have everything to themselves. We had a particularly aggressive male house finch one day that thought it was his job to keep other birds away. This is not typical for the finches as there are usually several there at the same time. And speaking of aggressive birds, I think the baby blue birds are still in the nest. When I got to that part of the yard today, the parents were dive bombing me from two directions. Enough so that I couldn't go into the lower part of the yard to take a Second Look. I guess technically I could have, but the birds aggressively whizzing within an inch of my head scared me. Has anyone seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds?

Here are a few things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Estate sale

There was an estate sale last weekend at a house near where Miss Landers lives and we made a visit to it as a family outing. Theo was looking mainly for tools and I thought Wally should be looking for things to outfit an apartment. Ward and I weren't sure what we were looking for but thought we would know it when we saw it.

The man who used to live in the house lived to the ripe old age of 90 and had plenty of time to pursue his favorite hobby--finding bargains at thrift stores. Therefore there were plenty of clothes and dishes and tools. Not out for sale, but he also had books signed by Einstein. That made for an eclectic accumulation of things to say the least.

Ward is starting to redo this table we purchased.

I concentrated on kitchen things for Wally because he thought he already had what he needed--some plates, bowls, and a pot. I added a few more things like measuring cups, cooking spoons, and a cookie sheet. He wandered around and found things that he thought the other members of the family might be interested in. Ward was a little overwhelmed with the whole thing but was happy when he found a table with just tools. Theo was the one who was focused. He carefully considered most things he saw.

The bargaining styles of the family were just as different as their shopping styles. Wally did no bargaining because he did no shopping. I generally paid what was marked on the items, but tried to group items and get a discount on the whole lot. Ward paid whatever was marked on the item and hesitated about buying things that weren't marked. And Theo was there to get a fair price--for everyone. For example, when he asked the elderly woman running the sale how much the clock on the mantel was, she suggested $5. He said he would feel better if he paid her $10, so he did. And so it went. I wasn't sure if I were proud of him for doing what he thought was right or thought I needed to give a lesson in second hand sales.

All in all, we were happy with our purchases. Wally got a few more things for his kitchen and Theo got a clock and some tools. Ward and I got among other things a side table, measuring cup, and a box of new drawer slides. Now it's time to fix up, redo, and put away our new treasures.

What's your bargaining style at second hand sales?

Thankful Sunday--August 25, 2013

I am thankful for my sisters.

I am very lucky to have three sisters. Who else can I say pea sheller or Mrs. Schoolcraft to and get a knowing nod and a smile? Thanks to Mother and Daddy for giving me the gift of these sisters.

(In case you're wondering, I have no brothers.)

Homeowner's Insurance

or Being a Grownup

Ward and I have a list of things that we're working on that we're not particularly excited about doing, but things we should do if we are going to be responsible adults. The latest task we've been doing is reevaluating our homeowner's insurance. It's been something that has been on the list for several years (we're not always good with this grownup stuff) and a recent article in Money magazine finally prompted us into action.  While the article gives a few tips about shopping for insurance, this discussion is mostly about what your insurance may or may not cover. Apparently things have changed a lot over the last 10 years and if you haven't been paying attention, you may not be aware of them.

Here are a few highlights from the article:

Homeowners insurance is one of the least profitable kinds of insurance these days. One of the reasons is there have more damaging weather events so there have been a lot more payouts. Therefore, some of the coverage has become more restrictive. 

A burst pipe might be covered, but a leaky pipe may not be. Mold caused by either may not be covered and probably not if it came from a leaky pipe.

Wind coverage may be limited or have a much higher deductible than other coverage. You may need a rider for this to be adequately covered.

The amount of extra money it takes to rebuild an older home to meet current building standards may not be covered.

Flood insurance is an extra policy purchased from the government. If any of your house is below ground level (even an inch) and gets water in it, that is considered a flood and must be covered by flood insurance.

These are just a sampling of things Money magazine gave us to think about. Insurance rates and policies vary by region and state and of course individually. So insurance coverage is something that needs to be researched and discussed by each person with their agent.

How did we do with our latest review? Pretty good with no major changes needed. Now I'm going to play a little before I have to be a grownup again by tackling the next thing on the list.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Aug. 23, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

Nothing

We saved a few tomatoes by roasting them. This was the first time we had roasted tomatoes and they were delicious. We ate them as snacks.

This Week's True Food Confessions

A sampling of our menu this week.

 
Well, I think it's time for a review of this experiment. We all like eating out. And sometimes, the food is nutritious and sometimes it's not. And most of the time it tastes good but occasionally it doesn't.  And sometimes I like spending time in the kitchen, but mostly I don't. And sometimes Theo likes to cook, but usually he doesn't. And Ward and Wally never like to cook, but are okay with cleaning up. And we're lucky to have enough money to eat out within reason. So when I consider all of that, I think it's a miracle that we stay home for meals at all. :) But we will keep trudging on with the goal of eating more at home for both economical and nutritional reasons.

So how did we do this week? The carnivores were happy because Wally took us to a pit beef place that literally was a hole in the wall, but had very good meat. Another night, Theo took us to the local biker bar/family restaurant that had good food, but an even more interesting crowd. Ward got to have his turn when he brought home food from his favorite Chinese restaurant.

Did we eat at home? Well a few times with chicken soup, spinach pie, pizza, roasted tomatoes, and an omelet. And even though it wasn't an official meal, we also really enjoyed fresh bread with strawberry freezer jam. Not a stellar week, but still better than before we started these weekly reports. Once again, public accountability has its benefits.

Until next time...