Day 261: Car Stereo, Nalgene Bottle, & Skirt Hangers (plus incoming $)

Posted on | May 19, 2008 |

Total Spent Today: $298.31
Net Spent Today: $243.33

REI — ($50.13)
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I collected all of our old Nalgene bottles (well, all the ones the kids could find — one of The Daughter’s is still missing) to return for a refund/store credit.  The return process took a couple of minutes but overall went very smoothly.  Ironically, the computer showed a record of my 2001 purchase of two older, smaller bottles I returned but had no record at all of the large bottles I purchased last October.  The clerk still issued store credit on the larger bottles — partly, I think, due to the fact that all of the bottles had the name REI stamped on them as bold as you please (they must have been a special-issue Nalgene manufacturered specifically for REI stores).The only downside to this whole transaction is that, for whatever reason, the clerk wouldn’t put my store credit on a REI gift card.  My credit comes in the form of a paper receipt that I can use in any REI store or on-line but I must have the receipt.  If I lose it, I’m S.O.L.

REI — $10.26
Spent in the form of store credit (my paper receipt now states I have a credit of $39.87).  I bought myself a red wide-mouth Nalgene bottle.

Auto Stereo Store — $277.57
I’ve been shopping for car stereos for the past month or so and just last week finally decided on the model I wanted.  So today we did a little car juggling so I could have The Husband’s Impreza.  The stereo is The Husband’s Father’s Day gift.  But it’s not for him at all.  It’s for The Daughter.  Here’s what happened:The Impreza came with a very bare-bones stereo.  Two FM bands, one AM band, and a single disc CD player.  Nice and functional but nothing special.  What it’s really missing is an iPod/aux input capability.I’m a realist.  I know how important music is to 16yo girls and I know what a distraction music and CD’s and radios and iPods can be for a new driver (well, any driver but especially new drivers).  So I presented my argument to The Husband several weeks ago — we should install an iPod interface stereo in the name of safety.  The criteria was very specific:  the 16yo had to be able to control the iPod through the stereo itself leaving her hands and attention free for driving and the buttons and layout had to be simple enough for a 73-yo radio-listening dad.Finding a stereo that met both criteria was harder than I’d expected it to be.  I ended up going with an Alpine CDA-9884.  Happy early Father’s Day, sweetie 

Target — $10.48
I found a Michael Graves tie/belt hanger  ($3.99) that I like better than the one I bought the other day.  I also bought two 3-packs of skirt hangers ($2.99/ea.) for The Daughter’s closet.  Each hanger has a metal center hook so you can actually hang another hanger from the first hanger instead of having each individual hanger hang from the closet rod.  Helps save closet space which is at a premium in The Daughter’s closet (yeah, she has more clothes that she probably needs but mostly it’s just a tiny closet).

Once Upon a Child — ($5.85)
I took my bag of rejects from yesterday’s Plato’s Closet run to see what OUAC would do with the contents.  I had slightly more sucess (in # of items accepted) but their value was lower.  They rejected several things because they were too large (those in-between sizes of 16 and 18 don’t have much resale value, apparently) but they did accept 4 pair of Old Navy shorts.  Anyway, it’s another $5.85 I didn’t have this morning.

Since all of the items sold were The Son’s, I’ve added $5.85 back into his clothing budget category in my YNAB program*.

Related Posts for Further Reading

• Day 229: Groceries, another Lampshade, a Genie, and more
• Day 185: BIG Expenses Today
• Day 102: Co-pay, Quicksilver, and iTunes
• $$: Coyote Sighting Edition
• $$: FUN & Outrageous Spending
• Day 255: Book & Sunglasses

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