The Chronic Consumer

My husband and I have had our 37-inch LCD television since last Christmas, but we still don’t have a proper entertainment center for it. It’s currently balanced (a bit precariously) on the stand that we were using for our old CRT TV, which was for a 28-inch unit. We just haven’t had the money to buy something different.

But hopefully that will change in the next couple of months. My husband should get a sizable Christmas bonus this year, so we ought to be able to apply some of that money towards a nice entertainment center. I was looking at Studio RTA furniture earlier this evening and saw some nice ones. I particularly like the one made with a steel frame and tempered glass (pictured below). It would look great in our living room and match our other furniture very nicely!

My mom is nearing retirement age, so she now spends a great deal of time trying to get her future figured out. She already knows that she doesn’t want to stay in the Chicago area after she retires. There’s simply no reason she should have to put up with the brutal weather in her golden years, so I don’t blame her for wanting to get out of here. She’s now checking into different communities in California, Arizona, and Florida.

At this moment, my mom is most interested in Broward county real estate. There are some beautiful properties in the area, and the location, climate, and variety of activities are exactly what she’s looking for. If she can save up some more money in the next few years, she’ll be able to afford a very nice home or condo near Ft. Lauderdale.

I would love to have a good excuse to visit South Florida several times per year, so I hope my mom decides to stick with Broward County!

After getting off to a rough start at preschool this year (crying, not participating in activities), my son has been doing great for the past few weeks. I therefore decided to reward him by buying a new game for his Nintendo DS, as it’s been a while since the last new title. It was tough trying to find something that a four-and-a-half year old can play, but I eventually settled on something called Pac ‘N Roll.

Pac ‘N Roll is loosely based on the old Pac-Man game that took the entire world by storm in the 1980s. By “loosely based,” I mean you play as Pac-Man, you eat pellets, and you have ghosts chasing you. Other than those components, however, Pac ‘N Roll is quite different from the original in actual gameplay.

Gameplay in Pac ‘N Roll consists of using the NDS stylus to maneuver Pac-Man through various worlds. You more or less just follow a single trail of pellets from beginning to end, trying to avoid ghosts along the way. There are the usual power pellets that allow you to defeat the ghosts, and this game also includes special “modifier items” like a suit of armor or pair of wings that accordingly influence the speed and agility of Pac-Man.

Each world only takes a few minutes to complete (at least in the beginning stages; I haven’t made it all the way through the game yet), which is a plus because you can knock out a few levels while waiting at the dentist office or whatever.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take the extensive stylus usage into account when buying this game for my son. At his age, he simply doesn’t have the manual dexterity required to control the stylus precisely enough to play Pac ‘N Roll, so after a few frustrating attempts, he had to give up on the game. I wish there was a way to toggle the controls between the stylus and the directional keys, but that’s not the case. So for now my son has to settle for watching me play the game. Hopefully he’ll be able to handle the stylus a little better in a few months, so we’ll definitely try again later.

Overall, Pac ‘N Roll for the Nintendo DS is a decent game. I must have missed the age recommendation in the product description while I was shopping otherwise I wouldn’t have bought this for my kid. Oh, well. I think I paid $19.99 for the game, so it’s not a big deal to have it sit on the shelf for a while.

(Click images to enlarge.)

Do you get embarrassed when it comes time to buy “personal” items from the drug store? I have a friend, a 33-year-old woman, who absolutely refuses to buy condoms on her own. She always asks someone else in our group of friends to do it for her, and from what I understand, this behavior dates back to her college days. It’s weird to me, but I guess there are all kinds of people out there…!

I, on the other hand, don’t even blink when it comes to purchasing personal items. I mean, what’s the big deal, right? So whether we’re talking condoms, lubricants, home pregnancy tests, douches, colon cleansers, adult diapers, or protective underwear, I have no qualms about putting this stuff in my cart and heading to the register.

What about you? Can you buy items like this, or do you make your spouse/significant other/best friend do it for you?

I just wanted to write up a quick post here to pass along a travel recommendation. If any of you are planning on visiting Tennessee sometime in the near future, be sure to check out the Pigeon Forge vacation rentals offered by CareyCabins.com. These are luxury log cabins nestled in the Smoky Mountains, and are perfect for vacations, honeymoons, weekend getaways, family reunions and more.

The rates are very reasonable, and you’ll get to stay at beautiful properties like the one pictured below. Check out CareyCabins.com now to book your next vacation!

I use Tide Liquid laundry detergent, and while I like it for the most part, it’s not as tough on stains as I’d hoped it would be. As a result, I’ve been trying other products in the wash, including Oxi Clean Stain Remover.

I’d heard some good things about Oxi Clean before I tried it. A couple of friends of mine absolutely rave about this product, saying it worked wonders on their kids’ clothing. Their kids are active in sports, so I’m sure my friends have had some stubborn stains to deal with. I took their word for it, and ended up buying Oxi Clean a few months ago.

Unfortunately, Oxi Clean simply hasn’t worked for me. I’ve added it to both my color loads and my white loads, but there hasn’t been a noticeable improvement at all. Even when there aren’t any extra stains to get out, the Oxi Clean doesn’t seem to do anything.

Needless to say, I’m pretty disappointed in this product and won’t waste my time buying it again.

How many times have you bought something because of a TV commercial that you saw for the product? I try not to let commercials influence my purchasing habits, but it’s kind of hard to avoid. At the very least, I’ll be persuaded to check out a product more closely, either online or at the store. For example, when the new iPod Nano with video came out, I went to Best Buy the same day I saw the commercial for the first time.

Anyway, I find that the commercials that influence me the most are the no-nonsense ones that talk about the features and benefits of the product. I hate commercials that try to be clever or mysterious or obscure; I’m more likely to avoid the product in question when the commercial annoys me. Hopefully the market research teams for these advertisers can get a clue and start airing commercials that just tell viewers the bottom line instead of trying to be cute all the time.

So, what’s the last thing you bought as the result of a commercial or ad? For me, it was Coke Zero (which I hated, BTW).

As I wrote yesterday, I’m already in the process of creating a Christmas list for immediate family members. I was trying to think about things that I can get for my husband, which is definitely not an easy task. He’s the kind of guy that doesn’t really buy too many things for himself. And when he does want something, he just goes out and gets it without making a big deal out of it. So it’s not like he has a whole laundry list of things that he would be happy to get for Christmas.

But on the bright side, I’m sure he’ll appreciate whatever I end up buying for him, whether it’s a couple of X-box games, some motocross gear, or one of those Luminox watches that the Navy SEALs wear.

Even so, I would of course like to get him some presents that he’ll actually enjoy, something different than what I usually get him (video games and MX stuff). But I’m stuck for ideas and could use a few suggestions, so feel free to pitch in!

Unlike with other sports, motocross fans can’t just walk into the Sports Authority or Sportmart and find tons of products featuring their favorite riders’ names and team logos. Heck, these types of items aren’t even widely available at bike shops, so I guess I’m not surprised that mainstream sporting goods stores don’t sell them. But you can purchase fun MX-related products if you know where to look — and that would be Smooth Industries.

Smooth Industries was started several years ago by a couple of guys who were already involved in the Motocross industry in a limited capacity. They saw an opportunity to sell licensed MX merchandise, and Smooth Industries was born.

So what types of products can you get from Smooth Industries? Very cool items such as the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit football pictured above, bedding sets, pillows, sleeping bags, backpacks, school folders, pencils, aluminum lunch boxes, pajamas, umbrellas, coolers, chairs, and even refrigerators.

The three riders that Smooth Industries has licensing deals with are Jeremy McGrath, Travis Pastrana, and Chad Reed, so almost all of the items feature one of those guys. There’s also stuff from a few of the teams, such as Makita Suzuki, L&M Racing, and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit.

I’ve ordered a couple of things from Smooth Industries before and have been satisfied with the quality of the products. My only complaint is that the stuff they sell runs on the expensive side, which is why I don’t make purchases more often.

Anyway, check them out if you’re interested in some of the things I mentioned in this post!

From time to time people ask me how I earn extra cash for all of my frivolous purchases. I haven’t worked full-time since before my son was born, and I don’t plan on rejoining the rat race anytime soon. My husband makes decent money, but his paychecks really just cover our mortgages (yes, that’s plural) and daily expenses. If I didn’t make extra money on the side, we wouldn’t be able to afford all these extras.

First of all, I have a home based business built around freelance writing. I blog, write keyword articles, write advertising copy, and create sales brochures for various clients, both online and in person. This takes up the bulk of my time and represents the bulk of my monthly income.

Second, I serve as a part-time consultant to a company that I once worked for. I spent several years at that company, and became friends with the owner. We parted on good terms, and at the beginning of this year he got in touch with me about becoming a consultant. I help him with various projects (mostly human resources stuff), give orientation presentations to new employees, and also occasionally cover for office drones who are on vacation. I’m required to put in two office days per month (about 4 hours per day) and receive a flat fee as well as hourly pay for whatever work I do beyond those 8 required hours.

Third, I tutor three girls (sisters) once a week at their home. Their mom is a friend of a friend, and she wants the girls (ages 5, 8, and 10) to learn Japanese for some reason. The public school system obviously doesn’t offer anything like this for kids their age, so the mom asked me to do it. Even though my Japanese sucks, it’s good enough to teach beginners. I get $60 for one hour of tutoring (all three girls at the same time). This gig is actually kind of a hassle for me because the girls tend to run a bit wild during the lesson, but the money is too good to pass up.

All three of these income streams provide me with a nice chunk of change to spend on movies, DVD box sets, dinners out with my family, and other treats that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to buy. I’m always busy because of this schedule, but the result is worth it!