HisHersMoney

Being a frugal family buying new “toys” isn’t something that is front and foremost in our minds, but sometimes it just happens. Our new gadget is a Breville Juicer. I shopped around online for it to compare capabilities, reviews and prices. We ended up choosing this model which had a larger motor, more speeds and the fact that all the pieces were dishwasher safe!   

When we had narrowed it down to a few models we then turned to price. The Breville Ikon model seemed to be at a good price point in the market and the cost didn’t vary too much depended on where we bought it. We bought ours from SurLaTable which had a good price and had a store locally which meant we could drive right over and pick it up. No shipping costs and no waiting because they had it in stock.

So far for fruit juices we have made fresh orange juice which was so delicious, orange and strawberry juice and mixed fruit juice with oranges, apples and strawberries. FOr vegetable juices I made a carrot juice yesterday which was surprisingly yummy and we have also made a celery, cilantro and lime juice which I put too much lime in and a tomato, celery and carrot juice which I put too much tomato in.

A few adjustments are ongoing as to the balance between the fruits a vegetables but so far most everything has been really good. I foresee a future with lots of fresh fruits and veggies making their way to my home from costco!

Everyone knows that this is Inauguration Weekend here in DC. We actually live in Northern Virginia about 6 miles outside of DC so personally I haven’t had to deal with much traffic or crowds. We aren’t going downtown for the actual Inauguration or Parade tomorrow but we are going to attend one of the 10 Official Inaugural Balls.

The Official Balls are those that are put on by the Inauguration Committee and Obama will be making an appearance at each one of them tomorrow night. From what we understand he will say a few short words and he and his wife will dance one dance at each one.

I am so excited to be able to attend one of these balls. We are actually attending the Commander in Chief Ball which is hosted by Obama and is exclusively for members of the military. I saw on the Entertainment Online website that they are covering the Official Balls which makes it even more exciting.

An event of this kind requires some preparation and the purchase of a new dress. I was surprised to realize that I really didn’t currently have a basic black full length dress. I headed out to the Tyson’s Corner mall which has all of my favorite stores plus many more that aren’t always quite in the budget, but unfortunately everyone was there looking for dresses!

After about 3 hours of searching high and low I finally found a dress! It’s from JS Boutique and it is beautiful!

I am so excited about our upcoming vacation to Jamaica! Neither of us has been before so it will be a new experience for both of us. Originally the vacation was planned as our honeymoon but due to actual wedding date changes which seem to be never ending right now we are taking the trip as a pre-wedding-moon.

We are staying at one of the Sandals resorts which are all inclusive which really helps with the budgeting aspect of the trip. There are a couple extra activities which we are considering doing which we realize are extra that we need to identify, budget and pay for and since the trip is in just a couple of weeks I guess we ought to get on that soon .

We have been on a couple of vacations in the year and a half we’ve been together. We went to Dallas for an extended weekend, Florida to visit / meet the family over Thanksgiving after we got engaged and a couple more local trips that we drove to.

This is a very much needed vacation for both of us as work has been an absolute bear for me requiring extended work hours and various stresses at HIS’s job as well. We’ll try to post a couple pictures when we get back mid-July.

So I received my direct deposit “stimulus” check this week. It was a big whopping $296. Let me tell you, I wasn’t overly stimulated when it arrived. Yes, it is certainly better than nothing but really what am I going to do with $296? I guess I could buy five weeks of groceries, or maybe get my hair done twice (not including tip) or pay a fourth of my car insurance bill. None of which are very exciting if you ask me.

I really think they missed the mark on this one and I’ve thought this since they announced it a few months ago. I think a better program would have been a “Pick a Pot Hole Campaign” where each taxpayer could pick the pot hole they hate the most on the under maintained roads and they would come in a fix it. I personally hate pot holes.

How about a “Cow for Everyone Program” where you could get a cow’s worth of steaks per person, enough to last the entire year. I would even kick in the cost of the A-1 out of my weekly grocery budget!

So, what will I really do with my humungous stimulus check? Probably nothing. I’l put it in the checking account, add it onto the current balance number and move on. HIM should be getting the entire $600 which will be a bit better but we still aren’t going to be hitting the local mall armed with fistfuls of cash ready to stimulate the heck out of the economy!

Last night, Hers and I took in a baseball game at the new home of the Washington Nationals, appropriately named Nationals Park. Luckily she gets free tickets as her place of employment has 8 seats reserved for employees throughout the season. This is good because the seats themselves (in the club level) would end up being pretty darned pricey judging from the carpeted interior where the food vendors and beer is located.

It’s never cheap when you go to a professional sporting event these days. Quite frankly they end up being about as bad as the movie theater, holding their guests captive. Just like any good consumers, we bought a program, a foam finger, and had dinner at the park. The damage just for my dinner alone was $20 for one beer (domestic), a chili-cheese hotdog, and chili-cheese fries. Now I’ll grant you that the food was GREAT, but it was from Ben’s Chili Bowl which is a D.C. institution and I could have gotten the same food I’m betting for half that price at another location.

So here are some tips for your next trip to the ballpark:

• Eat BEFORE you head to the game. Enjoy just a snack at the game
• Take public transportation to the game. This of course is so that you can also drink cheaply before the game if you must have a few brewskis.
• If you want to support your team, fine. Just purchase team apparel AWAY from the ballpark
• If there is a ‘cool’ hangout at the game where you don’t need special tickets to get to, purchase the cheapest tickets available and go there! At Nationals Park, it’s got to be the Red Loft bar in center field. It’s a great view, they’ve got other sports on TV while the game is on, and it’s just a great atmosphere.