Dinnerly winners, jumper cables, a beauty school, and more
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I've got random stuff for you today!
Dinnerly winners
Congrats to Ashlyn, Michael K., Debra, and Tina! You've all been emailed, so check your inboxes so we can get your free Dinnerly box out to you.
And if you didn't win, you can of course sign up with Dinnerly right here.
You are never obligated to receive a shipment and you can easily cancel your subscription right online. Super easy!
Jumper cables are very fabulous.
And I just want to suggest that if you don't have a set in your car, you really should get some.
(and if you do, I highly recommend a set with a long cable because sometimes it's hard to get the two cars super close to each other.)
I think between Joshua, Lisey, and me, we've jump-started our cars at least three times in the past year and I've been very grateful to have jumper cables with me!
What made me think of this was that yesterday morning, a neighbor's car was dead, and I was able to jump-start her with my cables.
In other news, I can NEVER EVER remember the correct order to put the cables on the batteries, and so thank heavens for Google on my phone.
Also, the neighbor's car had kind of a weird battery and Google helped us to figure out how in the world you jumpstart a battery with that kind of terminal.
How did we ever do anything before the advent of Google??
Zoe and I are trying out a beauty school!
We have appointments for Tuesday morning, actually. I'm just getting a haircut, and Zoe is getting her ends dyed purple (for about half the price of what it would cost at a salon.)
I've never ever done this before, but I'll document our experience and share it with you guys.
(Not sponsored or anything...I'm just wanting to try it out and tell you all about it!)
I like the Dinner Illustrated cookbook.
I've mentioned this quite a few times in my menu plan posts, but I just wanted to give it a little extra shout-out here!
It's from America's Test Kitchen, and it's full of main dish recipes, with lots of step-by-step photos. I found quite a few tasty recipes, and none of them are super complicated (all ready in an hour or less.)
Dinner Illustrated is usually available on Amazon for less than the price of one takeout dinner (check for used copies!), so I definitely think it's worth the money.
You could check your library too, if you'd like to test-drive it first (that's what I did!).
And that brings me to the end of today's miscellany. 😉
Woo I'm excited for beauty school. I'm not aware of any beauty schools where I live. I usually just cut my hair myself. I'm excited to see your new hairstyles!
I cut my hair myself, as well. Typically people react to this information as if I have just said I do surgery on myself. Lol! Do you have long hair? I think my long hair is the reason I find it so easy. I don't have to cut it behind my head, I can pull it over my shoulders.
I can definitely see how that would work with longer hair! Mine is shoulder length, and that would make it super tricky to cut the back. Also, mine usually looks better with some layers, and I'd be scared to try doing layers in the back of my head!
Luckily, the beauty school only charges $12 for a haircut. And I typically only get my hair cut once or twice a year...last time was in October of last year for my Halloween costume!
I have had very good luck from Beauty Schools. Plan for lots of time tho. Everything gets checked and rechecked....which is good!
I carry jumper cables. I also carry a jump box; it has a battery to jump my car (or yours) and a compressor to pump up a tire. Cables are great if there's enough traffic to get someone to stop, but the jump box does not require anyone's help.
If I could afford a reliable car I would probably only carry the cables. Because I'd mostly be using them to help you, not to get myself out of a jam.
I’ve been getting my hair, and the occasional pedicure, at a beauty school for years. It does take a bit longer, but it’s well worth it.
I've used a beauty school here in town with success, but my husband got a terrible hair cut there, and when the girl trimmed his unruly eyebrows, she basically shaved one off. So, the lesson there was that they could trim a simple haircut on women better than they could cut a man's hair....
Not to scare you! The teacher was very slack at this school about supervising haircuts.
I always have jumper cables in my car, and not always for me. One time, we were driving home from a long trip and stopped at a rest area in the south of Georgia. A very petite young woman was going from car to car, asking if anyone could jump her car. Turned out, she was driving alone all the way back to Miami, FL, and her battery was acting up. My husband found out she had recently gassed up and had to get a jump at the gas station. We guessed from that, that she must not have the money on her to pay for a new battery, and we didn't have that kind of cash on us, either. He jumped her car from ours then gave her the cables and told her not to stop for anything else if she could avoid it, but to make sure she was in a good spot with other people and security if possible, so she could get a jump if she just had to stop. And he told her to let us know when she made it home. She offered us a little money for the cables but of course we didn't take it. She took our name and address and in a few days, a sweet little thank you note, letting us know she got home fine, came in the mail.
What a fine thing you all did, giving her those cables! She must have been so frightened, having to march around looking for help. I hope it is true that karma exists, because if it does you should be in line for something good to happen to you.
A link just came up on my FB page for the Grove. Thought it sounded familar from your blog. I just ordered several items. including, "paper free" paper towels. Wanted to let you know that they are offering their $30 of free Mrs. Meyers products plus free shipping again.
I think that I might try Dinnerly. Thanks for your write up. Before I read your post, I ordered from Hello Fresh. They were offering a $60 discount. Last night was my thried meal. It was Korean Chicken Thighs and was amazing! I will be making that on my own!
It is a very good idea to invest in jumpers cables. They stay in the bck of my SUV.
My miscellany is all about product complaints.
1. A box of Annie's granola bars was short a granola bar. In a very weird way: one of the wrappers was empty. I knew Annie's would want to know about the production mistake so used their online customer complain form instead of returning the product to the supermarket. Annie's sent me a coupon for a free product (anything, not just granola bars) plus 6-8 other discount coupons.
2. A box of Ortega Taco Flats was quite damaged - 75% were broken beyond use. Not having received a response from Ortega's online form a month after filing it, I called. The Customer Service rep is sending me 3 coupons for free Flats, to compensate for the damaged product and the earlier customer service fail.
Hints to get what you want:
1. Be polite and don't confuse the actions of the Customer Service rep with the actions of the company. The CS rep is often so happy that you're not being a jerk that they'll do their utmost for you, such as sending you extra coupons.
2. Have the product packaging on hand. The codes include details that help them track down the mfg defect. This, too, can encourage companies to give you a little bit more in return.
3. Be persistent (as appropriate to how much time you want to devote to it).
I recently started using our beauty school and have been pleased with the results. Just allow extra time. For me anyway it takes twice as long as in a salon in between the teacher having to check the work periodically, and they are naturally slower since they are students.
Thanks for the reminder that I probably need to get my ailing car battery replaced before winter. BTW, in case anybody out there doesn't know this, AAA has a free service for members where they'll bring their battery van to you and replace the battery for free. You still have to pay for the battery itself, but the service is free and soooo convenient! Not sure if it's available in all areas, but you might want to check before wasting a few hours at the shop dealing with a battery replacement.
AAA's battery prices are very competitive as well. In my area, batteries are about the same as car part stores and - as EcoCatLady says - labor and disposal is free.
AAA service is great for many issues. I wonder if they check the charging system before replacing the battery when replacing out in the field. I had a dead battery replaced once at a repair shop (not AAA) and less than a week later it was dead. Took it back in and they admitted they hadn't checked the alternator and it was overcharging the battery. To their credit they gave me another battery for free after fixing the charging system. It isn't a common problem but good to check.
Nowadays I wonder how many people could cope with mechanical/tire failure and for whatever reason cannot use their cell phone (or the car's call system) to lookup or call for help. Now some cars don't even come with spare tires and some may not even have a paper copy of the owner's manual to lookup things like warning lights, how to jump start, change a tire, add coolant, etc. Walking to a pay phone isn't an option in most places either as they have disappeared (so what stranger do you want to approach to make a call for you?). Good to think about developing your skills (and those of your teen drivers) in case you have to handle a fix yourself (without Google) and know what to do if you can't call for help yourself.
I just did what you suggested and put a copy of Dinner Illustrated on hold at the library! (I almost typed "Dinnerly Illustrated" by mistake.) Maybe there's an inexpensive meal in there that'll show up on my five frugal things someday!
1. Our school cafe offers a wonderful taco salad for staff, every 2 weeks or so. 3.50 for a huge salad in taco bowl. The only day I don't pack!
2. Got a 50$ gas card for $40 at Publix. Spent 33.00 on groceries. Still keeping to my 600.00 a month grocery bill. That includes beauty and pet.
3. Watching my gas mileage. I'm addicted to that thing that tells you tour mpgs.
4. Using my homemade laundry soap.
5. Cooked cheap chicken quarters overnight in crockpot. Deboned this afternoon and made a really tasty casserole.
I like to check alibris for used books, I've gotten whole series to read (4+ books) for under $8, and they often have coupons. They're great for cookbooks too.
My miscellany:
1. Win: I offered to bring roasted sweet potatoes and squash to a potluck tonight, a cheap n' cheerful side dish that will net leftover squash for my soup next week.
2. Fail: I woke up late on Tuesday and bought breakfast at school instead of eating at home. Those extra 40 minutes of sleep cost me $7.00! Not worth it.
3. Honourable mention: Today, I woke up late again but popped some home made bread in the toaster and grabbed a cup of tea to breakfast in the car. It worked much better!
I just ordered a Dinnerly box for my parents. Both of their birthdays are in October, so I thought this would be a fun thing for them. Dinnerly doesn't deliver in my area.
You should consider getting a portable car jump starter! (This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-18000mAh-Portable-Starter-Charging/dp/B01D42TYFC/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1539195638&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=portable+car+battery+jump+starter&psc=1
We drained our car battery accidentally when camping and the way our car was parked at our site did not allow for another car to get close. This saved the day! It can also charge your phone while camping. I hate buying yet another gadget but this is a good thing to have in at least one of your cars.