Last week, we went to the annual condominium owners' meeting. When we first moved in two years ago, B went to the annual meeting, at which two of the residents nearly had fisticuffs over--yes, this is the sad truth--a missing shutter. Neither of us was anxious to see a repeat performance (if I don't watch Jerry Springer on TV, why would I want to see something similar in person?), but one item on this year's agenda interested us--recycling was finally coming to our complex.
(In grammar-related news, I stumbled over the placement of the apostrophe in the first sentence, and I'm not convinced that I'm right, but I'm not convinced that the other option is better. I'm also not sure if my usage of fisticuffs is correct. Stream-of-consciousness writing is now over, and we'll return to our regularly scheduled blog entry.)
For the last two years, I have separated recyclable items from garbage out of habit and then thrown the recyclable items and the garbage items into the same dumpster because recycling was heretofore not an option for us (but making the effort to separate the items made me feel as if I were making some effort, though in hindsight, of course I was doing nothing but delaying the inevitable). It was sad to throw away items that I knew could be recyled, and I was thrilled to find out that we no longer had to.
(Technically, I myself haven't thrown anything into the dumpster--that's B's job. I think I went out there with him once, but it was scary and dark and smelly, and I haven't been back since. Shirking garbage responsibility is a particular skill of mine, in fact. I lived in Florida for 10 months, and I don't think I took the garbage to the dumpster once in that entire time. The secret is to find out the chores that others don't want to do, and do them, so they don't get angry with you for not doing your fair share of garbage duty. Anyway. Back to recycling.)
At our condo meeting, we learned that recycling is going to be even easier than ever because we can just throw everything in together in one bin. Glass, paper, plastic, metals cans--it all goes in together, and then a fantastic recycling plant takes care of sorting it all out and sending our plastic bottles away to be turned into frisbees and park benches and who knows what else. We saw a little movie about the plant and are considering taking a field trip to learn more.
Ever since we started sorting our garbage and recyclables (with real conviction, and now knowing how much we actually can recycle), we've come to the sad/happy realization that about 75% of our garbage actually can be recycled. It's sad because we've been throwing all of this stuff away for the past two years! But it's happy because we aren't going to do that anymore.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the two would-be pugilists were missing from the meeting, so the event was calm. The lowlights were a 30-minute discussion of landscaping (Seriously? Thirty minutes about trees, grass, and bark mulch?) and an even longer discussion about the installation of Verizon Fios.
Unless next year's agenda features a dancing bear, I'm pretty sure we're going to skip it.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Knock, knock--Fresh produce calling!
In recent weeks, B and I have been researching community-supported agriculture (CSA). A CSA is a farm that sells shares of itself, and the "shareholders" get a portion of the food that is harvested each week. You have no choice in what you get, and sometimes you have to pick the veggies yourself, but each week you take home a box of organic, locally grown vegetables.
A friend of mine joined a CSA last summer and loved it. She also directed me to a local farm that sells locally grown (I feel weird using that word for animals, but that's the commonly accepted terminology), corn-fed meat. You can specify if you want 5, 10, or 15 pounds of meat, and you have no choice in what you get, but every month, you get an order of ecologically responsible meat.
We're still considering joining the--for lack of a better term--meat share, but we've decided to skip the CSA because we're going to be out of town for a significant portion of one of the harvesting months, and missing 3-4 weeks of food would make the investment significantly less economical. Besides, I eat a lot of fruit, and I was concerned that eating only vegetables would turn me into a sad, green-tinted individual.
Today, I found a great compromise in a company that delivers organic fruits and vegetables. Naturally, they don't deliver to our town (most people don't even know where our town is, so the chances of finding an organic delivery company are slim), but they deliver to the town in which I work. I signed up today and am expecting my first delivery next week. They offer 3 different box sizes, and you can specify your fruit-to-veggie ratio in thirds, halves, or all fruit or all veggies. Some of the produce is locally grown, but they get most of their fruit (except maybe apples) from other states or countries.
The other great part about the company is that they allow you to specify the fruits and veggies that you don't want to receive. For fruits, I opted out of cranberries, lemons, and limes, because I don't like cranberry sauce, and lemons and limes have limited use outside of alcoholic garnishes. I opted out of more veggies than I care to list--I eat them now, but that doesn't mean I have to like all of them.
For next week's delivery, we'll be getting the following:
A friend of mine joined a CSA last summer and loved it. She also directed me to a local farm that sells locally grown (I feel weird using that word for animals, but that's the commonly accepted terminology), corn-fed meat. You can specify if you want 5, 10, or 15 pounds of meat, and you have no choice in what you get, but every month, you get an order of ecologically responsible meat.
We're still considering joining the--for lack of a better term--meat share, but we've decided to skip the CSA because we're going to be out of town for a significant portion of one of the harvesting months, and missing 3-4 weeks of food would make the investment significantly less economical. Besides, I eat a lot of fruit, and I was concerned that eating only vegetables would turn me into a sad, green-tinted individual.
Today, I found a great compromise in a company that delivers organic fruits and vegetables. Naturally, they don't deliver to our town (most people don't even know where our town is, so the chances of finding an organic delivery company are slim), but they deliver to the town in which I work. I signed up today and am expecting my first delivery next week. They offer 3 different box sizes, and you can specify your fruit-to-veggie ratio in thirds, halves, or all fruit or all veggies. Some of the produce is locally grown, but they get most of their fruit (except maybe apples) from other states or countries.
The other great part about the company is that they allow you to specify the fruits and veggies that you don't want to receive. For fruits, I opted out of cranberries, lemons, and limes, because I don't like cranberry sauce, and lemons and limes have limited use outside of alcoholic garnishes. I opted out of more veggies than I care to list--I eat them now, but that doesn't mean I have to like all of them.
For next week's delivery, we'll be getting the following:
- 1.5 lbs Bananas
- 2 Cameo Apples
- 1 lb D'Anjou Pears
- 1 Mango
- 2 Minneola Tangelos
- 2 Peaches
- 2 Valencia Oranges
- 1 Avocado
- 1 6oz Bagged Spinach
- 3 ears Bi-Color Corn
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 bulb Fennel
- 1 lb Onions
- 1.5 lbs Russet Potatoes
- 1 lb Salad Tomatoes
Except we won't be getting the fennel because I don't like the fennel flavor and opted out of it. I'm excited to see what we get in its place though. I really hope I like this service--it looks promising and could help us to keep our food costs down while still eating well.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Cookies for dinner!
The past few months have featured some higher-than-usual and somewhat unplanned expenses (ok, yes, the flights to Germany were an elective expense, so I have no right to complain about the cost), so yesterday we wanted to spend our beautiful spring day having fun in a cheap kind of way.
We started out the day with a jungle trek through the wilds of conservation land in our town. That's one of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere--forests abound. During the walk, I had two realizations: 1. I married a billy goat; and 2. Walking through the woods isn't as much fun as it once was. Babbling brooks are fun to look at, but figuring out how to cross one decreases the fun factor significantly.
As we were slogging our way through wet leaves, streams, and puddles (where did all of this water come from?? It hasn't rained in ages!), I had visions of being one of those unprepared city slickers who gets lost in the woods with only a bottle of water and a granola bar and has to be rescued by helicopter after being attacked by fire ants. I was paranoid that the piles of leaves held hidden bee nests and that I would be attacked by the bees after unknowingly destroying their homes, and what if I'm allergic to bee stings? I've never been stung and have no way of knowing. How on earth would we find an epi-pen in the middle of the woods?
Clearly I have issues. Perhaps woodsy activities are not for me. I became convinced of this when our trail let us out in the middle of a residential neighborhood that was a good 10 miles (ok, maybe 1/2 mile, but I was hot and tired and had had enough of the nature fun by then) from where we parked the perky Subie. At least the return to civilization was comforting. I considered knocking on a stranger's door and asking them to drive us back to our car, but I decided I could make it on my own.
After conquering the wilderness, B was still itching for more outdoor fun and wanted to hit up the local driving range, but I was ready for some fun of the armchair-travel variety, so he headed out for a field trip, and I stayed at home for some Italy trip planning. When B returned home, we enjoyed the last sun of a beautiful spring day and tried to figure out what else we could do to carpe diem without sacrificing our comfort again.
We settled upon making cookies, a fun, fabulous, and free activity because we already had all of the ingredients. And here is where one of the perks of adulthood comes in. Adulthood brings responsibility, but with increased responsibility comes increased freedom, including the freedom to decide what you want to eat for dinner. Dinner can include vegetables if you want, or you can skip the vegetables. Dinner can even be cookies--with ice cream, if you're feeling daring, which I generally am, except when there are trees and excessive quantities of fresh air involved.
And so our dinner was chocolate chip cookies, fresh out of the oven and hot, with cold vanilla ice cream, all thrown together in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. Dessert was popcorn.
It was a good day.
We started out the day with a jungle trek through the wilds of conservation land in our town. That's one of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere--forests abound. During the walk, I had two realizations: 1. I married a billy goat; and 2. Walking through the woods isn't as much fun as it once was. Babbling brooks are fun to look at, but figuring out how to cross one decreases the fun factor significantly.
As we were slogging our way through wet leaves, streams, and puddles (where did all of this water come from?? It hasn't rained in ages!), I had visions of being one of those unprepared city slickers who gets lost in the woods with only a bottle of water and a granola bar and has to be rescued by helicopter after being attacked by fire ants. I was paranoid that the piles of leaves held hidden bee nests and that I would be attacked by the bees after unknowingly destroying their homes, and what if I'm allergic to bee stings? I've never been stung and have no way of knowing. How on earth would we find an epi-pen in the middle of the woods?
Clearly I have issues. Perhaps woodsy activities are not for me. I became convinced of this when our trail let us out in the middle of a residential neighborhood that was a good 10 miles (ok, maybe 1/2 mile, but I was hot and tired and had had enough of the nature fun by then) from where we parked the perky Subie. At least the return to civilization was comforting. I considered knocking on a stranger's door and asking them to drive us back to our car, but I decided I could make it on my own.
After conquering the wilderness, B was still itching for more outdoor fun and wanted to hit up the local driving range, but I was ready for some fun of the armchair-travel variety, so he headed out for a field trip, and I stayed at home for some Italy trip planning. When B returned home, we enjoyed the last sun of a beautiful spring day and tried to figure out what else we could do to carpe diem without sacrificing our comfort again.
We settled upon making cookies, a fun, fabulous, and free activity because we already had all of the ingredients. And here is where one of the perks of adulthood comes in. Adulthood brings responsibility, but with increased responsibility comes increased freedom, including the freedom to decide what you want to eat for dinner. Dinner can include vegetables if you want, or you can skip the vegetables. Dinner can even be cookies--with ice cream, if you're feeling daring, which I generally am, except when there are trees and excessive quantities of fresh air involved.
And so our dinner was chocolate chip cookies, fresh out of the oven and hot, with cold vanilla ice cream, all thrown together in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. Dessert was popcorn.
It was a good day.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Haute cuisine
Cooking is like building a house. If you use superior materials, you're probably going to end up with a better end result. The tools that you use can also affect the outcome. In fact, the tools that you use while cooking are almost as important as the ingredients. The best tools are often from France and come from companies with names that are difficult to pronounce.
My first piece of French cooking equipment was a blue Creuset pot (Pronunciation: "crew-say." It's tempting to pronounce the T--and I did--until a woman at Williams-Sonoma corrected me). My dutch oven is a second and came from Marshall's, but it was (when I bought it) the most expensive piece of cooking equipment that I owned, and its lifetime warranty has guaranteed its heirloom status in our house. I feel like a better cook when I'm using my Creuset.
We've been eying another French acquisition--new flatware. We found a set that we like in the Laguiole style (Pronunciation: "lah-yoll." Again with the silent letters...). I thought that Laguiole was a brand, but it's actually a style--several companies in the south of France make knives and flatware in the Laguiole style. We found a set of flatware with blue handles, and we thought they'd match our china and daily dishes. We went to Sur La Table this evening to investigate. We liked it a lot, but the man working there told us that he didn't recommend putting the flatware in the dishwasher because it would be scratched and damaged. Flatware that requires handwashing is not welcome in our house, so we left the store empty handed.
I suppose we'll have to go a few more months with mismatching flatware.
My first piece of French cooking equipment was a blue Creuset pot (Pronunciation: "crew-say." It's tempting to pronounce the T--and I did--until a woman at Williams-Sonoma corrected me). My dutch oven is a second and came from Marshall's, but it was (when I bought it) the most expensive piece of cooking equipment that I owned, and its lifetime warranty has guaranteed its heirloom status in our house. I feel like a better cook when I'm using my Creuset.
We've been eying another French acquisition--new flatware. We found a set that we like in the Laguiole style (Pronunciation: "lah-yoll." Again with the silent letters...). I thought that Laguiole was a brand, but it's actually a style--several companies in the south of France make knives and flatware in the Laguiole style. We found a set of flatware with blue handles, and we thought they'd match our china and daily dishes. We went to Sur La Table this evening to investigate. We liked it a lot, but the man working there told us that he didn't recommend putting the flatware in the dishwasher because it would be scratched and damaged. Flatware that requires handwashing is not welcome in our house, so we left the store empty handed.
I suppose we'll have to go a few more months with mismatching flatware.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
So much for total immersion
Maybe it's the English major in me, but I enjoy researching--a lot. I like to put my researching skills to use when I'm planning our travels.
Our lengthy French itinerary was the result of hours (days?) of reading, planning, and thinking. We also used our fabulous Netflix membership to rent movies that were set in France. I love watching movies, especially when they're set in faraway lands--I feel like I am taken away to a different world for a couple of hours. In fact, it could be argued--if one were of an arguing persuasion and were interested in winning this particular battle--that a movie helped determine the location of our honeymoon. We saw A Year in Provence several months before we got engaged and were sorely tempted to move to France and become grape farmers. Since overalls aren't really my style, we decided that a vacation to France might be a better option.
To prepare for Italy and Greece, we've got another (even longer!) itinerary in the works, and we're renting movies that were set in Italy. Three Coins in the Fountain was a bit of a yawn and focussed on Rome, which we're not even visiting. Last night's choice was The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I saw in the theater and remembered as being creepy. And creepy it was! Even creepier than I remembered, in fact. I wanted beautiful Italian vistas and found scandal, murder, and intrigue instead. I got so scared about nightmares that I had to leave 3/4 of the way through to try to take a calming shower (no nightmares, so I guess it worked).
In the future, I will be choosier about the movies that I use to immerse myself in Italian culture. In fact, it might be time for another viewing of Under the Tuscan Sun...
Our lengthy French itinerary was the result of hours (days?) of reading, planning, and thinking. We also used our fabulous Netflix membership to rent movies that were set in France. I love watching movies, especially when they're set in faraway lands--I feel like I am taken away to a different world for a couple of hours. In fact, it could be argued--if one were of an arguing persuasion and were interested in winning this particular battle--that a movie helped determine the location of our honeymoon. We saw A Year in Provence several months before we got engaged and were sorely tempted to move to France and become grape farmers. Since overalls aren't really my style, we decided that a vacation to France might be a better option.
To prepare for Italy and Greece, we've got another (even longer!) itinerary in the works, and we're renting movies that were set in Italy. Three Coins in the Fountain was a bit of a yawn and focussed on Rome, which we're not even visiting. Last night's choice was The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I saw in the theater and remembered as being creepy. And creepy it was! Even creepier than I remembered, in fact. I wanted beautiful Italian vistas and found scandal, murder, and intrigue instead. I got so scared about nightmares that I had to leave 3/4 of the way through to try to take a calming shower (no nightmares, so I guess it worked).
In the future, I will be choosier about the movies that I use to immerse myself in Italian culture. In fact, it might be time for another viewing of Under the Tuscan Sun...
Friday, April 11, 2008
A few of my favorite things
My list is a far cry from Oprah's, but here are a few new favorites that I've recently discovered.
Artichokes.
If you can get past the prickles on this thistle, you won't be disappointed. The vegetable that most frequently makes an appearance as part of a spinach and cheese dip is so much more exciting on its own. B roasted a bunch of baby artichokes and we ate them with our dinner like they were candy. After eating 1, I wanted 12 more. I don't know how I lived so long without trying one.
RetailMeNot.com.
This website has probably saved me over $100 in the last 2+ months in discounts and free shipping and has allowed me to declare (with conviction), "I'll never pay shipping again!" On the website, all you do is type the web address of a company that offers online shopping, and you can find a list of coupon codes that other people have used successfully. You can provide feedback if the coupon does or doesn't work, and you can offer your own codes.
This website has allowed me to indulge in my two new favorite stores, Anthropologie (fabulously unique tops) and Lucy (amazingly comfortable pants), while getting a discount and/or free shipping. Risk-free online shopping--I love it! Perhaps a little too much. I justify the expenses because we can't show up in Italy dressed as tee-shirt-and-jeans Americans. And because I love to shop and can buy whatever I want with my monthly allowance. (And we're not talking an allowance in an I Love Lucy kind of way--B has one too--our allowances let us buy whatever we want without feeling guilty that we're taking money away from the central house budget.)
Cleaning house.
Cleaning has never and will never be a passion of mine, but there is a part of me that fears becoming one of those scary hoarder people who never throw anything away, so I relish every opportunity I get to prove to myself that I can let go of material items. This past weekend, I cleared out my childhood bedroom closet. Four bags of clothing went to Goodwill (along with declarations of, "I can't believe I ever wore that!"), and 7 bags of garbage went to the curb. A single box returned home with us. Sad, perhaps, but having more stuff doesn't make my life better, and I get a sense of accomplishment when I am able to simplify (simplify, simplify) my life, even if it's only a little bit.
Artichokes.
If you can get past the prickles on this thistle, you won't be disappointed. The vegetable that most frequently makes an appearance as part of a spinach and cheese dip is so much more exciting on its own. B roasted a bunch of baby artichokes and we ate them with our dinner like they were candy. After eating 1, I wanted 12 more. I don't know how I lived so long without trying one.
RetailMeNot.com.
This website has probably saved me over $100 in the last 2+ months in discounts and free shipping and has allowed me to declare (with conviction), "I'll never pay shipping again!" On the website, all you do is type the web address of a company that offers online shopping, and you can find a list of coupon codes that other people have used successfully. You can provide feedback if the coupon does or doesn't work, and you can offer your own codes.
This website has allowed me to indulge in my two new favorite stores, Anthropologie (fabulously unique tops) and Lucy (amazingly comfortable pants), while getting a discount and/or free shipping. Risk-free online shopping--I love it! Perhaps a little too much. I justify the expenses because we can't show up in Italy dressed as tee-shirt-and-jeans Americans. And because I love to shop and can buy whatever I want with my monthly allowance. (And we're not talking an allowance in an I Love Lucy kind of way--B has one too--our allowances let us buy whatever we want without feeling guilty that we're taking money away from the central house budget.)
Cleaning house.
Cleaning has never and will never be a passion of mine, but there is a part of me that fears becoming one of those scary hoarder people who never throw anything away, so I relish every opportunity I get to prove to myself that I can let go of material items. This past weekend, I cleared out my childhood bedroom closet. Four bags of clothing went to Goodwill (along with declarations of, "I can't believe I ever wore that!"), and 7 bags of garbage went to the curb. A single box returned home with us. Sad, perhaps, but having more stuff doesn't make my life better, and I get a sense of accomplishment when I am able to simplify (simplify, simplify) my life, even if it's only a little bit.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Vacation budget cuts
When we went on our honeymoon last September--a mere 7 months ago--$1.41 bought you 1 euro--and we thought that exchange rate was high. However, the situation has only worsened. Today, you have to pay $1.57 (or more, depending on who is performing the exchange) to buy a single euro, and the increase means that even if costs remain the same in Europe, costs will increase by 11 percent for us (or more, depending on where the euro goes in the next 5 months). To keep our expenses at a reasonable level, I took a look at our vacation plan to find some areas that we could cut.
We had planned to take guided 1-day tours to Cinque Terre (from Florence) and the Dolomites (from Venice), but we decided that we could visit the CT on our own, so we booked only the Dolomites tour. We can't easily visit the Dolomites in a day without a car, and renting a car in Italy sounds like one of the most stressful experiences ever--not my cup of olive oil. Unfortunately, the cost of the day trip is a tad over the top, especially when you consider the exchange rate with which we are currently working. The charge finally showed up on our debit card a few weeks ago, and I nearly fell off my chair when I realized how much the total was going to be.
B and I talked it over, and we decided that while we were sad to miss it, we could live without a day trip to the Dolomites, especially if it meant savings that we can use for something else on our trip, like a day trip on our own to the Venetian hill towns and a nice meal to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary (which will happen while we are in Venice--guess we'll eat the frostbitten freezer cake when we get back).
And--if we're being honest here, and we do try our best to be honest--there's another reason why we are ok with missing our Dolomites day trip. The ants in my pants over the Germany Christmas trip were too much to ignore, so last week I bought plane tickets for our trip. We're going for 6 nights and plan to stay in Munich for 2 nights, Salzburg for 1 night, and then back to Munich for the final 3 nights. Yay for German and Austrian Christmas fun! It's going to be an Italian, Greek, Croatian (is that a word?), German, and Austrian Christmas, everybody! Get in your requests now!
And now if we're being completely honest (in a full-disclosure sort of way), I suppose the title of this post is misleading. When you consider the cost of the plane tickets and the amount of the refund for the day trip, we're still talking about a net loss, and I don't think a net loss can ever be considered a budget cut. In other words, don't cry for me, Italia--the truth is, I will enjoy you to the fullest.
We had planned to take guided 1-day tours to Cinque Terre (from Florence) and the Dolomites (from Venice), but we decided that we could visit the CT on our own, so we booked only the Dolomites tour. We can't easily visit the Dolomites in a day without a car, and renting a car in Italy sounds like one of the most stressful experiences ever--not my cup of olive oil. Unfortunately, the cost of the day trip is a tad over the top, especially when you consider the exchange rate with which we are currently working. The charge finally showed up on our debit card a few weeks ago, and I nearly fell off my chair when I realized how much the total was going to be.
B and I talked it over, and we decided that while we were sad to miss it, we could live without a day trip to the Dolomites, especially if it meant savings that we can use for something else on our trip, like a day trip on our own to the Venetian hill towns and a nice meal to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary (which will happen while we are in Venice--guess we'll eat the frostbitten freezer cake when we get back).
And--if we're being honest here, and we do try our best to be honest--there's another reason why we are ok with missing our Dolomites day trip. The ants in my pants over the Germany Christmas trip were too much to ignore, so last week I bought plane tickets for our trip. We're going for 6 nights and plan to stay in Munich for 2 nights, Salzburg for 1 night, and then back to Munich for the final 3 nights. Yay for German and Austrian Christmas fun! It's going to be an Italian, Greek, Croatian (is that a word?), German, and Austrian Christmas, everybody! Get in your requests now!
And now if we're being completely honest (in a full-disclosure sort of way), I suppose the title of this post is misleading. When you consider the cost of the plane tickets and the amount of the refund for the day trip, we're still talking about a net loss, and I don't think a net loss can ever be considered a budget cut. In other words, don't cry for me, Italia--the truth is, I will enjoy you to the fullest.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Under my umbrella (ella, ella...)
It's been an insurance-oriented kind of month.
A couple of weeks ago, we got the ball rolling on our life insurance policies. A nurse is coming to our house tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM for mini-medical exams and blood draws, and the results, as well as our medical records, are going to determine our health levels, which will in turn determine the premiums that we will pay for our life insurance. We've been trying to eat as healthfully as we can to make sure that our blood reflects healthy, vegetable-oriented people.
After the test, I can't wait to go to Wendy's. There's a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger calling my name...
In other insurance news, yesterday I left my parents' car insurance policy and started my own with B. Because my mother cosigned my car loan with me, her name was on the title--with my maiden name. We signed the title over to my new married name, and the change necessitated new plates and a new registration (my fourth in the last 8 months). I also have to get my car inspected again (even though I just had it done in November) because I am technically a new owner. What a bunch of hogwash. Brides, beware--changing your name is not a cheap venture.
To keep our insurance simpler, we're moving our house insurance over to the same insurance company. We're also getting an umbrella policy. An umbrella sits over your vehicles and house and provides extra liability coverage if you are sued. My mother used to work for an insurance company and always emphasized the importance of insurance coverage, and getting an umbrella policy seemed like a wise decision.
We also increased our personal property insurance. When we moved in two years ago, our possessions were few, and almost all of our furniture was second-hand. Our situation has improved, and we wanted to be sure that our coverage reflected our new possessions. Adding up the numbers is difficult, and the replacement cost of B's shoes and ties alone is daunting. I no longer feel guilty about my recent Anthropologie splurges...
A couple of weeks ago, we got the ball rolling on our life insurance policies. A nurse is coming to our house tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM for mini-medical exams and blood draws, and the results, as well as our medical records, are going to determine our health levels, which will in turn determine the premiums that we will pay for our life insurance. We've been trying to eat as healthfully as we can to make sure that our blood reflects healthy, vegetable-oriented people.
After the test, I can't wait to go to Wendy's. There's a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger calling my name...
In other insurance news, yesterday I left my parents' car insurance policy and started my own with B. Because my mother cosigned my car loan with me, her name was on the title--with my maiden name. We signed the title over to my new married name, and the change necessitated new plates and a new registration (my fourth in the last 8 months). I also have to get my car inspected again (even though I just had it done in November) because I am technically a new owner. What a bunch of hogwash. Brides, beware--changing your name is not a cheap venture.
To keep our insurance simpler, we're moving our house insurance over to the same insurance company. We're also getting an umbrella policy. An umbrella sits over your vehicles and house and provides extra liability coverage if you are sued. My mother used to work for an insurance company and always emphasized the importance of insurance coverage, and getting an umbrella policy seemed like a wise decision.
We also increased our personal property insurance. When we moved in two years ago, our possessions were few, and almost all of our furniture was second-hand. Our situation has improved, and we wanted to be sure that our coverage reflected our new possessions. Adding up the numbers is difficult, and the replacement cost of B's shoes and ties alone is daunting. I no longer feel guilty about my recent Anthropologie splurges...
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