February Fun Money Spending Report
I started February with an excess of fun money because I only spent $36 at Ikea last month.
So, my fun money balance was $164 on February 1st.
How did I spend it? Here's the breakdown.
JBL portable speaker: $59.99
Ever since I moved here, I have thought that it would be nice to have some speaker capability in rooms other than my office (where my computer speakers are). But I have done nothing about it.
Since I rent, I obviously want a portable speaker, not something that gets installed in the house.
So, I looked up a "best of" article, and decided on a JBL flip. Then I thought about how sturdy these speakers are and realized eBay might be a decent option because even a used one is probably still fine.
I found an open-box white one for $59.99 and hit "buy now".
(There were some on there with a camo pattern, but this seemed a little silly to me because if we are trying to be sneaky and blend in outdoors, why would we be using a speaker anyway?? The use case for this product escapes me. Ha.)
Anyway. The white one looks just fine in my kitchen or in my living room and I think it blends in more than a camo one would. 😉
Of note: I bought a slightly older model of this speaker on purpose, and that's because the new ones have a rather obnoxious-looking JBL logo on the front. I prefer the smaller logo on mine!
Sous vide machine: $19.99
A friend of mine recommended I give sous vide cooking a try, and sent me a flash deal because it was a low barrier to entry (Currently, it's more than double that price!)
The egg bites Starbucks sells are sous vide style (which the homemade version tries to replicate in the oven with the steam bath), but I am curious to try the actual sous vide variety and see if they are better.
I mean, look at the texture of these in the photo at the end of the post.
Sooo, we shall see how I like this method. If I don't love it, hey, I only spent $19.99 to give it a whirl.
What's Left
This does still leave me with $80 to roll over into next month, which means I'll have $180 of fun money to play with in March.
Bonus item: a new keyboard for $120
This is not a fun money expenditure; I actually used money from my blog income bank account, since I largely use my computer setup for blogging! But I'm gonna add it to this fun money post anyway. 😉
This is an InCase keyboard, because apparently Microsoft sold their ergonomic keyboard design to this company.
Many of you suggested fixes for my old keyboard (one reader's husband upholstered theirs with real leather!), but I'm a little short on time at this stage of my life.
Also: my old keyboard was from 2016, and I feel like ten years is a decent amount of service from a keyboard, especially given how much I type.
The new one is more compactly designed, it doesn't have the faux leather pad, and the keys are quieter (which makes me feel pretty fancy).
The design is slightly different, so I'm having to adjust my typing a bit, but I know I will eventually get used to it.
I know you can get regular keyboards for super cheap, but the split design (which my other one also had!) is a much more natural angle for human wrists. And since I'm prone to having hand/wrist issues, this is a very important investment for me.
Some of you suggested keeping the old keyboard for Chiquita to sit on, but unfortunately, I don't think she's interested in a keyboard unless I'm using it. Ha. She's just trying to always be RIGHT BY ME. 😉
Anyway: I feel pretty fancy with my new sleek keyboard, and hopefully it'll give me a decade of typing time, just like my last one did.
So. New month, $180 in hand, and I'll do another report in early April. Will I manage to actually spend this much money?? I don't know!
Whenever I try using my laptop with a cat nearby they come and sit on me. Because THEY are the real laptop 😉
I also hate large logos on things. It reminds me of someone once saying to me that logos on clothing is just free advertising for a company. I think the same goes for any product!
Haha, adorable that kitties are the real laptops!
Yup! They're also in charge of the mouse 😉
Sophie, I first read that as "They're also in charge of the HOUSE" but realized that is probably also true. 🙂
It definitely is!
Sophie in Denmark,
Our Mr. High Maintenance, Lafayette, loooooves sitting in my lap, BUT I am not allowed to do anything besides scritch behind his ears/side of his face/any other body part he wants scritched (such as his back). Use your laptop? That's a big feline NO. Do some mending? He shall sit upon whatever clothing item you were hoping to mend. You get the idea. 🙂
The cats I had as a kid didn't like it if I was reading while they were on my lap, because attention was partly on turning pages rather than petting them!
I love the framed quote in your photo. Do you keep it near your keyboard?
It’s actually in my living room at this house. At my last house I did have it by my computer desk, though!
Thanks for commenting. I didn’t notice the quote so I went back and found it. Wise words! I need someone to tell me that daily! 🙂
It caught my eye as well!
the guys here use the camo JBL speakers outside when using predator calls during hunting season.
OHHHH, that makes sense. You can tell I am not a hunter. Ha.
Only kinda related question: what did you do with your old keyboard? I feel that you have honestly given it its best life but now does it head to the landfill? Or is there another option? I ask because I have a box of stuff like that that I feel guilty sending to the landfill but don't know what to do with and I am guessing you or someone here knows how to ethically dispose of it!
My (very small) city has an e-waste collection site. When I lived in a larger city, they often had e-waste collection days at sites around the city, in addition to their e-waste collection site (which was at the dump, along with other hazardous waste collection). I sympathize with your "I'm keeping this in a box while I try to figure out what on earth to do with it" situation. As I work on decluttering my house, trying to ethically dispose of things is definitely helping curb my current spending. Sobering to think that many of the things I want to buy now will eventually end up in a "Why do I even own this?" to-be-decluttered pile.
Like Myndie, the place I live has electric waste recycling bins, so I put things like old keyboards in there. If they actually get recycled is another question!
We do have an electronics recycling drop off area, but also I know the nearby children's museum can use old electronics for some of their after-school programs, where they let kids deconstruct/reconstruct stuff, so I might check with them too!
For the moment it's sitting on my office floor. Ha.
If you have a Staples near you, they will accept keyboards for recycling (no purchase necessary).
Best Buy will accept these and other electronics for recycling too, I believe. And in my area, there's a company that will accept an unlimited amount of any electronics on their dropoff list for recycling. (Good to know, as I've found three dead cell phones and two dead point-and-shoot cameras so far at NDN1's house. Her two ancient dead TVs are going to require another solution.)
A. Marie,
Take a look at Earth911 (https://earth911.com) to see if there's anywhere in your area that might take the ancient TVs. I know in my area, even electronics e-waste drop off events give certain types of old TVs the side-eye (and won't take them, or charge a fee to take them, which might be worth it - or not).
@A. Marie - none of us will say a word if you/CF use found money to pay for recycling those TVs. Or any other clean-up related expense IMHO.
A. Marie,
Bruin! I take things there frequently, as things can be dropped at any time of day. It makes me happy that they don't end up in the landfill.
Amazon has link for recycling electronics. You put items in your own box and drop off ups. It's all free no matter weight. I've used it twice
In our small town, the local Goodwill collects all tech and small appliances for safe recycling.
Very nice.
I am a big fan of my sous vide stick. Very useful and great way to make hunks o' meat such as chops and steaks. You can even package the meat with seasonings then freeze, to have your food ready to grab for later.
My favorite resource for tips and info is Serious Eats.
Agreed re sous vide stick and especially so regarding Serious Eats.
@WilliamB, thanks for mentioning Serious Eats. I had forgotten about that site, and I’ll link to it when I put sous vide cooking in my blog for things I learned in March.
Thank you for the suggestion of Serious Eats. My DH has a sous vide stick, and other related stuff, but has never tried to use it.
My mother-in-law gave me a little portable Bluetooth speaker for my birthday last year and I love it. I almost exclusively listen to music while I work in the kitchen, so it lives on my microwave and I don't really move it around, but the sound quality is SO much better than the speaker on my laptop. So I think that was a good idea you had. 🙂
We keep our Bose speaker in our kitchen too! We decided to bring it on our camping trip. My hubs has XM radio app.
My son gave me a speaker, and it’s one of my favorite gifts ever because I use it so much.
I love how thoughtful you are with your spending and your eBay successes.
My husband has that speaker and loves it. We even take it on vacation with us so we can listen to our music wherever we go. They had it on sale one day at Sam's Club.
And I have no idea what the sous vide cooking is. When you make your egg bites that way, you'll have to do a post on it.
I hope you love your sous vide as much as we love ours! My husband swears by it for cooking meat. I love it for cooking individual cheesecakes. I'm looking forward to a cooking update to see how the egg bites stack up!
Oh wow, cheesecake! How do you do that?
I don't even own stick and I thought, ooo, yes, need to see that procedure and result! Somehow missed this frugal option to consider. I thought you had to buy a whole machine to do sous vide. Thanks!
I love our sous vide machine. Hope you like yours as well.
We have one of those speakers to boost sound from the television as both DH and I have lost some hearing as we got older. They are small but mighty!
I have spent hardly any fun money during the 16 months we've had workmen fixing issues with our old house, but the work finally is done and this weekend I bought some sewing patterns on sale from Simplicity for a couple of fun projects. Also freed up some money for fabric, which is the big expense with sewing.
Really enjoyed your fun money report! We have the JBL speaker you bought, and it's actually a popular request once we bring it somewhere (we have purchased them as gifts for others). I also really dislike the big logo in the link you showed - we would not be interested in that giant logo! We have black versions, but the white is nice as well.
Right? It looks so not classy with the huge logo. BOO.
I love your speaker and your new keyboard. We've had a speaker just like that for a few years now, and we love it. I think the sound quality is really good, especially considering its size. I also love that you're buying yourself fun things. Enjoy!
With all that roll over fun money accumulating I foresee a nice vacation up ahead.. maybe a trip to HAWAII to see your daughter??
Or—anything at all that makes your heart sing.. you are working hard!! you deserve it!!
When I was still working and dressed for my office job, my goal (Not always achieved ) was to buy 5 new pieces of clothing for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons. This let me mix and match with clothing I already had so I didn’t get bored with my wardrobe. I know you wear uniforms at work, but maybe you could your fun money to treat yourself with some fun clothing for spring for when you’re not at work.
Ooh, that is a good idea! Maybe some scrubs in a fun new color.
I think a computer mouse, especially a wired one, will last even longer than a keyboard but if the ergonomic keyboard is helpful you may try a vertical mouse. Thankfully my company provides all ergonomic supports we need. I have been using the Evoluent mouse for almost 10 years and swear by it to reduce strain and pain. https://evoluent.com/products/vm4sw/. Ebay may have a better deal, I saw new egg also had good pricing. For anyone using a computer for mor than a few minutes of typing I highly recommend!
My mom has used one of those before, since she also has wrist and hand problems.
I will say that a corded mouse is WAY better for my hands than a wireless one; the wireless ones are so heavy because of the batteries inside.
I use a wireless mouse with Bluetooth. It’s certainly not heavy. Does your windows support Bluetooth?
Yup! My keyboard is bluetooth. Maybe they've figured out how to make these lighter, but man, the wireless mice I tried were all so heavy, from the AA batteries they required.
Does sous vide generate plastic bag waste every time you use it or do you reuse the bags?
@Book Club Elaine, I wondered the same thing. Also, isn’t there a worry about plastic “leaking” into things? A friend of mine won’t wear clothing with any plastics (acrylic) next to her skin because of that worry. (I have enough to worry about).
So, the egg bite recipe I linked to actually has you cook the egg bites in glass Ball jars! That appealed to me.
You can also opt for reusable silicone bags, which is what I will likely do if I find I like this method of cooking.
although i only have one cammo t-shirt from llbean that i obught after seeing your snoopy llbean shirt. i love cammo. when my son was little i bought him cammo everything. my daughter is not a cammo fan at all. glad you are happy with your fun money expenditure. perhaps a shelley photo is coming soon.
I think you should set Chiquita up with her own keyboard and computer so she could do a Frugal Cat blog. LOL!
She already has quite a following. Cat videos are popular, so why not a cat blog?
Well, I think Chiquita's blog entries might not vary much from "My human doesn't feed me enough" and "My human doesn't let me sit on the keyboard." Betty's would be much the same, except that she'd add "My human doesn't let me drape herself across her collarbone when she's in her recliner trying to use the laptop." 😛
That should, of course, have been "doesn't let me drape myself." 😛 😛
The cats suffer so. 😉
I like to imagine the Commodore's blog would read something like:
"Once again, I am left to languish, like a disgraced Victorian gentleman who, through no fault of his own, was left destitute by poor investments. It is now 5:45 in the morning, and the slack and careless servants still slumber, ignorant of my suffering. My stomach gongs loudly, clamoring for my morning biscuits."
Karen A.,
Mr. High Maintenance himself, Lafayette, knows the Commodore's pain. 🙂 Being more of a scrappy, streetwise cat, he would say, "I dunno about dese hoomans, sleepin' all day when I'm over heah, starving to deth. Fuggetaboutit".
Nice!
I think the keyboard is a wise investment. I’m of the mindset that you spend more for tech upfront and then plan on it lasting much longer. Given your piano playing plus the need to continually use your hands in nursing, I heartily support the ergonomic keyboard (not that you needed my approval - LOL!). Good decision-making!
My husband got a bluetooth speaker several years ago. We take it camping and use it indoors. Definitely worth it, especially since he has an extensive playlist on his phone.
My fun money has been null and void as I’ve been recuperating from a right TKR. Today, I start driving myself so gas money may fall into the fun money category!
Glad you enjoyed your February fun money and have plenty left over for March, Kristen.
And after dropping my tax paperwork off at my tax people's office this morning, I treated myself to spending some of the fun money I've spent zilch of this past 6 weeks, thanks to winter weather and other obligations. I hit the Second Time Around store (the Monday pop-up in the old bowling alley) and hit it hard: I found two Corning Ware dishes in a favorite size and pattern (I broke one of these dishes last year and have been watching for replacements ever since), two pairs of pants that should fit NDN1 (who's desperately in need of pants), two long-sleeved tops for myself, and two books, for a total of $29. And since all purchases at the STA benefit the adjacent Catholic church's food pantry, this sort of aligns with NCA Katy's Goodwill card challenge to benefit the Oregon Food Pantry.
I have a ton of music on my computer which is in my room upstairs. How would I be able to use the JBL speaker (thinking Flip 6) to listen to music downstairs? Do I play it on my computer and listen to the speaker anywhere? Thanks for any information!
This connects via Bluetooth, so I just use my phone to play music through it!
Please forgive my ignorance! I have no music on my phone - it's all on my computer. So how do I get my computer to connect to the speaker? Is it still through the phone? If so, how? (I think I need my granddaughters' help!)
Hmm. Have them see if your computer has Bluetooth on it! If it does then you could use this 🙃
If your computer has a bluetooth connection, you can use the speaker as your computer's external speaker; then you pick it up and move it around. No phone needed. Whether the bluetooth speaker could then go downstairs and maintain that connection is to be determined. They go pretty far, but I'm not sure how far.
Thanks for your help! My speaker arrived today and I am now able to listen to my music anywhere in my house!
Forgive me for asking a stupid question because I've just never seen you mention it, but how do you calculate your fun money? Is it a number you allocate at the beginning of the month and just make sure you don't spend it if you don't have to and therefore roll it over to she next month? I always love the way you refer to your fun money and just would like to know how you do that? I know you work really, really hard to be frugal so, having that extra money specified is just kind of interesting.
Blessings to all.
Meats cooked sous vide style are wonderful! Perfectly done every time!
Chiquita loves Mama. My Missy is the same way.
Just wanted to make a sous vide book recommendation: https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/sous-vide-for-everybody.html
It's like most of the ATK books -- the base recipe/technique plus a variation or two. I highly recommend their poached chicken and polenta recipes; both produce wonderful results by cooking sous vide.
Ooh, good to know! Thank you!
Hi Kristen,
I'm curious, have you come across any deals for a cat window perch? If there's a winder near your desk, it might be a great solution for Chiquita!
Also, I'm now interested in sous vide! It's new to me. Please let us know how it works out!
* sorry, WINDOW
Haha, I thought you were just throwing in a little southern drawl. 🙂
I do havea cat tree next to my desk and she opts for that sometimes. And sometimes I "encourage" her by placing her in the cat tree. Ha.
We have the same JBL speaker! My husband and I went to a concert in Chicago a couple of years ago and afterwards we were at the train station late at night and found a JBL speaker on one of the benches, left behind. There was no one else on the platform, so my husband took it. He eventually had to replace the battery in it for about five dollars and a little time. We still use it and it's been great.
I enjoy seeing this style of post as I am working on learning to spend fun money on fun things instead of practical/necessary things.
I had tried to purchase a used copy of Fire Cider by Rosemary Gladstar, but the seller never mailed it so I got a refund. Will try borrowing from library instead and writing out recipes I will use in my black book of recipes. More economical overall!