Living Well on Less

Could you survive as a one car household?

Karen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:28 +0000

When Tony and I were planning our move to North Carolina over two years ago, we had to make a very difficult decision about transportation. At the time, we each drove an older, used car. Both of our cars were doing okay at the time, but they had over 100,000 miles on them. We knew it was only a matter of time before we started having car problems, and we didn’t want it to happen after we moved.

We made the decision to share one reliable car instead of having two older, used cars. Our decision dictated a lot of the lifestyle decisions we made as we planned our move. We found an apartment close to campus so Tony could take a shuttle to class, invested in a AAA membership to ensure that we’d have access to towing and roadside assistance, and chose a new car with a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty to ensure that our car would be reliable for as long as possible.

It’s worked out extremely well for us. Here’s a rough estimate of the money we save by sharing a car:

Car payment: $250 a month
Car insurance: $50-$85 a month
Gas: $50-$75 a month
Registration/taxes: $150 a year
Oil changes: $60 a year
Tires: $400 every two years or $200 a year

It’s really amazing how much you can spend on owning a car, and most people never even consider if they could live with just one. Depending on your situation, it may be easier than you think. Here are some things to think about if you’re considering life with one vehicle:

How “walkable” is your neighborhood?

Do you live hear a grocery store, library, and other places you need to go regularly? You can get your neighborhood’s “walk score” to determine how close you are to these places. If you’re living somewhere with a low walk score, making a move to a more walkable neighborhood and downsizing to one vehicle could save you quite a bit of money.

Is public transportation a possibility for you or your spouse?

Take a look at your city’s bus schedule and map to see if either of you could commute to and from work using public transportation.

What about carpooling?

Ask around at your job to see if anyone lives in your neighborhood or drives through it on their way into the office. You might be able to throw in some money for gas and ride with them. If carpooling with co-workers isn’t possible, consider a service like erideshare.com or carpoolconnect.com to find other carpoolers around you.

What’s your schedule?

Do you and your spouse have work schedules that would allow one of you to drop the other one off on the way to work? This is sometimes what Tony and I do if he needs the car for some reason during the day. I’m working all day, so the car would just be sitting in the parking lot at my office anyway. It’s no problem for him to drop me off, run his errands, and pick me up in the evening.

Be careful, though.

If you decide to downsize to one car, proper maintenance becomes even more important. Consider lowering your insurance deductible if you don’t have a healthy emergency fund, keep up with regular maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations, and look into adding car rental to your insurance plan to make sure you won’t be stranded in the event of an accident.

Whatever you do, don’t write it off as impossible without considering your options. There are a ton of financial, environmental, and health benefits to becoming a one-car household. With a little planning, organization, and lifestyle shifting, it might be easier for you than you think.

Photo by acrider

Countdown to our move: 6 months

Easy, frugal gifts for babies and young kids

Karen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:55 +0000

If you watched the adorable slideshow I posted Friday, then you know that I have five nieces and nephews ages 6 and under. With that many kids on your list, Christmas can easily become overwhelming.

Last year, I cashed in MyPoints on a $50 Amazon.com gift card and bought toys for all of them. But it was exhausting shopping for that many kids, especially since we live so far away. And honestly, at that age, they’re so inundated with toys on Christmas morning that I question whether the toys I sent added any real joy to their Christmas.

So we’ve been thinking of alternative gifts for our nieces and nephews to make the holidays easier on us and special for them. Here are some of the ideas we’ve considered:

Books.

I still have books from my aunts and grandparents with little messages inscribed inside. Books can last a lifetime, and they’re not very expensive. Choose something meaningful to the child in your life (Harold and the Purple Crayon for the kid who loves to draw or Where the Wild Things Are for the rambunctious kid). If you you live far away, have the book shipped directly from Amazon.com to cut down on shipping costs.

Give your time.

I was a middle child growing up, and what I wanted more than anything was to feel special. Give a kid with siblings a day all to herself. Wrap a gift certificate for a kid manicure or a movie, and take him or her on a special outing.

Adopt an endangered species.

If you donate $50 to the World Wildlife Fund, they send you a species adoption kit including a plush toy, an adoption certificate, a photo of the animal, and a species information card. This may be a little too deep for really young kids, but my 6-year-old niece and 4-year-old nephew would love it.

Name a star after him.

Let me start by saying this: whatever you do, don’t send money to the “National Star Registry.” This isn’t an official organization, and stars named this way are not recognized by anyone but you. So you’ll end up sending off $50+ for nothing but a certificate. Why do that when you can make one yourself and get across the same idea to the imaginative child in your life? Let him pick the brightest star in the sky, name it what he wants, and create your own star naming certificate.

What are your creative gift ideas for kids?

Photo by .bean

Menu Plan: 11/7-11/13

Karen — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:40 +0000

Would you believe I’m still recovering from this awful virus? Yeah. I am not a happy camper. I’ve been sick for over a week. Ugh.

But I’m getting better every day. I’m back at work and feeling mostly okay. I’m just still coughing, and I still feel like I need a little extra sleep. :( I also haven’t felt up to working out for over a week. Hopefully I’ll be back to my old self again (and back in the gym) by the end of the week.

In the meantime, all I have for you today is a meal plan. Enjoy!

Saturday: Boeuf bourguignon
Sunday: Chef’s salad
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Chicken tacos
Wednesday: Italian grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Thursday: Chicken Caesar wraps
Friday: Pizza

I hope you’re all having a great day! Happy Monday!

For more menu plans, visit OrgJunkie.

October 2009 in photos

Karen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:00:59 +0000

October 2009 from Karen on Vimeo.

Baby monster mash

Karen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Our trip home to Indiana for Halloween was crazy. There were 15 of us in one house, including five kids under the age of 6 hopped up on too much candy. The weekend also included the following:

A trip to Chicago with my dad to see Bob Dylan in concert. (!!!)
My mom hit a deer in her brand new car. Everyone was okay. The car and the deer, however, were not.
Most of us were infected with the worst virus EVER at some point during the weekend.

Despite all the craziness, it was an unbelievably great time filled with family, laughs, kids, candy, and way too much food. Click the picture below for some photos.

WARNING: This slideshow contains dangerous levels of cute. Proceed with caution.

Countdown to Europe: 6 months

Karen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:12 +0000

We’ve been planning for our trip to Europe for months now, but we’re down to about 6 and a half months until the trip. Since we’ll be moving about 3 weeks before we take off, I’m getting organized now to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Here’s what we’re doing in the next month to prepare:

Make final decisions about where to travel.

We know we want to visit London and Paris, but we’re debating whether to add a few days in Amsterdam to our trip. This month we’ll really crunch the numbers and determine whether a few months in a third city is worth the time and money.

Create a budget.

We already put together a budget for our trip months ago, but if you haven’t thought about how much it’s going to cost you, do it now. It’s easier to save money if you plan around a budget.

Start reading the guidebooks.

We’ve browsed a few books on travel to London and Paris, and while we’ve learned quite a bit, we haven’t found any that we feel compelled to purchase. We plan to do some more hunting this month and see if we can find a couple companion books that will be worth taking along on the trip.

In the meantime, there’s a wealth of information on European travel online. I’m hunting for additional resources to determine where we’ll stay and what we’ll do while we’re there.

Research flights.

I’ve been watching flight prices for several months, but now I’m getting serious about deciding how we want to put our itinerary together. Flights generally seem cheaper out of Chicago than Indianapolis, and direct flights seem easier to obtain there, so we’ll likely fly out of Chicago.

Consider accommodations.

We’re also looking into hotels, deciding where we want to stay in each city, and what type of accommodations we need. It doesn’t seem that hostels will save us much in the long run, so we’re looking into budget hotels. I’ve found quite a few options on TravelAdvisor.com, but I’m continuing to research areas and attractions to determine the best possible location in each city for our stay.

Start thinking about attractions.

This month, we’re making a list of what we want to do and see in each city. This is the fun part of the planning, because it’s all about how we want to put the trip together. I’ll probably factor in plenty of downtime to explore so that we don’t feel pressed for time with a strict itinerary.

If you’re a seasoned traveler, help me out. What do you suggest a first timer do to prepare 6 months before the trip?

Photo by anirudhkoul

Countdown to our move: 6 months

Karen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:16 +0000

It’s now November, which means I’m beginning my 6-month countdown to our cross-country move. Since I’m planning both the move and our trip to Europe simultaneously, I’m getting organized early. I’ve decided to keep you posted with monthly updates of how we’re preparing.

Here’s what lies ahead in the next month as we prepare to move back home:

Start clearing clutter now.

Getting rid of things takes time, especially if you want to try to sell them. We’re starting to downsize now to ensure that we’ll have less to pack, move, and store this May.

Get your resume in order.

We’re undecided about whether or not I’ll be going back to work full time. It will really depend on how much Tony earns in his job. I’ll most likely be working part time until I have a baby, and who knows how long that will be. Tony, on the other hand, is looking for full time work immediately. He’s focusing now on updating his resume, scoping out opportunities, and networking. It’s a little early to start aggressively applying for jobs, but he may send out some resumes with interest letters in the month ahead to companies with which he’s interested in pursuing a job.

Start thinking about housing.

If you’re planning to buy a home in your new city, now is the time to start looking at real estate. If you haven’t put your own home on the market, it’s definitely time to do so.

If you plan on renting, now is a good time to scope out neighborhoods or apartment complexes. Ask around if you have connections in your new city to find out which neighborhoods are safest with the best education and transportation options. If you don’t have connections, a little research online can tell you a lot about apartment complexes and neighborhoods.

We’ve already decided we want to live in the Indianapolis area. We also won’t be looking for housing right away. We might stay with family an hour outside the city. My best friend and her fiance have also offered us the opportunity to stay with them in Indianapolis for the summer. We might end up doing that so I can start working immediately, and it’ll be easier for Tony to get to interviews and look for job opportunities.

Make a moving budget, and save, save, save.

Even if you already have some money saved, you can never have too much in savings when you move to a new city. Start putting together a rough estimate for what it will cost to move your things, get situated in a new place, and cover basic living expenses until you find a job or start getting paid.

Cut your expenses now to save as much as possible in the coming months. The more money you have in savings, the less stressful your financial situation will be when it’s time to move.

What do you suggest we do to start preparing now?

Photo by ahhyeah

I must have done something right

Karen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:09:43 +0000

Yesterday was rough. I floated in and out of consciousness for most of the day, delirious with high fever. I spent a painful half hour in the waiting room at Urgent Care desperately wishing I could lie down on the floor, or lie down anywhere for that matter, as sitting up was just too taxing.

I struggled to fill out the new patient forms, and I know I would have cursed myself for never getting around to finding a primary care physician if I’d had enough energy to think of anything but keeping myself upright.

Tony took the forms from me, filled them out, helped me get to the exam room once my name was finally called, and took care of payment when my appointment was over. He drove me home, made a bed for me on the couch, and left to fill my prescriptions.

He woke me gently every 4 to 6 hours to give me my medicine. He called my boss to let him know that I wouldn’t be in for the next couple days. He made me toast and chicken broth to make sure I was eating something. He kept my glass full to make sure I was getting enough fluids.

When he went to bed, he left my cell phone on the coffee table and told me his would be on in the room just 30 feet away. “If you need anything at all, and you’re not feeling well enough to get up, just call in case I can’t hear you.” It seems ridiculous now that my fever has broken, but at the time, I probably was too sick to walk to the next room or even call loudly enough for him to hear me.

My dog, who usually sleeps soundly on the cushion next to our bed, kept silent vigil at my side through the night. He spent most of the day at my feet, and slept on the end of the couch beside me all through the night.

The day was foggy with fever and illness, but one thing remained incredibly clear through it all: I am so so lucky to have a husband who cares for me so much and so well. Yesterday was rough, but I don’t know how I would have gotten through it without my little family.

Sick

Karen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:39:25 +0000

I fully intended to edit and post photos from my fantastic trip home to see my five nieces and nephews. There are even adorable Halloween costumes involved, which you would think would give me extra incentive.

I fully intended to get all of my writing done and clean the house and go to the gym to start working off the candy I ate over the weekend.

I fully intended to make a meal plan and a grocery list and go to the store to restock our pantry and refrigerator.

I fully intended to get up this morning and go into work.

Unfortunately, my parents’ house was an incubation zone for what seems to be the plague. They were all coming down with it as I left, and it seems I’m the latest victim.

I was vaccinated for both seasonal and H1N1 flu three weeks before the trip, so I’m assuming it’s just a cold, but I haven’t been this sick in years. I don’t even have the energy to read or write.

So there will be no new post from me today. I hope you’re all feeling well. Take care of yourselves! Hopefully I’ll be back in action tomorrow.

Photo by smaku

No related posts.

I’m spending Halloween at home!

Karen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:50 +0000

This weekend all of my sisters will be in the same state together for the first time since May 2007, and for the first time ever since my youngest niece and nephew were born.

Tony and I are flying to Indiana tonight, and my sister and her family will be there from Seattle, too. I can’t wait to see all five of my nieces and nephews in their costumes and experience the fun of Halloween from the perspective of young kids for the first time, well, since I was the little kid.

But with four families with five kids under the age of 7, it’s going to be hectic. I don’t know if I’ll have time to check my email, let alone update my blog.

I’ll be back on Sunday with lots of adorable photos to share. In the meantime, why don’t you tell me: what are you and/or your kids dressing up as for Halloween? I still haven’t come up with a costume, so I’m frantically searching for ideas!

I hope all of you have a safe, fun, and happy Halloween! See you Sunday!