Preparing for a New Baby Minimalista Way, Choosing a Jogging Stroller

Before I even start talking about choosing a jogging stroller, here are some questions I think you should ask yourself:

  • How often are you planning to use the stroller? Once or more per week, once a month, when the opportunity comes up? This could decide the quality of the stroller you want, besides just the features. You know the saying, you get what you pay for! The more you use it, the higher quality stroller you would want. (always check reviews!) If you’re not planning on using it much at all, maybe going with a used one is a better option!
  • Are you planning on having a second child and when? This can decide whether to invest your money in a new or used, top of the line or a less expensive version. If you’re planning on the second one pretty soon, then buying the top of the line single jogging stroller may not be the best option financially. With the second child, you would probably want to upgrade to the double stroller.
  • What activities are you planning on doing with the stroller? Are you mostly a walker or runner, what type of surfaces are you planning on covering with it? Again, this decides the durability you would want to expect from the stroller. Many people use their jogging stroller to walk on the paved path in their neighborhood or at the mall. Well, then you don’t need a top of the line, highest quality stroller. If you’re planning on running on the beach or over uneven surfaces, like the wooded paths, grass, rocks…, then you would want something sturdier, with quality wheels that won’t twist or pop and would deliver according to your expectations.

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Preparing For a New Baby Minimalista Way, Stroller and Car Seat Selection

In my earlier post I talked about saving money on furnishing and decorating the nursery. In this post I’ll be talking about picking the right stroller.

In my opinion, an every day stroller is not a thing to buy at the garage sale. Since it has a few nuts and bolts, moving parts, folding mechanism, you want these things to be sturdy, last a while and work well. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be using your stroller a lot. I use it to go on the walks in the neighborhood, shopping, play dates, adventure parks, etc.

Before purchasing I would strongly recommend Continue reading

Preparing For a New Baby Minimalista Way, Furnishing Nursery

Baby news can put anyone over the edge considering the upcoming medical bills, acquiring all the baby gear, nursery furnishings, clothing. All this is besides the upcoming every day expenses, like diapers, formula, health insurance, etc.

I am a minimalista and in less than three weeks we are expecting our second child, this time it’s a boy! We already have a 2-year old girl, and by going through her stuff the other day, I realized that we hardly need anything for our new baby boy! I would like to share with you how I managed to spend very little on both of my kids and still have all the necessities.

In this post I will be talking about setting up nursery. You can spend a ton or spend a little, it’s up to you. All I’m going to do is provide the information that could help you make the choices that are right for you!

1. Relieve yourself from extra work. If you’re planning on more than one kid, Continue reading

Electricity Versus Natural Gas Cost For 2009

With such cold temperatures sticking around Florida, I got to thinking, how much cheaper would it be to have natural gas to warm up the house versus electricity.  Energy used to heat the house probably takes up the largest percentage of the electric bill (that is during cold times). Other big energy guzzlers like the water heater, clothes dryer, the oven can be powered by the natural gas as well. For my number crunching, I got most of the data from Energy Information Administration website.

National average for electricity in 2009 was 10.4 cents per one kilowatt-hour and 1.29 cents per one Therm of gas. Since one kilowatt-hour is equal to 3.412 therms, the electricity cost is 3.05 cents per Therm. So looks like the electricity was almost 2 ½ times more expensive than the natural gas.

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How I Saved On My Maternity With No Maternity Insurance

If you are reading this post, you are probably desperate.  First off, congratulations on your pregnancy! I hope my story will help you save money on your maternity bills if you don’t have maternity coverage.

In April 2007 I found myself pregnant.  I called my insurance first to find out if they covered pregnancy.  The answer was ‘no’.  Then after calling numerous insurance companies I found that pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition and none of them could cover me, since I was already pregnant.

I started to get worried.  We have a baby on the way and we will have to pay for the doctor, labs, hospital ourselves!  How much will it be?  Where are we going to get the money?  What if there are complications?

My husband is self-employed and I wasn’t working at the time. We had individual insurance plan through a major insurance carrier.  The only way they would cover pregnancy is if I had maternity coverage before I got pregnant or if we had group insurance through the business.

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I Saved $50 On My Energy Bill!

In September I actually followed through with the idea from one of my earlier blogposts about turning off my garage freezer in order to save some money on my energy bill. Around the same time I also started rinsing my dishes with cold water before putting them in the dishwasher and the same goes with washing my hands.  The rest of our energy consumption stayed relatively the same, since this September in Florida was just as hot, if not hotter as the rest of the summer months.

One of the motivators for making this adjustment was the increase in energy bill over the prior couple of months. Usually our electric bill is under tolerable amount of $200, but in July and August of this year, it hit as high as $230. That’s when I decided to go ahead and turn off the old freezer in our hot garage. I am assuming that the freezer was on constantly, since I heard its buzzing sound every time I would pass by it, whether it was day or night. The freezer is quite old, the insulation is worn out, the poor thing had to work nonstop in order to compensate for 100 degree + temperature in our garage. And we had to pay for it!

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My Garage Freezer, Energy and My Energy Bill

I am on the quest to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle this year. And another thing I decided to tackle is our garage freezer!  It barely has anything in it and I am positive that our fridge’s freezer will be able to handle a little extra. I think I can make it work!

Why am I doing it?

Well, obviously by turning off the freezer I will be able to eliminate a hefty source of energy consumption.  This will result in lower energy consumption, lower energy bill and less emissions from the power plant!

How much energy will I save?

Let’s see, my little freezer draws 5 amps of current and a voltage of 115 volts.  It is quite old, so assuming that it runs 50% of the time during cooler months here in Florida, I should be able to save

115V * 5A / 1000 * 30 days * 24 hrs * 50% = 207 kilowatt-hours per month of energy.

How much money will I save?

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Baby Food Recipe – Chicken and Cream of Wheat

I made this recipe of mine a few times and my toddler seems to like it very much! So I thought I’d share.

It’s very easy to make.  All you need is one serving of cooked cream of wheat, quarter table spoon of butter and couple of ounces of cooked chicken pureed using food processor. I usually bake my chicken, but it can be boiled or broiled.  As long as it’s not too spicy or too salty.  In order for chicken to come out creamy I add an ounce or two of water to the food processor.

Once everything is cooked and chicken pureed, add all the ingredients together and you got yourself a meal or two for your baby or toddler!

Homemade baby food is cheaper than the store bought and it is more eco-friendly since there is no additional container involved!

How Much Will I Save By Replacing Incandescent With CFL Light Bulbs?

It’s a hot topic of the day, should I go ahead and replace all my house lights with CFLs?  How much money will I have to spend upfront?  How much energy will I save a month?

Basically, is it worth doing?

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