Let No Good Deed Go Unpunished

After dropping off some household items for the MV Big Flea, a community flea market fundraiser to benefit our neighborhood elementary school, I was attempting to back out of a narrow alley and managed to sideswipe the mirror off the driver’s door of my car.  Fortunately, the swiping was courtesy of a utility pole rather than someone else’s vehicle.  Unfortunately, preliminary estimates put the cost of repair in the several-hundred dollar range, far more than the value of the items I had just donated.  I’d have been better off had I stayed home and just written them a check.

However, my luck was not all bad.  My father happens to be an auto mechanic and I spent lots of time at his elbow in his garage–yes, I was a bit of a tomboy and probably the only girl in my 6th grade class who knew how to bleed a brake line.  Though I have since moved several states away from where I grew up and thus too far for him to make the repair, he convinced me that the job would not be that difficult and that he could tell me over the phone how to do it.  He was able to get the replacement mirror at cost for me, $75 including shipping.  (To go through a garage here would have cost almost $200 just for the mirror, plus the labor charges to install it.)

Armed with my new mirror and a very basic set of household tools, I commenced to tear the car door apart in order to install the new mirror.  I got off to a poor start when I found that I didn’t have the proper tool to remove one of the screws (which Dad told me later was a TORX screw), but with a little stubbornness and ingenuity I managed to jam an Allen wrench in there to get the job done.  About 30 minutes later I was proudly adjusting the new mirror, door panel firmly reattached.  And yes, the electronic controls for the door locks and windows still worked, too.

We are a wasteful lot

I’ll fess up to having done a couple of these (though I’m not saying which ones). In What You Can Learn From a Dumpster Diver, CC Christiansen offers insight on what we are throwing away.

Hey Freecyclers: Let’s not get carried away

Some things you should just throw away, m’kay?

“Offered: This opened and 2/3 full box of Wheat Thins expired on 16 Oct 2006, so
it’s not for eating, but thought someone creative might be able to use
it for some kind of Arts & Crafts Project?”

Pet Peeve: Hey Freecyclers–Beggars Can’t Be Choosers!

Let me start by saying I am a big fan and frequent user of Freecycle, both to give and to receive. For the uninitiated, it’s an online community that started in Tucson AZ but now has groups worldwide. The purpose of Freecycle is to match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them, and so keeping usable items out of landfills. Most people post when they have items to get rid of, though it’s also considered OK–to a point–to post for an item you are seeking, in hopes someone has it sitting around and wants to be rid of it.

Most requests are reasonable but occasionally people will post wanted ads for cars, specific brands and models of cell phones, “stroller, winnie the pooh, must be in EXCELLENT condition,” things of that nature. Or they not only want it for free, but they demand that you deliver it to them as well. It just strikes me as a little nervy, when you are asking for someone to give you their stuff FOR FREE, to come across as so picky. Two posts already this morning: “Wanted–4 drawer dresser, need you to deliver”; and “Wanted–loveseat and coffee table, but nothing too ugly, please.”

Jeez, if you are so particular, trot down to the store and buy it yourself!

Of WD-40 and Duct Tape

Growing up as the daughter of Junkman, I’ve know for as long as I can remember that you can do almost anything with Duct Tape and WD-40. If it doesn’t move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, use duct tape.

A blog post and a news item today alerted me to even more uses for these amazing products.

First, some yahoo in Kentucky apparently couldn’t find a ski mask so he wrapped his face in duct tape to rob a liquor store.

Then I heard about a site listing almost 2000 uses for WD-40.

Surprisingly, “use it to remove duct tape goo from your face” wasn’t on there….yet.

Recurring monthly expenses

An interesting take on getting your budget under control from Philip Brewer on Wise Bread. He maintains that it’s the recurring monthly expenses, not the isolated purchases, that bust your budget over the long term.

Most books and articles on personal finance exhort you to make cuts in the budget for ephemeral items first, because that’s the easiest place to find something you can cut right away. They’re wrong, though: Start with the recurring monthly expenses.

And, he points out, fancy coffee drinks are often used as an example of ephemeral items to cut. But if you are buying lattes frequently enough to impact your budget, then they really should be considered a recurring monthly expense as well.

Idea for the new house

I’m liking this DIY $10 Pot Rack that Myscha Theriault posted on Wise Bread. I’m thinking I’d want something a little softer than “industrial black” for the new kitchen, but basically the same idea.

Unchecked addiction

My usual means of keeping my caffeine addiction in check has been a financial one. I favor fancy coffee drinks–vanilla lattes, cappuccino, and the like. Since I allot myself a certain amount of “walking around” money each week, when the money is gone, no more Starbucks. This served me well, until last month, when a fancy new $1300 coffee maker, the Gaggia 90500 Titanium Super Automatic Espresso Machine, arrived in our office to supplement the standard drip coffee that had been provided gratis each day. Now, for the cost of the milk that I store in the office fridge, I can make a virtually unlimited supply of coffee-house quality espresso drinks with the push of a button. My coffee consumption has skyrocketed, the only restraint being that I won’t drink it after 1 pm each day. It definitely makes it easier to get through the morning, but I’m hating the crash that comes after the buzz wears off.