Q&A | Refurbs, Prereqs, Shopping with Littles, & a Yeast Roll Problem
It's a Q&A day...let's dive in!
I am curious about the refurbished items that you have purchased, such as the electric kettle from eBay. I have always shied away from buying used electronics and appliances online. Have you done this before and are you pleased with your purchases?
-Bee
I usually just make sure there is a reasonable return period and I make sure to test the item as soon as I get it.
I also only buy from reputable sellers with plenty of feedback. I would not, for instance, buy a used iPhone from a random person on craigslist, but I will buy a refurbished iPhone from Amazon Warehouse Deals.
Also, I tend to tread with less caution if the item is a lower dollar amount. The electric kettle was not nearly as big a risk as an iPhone, so I didn't feel too much stress about it.
I keep bringing up the risks of iPhones, but I have had lots of success with buying refurbished iPhones through Amazon Warehouse Deals. I have never been brave enough to buy one on eBay, though!
And I most definitely am not brave enough to buy an iPhone from a person on Facebook Marketplace...there are even fewer consumer protections in place there (which makes me think that shysters would be more likely to try to sell there.)
Buying brand new is the lowest risk option, of course.
But buying second-hand is (usually) the lowest price option.
So every shopper has to weigh their risk tolerance and find the sweet spot between A) risks and B) saving money.
Kristen, I’m puzzled at all these courses you’re having to do before going to nursing school. In my state in Australia you just go straight to university after school and begin your degree.
-Lisa
I'm not sure how it works in every state in the U.S., but at my school, there are certain classes you have to take before you start the two-year R.N. program.
For instance, you have to take Anatomy and Physiology 1 and Intro to Biology before you can even apply to the program, and you have to have some general ed. classes done, such as English, math, and so on.
Then once you get into the nursing program, the classes are 100% nursing-related.
I could put off developmental psych and microbiology and do them concurrently with the nursing program, but I figured I'd rather knock out everything I can beforehand.
That way, my workload will be as manageable as possible when I'm in the nursing program.
When your kids were little, did you have a set grocery shopping day that you planned around? Or did you try to go when your husband was home and could stay with the kids? Did you keep enough food at all times that you could skip groceries for a few days if necessary?
We used to live in a very tiny house and it just made more sense to only store the food we ate for just that week. Now we have slightly more storage (and a baby and toddler!) and I’m trying to adjust our food strategies. You are so resourceful and practical and I’d love to hear your advice from that phase of life.
-Katie
Yes, when my kids were little, I generally did have a set day that I went grocery shopping. Since I homeschooled, I had to take all of the kids with me every time, so I tried very hard to only go once per week.
Life has changed so much for me; now it's no biggie for me to run out for an ingredient or two, but when I had to load up four small people for every trip, even a "quick" stop was not very quick, especially in the winter when I had to get everyone bundled up.
I remember in this stage of life, one afternoon I realized I did not have the buns that were necessary for my dinner plans. And it felt like so much work to take all the kids out to the store, I immediately decided I would just bake buns because that seemed much less overwhelming.. Ha.
I know some people are organized enough to go every two weeks (or less), and I did make occasional efforts to that end. But honestly, it felt like so much work to try to stretch the trips; it was easier just to go once a week.
That said, I always had a chest freezer and a pantry shelf in my laundry room, so it's not like we were totally out of food at the end of 7 days! I always have a stash of food around, often comprised of things I bought in bulk or got on sale.
I'd suggest that you experiment and see what works for you. You might land on something that's perfect for this stage of life.
But then you will have to experiment again at some point because the only constant thing in parent-life is....change!
I am not an experienced baker, but decided to try my hand at making batch of whole wheat buttermilk dinner rolls (not your recipe).
Everything seemed to be working out. First rising looked good.However, after I split the dough into 12 portions, made round balls and placed them on a prepared cookie sheet for the second rising, the dough didn’t hold its shape. The rolls spread out and flattened. They did still rise, but were huge disks, not nicely shaped dinner rolls.
Is this a result of not kneading enough prior to the first rising?
Kneading was very difficult because the dough was very sticky. The recipe cautioned not to add additional flour.Please help.
-Nick
That sounds like a too little flour problem; most people do err on the side of adding too much flour, which is probably why the recipe mentioned being careful about that.
But perhaps you are one of the few new bakers who erred on the side of too little flour.
Proper roll dough should hold its shape a bit after you knead it, but it should be soft enough to relax a little if you plop it onto the counter in a ball.
If it’s like Play-doh, it's way too stiff and it won’t rise. If it flattens out right away, that’s too soft and you need more flour.
Here's what my dough looks like after kneading:
I doubt your flat rolls were caused by improper kneading, but just in case: you can usually tell if a dough is sufficiently kneaded by poking your finger into the dough.
If your finger indentation bounces back quickly, then you have kneaded enough to develop the gluten in the flour.
If your finger indentation doesn't bounce back at all (or it's slow to bounce back), then you could knead the dough until it does pass the finger indentation test.
I hope that helps!
Readers, if you have input on any of these questions, do share in the comments.
P.S. Got a question for a future Q&A post? Send me an email.
I find your journey to become a nurse so inspiring. I never considered changing careers but when I read about nursing school, I get tempted (in a good way)!
I think the only electronics in our house that weren’t bought refurbished or second-hand are the television (which is going on… nine years old?) and my printer/scanner. Everything else was bought by certified sellers with great reviews on Amazon or eBay (our phones are several generations old) or at Goodwill for smaller ticket items (box fan, crock pot, etc.). Having recently seen a woman dive tackle a brand new InstaPot at Goodwill, I can safely say that more expensive electronics do sneak in from time to time! One can usually find an outlet at Goodwill for trying things out before purchasing.
Like Kristen said, Amazon Warehouse Deals are a great resource, especially if you can afford to wait for a gently used or imperfect item to appear. I don’t care that our incoming rug shampooer has “cosmetic imperfections,” and neither will the accumulated cat debris; I *do* care that the shampooer was only $60 vs $120! The faucets I bought for our house had “cosmetic imperfections,” too, and I still haven’t figured out just where said imperfections are.
I have bought several items from the Amazon Warehouse over the years and they have all been fine, including an electric griddle within the past year.
I use my Kitchenaid mixer when I make yeast bread dough. Generally when there is enough flour the dough stops sticking to the side of the mixing bowl. You have to add a little bit at a time when you get near that stage or it is easy to use too much.
It just occurred to me that for my entire life with children, I have been too far from grocery stores to make it even sort of worthwhile to "run to the store" with little kids. Even when we were only--"only"--30 miles from the grocery store, it was still always my husband or MiL stopping on their way home from somewhere. I mean, I would go with my children occasionally (there's a double-consonant word I always have to look up . . .) on OUR way home from somewhere, but having a "day" to go to the store was definitely never part of my life.
Silver linings. 🙂
Kristen, thanks to you I was brave enough to buy my first Amazon warehouse deal used iPhone (for my son)
I will never, ever buy a brand new phone again!
Thank you!!!!
I am the parent of a highly energetic 6 year old boy and grocery shopping is a challenge. I meal plan and keep a stocked chest freezer and pantry. I also cook and bake most of our meals from scratch. Gardening is a love of mine so I also have a large 1200 sq ft garden - some women buy shoes & purses...I buy dirt and seeds 🙂
I try to keep meals as simple as possible and rely on recipes that my family enjoy so that leftovers are gobbled up. With prices being what they are I try very hard to shop sales and stretch our grocery dollar and this has been an extra challenge in the last several months. Still I do my best to try and feed my family at home and I don't have a set day that I shop. Some weeks I find my child is going through a growth spurt and eats more than a full grown man, other weeks he eats a smaller amount. The amount we consume also changes based on whether he is in school or if my husband has several days off from work so I gauge the time that I shop with the need to shop.
When I take my child to the grocery store with me, which is most of the time, I try to have a list, enlist his help in getting things off that list and have something with me that will entertain him if at all possible. This is not always a pleasant trip and I can't say that I am not that mother whose hair is frayed and looks as if she has gone through a war as she walks out of the door of the store but sometimes parenting is just plain hard.
I wish you luck, lots of patience, and maybe a chocolate bar in the checkout line as a reward 🙂
I generally buy used appliances. My pink stove, for example, is from 1959 and made better than anything you can find today. Ditto my aqua Mixmaster from the 50s and my beloved 1950s blender. I have also purchased phones from ebay.
@Rose,
I wish I could see a picture of your pink stove! I just went back and reread your meet the reader post because I thought there was a picture there, but it was a picture of your guest house kitchen which is also beautiful. I love the look of kitchen appliances from basically any era before the 70s, but especially the 40s-60s. And you're right that they just aren't made as well now.
@Becca, I will take one and post it once it's actually clean. Ha! It's Dixie brand, which was a low end brand at the time, yet again, made with good old American steel, not cheap Chinese junk.
Ah, OK, it's this model, but mine is in pristine condition, no rust etc. The clock on the back is so midcentury modern it hurts.
ai yi yi
https://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/JPEG/BASKET/2021/20211227/bradfordwhite-2021122702163703087_1.png
@Rose, That is gorgeous!!!! It must make you happy every time you see it!
@Plaidkaren, It does! In the middle, once you pull up the top, is a griddle with its own larger burner. Makes great pancakes. It's all removable for easy washing, too.
I've been in the lots of littles stage for quite a while now (five children seven and under plus a couple years of foster care in there) and I completely get the "making rolls is less work than going to the store."
I have found Walmart and Sam's Club pickup to be a great boon for me - I order pickup weekly for on my way home from something else (Bible study, kids swimming lessons, etc) for my main shopping day (at least in my area, Walmart and ALDI are competitive with pricing for generic shelf-stable goods.) Then, I can do my ALDI shopping (mostly produce) quickly on the weekend when my husband is home with the kids - it would NOT be quick if the children were with me (back when I had two in the cart, two hanging onto the cart, and one in my front carrier - oof!)
I keep a fairly large pantry stocked (as well as a deep freeze) - but my biggest tip for other moms of young ones who have more limited storage is to come up with a few reliable "emergency meals" to keep on hand regardless of your planned menu for the week - meals that you can easily keep things on hand for, that can be prepared with minimal effort in 30 minutes or so, and preferably that your husband can also make. These do great for those days when it feels like everything falls apart - the baby is teething, the toddler unrolled a whole roll of toilet paper on top of his sister's unflushed poop and then flushed, the kindergartner made a mud pit using water from the rain barrel... Some reliables for us are scrambled egg burritos, a hamburger helper-esque one pot noodle dish, and breaded fish filets with tator tots. Add a bag of frozen veg and a can of fruit for a balanced meal. Emergency meals have saved us so many trips to the store and/or restaurants.
@bekahcubed, five children under seven and still room in your heart for foster care.
There is a special place in haven for you.
To Katie's question:
Times have become more convenient, depending on where you live. A friend of mine has two toddlers who become very active in grocery stores. So she orders from the store's website and schedules the pickups once or twice a week.
Ironically, she takes the kids along for pickup since they love car rides ha. You could also schedule the pickup for another person to do, like your husband on his way home.
I'm starting my RN program in August, and I'm wishing I had gotten all of my science classes out of the way. I'll still have to take microbiology and advanced physiology while in the program. It's a bit tricky because our nursing classes alone aren't full time, and to qualify for my full financial aid amount I do need to be full time. Sigh.
Going back to school at 42 was not something I expected to ever do, but I am really enjoying it.
When I had two kids at home, I tried to wait until my husband was home to stay with the kids, but his regular work week was five and a half days, and some weeks he worked all seven days, so that didn't always work out, meaning I shopped with them fairly often. It could be challenging for sure. I had a set grocery day, although the particular day changed as time went on, my kids got older and life/jobs changed.
I tried to always have some extra food in the house, but with very little storage space back then, it was hard. I figured if I could always have some applesauce, eggs and tuna on hand, we would survive until I could get to the store.
As far as dough, I am the too-much-flour type and have to watch myself. Is it possible the dough rose too long or too much the first time? I have to agree with Kristen, though, it does seem like the dough was too soft and needed a little extra flour.
I hand-kneaded for years, but I have used my Kitchen Aid for quite a while (I still make yeast rolls for holiday dinners even though I'm gluten-free) and it's easy - when the dough pulls from the sides of the bowl and wraps around the dough hook, kneading is done.
Re: college - where I attended college, there were "pre-reqs" that had to be taken first for many majors/programs. I always assumed that helped weed out people who'd mistaken their choice of major and let them change majors before they got accepted into a program they would later find wasn't a good fit or that they couldn't pass.
Another mom of sort-of littles here. My boys are now nine and almost eight. Because they are close in age, they fight constantly and their behavior is so embarrassing in public that I prefer to shop alone. If I take only one child, it is much better, but the child left behind is then out of sorts and I end up dealing with more behavior later. Especially during the pandemic where grocery shopping entails extra layers of precaution (and frugality!), I just find it saves my sanity to go alone. Because it can be hard to find regular childcare, I try to shop like it's my job when I do get to the store (maybe once every two or three weeks) and I keep tons of food on hand in pantry and freezer. I also think it's worthwhile to have some food delivered. It does cost more, but you have to weigh that with your time and energy as well as whatever cost you would have for childcare. I like grocery shopping (or at least I did prepandemic-it's less fun now), so in a way I think of it as my me-time which is very important as a mother.
@Becca, "Because they are close in age, they fight constantly . . ." I felt this in my soul. My boys are now 12, 10, and 7.5. I only had one brother growing up. I was in no way prepared with how combative life would be with three boys close in age. 🙂
@kristin @ going country,
that's about the age gas with my three sons - and yes - VERY combative life that was..... 🙂
@Lea,
gap not gas
@kristin @ going country,
People kept/keep saying things like "oh, it'll be easier when they are older." Yeah, um, so far...nope...they are just stronger now and can do more damage to each other and the house. Some days it feels like I live in a war zone.
@Lea, But as the mother of boys, you know how HILARIOUS they would find this auto-correct . . .
@Becca, Yes. This is true.
@kristin @ going country, It isn't always boys. I was the oldest of six and my father used to say that if women were boxers (There were none in the 50s/60s), I would be a world champ. I don't think there was a week between when I was a toddler and 12 that I didn't have a punch up with one of my brothers. After that I went off to a girls' boarding school, so no boys to beat up. I grew out of it, but I never lost the skills of self-defense. The one boyfriend who slapped probably never hit a woman again, I will tell you that.
@Lindsey, slapped me. Why does proofing never occur to me until after I hit reply??
@Lindsey, oof, that boyfriend slapping story is just BEGGING to be heard (by me, perhaps??????). XXX
Katie,
When my kids were small, I'd do my weekly grocery trip every Wednesday with them. We'd wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed and go. When they were older and I was working full time I'd do it once a week on Friday evenings. I'd also fill my gas tank on those days too whether I was at empty or not.
We bought a second-hand washer-dryer set from a work colleague who was moving early in our marriage and it lasted a number of years. My husband had the good fortune to work with compulsive upgraders of personal tech for a number of years and scored some good deals cheap. My personal favorite score was a free electric kettle rescued from a closed-down office wing at work. Everything in that wing was destined for the landfill when it was renovated. I saved a microwave and the kettle from it. Both just needed to be cleaned up. The microwave stayed in my work office and the kettle came home with me. It retails for $60 and I use it all the time.
@Ruby, and A. Marie,
My family and I are planning a trip to the city in Tennessee featured in the "Choo Choo" song. If I remember correctly one or both of lived in this city and its surrounding area at one point in time, (sorry if I am wrong). Would you, or anyone else in the FG community, be comfortable sharing some good, worthwhile sightseeing locations for us to visit? There are so many tourist traps there, (Rock city, Ruby Falls), all of which are so expensive, and we would like some frugal options, as well! Thanks in advance!!! ☺
@st, A. Marie grew up here and I still live here. I highly recommend the Tennessee Aquarium. There's a freshwater side and a saltwater side, and it has otters and penguins, along with all the usual fish, turtles, etc.
The Chattanooga Zoo is a nice excursion too. It's a small zoo, but has exotic birds, chimpanzees, giraffes, snow leopards, red pandas, capybaras and a cool little farm. It's one of my favorite places to go because it's laid out so well.
You might want to ride the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain. It's a funicular railway in historic St. Elmo that has been in operation since 1895. There's an ice cream shop at the station at the base, if I remember correctly.
There's also the Creative Discovery Museum for children, a really nice art museum (the Hunter Museum), the Tennessee Railway Museum, and Coolidge Park on the North Shore, which is free to enter, has a carousel and lots of play space for children. It borders River Street, which has tons of cool shops and places to get snacks or eat a good meal. Up above River Street is Frazier Avenue, which is also super cool.
Chattanooga is a city that evolved to encourage walking and biking. The Walnut Street Bridge that crosses the Tennessee River is now a pedestrian bridge and wonderful fun to walk on. There are also bike rental stands scattered throughout the city, and the streets have dedicated bike lanes to make it safer.
Have fun!
@Ruby,
Thank you Ruby, for these suggestions! I really appreciate it. Hopefully we will include one, if not more, of these in our game plan!
@st, read up on Civil War history and sites. They are free and usually run by nonprofits or government agencies. No rides, though…
@Kristina, yes, there's loads of Civil War history sites around. The Chickamauga Battlefield park is not too far outside the city and is well worth visiting.
I've been shopping with 1-3 littles for a long time now and there are lots of weeks that I shop twice a week. We always go to Aldi, but I also like to hit the sales at one or two other stores. We live in town and it's not far to the store. I have to factor in my kids' stamina and what else we're doing that day. They can only be good in the store for so long, so there are times that I'd rather shop two days than go to the second store with grumpy kids. I remember being in the store once and telling my kids, "We only have 4 more items on the list. Can we hold it together for that long?" The answer that day was no. Ha! For us it depends on the week. Sometimes we can crank it all out at once, sometimes two days works better.
Walmart and some other stores now have curbside pickup. You still have to bundle up the kids for the drive but you no longer have to try to keep them in order while walking the aisles of the store or worry about waking a baby that just went to sleep so it cries during the whole shopping trip.
Nick,
I would propose some other reasons your dough flattened out during the second rise:
1. When you shape the dough, it helps to create a "gluten cloak" around the dough. This takes some practice, but it is essentially pulling a skin of dough around the ball of dough to help it hold it's shape. This video, about 2 minutes in, shows what I'm talking about: https://youtu.be/Gx2Sf3XqkhQ
2. Is it possible that you either left the dough where it was too warm or for too long? The rising times in recipes are suggestions, but temperature is a big determinant of when dough has proofed enough. Particularly in a warm kitchen, it can proof more quickly than the recipe states, and when it goes too far beyond that the yeast runs out of food.
3. I respectfully disagree with Kristen about too little flour. Very wet doughs can rise beautifully, but they take more time for the gluten to develop (that's the very premise of no-knead breads). I do agree that if it's a wetter dough, it may take MORE time for the gluten to develop, and the finger poke test will tell you when it's ready.
Pay attention to how you measure the flour. You can get very different amounts of flour depending on how you measured it--dropping flour into a measuring cup with a spoon, vs. scooping into the flour and then sweeping off the excess vs. weighing out the flour on a kitchen scale (my preferred method because it's consistent). If you live in a very dry or very humid climate, that can also affect the amount of flour you measure out. If you don't have a kitchen scale, the "scoop and sweep" is likely to be more accurate than the drop flour into the measuring cup.
I know it sounds picky, but with practice it becomes second nature to know what the dough should feel like at various stages and how to achieve the results you want.
@jan,
Awesome video, now I can form round rolls. Thank you Jan.
One comment on the rolls - I felt I became more successful when I started weighing ingredients, flour in particular. Measuring cups vary, how people measure varies, but weight is weight.
Hi Kristen,
In my state, I too took this nursing course. I took all my prerequisites before the nursing courses, and so thankful I did this!
By the time I got to those, along with clinicals, there wasn’t much brain power left for other subjects.
Wish you well as you continue!
Cheryl
Re: rolls-- Another thought: Dinner rolls are softer, richer, stickier doughs usually. If I make my dinner roll dough and put the rolls in a 9 x 13 pan with the rolls not quite (but almost) touching, they rise up more (I guess they have more support from each other?). If I spread them out on a baking sheet so that they won't touch when they rise and bake, they are flatter.
Re: reconditioned-- My Oma gave me a reconditioned Kitchen-Aid mixer long ago, and the only reason I don't still use it is that my family outgrew it. I bought a larger capacity one, but the smaller, tilt-head one is down in our basement waiting until our family shrinks down again. I plan to pass our larger one on to one of the children if he or she has a larger family.
Re: children in stores-- We mostly shopped as a family. That way, we could say, "If you don't behave, you'll go out to the car," and mean it AND still get the shopping done. It really helps in those younger years to work together as a parental unit because having the consistent discipline (of calm parents-- because the shopping still got done) seriously helped. Once I had larger children, who could help, it was easier for me to be the only adult.
***Important parenting note: Please do not ever shop with little kids when 1) they are tired or 2) they are hungry or 3) they just ate a chocolate-coated Dr. Pepper ice cream bomb with a side of coffee or 4) they have a wet or messy diaper (no, not even just a little wet) or 5) it's past their normal bedtime, but you think they might make it through a quick grocery trip because their eyelids aren't drooping yet or 6) they are over-stimulated already. You are setting yourself (and your children) up for failure. Really, really try to purposefully build shopping successes for your children with short and well-planned shopping trips so that you have a reason to give them a quick "good job" afterwards. Do this when they are young and it will be easier when they are older. I promise.
And now I'll step down from my soapbox.
@Jody S.,
I would add that if your children have special needs, you can have all the conditions perfect and still set yourself and them up for failure with a grocery trip because grocery stores are overwhelming. So don't feel bad if you decide that in the current season of your life, you just need to shop alone or order groceries. Both of those options are totally valid and you can always give your kids chances to practice their "fit to be seen in public" behavior in lower stress environments.
@Becca, Absolutely. So many children (special needs or not) simply can't handle the extra stimulation. When my children were infants, they would sleep allllll afternoon and into the evening on Sundays to the point that I struggled to wake them up enough to nurse. It took me about 6 children in to realize they were sleeping off the overstimulation of church (lots of sounds, lots of people talking to them/holding them).
After I wrote my comment last night, I was talking to my husband. I told him I wondered if, when we go shopping together (it's more rare now), people might think we are are in a super-patriarchal religious group because I tend to walk a few steps behind him all the time. This is because _I_ get very overwhelmed after a certain amount of time in a store, and it is easier for me to just follow instead of make decisions. I'm totally functional, but I have learned too long is just too long to have so much input.
In response to someone who asked about the nursing degree-- we have TWO nurses in our family!! And, what happens is that IF someone's two year degree was not completed OR if they rec'd an AA (instead of an AS), before applying to a nursing program they would need to "make up" any courses they would have had IF they had graduated with an AS in nursing or a related field. For example, an AA degree in Calif. only requires a 3 unit biological science course, BUT, the nursing program requires a 4 unit biological course plus lab. So if you rec'd an AA and did the 3 unit bio class, you would need to retake biology AS a 4 unit class, plus lab.
The same is true if, for example, you have an English BA but, want to get a masters in Electrical Engineering. You cannot just jump from one subject to another without making up the basics. Thus, to enter an engineering program you would need to take a number of math and computer courses (that an English degree did not require) to catch up to the basic requirements for a BS in engineering (before you could apply to a graduate program in EE).
I guess I was wondering if that roll dough got too hot, and the yeast started to die...
Or it was old yeast?
You're right, normally the second rising just makes them even puffier.
I used to work for admissions at a nursing program. There was a long waitlist to get into the program. The nursing-specific classes needed to be taken in a certain order, and some of those classes had Anatomy and Physiology (General and/or Advanced) as pre-requisites ( and others). So what was happening is that they would have 20 spots for a first semester nursing class that required General Anat, and 20 spots for a nursing class with no pre-reqs. So they would attempt to take the first 20 on the waitlist, but (for example) only 15 were ready for the class that needed the pre-req. so there would be five empty seats that could have been used by someone else on the waitlist. So they transitioned to requiring pre-reqs (Like Chemistry, Anatomy and Phys, for examples) be completed BEFORE you were accepted into the program. It helped support student success, and efficient utilization of the school resources (classes were full of prepared students). The drop out rate dropped dramatically.
This makes a lot of sense to me. I hear that 50% of people who attempt Anatomy and Physiology 1 don't pass the first try. So, I imagine that some of these prerequisites weed out people who were not going to survive the nursing program anyway. It's kind of a pre-selection process before you even apply to nursing school.
I forgot to add about grocery shopping with my kids--I loved it. I only had one toddler at a time since my two kids were 8 years apart, so that helped. But I loved being face to face with the kid in the cart seat, to talk, laugh, kiss the top of a head. We always went with a list the kids helped create, and when my kids saw something they wanted that wasn't on the list, the answer was "that's not on the list this week, maybe next week". We enjoyed smelling and feeling fruits and veggies, talking about other purchases. We cook from scratch, so mostly buy ingredients, not products. That kept us out of the soda, chip, cookie and cereal aisles generally, and we never bought candy at the check out counter, so my kids didn't even think to ask for it (and if they did "not on the list this week" would have sufficed). I only had one meltdown one time from one kid. We put the perishables away and went out to the car., and it never happened again. When my kids got bigger they helped pick the items and load the cart and helped me figure out which item was the best price.
My kids were known to the grocery store staff. The bakery offered free cookies to kids so my kids loved that. The lady at the fish counter once took a lobster out of the tank to walk around to my daughter's delight, and gave my youngest a small package of smelt for free because she was intrigued with their shiny silver color. The checkers knew their names and often gave them balloons or stickers.
I miss those days now that my kids are adults. I hope I get to do this with grandkids some day.
eBay is actually a great place to buy electronics. Look for Certified Refurbished items. We just bought a Dyson Animal V8 vacuum on eBay. It had been returned and was fully refurbished. It came looking brand new and included a full warranty. We paid $279, it lists for $450 on Amazon.
I don't even know for sure how old my major appliances (oven and refrigerator) are, as they were here when I moved into this house (where my father lived) in 2005 (and I had visited for several years before that, and the current appliances have been here for as long as I can remember). I operate under "if it ain't broke, don't fix (or replace ha ha) it."
Freezer, microwave, bread maker, ice maker, Instant Pot, all about a year old. Unused Keurig about 6 years old (major impulse purchaser here) Washer and dryer about 8-9 years old. TV in bedroom came over on the Mayflower, and was used then. The big screen in the living room is about 5 years old.
Major ouch replacement in January 2021 was the hot water heater, but it was well past its life span 🙂 probably original to the house (1986).
Next big ouch will be some sort of HVAC system, as the heat pump failed in December of 2021 (22 years old so I certainly got my stepmothers' money's worth out of it). So far space heaters and wood heat for winter, fans for summer. Looking to replace heat pump with one or more mini-split units.