02.26.10
Posted in Environment, Frugality, Money tagged heating, Little Sister at 10:40 pm by kyrias
One of my many faults is that I absolutely can’t stand it when people are stupid about temperature.
The first time my little sister and I went out, I had told her that we were going to be walking up and down Mass Ave between Central Square and Harvard Square. When I picked her up, she had a poufy jacket on over a low-cut shirt, jeans, and ballet flats with no socks.
Brilliant person that I am, I actually didn’t notice her lack of proper attire until she started complaining of cold about 10 minutes in. So, in an effort to remedy my mistake, I bought her a cheap pair of gloves and a scarf at the dollar store. When I dropped her off at her grandmother’s house I told her that she needed to have gloves, a scarf, and more than just a t-shirt under her coat.
The second time we met, I picked her up at her house instead of her grandmother’s and so I was able to “remind” her to put on a sweater over the t-shirt.
Third time we met, I picked her up at the Saturday program she goes to. As I recall, it was 19 degrees out that day. She was dressed pretty much as she was the first time. We were fine on the walk from the program place to the Central Square bus stop, but once we stopped to wait for the bus, it started getting really cold. I had on tights and long underwear under my skirt, a thick fuzzy jacket under my winter coat and I was feeling a bit nippy. I had debated calling a taxi because it was really just that cold. Then I looked at my little sister, and decided that she really needed to learn how to dress herself properly. We sat at the bus stop for nearly 20 minutes until the bus came.
I’m not exactly proud of this, but I really thought it was necessary at the time. I felt it would have been encouraging her bad behaviour to call a taxi because she wasn’t dressed for the cold. I will admit to feeling a peculiar sense of vindication as we sat there in the cold, teeth chattering and feet tapping to keep circulation going.
Lately, since I moved to Framingham for the month, I noticed that the K-kids were strolling around in short sleeves and shorts.
The thermostat in this house is usually set to 70 degrees while people are in the house and 65 when people are out for the day.
I decided that we really didn’t need to be spending that much money on heating the house when the K-kids were walking around as if it were the height of summer.
So — I turned the thermostat downstairs down to 50 degrees and turned the thermostat upstairs down to 60 degrees. In my self-defense, it doesn’t really drop to 50 degrees, ever. The coldest the downstairs has been was 59 degrees and since my brother, the traitor, keeps turning the thermostat up, the upstairs rarely drops below 65 these days.
I spend most of my time in the kitchen, which is arguably the warmest room in the house because of how much cooking goes on in there. I suspect that having the fridge, rice cooker, and hot water pot in here also helps a bit.
The kids, including my brother, immediately started whining about how cold it was. One of them even came downstairs to dinner wrapped in a blanket once. I will admit to feeling extreme glee at seeing that.
However, they still haven’t managed to come up with long sleeves, or socks. I’m really glad that I don’t see the shorts out as much though.
Now, I just need to turn the thermostat down after my brother turns it up again.
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01.17.09
Posted in Frugality at 11:43 pm by kyrias
I read a rather interesting post by David G. Mitchell about how cell phones suck.
He brings up a couple of points, namely that cell phone usage may be connected to brain cancer, it makes driving more dangerous, it’s often used in rude manners, people don’t really need to be on-call 24/7 and that it’s a waste of money.
He even goes so far as to say that people who call him on cell phones will never get his business and that if you use a cell phone in front of him, he’ll automatically lose respect for you.
I can’t help but say, anyone who makes such sweeping statements as that automatically makes me lose a lot of respect for him.
That said, I wonder if he does have a point about cell phones.
Right now, I have a cell phone but no land line.
Considering that I live with four other people — it’d probably save me quite a lot of money if we had a landline and we split the cost of the land line five ways.
Then there’s the other way of looking at it. Considering I live with five people, it’d be a real pain if one person tied up the phone line with hour-long calls and no one else could use the phone.
Also, I currently work for a temp agency. Whether or not I pick up the phone when they call me might mean the difference between my getting paid or not for the week. Having a cell phone allows me to go out and run errands without taking the chance of missing out on employment.
My mother calls me at all hours of the day, whether it’s to ask a recipe or to ask me if there’s something I want that she could pick up for me. I can’t possibly be at home all hours of the day to field these calls and I don’t really want to miss her calls.
There’s other petty stuff such as being able to call Caesura when he’s on his way home from work to pick something up from the grocery store, or being able to find someone else quickly when we’re both out and want to meet up, or any number of small incidents.
Sure, I could probably do without my cell phone once I got a real job and didn’t need to be on-call all day in case they wanted to give me a job — but 25 dollars a month for my plan isn’t bad. It’s 5 times what I’d be paying if we split a land line, but I’d say it is worth it, just the same.
What I feel is that he’s throwing the baby out with the bath water. Someone could very well use their cell phones intelligently; without spending enormous amounts of money on accessories or upgrades or the latest new shiny; without being rude or using it whilst driving — and the added cost could very well be worth the benefits.
So, I’ll keep my cell phone, thank you very much.
And David?
I won’t mention your insufferable smugness if you promise not to hold my addiction to my cell phone against me.
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11.24.08
Posted in Frugality, Uncategorized at 11:23 pm by kyrias
I still do, on occasion, but I no longer seek it out the way I used to.
There’s a relatively old article on there about the idea of having a “spend nothing month”. This is when you don’t buy anything except for the absolute necessities each month and see how you do.
Frankly, I can see how it would be useful to those people who use shopping as a form of therapy, but for those of us who are barely scraping by on monthly utility payments — it’s not too useful.
Sure, it’s a cool idea, and I suppose if I really wanted to look at my finances, I could cut out the odd chocolate bar and save myself 2 dollars once every two weeks — but 2 dollars every two weeks is hardly going to break the bank. That isn’t exactly my “latte factor”.
It’s interesting, how retail therapy works. It doesn’t even seem like a particularly new concept, but I wonder when it went from buying the odd trinket to keep the missus happy to the addiction to the new and shiny.
Bah. I feel kind of like a grinch. After all, it’s not their fault I’m not their target audience. But it still rankles, it really does.
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11.03.08
Posted in Frugality, Produce and products tagged budget, food at 2:41 am by kyrias
Not all produce is grown equal. Certain types of vegetables and fruits have more pesticides on them than others and with fruits such as bananas where there’s a thick outer skin — it doesn’t really matter that much.
So if you’re on a money crunch but would still like to eat organic, here’s a list of what to buy organic and what is optional - as per SmartMoney.
Organic: Not:
Apples Bananas
Cherries Kiwis
Grapes Mangoes
Pears Papayas
Berries Pineapples
Nectarines Oranges
Plums Asparagus
Celery Avocados
Potatoes Brussels sprouts
Spinach Broccoli
Bell peppers Cauliflower
Lettuce Sweet corn
Onions
Sweet peas
Seafood
Processed foods
Tomatoes
Green beans
Meat, eggs, dairy
Baby food
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11.01.08
Posted in Frugality tagged food storage, freezer tips, frugality at 12:03 am by kyrias
According to this article by Liz Pulliam Weston, here’s how long food will last in the freezer:
1 - 2 months:
- Bacon and sausage
- Ham, hot dogs, and lunchmeat
2 - 3 months:
Casseroles
Gravies
Meat, cooked
Soups and stews
3 - 4 months:
Frozen dinners and entrees
Meat, uncooked, ground
Poultry, uncooked giblets
Poultry, cooked
4 - 12 months:
Meat, uncooked roasts
Meat, uncooked steaks or chops
9 months:
Poultry, uncooked parts.
12 months:
Egg whites or egg substitutes (interesting, what about egg yolks?)
Poultry, uncooked whole
Wild game, uncooked (actually is 8-12)
Also, don’t forget the “smell test” unless you have no sense of smell. Like Kell 
If it smells ok, it’s usually ok to eat - but don’t quote me on that and I disclaim all responsibility for food poisoning that might occur. Just keep in mind that these numbers are often more conservative in order to save on legal fees. It’s likely that the stuff will still be edible, say 3 days to a week after the “expiration date” if it’s been in a functioning freezer the entire time. That said, if it smells icky, even if it’s well within the guidelines, for the love of God, don’t eat it.
Also!
To figure out if the freezer has quit working at any point during a vacation for long enough that eating the stuff in it is unsafe — put a ziploc bag of ice cubes on top of everything and if they’ve melted into a puddle shape then it’s probably a good idea to dump everything in the freezer.
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