Monday, August 20, 2007

Two days shy...

Hmm... 12 days since last post, 2 days shy of a fortnight. I'm sure I could have come up with a clever fortnight title if I waited (e.g. A Budget Ronin's Fortnight Lament), but I feel guilty for waiting this long already. Fortnight just sounds so classy.

Speaking of classy... the Craptastiganza has long since been over. I would have posted about the glorious finish, but I don't really have one. I ate all my neo-batchelor food and enjoyed it. Surprisingly, I didn't get sick or anything, but considering I've done that like once in for-never, I'm really not that surprised. I should do some more laps around the track though. I'm thinking about adding one, which would bring me up to a total of one.

I recovered my lovely Budgets Naginata and Edamame on Saturday and we returned reunited as a full Clan. I think there was some lawnmowing in there somewhere, too.

I do need to catch up on a couple of receipts. On 8/10, I was all about the buying gas ($31.51) and drinks:

Beer/Wine $13
Coke $6
=total $19

On the 18th (8/18), we made a strip to the store for necessary supplies for cooking out all weekend:

Coke $7
Buns $1
Cheese $2
Chips $4
Water $3
Tortillas $2
Fruit $2
Lunch Salad $2
Yogurt $1
Eggs $1
Ground Beef $10
Spare Ribs $20
=total: $55

And you can't go a couple of weeks without more gas, so $33.14 on 8/19.

Whew! Obviously I've been carrying a couple of those receipts around in my pocket for a while. I should really put them down more often. Even if it's just a quick gas reciept. But enough about that, let's do some updates:

Hot Tub: No buyer. The most interested prospective shopper sent me many emails, promising to be out this past week. Then nothing. No show, no follow up mails, no nothing. I have no new plan of attack for this one. I might try to just sell the lid, which is in great shape and retails new for like $400 dollars. Maybe give anyone buying it the option of a free hot tub to go with it. Hmmm.

Truck: Still without battery power. Currently sitting in the garage.

Computer: The motherboard I bought was defective, so I'm having to return it. I am now waiting for a new one. This sucks, but not so badly as not having a machine at all, so I'll count my small blessings.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

"Are you adequately prepared to rock?"

The Craptasti-ganza continues! Last night a friend came over to keep me company during the vacation absense of Budget Naginata and Budget Edamame. He ended up buying me dinner at a local sandwichery (I don't know if that is really a word, but I'm keeping it). He was also there to witness the spending of the last of my birthday loot.

Yes. Guitar Hero II is currently installed in the Playstation Deuce and I've even decorated my guitar with my kickass Limozeen sticker from my copy of Strong Bad Sings. I am now adequately prepared to rock. It was the last of my birthday cash, and I had to turn in some old games to help make up the difference, but it was totally worth it. We had several rounds of fret-blasting mayhem.

On the way back from the game store, we stopped to pick up some vital supplies:

Milk $2
Kraft Mac & Chee $2
Beer $9
=total $13

The beer was the most important element. It added to the rock-star mystique. Had there been chicken wire around the TV pit in the Budget-Castle, I'd probably have felt the need to hurl my empties. As it stands, we had a couple of sandwiches, a couple of beers and a lot of fun.

Yes, my fingers hurt. Yes, I will be practicing again tonight.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Batchelor Dinner Craptasti-ganza!

Anyone who reads the blog knows my unfettered love for the Budget Naginata and our darling Budget Edamame. They are great and wonderful and currently far, far away from me enjoying a holiday at the beach. Travelling with a friend and her daughter, my wife and child have abandoned me to my own devices for a week.

This makes me sad, because I will miss them, but this also gives me a great opportunity to enjoy wonderfully craptastic batchelor food. Yes, that's correct, when the Naginata is away, the Ronin will eat things that give him heartburn and stomachaches! The Craptasti-ganza has begun!


Last night, I picked up the following things at the grocery to enable my bad eating habits:

Tater Tots $1.5 (mmm... these would go great with)...
Fish Sticks $4 (now we're talkin'!)
Pizza Rolls $3 (that's right, they're like pizzas, in bite sized rolls!)
Pizza $3 (the non-roll variety)
Bread $2.5 (for work sandwiches)
=total $14

I had the pizza rolls last night, and some heartburn to follow it. I learned a very important gastrointestinal fact at that point, when I woke up with a burning windpipe. Ginger. Ginger helps combat heartburn. It's crazy, but it works. After discovering this fact thanks to the world wide Intarwebblogtubes, I borrowed a couple of Budget Naginata's ginger Altoids and felt it subside surprisingly quick. There was also something with Baking Soda that sounded less palatable that I'm glad I didn't have to test out.

I'm planning on having half of my fish sticks and tater tots tonight. I know you're jealous, but it's ok, I'll have a few extra on your behalf.

I may have to go back to the store later this week for some Kraft Mac & Cheese Dinner. I'm already feeling compelled to do so. It's not my fault, really. I blame escalating tension in Iran over their nuclear program.

Hot Tub Update: No one has purchased it yet, but I have an offer from someone for half of what I posted for it. They said they would be able to come get it next week. I told them they could have it, assuming no one bid higher. Right now, I don't see that happening. It's depressing, but it will be out of the way and I'll at least get a bit more back than we paid for the motor repair diagnosis. I find it oddly fitting that I paid extra for our house to keep the hot tub and I spent a fair amount to buy a good cover for it (which it was lacking) and I get next to nothing for it. Consider that when you look at your purchasing habits.

Exceptions to the Rule: So when we began the Challenge, Budget Naginata and I agreed that any money given to us as gifts could be spent however we wanted. A week or so ago, it was the birthday of the ever-lovin' Budget Ronin, so I have a small amount of cash to spend. I dropped about half of it to replace my ailing computer processor and motherboard. It is a slight upgrade for a system that is 5 years old. So... It's now like a 4 year old computer. *sigh*. I need some decent bank to buy a more serious gaming machine, so I'm looking at that for the next year or so, when we've absolved some of our debt concerns. As to the rest of my birthday booty, I will be buying Guitar Hero 2 for our console. I will then proceed to rock my troubles away. If you approach the Budget Castle and hear the rock, it is I. You have been warned.


Days of Shoppings Past

Found these receipts from the other week, July 30, 07. Looks to be two stops on the way home, both groceries:

Granola $1.5
Soup $2.5
Muffin $1
Cheese $6
Strawberries $1
Lunchmeats $12
Eggs $2
Milk $3
=total $30

-> Stop 2:

Cat Litter $6
Chocolate Syrup $3
Espresso $2
Coffee $2
Toilet Paper $4
Bread $2
Cat Food $11
=total $32

It is here that our tale ends.

Friday, August 3, 2007

A Penny for Your Downfall!

Last night it happened. As we sat together in marital harmony, Budget Naginata told me that I should really hear the tune that she had purchased from the iTunes Store that day. It was a catchy thing that had been bouncing around her head all day.

I stared across the ever-widening gap between us. She looked at me, a look of horror spreading across her face.

"Oh my. That's against the rules, isn't it?"

I nodded. Her .99 buy across the internet broke the sacred trust of our agreement not to purchase frivilous things. We agreed it was a vanity purchase and that she was wholly in the wrong. We have not weighted a measurement system for the severity of the punishment she should recieve, but it will be mighty!

O_o

Ok, seriously. She did buy the song and thought nothing of it. She had a revalation the minute she told me about it. We had a pretty good laugh and she said she wouldn't do it again. It is against the rules, but there are no penalties. The penalties are inflicted upon us by our creditors and banks. No need for us to make it worse on ourselves.

"But that's how it happens, you know," she added during the conversation. "You don't even think about it a lot of time, buying things, that is. And then you've spent your money and don't know where it has gone."

She's right. That's the whole point of the challenge. The sharpening of our financial awareness. This year, I grant you, it's about not spending money, but overall the challenge is about spending money better, with analysis and thought, not just haphazzardly. Naginata's iTune song will not bounce any checks, but it serves as a pretty good reminder, this day, our 100th day of the challenge.

Happy 100th day of whatever the heck we're calling this! YAY!!! One hundred days later, we're still kicking! Stronger than ever!

To pile onto the compost pile of better news, the Budget-Truck isn't as bad off as I thought it was. It was just more far gone than the tiny battery of the Budget-Mobile was going to recover. When AAA showed up the other day, they got it started by plugging me up to their mega-jump-battery. I drove it home. The new assessment is: New Battery required. I hope I can get to that within the next week or so. I'll update you as that progresses.

I have recieved a few more inquiries on the hot tub, but I decided to revise the ad and add another picture depicting the "wear and tear" the other interested people had been put off by. I'm hoping this drives more people towards me that will avoid looking down their nose at me.

That's all I have to put on the Ronin-report for now.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Broken-down , Waterlogged and Forgotten.

So... the Budget-Truck is busted. Currently it's sitting in a parking lot waiting for me to tow it home. I want to tow it to a repairman to get it fixed, but I don't have the cash to make that happen, so I scraped some cash together and renewed my AAA membership for $60. I plan on getting it dragged back to the house this afternoon. As it stands, Budget Naginata and Edamame take me to the public train every morning. It's probably better for our budget anyway, but I will confess I'm a bit angry at the loss of a working vehicle and an unknown cost ahead of us for repairs.

The much ballyhooed Hot Tub is back up on the market. Last night two different people came to look at it and consider my very cheap price. Both turned me down. I know the tub is in good enough condition, but it looks a bit long in the tooth, so people have given me the stink eye about it. I don't really know what they expected. They are looking on craigslist for a used hot tub. Mine is marked way down and I even have in the description that I'm willing to negotiate (i.e. take LESS money) if they want to bother. It's a bit aggrivating to me. You'd think that if they wanted to knit-pick and complain about its imperfections, they would spend their time and effort to buy a new one.

And finally... This morning I arrived at the train station to discover I left my new monthly pass at home. I had to drop $13 for a day's pass and the new refillable plastic passcard that the system is using. $13 is about a quarter of what I pay for my discounted monthly pass. I feel fairly violated.

Bleh. I suppose this is why it's called "Hump Day."