Going for Not Broke

As I'm sure is the case for most people this time of year, my schedule is very hectic for the next couple of weeks. Therefore, my next new post will be Jan. 2, 2013. In the meantime, feel free to browse through my other posts. "See" you all in 2013.

I've been looking for a tech toy for my daughter for a few months now, and yesterday, I stumbled across the InnoTab 2 Baby on Walmart.com. At $89, it's $10 cheaper than the regular InnoTab 2, but it's a Walmart exclusive, and yesterday, it was sold out online. The site also said that there weren't any available in stores in my area. So I tried Amazon.com, which had some through third-party sellers offering them at $125. Then, I learned through the website for Vtech, the manufacturer of the InnoTab, that they're sold exclusively through Walmart, which explains why the sellers on Amazon were third party. I thought I might be able to find one on eBay, but they were even higher than they were on Amazon. I still wanted my daughter to have the toy, but I didn't want to pay that much, especially since even $89 is higher than I'd like to pay. I figured that the people who were selling them, especially those selling them brand new, on eBay and Amazon had a f

Back in September, I wrote about finding free podcasts , to which I listen when I'm walking for exercise or working on my beading projects. One of the ones I mentioned was "Tank Riot." I've since deleted my subscription to that one because it's very long; most episodes are close to three hours. And while it can be very interesting, the hosts kind of get off track several times during each episode. Their detours can be interesting, too, however, I'm more of a "make your point" kind of a listener. I found another, called "Who's Paying Attention?" hosted by Alonzo Bodden. I became a fan of Bodden's years ago when he was on "Last Comic Standing," but again, much like "Tank Riot," his podcast, while funny, is a little too rambling for my taste. I've only listened to a couple of episodes so far, and I plan to give it a little longer, but I think its time on my iPod is nearing an end. The good news is, there a

A few days ago, I posted about our heating-and-air unit being on its last leg. The technician who came out thought that our electric panel had issues that made a new unit impossible until we had some major electrical work done. Well, an electrician came out to our house a few days ago and determined that our electricity is, in fact, up to code. As it turns out, our electric panel was just mislabeled. We will still have to shell out a few thousand dollars for the new heating-and-air unit, which won't be fun, but at least the whole project will not be as expensive as we had feared.

I still have not started actively working toward getting new freelance clients. I'm feeling a little frustrated at myself. Yesterday, my husband and daughter were both out of the house for a few hours, and it would've been a perfect time to get some work done. What did I do, though? I went back to sleep. In fairness to myself, the night before had been rather restless for all of us because our daughter's been sick and not sleeping well. But I still feel like I should be making myself get it done. I need a kick in the butt to get me going.

We got an estimate on a new heat-and-air unit earlier today. Turns out, whoever connected our current unit back in the 1970s took a few shortcuts. We cannot get a new unit without having some major electrical work done first. I really need to start making time for freelance work so that this home improvement project doesn't force us into bankruptcy.

Lately, I've been on a "buying" binge at MyCokeRewards. A few weeks ago, you could cash in your points for $5 gift cards to Domino's Pizza, so I got a few. Earlier this week, I got a $5 gift card to McDonald's, which should be arriving in six to eight weeks. Those, I believe, are still available. MCR is also planning to have other gift cards that members can buy with points through December 12, so there's still time for any interested readers to cash in their points, too.

As some readers may know, I decided to pull the cord on TV cable and get a Roku for streaming content. I have a subscription to Netflix and HuluPlus, and between the two, I've been able to watch MOST of the shows I'd like. What I can't get is CBS, and one of my favorite shows, "The Big Bang Theory," comes on that channel. I bought a digital antenna, but we haven't hooked it up yet. Hopefully, if HuluPlus never offers CBS, I'll be able to get the network via the antenna. We can also connect the computer to the TV to watch it that way, but that seems so time-consuming. I also have hopes that NokNok, a Roku channel still in beta form, might one day fill that void. I found out about it here . After I read the article, I was very excited to try it out, so as soon as I had the chance, I did. I was able to access NokNok, but not any of the content. On Monday, I tried it again. Good news! I was FINALLY able to access ABC and NBC content! Still no CBS,

Now that the most recent festival is out of the way, I'm going to start trying my hand at transcribing audio. I have the foot pedal for stopping audio; if it doesn't work out, I figure I can always sell it later. I still need to download the software to do it and find the sites that will give me a chance to practice. Hopefully, the work pays off and we'll be able to get some extra income in to pay down our debt. It looks like we're going to need a new heat/air unit sooner rather than later. We had hoped to limp it along for another year.

I took last week off from blogging to get ready for an arts & crafts festival. Had I known that the festival would have fewer than 50 attendees, I wouldn't have wasted so much time. I sold nothing, I earned nothing, and now I'm out $35 for a booth, $50 for gas, $25 for food and $53 for a hotel. Next year, I'm taking a pass on that festival.