2013: A Useful Garden

My thumb is black.  In the past two years I've "grown" morning glories (which were sparse) and wildflowers (which ended up thriving, but that's mostly because wildflowers are essentially pretty weeds.)  So after my moderate success growing weeds last year, this year I've decided our garden is going to serve some purpose.  We're growing FOOD.  

Peas, specifically.  Because the package said they yield early and often.  In case you couldn't tell I'm a novice, I'm planning on them growing up these railing poles...

...and these fish stick things once they're tall enough.

Haha, wish me luck.  Hopefully we'll be saving a little money on veggies this year.

Ghosts of Gardens Past

2011

2012

Another Reason to Encourage Your Daughters Towards the Maths and Sciences

Source

 America's maternity leave policies leave much to be desired.  But in recent headlines, Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, has taken a step towards progress.  Her new policies give mothers 16 weeks of paid maternity leave and fathers 8 weeks of paid paternity leave.

This is a major step in the right direction.  Motivation behind this new policy has been attributed to either a response to an unpopular decision to force remote employees move into company offices, or Mayer's own ridiculously short 2-week maternity leave in September.

Those may have contributed to Mayer's decision, but I think the more likely culprit is competition.  Mayer's previous employer, and Yahoo's competitor, Google, offers anywhere from 16 to 22 weeks paid maternity leave and seven weeks of paternity leave.  Silicon Valley was one of the only areas of employment that couldn't hire people quickly enough during the recession (due to a lack of a qualified domestic employee pool,) so prospective employees have options.  When you're evaluating those options, you can be sure that benefits, including parental leave policies, weigh into the equation.

Could we be witnessing the start of reasonable maternity leave policies in the states?  There's no doubt that we're witnessing them in the tech sector.  Make sure to tell your daughter she's good at math.  Tell her she's good at science.  Encourage her so that tomorrow she can work for companies that can afford to employ her and afford to offer her the benefits she deserves as a talented, well-qualified employee.

Shopping Local Made Easy

Shopping locally is a valiant pursuit.  It supports the local economy and can be an environmentally sound choice.  This post is more about the former and less about the latter.  (If you'd like to check out a great list of places to shop locally in the Burgh, Michelle has a great list that makes up her Pittsburgh Foodshed.)  Our city is home to the Clark Bar, the Big Mac, and the Klondike, though sadly none of these bring more than franchised jobs to our region anymore.  There are still many other great Pittsburgh companies, though, and they're convenient for you to pick up at your local grocery store.  (Or beer distributor.)  (Or Wine and Spirits store.)

Duh.  Anything with a Heinz label.  Let's hope we get
to keep this company in our city.

B L Sour Cream.  They
also make other products.

Anything Isaly's.  Including their famous chipped
chopped ham.  The guy who started this company
also invented the Klondike (which is now made
elsewhere.)

OMGosh.  If you are trying to find
the key to my heart you can find it
in Canonsburg at the Sarris store.
But you can find the treats at any
grocery store.

Betsy Ann offers more chocolatey
goodness options.

Boyd & Blair vodka.
Distilled in Shaler.
Made with local potatoes.

Hey, the more you drink, the less you
pay attention to the taste. :p  And
every one you drink supports the
economy in western PA.

Free Pittsburgh Mother's Day Activities

Sunday is Mother's Day!  And once again our wonderful city has tons of free stuff to do to celebrate.

The Zoo
Free admission for mama when she brings a paying child!  She also gets a free chair massage and healthy living info.
More Info

Clayton
Free admission for mom when she brings a paying child, and a special mother's day discount at the Museum Shop!
More Info

Hartwood Acres
Moms get a free tour of the mansion, and if you feel like "splurging" you can enjoy Mother's day tea for $33/each.
More Info

Ikea
Mom eats free at the mother's day buffet!
More Info

How will you be celebrating your mother?  Or how do you hope to be pampered yourself?

Engagement Rings

After a discussion on Student Debt Survivor, I thought it would be fun to do a post on engagement rings.  In her post, KK asked if it was frugal or tacky to purchase a used ring.  I was among the  few that said "tacky."  I'm all about being frugal, but that ring is something you/she'll be wearing everyday for (hopefully) the rest of your/her life.  In some cases it may even become a family heirloom.  It's worth saving some money for.  I'm also a bit superstitious about buying someone's broken dreams.

Not mine, but pretty from Flickr.

Another way you can save on engagement ring is by buying a cluster ring.  Instead of one large diamond in the center, there are several smaller ones.  At first glance you wouldn't necessarily notice, and you can get a lot more bling for your buck.  If you don't want this kind of ring, be careful.  The jeweler won't necessarily warn you that it's a cluster ring, and they usually advertised with the total carat weight.  For example, "1 carat weight total" could be made up of four 1/4 carat weight diamonds.

Cluster Ring

The best tip I'm aware of when trying to purchase an engagement ring is to buy the two pieces separately; buy the diamond direct from a diamond dealer/wholesaler, and then buy the ring from the jeweler and have them set it.  Using this strategy, you may be better going to a local jeweler than a big box store, but both should be able to handle it.



What are you opinions on the ring matter?  How far would you go to save?  Or did you splurge?

What to do about Groupons

Or any other group deal buying site.  I've found myself using Living Social more often than not, but regardless of where I've bought I've had some positive and negative experiences.

The Positive

One time I had a credit on my account for $10 for some reason unbeknownst to me.  I searched for the cheapest deals they had, and found one for an ice cream place we love.  $5 for $10 worth of sweets.  I got two of them.  $20 worth of ice cream for free.  Instant awesome family time.

I also got an oil change/tire rotation package.  It sounds pretty sweet, but we'll have to see how it goes.  $33 for 3 oil changes, 2 tire rotations, and some other thing that I don't even know what it is.

Also, I got to preorder some seats for when we went to Yo Gabba Gabba a few months ago.  I was so sure they were going to sell out.  Which leads me into the negative.

The Negative

When I ordered those tickets, I didn't get to pick specifically where they were.  Just a general section.  They were great seats, but I found out the night of the show that they weren't sold out.  And for $15 more (total) I could have ordered from the venue itself and picked where we sat.  Maybe gotten a bit more center.  It would have been worth the $15 to me.

Another time I ordered a photo package at a studio.  When I got there, I found out they regularly have better deals than the Groupon I bought.  It was marked 89% off on the site or something crazy like that, but I could have gotten 95% percent off by using the store's regular sale.  So for things that are regularly "marked down," it might be better to just go check it out yourself.

Another time I ordered a photo cards.  Or the opportunity to make some.  I got the software and decided it sucked.  So I resold my voucher for its full value.  After that, I wrote a whole post about how you can resell those vouchers.  It was info I was glad I had.

Oh, and recently Living Social got hacked.  So if you have an account, go change your password if you haven't already.  I'm still kind of worried about what information may have been obtained.

Money is for spending.

Our two favorite couple bands, all in one clip.

Sometimes I have trouble spoiling myself.

This wasn't one of those times.

When we heard Fleetwood Mac was coming to town, we decided we had to go.  We love their music.  They're one of our couple bands.  That music that you bond over.  (The other was Flight of the Conchords, believe it or not.  Not quite as romantic.  But incredibly funny.)  

Even though we didn't know each other back in the day, he had been contemplating going to one of their concerts about a decade ago.  He didn't.  He regretted it.

So even though it wasn't in the budget, we decided to splurge.  It was an easy decision.  I had decided I wanted more music in our life.  He had no problem with the resolution.  It's why we went to see Yo Gabba Gabba earlier this year (more on that in another post.)  It's why I was totally cool with his Rocksmith video game purchase.  (I don't see the value in video games on a normal day.)  

Tickets weren't cheap.  But it was so worth it.  We had an amazing time.  Their music brings up so many memories for us, and seeing it live was incredible.  I hope we're still rocking when we're the same age as Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.  Except, you know, more together than things ended up for them.

Have you splurged recently with no regrets?