Author Topic: Rich Experiences on the Cheap  (Read 5812 times)

JCfire

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Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« on: July 14, 2014, 02:17:39 PM »
Sunday was a heck of a day for me.  If Sunday had happened a few months or a few years ago, it would have been very expensive.  I needed to repair or buy a replacement for a piece of children's furniture -- ouch!  Prices on that stuff are egregious, because parents always want to give their kids the best.  My wife had her heart set on upgrading the hardware on our kitchen cabinets to some fancy shiny stuff that required drilling new holes in the cabinet and drawer faces.  Meanwhile I need to get in better shape, maybe take some crossfit courses at a local gym or something. 

Old cost: about $200 for the kid's furniture, maybe $400 for a handyman or contractor to do the kitchen upgrade, and $75 for the monthly gym membership.  New cost: $15 for the materials I used to repair the furniture, $40 for kitchen materials from the local construction surplus store, and no cost for me to get exercise through the woodworking and then getting an 8 mile bike ride in.  The extra time spent in the kitchen let me keep closer tabs on a bbq pork shoulder I had in the slowcooker, which was very delicious after the hard work and exercise.

Saved about $600 relative to my old spending habits, and earned some kudos from the missus plus some valuable skills practice in the process.

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2014, 03:17:43 PM »
Nice work.

Mmmmm, BBQ pork shoulder, drooling.

horsepoor

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2014, 03:43:12 PM »
What a sweet about-face.  And to think - you also saved:  1 - disposal of the old furniture, whether selling it, or carting it off to the dump, 2 - time and hassle dealing with flaky contractors, plus their gas to get to your house, 3 - gas to get to the crossfit gym and some fancy new shoes or whatever they might want you to have.

Jack

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2014, 03:46:22 PM »
Good job!

Replacing the cabinet handles yourself was a good idea even if you weren't trying to be frugal, just because drilling a few holes sounds like less work than finding a contractor to hire!

The extra time spent in the kitchen let me keep closer tabs on a bbq pork shoulder I had in the slowcooker

I am confused by this: first, why wasn't it in a smoker (where you'd need to keep tabs on it), and second, why would you need to keep tabs on something in a slow cooker (they're pretty fire-and-forget, IMO)?

JCfire

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2014, 07:46:17 AM »
I don't own a smoker, and I wasn't technically monitoring the cooking process as much as I was enjoying the smells! 

boarder42

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2014, 02:34:22 PM »
agree with the smoker statement. 

you basically made a pork roast with BBQ flavoring.  haha... nothing can substitute wood smoke flavor

2ndTimer

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2014, 09:37:17 AM »
And last but not least, enjoyed tremendous feelings of self-satisfaction as opposed to anxiety regarding the contractor's arrival time and job quality.

Exflyboy

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #7 on: September 29, 2014, 03:46:26 PM »
Excellent,

If your like me and have always done everything (none of my cars have ever been to a mechanic for example), then spending money unnecessarily just seems insane!.. Welcome to the new normal..:)

Frank

kelly1mm

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2014, 12:21:25 AM »
About 1 month ago I got two tickets for the DC showing of the Cirque d Solei (sp?) show Analuna given to me.  The reason?  The couple that bought the ($180 total for 2) tickets had to work that weekend because a client issue came up!  lol!

Carpooled down with another couple (mutual friends) and did spend $30 for lunch and $10 for parking (yikes!) but overall pretty cheap for a normally expensive experience.

Sometimes it is nice having rich, spendaholic/workaholic friends!

sobezen

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Re: Rich Experiences on the Cheap
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2014, 04:12:46 PM »
@ JCfire:  Your story is totally badass!  Love it and thanks for sharing.  Say, how'd you learn the carpentry? Did you also have help?  High praise for a creative solution to you my friend! You are an awesome inspiration to me! :)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!