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!