The Chronic Consumer

Ugh, I hate not being able to go shopping whenever I want. But Jerry has been on no overtime since November, so all of our extra spending money is gone now. Plus, we have to kind of worry about his job stability too, since so many companies in the industry are going under or asking for bailout help. This really makes me wish he had chosen a recession-proof healthcare career instead of one in automotive so we wouldn’t have to worry about this stuff.

Anyway, I luckily don’t have any pressing shopping needs at this point. I just have to buy a small birthday present for my son at the end of the month, then after that, we’re pretty free and clear — unless some kind of emergency arises. Let’s hope things go smoothly!

Guys, if you’re scrambling to find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your girlfriend or wife, I’ve got some advice for you. First of all, you don’t have to go all out on the present in order to be appreciated. Just remembering to get something at all (if it’s your custom to exchange gifts on that day) and making an effort to buy something that your significant other will truly like is good enough in itself.

That being said, here are some gifts that the woman in your life probably won’t appreciate on what’s supposed to be a romantic holiday, so try to save these for later, ok?

• Household or kitchen appliances. We don’t want to be reminded of all the chores we do!
• A gym membership. Just what are you trying to say about our bodies here?
• A heart-shaped box of chocolates — and nothing else. Surely you can do better than that?
• Automobile accessories or performance parts. That’s something you want, not us!
• A stuffed teddy bear. Fine for your 8-year-old daughter. Not good for your wife or girlfriend.

Good luck on getting through yet another Valentine’s Day!

I got a special coupon offer emailed to me yesterday. It’s for a three-day only sale at the Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic. The offer is for 20% off a purchase of $100 or more, and can only be used at the online stores.

I don’t need anything from these stores right now, but it’s such a shame to let what is essentially $20 go to waste, so if any of you readers are interested in getting the coupon code, just email me for it. My address is julie[]chronicconsumer[]com — hopefully you know what symbols to place in those brackets!

There are only two available and the sale ends on February 12, so if you want to get in on the savings, you better hurry!

Edit: The Old Navy coupon codes are now spoken for. Sorry, folks!

I think I need a knee brace or some other type of support for when I work out. I usually hit the exercise bikes or treadmills at the gym, but recently I haven’t been able to do any cardio at all except on the ellipticals because my left knee has been killing me. I know that it’s a workout related injury because it only bothers me the day of and the day after my trips to the gym. On other days when I take it easy at home, I’m fine.

The problem is, there’s no way I can lay off my exercise routine at this point. I’m afraid that if I take a week or two off, I will never get sufficient motivation to go back. I’ve made such progress in the gym in the last year that it would be a shame to throw it all away because of some knee pain. A brace should do the trick, don’t you think?

Anyway, I just want something simple, like the brace pictured above. That thing is only about $40, and if it can help keep me in the gym, then it will be well worth it!

I know that the economy sucks right now and no one has any extra money to spend. But a lot of great, worthwhile organizations are suffering from a drastic lack of donations these days, so I wanted to take the time to remind you not to forget about your favorite charities.

Yes, it’s hard to scrape together extra cash. I’m not saying you should go out and make a bunch of outright donations if you can’t afford it. Instead, why not buy something useful from the charity’s online store? If you need some new clothes, check to see if the organization you want to support has t-shirts, sweatshirts, or jackets for sale. Ditto with new coffee mugs, pens, pencils, calendars, water bottles, or keychains. You’ll be getting items you love, while still giving a charity some much-needed funds.

How can you come up with extra money? I don’t know… Use coupons when you go grocery shopping, vow to save an extra 10% of your budget this month, shop around for a lower car insurance quote, cancel a few subscriptions to magazines that you don’t need. There’s always a way!

Whether you love to support children’s charities or ones that help animals, promote religion, or protect the environment, don’t let those important causes die out in this economic crisis. Do what you can to help them!

Well, just as I feared, a second-generation Kindle is going to be available in a couple of weeks. I bought my Kindle back in July, meaning that a mere seven months later, it’s already outdated. I hate when stuff like this happens, but I guess that’s always a risk with gadgets and tech toys.

Anyway, the new Kindle 2 doesn’t strike me as so different from the first generation version that I have to run right out and buy another one (which I couldn’t afford even if I wanted it). It’s got a different design, the page turn buttons are shorter, and the keyboard has circular keys instead of the angular ones on the old model.

The software has been improved a bit too, with faster page turns, more shades of gray for sharper images and better readability, and more internal memory. Inexplicably, however, Amazon did away with the SD memory card slot, so you can’t expand the memory at all.

The new Kindle costs the same as the old one, $359. But the new one doesn’t come with the standard faux leather case — now you have to pay an extra $30 for it.

I have a feeling that my first-generation Kindle is going to be just fine for at least a couple more years. Maybe I’ll jump back in when Kindle 5 is on sale!

Now that I’ve got my 1099 forms from all but one of the places I did independent contract work for in 2008, I’m just about ready to settle down for an afternoon to do my taxes. I looked in my drawer where I keep relevant paperwork from the year, and boy do I wish I had a nice receipt printer to keep everything tidy. I could just scan my regular receipts into the computer and then print them out at the end of the year when I’m ready for taxes.

At any rate, I think I should be getting a slight return this year, as I paid far more in estimated taxes than I ended up owing. I also might be entitled to another stimulus check this year, but who can really say about that since the government keeps waffling about what’s going to be done about the economy.

Actually, since I made so little money last year, tax time should be relatively simple this time around. Not always a good thing, I guess!

I think online shopping is great for a number of reasons, but the best one of all has to be the privacy aspect. I know this is going to sound ridiculous coming from an adult in her mid-thirties, but I still get incredibly embarrassed and flustered when I have to buy certain personal items from the store — especially if there’s a snickering teen working the register or doing the bagging.

While I can handle buying tampons and condoms on my own, I draw the line at such things as vaginal dryness creams, over-the-counter yeast infection treatments, douches, home enema kits or anything of that sort. If I have a need for any of those things, you better believe I’ll be ordering it online!

Does that make me immature? Perhaps. But I so do not want to deal with this sort of thing at the drugstore or grocery store that I go to regularly!