Great book covers...

Check these out...

Ok, the "Martinis" one is old, so I'll give them a free pass (plus anything that says you can diet and still eat fried food pretty much rocks my world). But the "Pro Bono" (below) book is 2009 and the content isn't the greatest, but is a good start at explaining careers (like writing and nonprofit stuff) that aren't as cut and dry as being something like a teacher, to kids.

In fact, I wish they'd make a book like this for college students to give their parents. I could have used, and in fact still could. And it does a nice job explaining how those skills translate into doing important volunteer work in our communities. BUT, the title of this book, made me think it was all a joke. I guess that's the difference between kid minds and grown-up minds, but really -- isn't there a better title??

Anyway, Husband brought it home and left it on the counter and I keep forgetting to ask him where he got it. And, you would think we actually talk since we're married and live in the same house, but a wandering conversation about random books (unless they were due at library two weeks ago) is tragically low on the priority list.

P.S.: Many posts to come from the many follies from the FrugalJo Family Vacation. Oh, and be sure to make the Martini's book picture bigger if you can and read the fine print. Enjoy!

Griswold's Got Nuthin' on Us.

Well, it appears as though we're actually doing this family vacation thing. No luck on getting all my work done before we leave, which means I'll have Laptop (capitalized because Laptop is basically another member of our family) with me, which means I can update you on vacation-related financial follies (which, basically, the entire trip would be considered that) and update Facebook and take advantage of other social networking opportunities which basically defeats the purpose of networking socially in person with my family.

First folly: that we've already spent far too much money getting ready for the trip: travel this and travel that, games, snacks, van tune-up, blah, blah, blah. But I'm determined that my planning will actually save us money during the trip (please laugh out loud here).

And if you hear screaming that sounds like it's echoing in a valley far, far away, it will, indeed, be me telling my kids to stop fighting, touching each other or talking about poop. And, if you hear a deafening silence, that too will be me, removing my kids in horror from a tourist trap, where they will undoubtedly get bored in about two minutes and resort to their favorite thing: taking their pants down and making sure that each other still has a butt hole.

I like camping...

but I love not camping...

Yes, the FrugalJo Family is packing and prepping for the quintessential summer family road trip. The Corn Palace. Wall Drug. Mount Rushmore. The whole nine yards and 1000+ miles. Husband and I are both under the gun with work this week, so we are spending the weekend getting the BAV (Big Ass Van) ready and hoping to peel out of the driveway the second the kids are let out of school later this week. And yes, my Type A/planner-grrl tendencies are in full swing. I'm trying not to plan too much, but know that to keep our trip within budget, taking a few minutes to scope out deals on websites and some menu planning could save some serious cash. Cash that I will probably want to use for a hotel.

Adoption Update.

So, we surprised ourselves and managed to save/pull together the money for adoption. And, better yet, we fooled the social worker, who approved us. Ha! So now, we are working on a bunch of country-specific paperwork that makes The Amazing Race look pretty easy. In fact, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there is a reality show about adoption -- and maybe there already is -- but this chunk of paperwork has the hassle factor of the The Amazing Race as well as the pressure of time: we don't officially go on a waiting list (although we are now considered a waiting family) until this paperwork is turned in. And after two years of taking the process painfully s-l-o-w, we now want it to go fast-fast-fast. The goal: to have this chunk of busy-work done before the FrugalJo Family Vacation, which begins a week from today. Anyway, looks like we're going to do this adoption thang, meaning I need to change some of that information over on the right-hand side of the blog. No hurry though -- we're looking at 12-24 month wait for the next addition to the FrugalJo Family. Doesn't really seem real -- my two loyal readers will notice there hasn't been much on the topic posted here simply because of that -- it just seems larger than anything, but it was put in financial terms today when a big honkin' check cleared the bank, making it definitely seem real.

Insurance (Still) Sucks.

Boring back story first, but scroll down for great link on non-covered prescriptions!

After days of research last year and hours of research and number crunching this year, I switched me and the kiddos to a different insurance plan, one that of course was supposed to be "better".

We got a plan through my work, through my increase in hours, that had $0 deductible, reduced our doctor's visit copay from $45 per visit to $15 per visit, covered my allergy shots $100 and and would cover things like my upcoming bone spur surgery 100%. And, it was a bit cheaper to boot.

But, then, as I bounced in to the Target pharmacy to pick up my allergy medication, she said "that'll be $169.90", and I laughed out loud, told her I normally pay around $10 for a 3-month for supply, handed her my new insurance card, and asked her to run that again. She did and said "that'll be $169.90."

The medication isn't covered under my new plan so I left the prescription there, and at my next allergy shot, asked for a different prescription, one that would be covered under my new "better" plan and after lots of appointments, lots of back and forth, it was clear: there was nothing.

I searched online for the drug and found it's about the same price in Canada. Even double-dosing over-the-counter Claritin, I was miserable beyond words. After several weeks of plugging away, with some days being basically debilitated due to something as stupid as allergies, I caved and picked up the prescription. When she gave me the total, she said "wow, that's expensive." And I said, "yes, I know and I'm probably going to cry", which I did right there, tears dripping on the counter, my facing pulsing red complete with sneezes.

• The bad news: there is no "better" plan. Ever. "They" suck.
  
• The good news: it's been a glorious few weeks since I got my meds.
• More good news: a frugal friend tipped me off that some prescriptions, like my non-insurance covered allergy meds, are available through Costco at a much cheaper rate. Just found out I can save almost $25 a month doing it this way, which I'll be checking into ASAP... Thanks H!!!
  

Honey! Dinner's Ready...

While admiring the some of the tulips that I planted last fall (stunned that that I actually planted them correctly and thinking I'm such a rock star for getting 100 bulbs for 7.99 at Aldi...) my eye caught something incredibly ugly on the edge of the woods behind our house... what the??? I looked closer, poked it with a stick sure an animal was going to jump out at me, and realized it was a mushroom. And then, my memory flashed back to my days working at a National Wildlife Refuge and people absolutely spazzing out about morel mushrooms. Could they be??? I checked around online and consulted our naturey-neighbors and sure enough: morels. Which I'm not going to attempt to tell you much about here because I don't really get it other than to know it's a A Thing and there are tons of websites dedicated to "schoomers". Looking a bit further back, we discovered wild asparagus and about a dozen more smaller morels. I posted a plea on Facebook for some help and found someone willing to come over and help with me ID skills and help get over the ick-factor of plucking a mushroom out of the woods and eating it. In the end, she and my neighbor took the small harvest, but all I could think was that wow, this was the ultimate in frugal eating -- just heading back and eating out of the woods. And yes, I also discovered I probably could have sold the mushrooms to a restaurant in Big City. I'll probably keep them more of secret from now on, but for this year, decided to share the wealth...

Garden Angels and Garage Tetris

After a doing some serious Justification Gymnastics, I convinced Husband that for Mother's Day the best gift ever would be a garden shed to store the growing amount of garden tools, supplies, and cute-but-random yard and gardeny-arty things that I tend to accumulate and love but are strewn all over the garage stored sort of just wherever causing volumes of frustration in trying to find "that cute table top thing. You know the one? The one I got at that garage sale for a a dollar? Made from the weird plastic?"

Husband was appalled at the proposed shed. Not the idea of a shed, but the actual shed. Apparently the large plastic outbuilding from Lowe's was simply blinding for anyone in the design world, like Husband, due to it's ugly plasticness and genericness. He told me he could build me something much better. And, well, I think we all know where that idea was going to go...

Anyway, I won him over by pointing out all the benefits to him. Ultimately, he could then have more space in the garage for his art studio*, everything would be in one place not twenty, we could stop playing Tetris in our garage every time we needed to get one thing, blah, blah, blah. It was an NIB (Not In Budget) purchase, but I think our marriage has improved since I'm not tripping over his rock tumbler and rock collection from elementary school anymore to get to my potting soil. And I'm sure it will pay for itself simply in the fact that we'll now know where the gardening things are instead of assuming-we're-out-and-buying-more of a particular item because we couldn't find it, were too lazy to move all the crap to try to find it and/or were surprised that the needed items didn't magically reveal themselves upon my clicking my heels together three times.

And -- bonus -- I get a new place to decorate. The first decoration up -- because, yes, I will add some decor and flair to even an ugly plastic garden shed -- was a hanging garden angel given to me years and years ago by a friend back in our urban days, when I just dreamed about being a real gardener. Not that I'm a real gardener now, but between walking around in a gardening-type hat, planting bulbs the right way, starting some plants from seeds, and using words like "pruning" and "acidic soil" properly and now having a garden shed? Well, I'm feeling more real every day.

Oh, please note the hanging basket in the background, which are not full and not hanging and may not be this year... Last year, I spent almost $200 on four expensive-but-stunning hanging baskets for the front porch... maybe I'll get motivated in June when all the plants are cheaper. Besides, we won't be around to water them for a chunk of time. Yes, the FrugalJo Family is heading on the classic summer trip to Mount Rushmore in early June. Much more on that coming soon...

* notation of an art studio does not in any way indicate actual art is happening.