$$: Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Candy & Snow Pants, etc.

Posted on | October 13, 2008 |

The Husband and The Daughter did a “driving-day” switch (DD usually drives herself to school on M, W, & F; DH gets the other car on those day; I get nothing) so I had a car at my disposal. Thus, I got some errands done.

Kwal Paints — $25.16
I lied. There’s no way I’m going to be satisfied settling on an acceptable color for my house. I need to find something I think I like; not just something I don’t hate. This purchase covered two more quarts — two different shades of medium-light brown/tan. I think I like one of them. I’ll use the rest of the quart tomorrow on different areas of the house and then look at those areas throughout the day. I’d like to decide by tomorrow night whether or not this is the “right” color. I’m anxious to call my painter and tell her I’m ready to go.

I thought the total sounded a little high so when I got home I checked my other Kwal receipts and, sure enough, I was charged $11.97 per gallon. Every other quart has cost me $9.00 per quart. The next time I have a car at my disposal, I’ll go back to the store with all of my receipts in hand and request a refund or “price correction.”

T.J. Maxx — $46.30
While out and about, I took the opportunity to pop into T.J. Maxx and see if I could find a pair of snow pants for The Son. I hit paydirt. I picked up a pair of light-gray Columbia snowpants, men’s size Small. They fit reasonably well; with the help of the inside adjustable waistband they don’t fall right off and they’re plenty long enough. They are sure to fit through the whole winter season and maybe even next year. Retail value: $100.00. I paid $29.99 plus tax. Bonus — they coordinate perfectly with the Columbia jacket I bought him last year and he’ll wear again for at least the first part of this season.

I also found a long-sleeved Life Is Good T-shirt for myself for $12.99. I’ve decided that I like these shirts a lot more when I don’t pay full price for them.

Kroger — $12.07
On my way home from the paint store, The Son called me and asked me to pick up some chocolate milk. I remembered that our penny M&M dispenser was nearly empty so I figured I’d take care of that too.

two 1/2 gallons of Horizon chocolate milk — $3.39/ea. (saved $0.30/ea.)
two bags of Halloween-themed M&M candy — $2.50/ea. (saved $0.89/ea.)

Art Class — $65.00
I called and signed The Son up for the continuation of his current art class. It’s a class for adults but the teacher gave him special permission to register. He absolutely loves it. He loves that all of the students take their class time seriously and that the teacher takes him and his efforts seriously. He loves, too, that the class is 2.5 hours long — long enough to get some real work done. I consider it money very well spent.

NCAA Eligibility Registration — $60.00
It appears that my stumbling upon the NCAA website last night was fortuitous. I emailed The Daughter’s swim coach last night and had a response in my inbox this morning. He said we definitely need to register for NCAA eligibility and make sure to stay on track with the eligibility requirements (transcripts, test scores, etc.) He also confirmed that, as of right now, The Daughter isn’t going to have Division I recruiters knocking down our door. But he’s going to keep an eye on her and he’s glad to know this far in advance of her hopes of swimming in college.

Anyway, the way I see it:

you never know where she’ll take her swimming (she definitely has potential);
even if she doesn’t win an athletic scholarship, she might be able to get a “walk-on” spot on a team;
there’s always the possiblity of a Division II team being interested; or
maybe her academic abilities will garner interest (read: scholarship) from a Divison III school — that’s really the way she’d perfer to go anyway.

However it pans out, I think it’s better to spend the money and time ensuring that she has NCAA eligibility and not end up needing it than have to play catch-up or risk missing out altogether.

Claires — $14.08
Apparently tomorrow is a game day and The Daughter felt it necessary to buy a piece of gold-colored bling to go with her planned “game day” outfit. This expense will come out of her monthly clothing budget.

BTW, The Daughter’s clothing budget is extremely healthy with a current balance of $329.31 despite the fact that she occasionally needs bling, despite the fact that she did some Back To School shopping last month, and despite the fact that I decided this August that her monthly budget needs to cover her clothing and her cosmetics.

Safeway — $37.99
The Daughter stopped and used her credit card to fill up the Impreza on her way home (The Husband and I are so glad to see her putting that card to the use for which it was intended — making sure she never runs out of gas). She pumped 12.142 gallons at $3.129 per gallon. The odometer currently reads 33,892.

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