The Blonde Diaries

I was about to head to bed tonight when a quirky headline caught my attention on Yahoo News: U.S. Residents fight for the right to hang laundry. The article discusses the growing battle between homeowners who want to hang dry their laundry on clotheslines in their backyards and neighborhood associations and local government officials who want to outlaw the practice because it makes the neighborhood look “trashy”. The argument for hang drying laundry includes lowering electricity bills from not running the dryer which, according to the article, accounts for 6% of your electric bill each month (on average $83!).

I live in an apartment complex and we are not allowed to hang dry outside. I’ve never given it a thought as there is just no space to hang dry outside. My husband and I do hang dry inside of our apartment by hanging our clothes on hangers in every doorway we can find (the shower curtain is not anchored to handle hanging clothes). I find that hang drying keeps our clothes looking new, soft, and the appropriate size whereas drying tends to shrink clothing and fades it fairly fast. So other than the environmental and energy saving reasons, I can see the pros from a clothes usage standpoint.

Growing up, my grandmother hung dry her laundry outside in her backyard. She lived out in the country and the sight of her and my grandfather’s clothing, “flapping in the wind” as the article calls it, was not offensive to anyone. I didn’t mind it when I went to visit and actually found it rather fun to hang the clothes on the line with clothes pins. I will say though that I did not like the feel of the clothes after they dried on the line. For some reason they were always stiff and rough but that is not really part of the argument here.

So what do you think? Are you for or against hanging clothes outside to dry? Do you find the practice offensive or “trashy”? Do you think this is another example of home owner associations and the government overstepping their boundaries and infringing on our rights? I would love to hear some opinions on this topic.

It is time for the annual Toys R Us Video Game Sale.  If you are ready to start your holiday shopping and have a gamer in your family you will not want to miss this sale.  Now through Saturday, October 17, 2009, Toys R Us is offering a buy 2 get 1 free promotion on over 800 titles.  This sale is for all video game platforms and only excludes pre-order games.  So if it has been released and is in stores right now, it is fair game for the sale!

While you are there, you can pick up some accessories like Wii Remotes in the buy 2 get 1 sale as well as discounts on system bundles and free shipping.

I’m not sure what I’ll be buying but I know Madden 10 is on the list and maybe the Wii Sports Resort and EA Active.  I’ll report back later this week once I’ve done my shopping to share what I grabbed.  Leave a comment and let me know what you are buying.  I could use some ideas!

Most people clean their homes to create more space and to feel better. During that process, one might decide to sell a few things on Ebay or hold a garage sale at their home. I tend to donate to charity since I am terrible at mailing things on time and can’t host a garage sale at the apartment complex. So since I also don’t itemize my tax deductions, I tend not to really gain anything monetarily from cleaning my apartment.

That was until this past month. I didn’t realize how many beauty supplies (ie shampoo, lotions, acne products, etc) I had picked up from free samples online to freebies at hotels. I have an embarrassingly large supply going in my apartment and it was just going to continue to grow until I did something about it. So I did something. I refused to buy new beauty products from the store when I ran out of things and turned my attention to these little bottles and pots of products all over the place. I am saving money by using what I have and I’m cleaning out the clutter. For once, cleaning out does pay off for me!

I’ve been in what Mike and I normally call a “blah” mood so far this week. A blah mood is one in which you don’t feel like doing anything, you are generally not agreeable to be around, and like to just be alone. We both go through these moods when we are in a rut and they normally don’t last past a couple of days. So they seem totally normal or at least I hope they are.

So once again, while in a blah mood, I have little desire to work and too much desire to plan a vacation far far away. Tonight is no different. While I would love to go on another European cruise next year, I don’t think Mike will allow us to spend that kind of money again when we want to buy a house. So I’m trying to scale it down. I wouldn’t mind relaxing on the beach but I hate to admit that I am tired of Destin, Florida – my family’s favorite beach vacation destination. I feel like we need to go somewhere fresh and new.

While surfing, I found a few links for Myrtle beach vacation rentals which would seem to fit the criteria of a new vacation destination and a new beach. I really do not know anything about Myrtle Beach or South Carolina but I think a little research could fix that little problem. I am interested and excited to see what possibilities exist there as it seems like a great budget location as well. So have you visited Myrtle Beach before? What is it like?

Tonight I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Mike and I are on a strict budget right now to try and recover from our honeymoon spending. One of our budget busters is grocery shopping. We stock up on items but never finish eating them and sometimes they go bad. For the past month, I have been shopping at home and trying to use up these items which we have stocked up on.

Tonight I reached my limit. I think I need to start looking for recipes and shopping from a recipe ingredient list. We are out of things to eat or at least things that go together. We are eating hot dogs with ketchup (out of chili), baked beans, peas, and a small salad. I would have loved to make a large “junk” salad for dinner but Mike insists on having protein in every meal and well, hot dogs won’t cut it and I have nothing else. It is all very frustrating.

I decided that I better start looking for recipes to cook with just a few ingredients as well as coupons to save on our grocery bill. I found a great $1.00 online coupon that will help me save a little money at the grocery store as well as fixing that no protein in the salad issue I mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Budding has developed a new product on sale in Texas, St. Louis, Missouri, and Arizona called Fix Quix. It is a diced meat product that you can add to any recipe or salad to help make a quick and nutritious meal. I have not tried it yet but I will be looking for it this weekend as it is sold at the local HEB and Kroger grocery stores – both available near me. There are three varieties – chicken, ham, and turkey and it looks just like you cooked the meat yourself on the grill and diced it up yourself. I can see using it with salads, pitas, and wraps just to begin with and then venturing out into chicken alfredo pasta and turkey enchiladas. So if you are in a food rut, need to save a few bucks, and want to try a new product look for the Fix Quix kits in your super market. Don’t forget if you live in Texas, Arizona, or St. Louis, Missouri to print that $1.00 off coupon to take with you! Unfortunately the coupon only works in those states/areas but be on the lookout for the product and coupon coming to your area soon.