Primark - Eindhoven

So back in November the largest Primark in the Benelux opened in Eindhoven.  To be honest, I had never heard of Primark until then.  Turns out its a British/Irish clothing retailer that sells clothes and what not at ridiculously low prices.  Seems like a great store for a frugal shopper like myself, except I hated the hype behind it all and refused to step foot inside until last week.  From the day it opened it has been insanely busy.  During the opening there were lines up and down the street.  Weeks later there was security letting people in and out to help control the chaos.  And last week, over 6 months after the opening it was still packed!

If it wasn't for wanting an outfit for a theme park and not wanting to pay more than €10 I probably never would have gone into the department store.  See theoretically I didn't need an outfit for the theme park, but I knew the year before walking around in wet jean shorts after the log flume wasn't the most pleasant experience.  My main goal was a pair of board shorts or even thin shorts that would quickly dry, and luckily I found them within 5 minutes of being in the store.  Good thing, because the chaos around us was starting to get to me.  I don't mind a crowd, but swarms of mostly women frantically going through racks and stacks of clothes is more than anyone can take.  Being that the store was new to me and the sizing was based on UK sizes, I decided I should try on the shorts so that I wouldn't have to return to the store.  We fought our way to the back and my mouth fell open when I saw the line for the changing room looping around the jeans section.  It was 11am on a Wednesday!  O.k., there went trying it on, I was going to have to hope for the best and return them if needed.  When we reached the cash register I saw the line was nearly as long as for the changing rooms.  But there were at least 10 registers open, so there was hope.  (It's so busy they even have digital boards to let you know which register is open, never seen this at a department store!)  Once outside the store we took a breath of relief and both swore we would never go back.

That was until I realized the only shirt I had to match the shorts was white, and I wasn't looking for a wet t-shirt contest at the theme park.  Oh no, this meant we were going to have to go back!  So on a Thursday at 2:30pm we returned, and it was still packed.  Almost hard to believe!

Needless to say we survived.  Found shorts for €4 and a t-shirt for €3!  Was it worth the stress and chaos... I think so.  Will I go back... damn, probably.  With prices like that I am starting to understand why all around the center of Eindhoven I see people carrying the brown paper Primark bags!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Pet Peeve - Overpaying

We all have pet peeves, and one of mine is overpaying... the amount doesn't matter, €1-€100, it all drives me crazy.  Being frugal can be good and bad, in this case bad... why, I just can't let go.  What brought this all up, €3... yeah, you're reading it right, I overpaid by €3 and it's going to nag at me for days.  People like me will hold on to receipt for a year, just in case (my junk drawer at home is embarrassing).  So how could this have happened?  It has to do with an online order that I happened to mail back 30 minutes before finding the item on sale somewhere else.  You're probably thinking, you can easily send back an online order, what's the big deal.  Well, I ordered two toys for Christmas, then it turned out that my niece actually wanted something else more.  No problem, I kept the game and sent the art studio back (original invoice & box included).  Next stop after the post office, I happen to see the game for €3 cheaper.  Now what, all I have at home is a scanned copy of the invoice... seriously, what am I am going to do, buy a box, waste the gas to return to the post office, in the mean time using up the €3 I am trying save.  No, I'm not.  Instead I'm going to grumble about it.  I'm going to kick myself in the butt for trying to be efficient and get the toy off my hands immediately.  I'm going to let it fester, tell myself I could do even better watching out for sales.  Wow, I'm just a little crazy.  Inevitably, it all evens out though.  The other day to save a few euros, I returned a pair of footed stockings for my daughter because I found them cheaper and 2 for 1 at another store.  So I guess I should be happy I caught the last sale to make up for missing this one.  Any of you have silly pet peeves that will make you go out of your way for something?  Oh yeah, and the game that I'm complaining I overpaid for, I still originally bought on sale.  And in my husbands words, cuckoo!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Bus Card (#2)

And the saga continues, ha-ha!  More like, and the waste of money continues!  After realizing my bus card was in the negative I knew I needed to reload it in preparation for the next bus trip.  I went online, signed into my account and explored my options.  There was a great deal that for just €10.90 I could get a 40% discount on my trips (most of our trips fall into the qualifications for the discount).  With excitement I ordered and paid.  Then as I closed the order I noticed the amount didn't just appear on the card, I was actually going to have to take my card to a machine in order to load my order.  What!  Again another hassle pertaining to the bus card.  Later that night it crossed my mind that possibly the order I placed was purely to receive the discount and not actually put a usable balance on my card.  I crossed my fingers.  But unfortunately the next day when I went to load the card I found out the money I had spent was only to apply for the discount, I still had a negative balance on my card.  I tried to collect myself, like I said, I despise wasting money... and now on top of it, I was going to have to tell my husband that my brilliant plan to save money was actually costing 3 times more than I expected.  Since I was already at the machine I finally went ahead and put actual money on the account.  And of course they immediately deducted what I owed.  I'm hoping that with the discounts I applied for the balance will last a long time.  Of course after all this effort and investment we're going to have to ride the bus more often to make it worth our while.  Starting next week I should have a working card, I now know how to use it, and I can actually monitor the expenses properly.  I'm really curious what an actual round trip will costs, because up until this point something has gone wrong on both round-trips.  Up until this point two trips to swimming class have cost around €37!!!  And I used to walk for free (and exercised along the way)!

While on the topic of buses, I've noticed something else.  The drivers in the early morning are very nice and the ones in the late morning have panned out to be quite unfriendly.  One even snapped at me in front of my 3 yr old!  He claimed we didn't press the button for our stop and that we just stood up expecting him to stop.  I know my tot pressed the button, and I pressed it after her for certainty, so we weren't the crazy ones.  And even if the button didn't work there was no need for the attitude, I'm not some punk kid giving him a hard time.  I'm often shocked at how rude people can be in front of a child, tisk-tisk!

Well, I'm sure our bus trip next week will deliver some kind of story, so I'll do my best to follow up on it!

Coupon Club

Since my computer is on a hiatus I've had to resort back to the tv at night.  Generally there is nothing on (or nothing we can both agree on) but last night I some how convinced my husband to tolerate a good portion of show about extreme couponing.  For those of you unfamiliar, it's when you buy in quantity, rack up a bill in the hundreds, hand over a ton of coupons, and pay barely anything.  It's a dream come true!  I think my husband only watched just to prove to himself how crazy it is, but I watched in admiration.  Here in The Netherlands coupons aren't as popular as in The States.  Sure they exist but it's not like you get the thick Sunday newspaper packed full of coupon clipping mania, I kind of miss that.  Funnily enough when I was young I looked forward to my first coupon holder, you know the ones with dividers that you can store  your loose coupons in until needed.  My mom had one, she probably still has one.  Watching the tv show last night showed me just how far people take it, I threatened my husband that if I lived in the US I would be a couponer!  I would join a coupon club like those ladies, I would spend my Sunday clipping away, I would have a coupon holder (I'd probably create a database on my computer)!!!  He threatened divorce, ha-ha!  To him there is nothing worse than busting out a coupon, especially during meals.  Me, I love saving money and see no shame in it.  It's my job as a SAHM to find the sales and watch the cents.  I guess lucky for us we live here, so you will not be seeing me on any future episodes of Extreme Couponing, oh well.

Another post from my phone, hope it's not too sloppy!

Sayonara Stroller

Goodbye (sayonara) trusty stroller!  Our heavy duty stroller finally bit the dust yesterday.  I can't actually complain considering what we put this stroller through.  We bought the Mutsy Transporter over 3 years ago and we used it to its fullest.  At least once a week it made a journey through rain, snow, or sunshine to and from swimming class (3-3.5miles).  It went on endless walks, and since I don't have a car it was also my tots mode of transportation for everything from playdates to the playground.  It also totted full groceries and purchases, I'm surprised the mesh basket underneath held up as long as it did.  It was a comfy place for my tot, even when she technically was too old and weighed too much for it.  We even used the stroller to the point there wasn't any tread left on the tires. 

Last week on the way to swimming class I pressed down on the handle bar to pop the front wheels up in order to get the stroller and tot up on to the sidewalk and I heard a pop.  I could see the stroller was leaning a little to the left but it was still working.  At that moment I knew we wouldn't have much longer together.  Then yesterday before swimming I mentioned it to my husband, probably manifesting its end.  On our trek to and from swimming class I made sure to only use ramps and avoid having to lift her up on to the sidewalks.  Luckily I did, because a few minutes from our house, on the return journey, I had no choice but to pop a wheely and sure enough the right side of the frame broke also.  If I hadn't have been in a hurry I would have told my tot to hop out and walk, but instead I lifted the back end and trucked it home (she was basically in a recliner at this point).  I was so glad this happened close to home, otherwise I'm not really sure what we would have done.  Before leaving for swimming I ran a lot of scenarios through my head and most of which were quite inconvenient.  It's not like it's an umbrella stroller and can be tossed out easily.  And after swimming she would have been too worn out to walk that far anyway.  Again, we were very lucky! 

When our girl was just a baby the stroller had a bassinet attachment (and also attachments for the car seat), I saved them thinking we could reuse the stroller for the next kid.  But at that point so early on in my daughter's life I had no idea what I was about to ask of this stroller.  I feel like the Mutsy Transporter went above and beyond my expectations, and I would defnitely buy another one in the future. 
Sayonara stroller!

Bloggin' From TN #2

Here I am again, still on our short trip to Tennessee. When visiting The States there are always a few pit-stops we have to make, like American Eagle & Old Navy!!! But clothes stores aren't the only places we hit up, I love Walmart! When I used to live in Florida I avoided Walmart but since moving overseas I've learned to appreciate the deals. You may take Fruit of the Loom & Hanes for granted but we sure don't.  Where we are in TN, Walmart is one of the largest stores in town, it also includes groceries... I think I've been there 3 times already and intend to go again!

 

Like me, my grandma also appreciates saving money (I guess being frugal is in the family, and so is hoarding but that's a different post). In the hopes of saving some money we also hit up Dollar General (I mentioned bargain stores in an old post, I love them). I was glad we did because I found cards to mail home for 50cents!

 

As always I snapped a couple shots for you. The 1st is an insanely busy Walmart, especially for 2:30 in the afternoon. And the other is Dollar General for those of you unfamiliar with it.

You Trader!!!

Well, it's official, I'm a trader... I've switched from a Windows Phone to an iPhone!!!  I fought it for 2 months, so obviously I'm quite stubborn.  When I wrote the original post about my situation in December, I really didn't know what decision I would make.  And to be honest the only thing that forced me to switch is an upcoming trip to The States.  Since my husband uses an iPhone, it'll be easy for us to stay in contact through FaceTime or Skype apps, functions I didn't have on my HTC phone.  (Yeah, you heard it right, me & my toddler are travelling internationally without my husband, but that'll be a separate post!)  Standing in the store waiting to be helped with the switch (you trader!), all I could do was admire the Windows phones on display... I love the tiles and colors and the way they work.  I love that it's the same applications as on my home computer.  I love supporting Microsoft, great company!  But sometimes you just have to make logical decisions, and this time it was to use the iPhone 4S laying around our house rather than investing the money in another 2 year phone contract inclusive phone.  It'll actually save us around €30 a month... that's until I break the phone (I'm clumsy) and then we'll have to pay out of pocket unlike when you have a phone issued from the phone company.  This was one of my debate points, but my husband wasn't going for it.  Sure, in the end he won (just like with the expensive trash can I didn't want), but I gave him hell and held out for as long as I could, ha-ha!  (I actually refused to use a new trash can in our kitchen for a month in protest of the costs, again, I'm stubborn.)  You'll probably never hear me say that I like the iPhone, whether I do or don't, it's a pride thing.  But since I do have one, I might as well sign up for all of the apps that I hear everyone going on about all of the time, Instagram here I come.  Turns out it's also available on the HTC, arg!

Pink or Blue?

When you purchase things for your children, is it important to you that the item be specific for their gender?  Years ago, planning for our new arrival, I decided I wanted to buy neutral toys and clothes.  Not because of some thought out process about how I want her to grow up being more than just a label, FEMALE, it was to save money (you know I'm frugal).  I figured by decorating her room in a jungle theme and buying colorful items not just pink & red, I would be able to reuse these items for the next kid.  You never know what gender the next kid will be and I didn't want to waste things because they weren't appropriate for a boy.  But over time my daughter's closet started filling with pink & red, her father insisted on a pink infant carrier, and dolls galore started arriving.  I could deal with it, it didn't exactly fit my plan of reuse but obviously I was appreciative.  (Plus my family knows I will not be buying her many dresses or clothes with bows & frills, so they figure someone has to do it!)  One day while skimming through my daily blog list, I came across a post on What To Tell The Neighbors... Suzanne wrote a post about one of her childrens' Christmas requests and that the toy was what people in general consider for the opposite gender.  Then it hit me, I don't care if my daughter plays with "boy toys" or "girls toys".  I don't feel the need to push her in one direction or another.  If she wants to dress up in a princess costume while rough-housing with boys, I don't mind, and why would I?  It's my job as a parent to expose her to options in life, and as we all know, life isn't always black and white (pink or blue, ha-ha).  She has an array of toys, she loves Little People, not only does she have the girlish pink airplane but she also has the boyish pirate ship.  And when it comes to her bed spreads, she has the cutsie colorful one with animals and teapots, and then she has the one with roads and cars.  Why not enjoy it all, I'm opening her imagination.  So I guess, it has gone beyond being frugal for me.  And this round when it came to choosing the next size-up car seat, we went with something she likes, and she ended up with one covered in a soccer ball pattern.  Why, she loves watching Manchester United with her dad, plus she adores her cousin who happens to play soccer.  And you know what, I still plan on reusing most things for our next kid (when that happens).  No, I'm not going to put him in dresses but there will be plenty of hand-me-downs he can wear.  And guess what, if it is a boy, he'll be using her red toddler car seat and red buggy (no need to spend the money on new ones).  And if the next one turns out to be a girl, well, she has a great head start with colorful creative toys not specific to one gender or the other!

Freebies (aka Monsters)

Freebies!!!  Who doesn't love getting a free sample of something???  In Dutch freebies or samples are called "monsters".  Sounds funny to an American, but so what, I love "monsters"!
 

Every once in a while I go in search of freebies online.  I wouldn't say they're as common here as in The States but you can still find them.  One website I use is ProefMonsters.nl  (I pulled it up to get the link for you and they had an offer for dog Dentastix, great!  Signed up and invited friends too!)  Now if you're not in The Netherlands this site will be of little use to you, but I am sure you can find one of your own.  My last round on this website has delivered at least 2 freebies so far:
 

I'm really happy with this one, it arrived a week or so ago!  It's a lid for cottage cheese.  Sounds so simple yet I didn't have it.  We often open a container of cottage cheese, eat half, and then leave it poorly sealed in the fridge.  Usually it gets tossed out because we don't trust our sealing capabilities (if we bothered at all).  Now, thanks to Danone's nifty little lid, we can rest assure that the cottage cheese will be good the next day and if we happen to tip it over (happened before) there will not be unwanted cottage cheese juice all over the fridge!  Thanks Danone!
 

My other freebie arrived today in the mail, it's a small mixed sample pack of labels/stickers from Avery.  Since I no longer have an office job I almost never print things out on stickers.  Even though I do occasionally feel like getting organized I can't bring myself to buy a pack of expensive labels at the store.  Again, through the freebie website I only had to give my address, wait a couple weeks, and voila, I now have stickers for my printer.  I'm just curious how long it will take me to get the hankering to actually get labels printed out and stuck on whatever the project of the month might be.  I do have some storage boxes in the shed that could use labels!!!
 

Hope you all find a website of your own and start signing up for freebies.  They're extra rewarding because they take so long to arrive that you tend to forget about them!

SAHM I AM

SAHM = Stay-At-Home-Mom

I am a Stay-At-Home-Mom and it completely suits me and my family.  But I also understand being a SAHM isn't for everyone.  I hear a lot of working moms say I'd go crazy being at home all of the time or I go to work to get a break.  Luckily, I don't feel this way, it's important to be happy in your job and take pride in it.  See...

...I was a homebody before we ever decided for me to be a SAHM.  Don't get me wrong though I am not always home, there's always something to do out of the house (required or not) besides my tots schedule keeps me busy enough!

...I do get breaks, naptime and bedtime.  Sure a lot of naps are spent cleaning or exercising but I get my time in, how else would I maintain this blog?  And basically the daily duties end once my tot goes to bed for the evening, this time is for me & my husband or for whatever else floats my boat.

...I wear pajamas often.  But this isn't a new tradition since becoming a SAHM, for as long as I can remember the moment I step foot in the house the normal clothes go and I slip on my pj's.  I'm like superman stepping into a phone booth, it happens that fast.  Being a pj-wearer worked out to my benefit, because I don't feel bad about staining them with cleaning products, kids paint, or food.

...I find that being a SAHM plays right into me being frugal.  Sure we could have sent my kid to daycare while I worked part-time but at the end of the month I'd have barely any money to show for it.  Daycare is outrageously expensive!  And now I have the time to cruise for sales, saving even more money at the end of the day.

...I've also heard that becoming a SAHM means losing your social life.  This isn't true, well, it could be if you let it but that also applies to someone who goes to an office/job.  Sure I liked some of my old co-workers over the 15yrs I did go to "work" but I didn't go there to socialize, I went there to make money.  And I have plenty of adult conversations (another myth I hear).  Plus, I'm a parent whether I have a career or am a SAHM, there's no need for me to go out every week.  And to be honest, there are enough people in the family to watch my tot if I do get the urge to paint the town red.

So again, I feel very lucky to be a SAHM.  And I truly appreciate all of the hours my husband puts in at his work to make this happen.  And just so you know, I do respect women that Work-Outside-of-The-Home (there's usually a big misunderstanding between SAHM's & WOTM's).  I can't imagine doing it all, keeping the husband & kid happy, food on the table, house clean, shuffling to & from the family activities, and managing a 40hr a week job, props to you!

Here are a couple fun articles I found about being a SAHM:

5 Myths About Being a SAHM
10 SAHM Myths Debunked

I definitely feel this subject is worth coming back to, so keep your eye out for a follow-up!

Clothing Style

My clothing style... casual, sporty, preppy.  I don't think there's a name for it because I myself don't even know my style anymore.  It was so simple when I lived in Florida, it was hot hot hot, so that meant less what better.  Less was also easier.  A fun tank top, a pair of denim shorts, flips-flops, maybe some jewelry and I was done.  I didn't live in NYC or LA, I didn't have to think about being trendy or stylish.  Plus I weighed a lot less (a lot younger), making it easy to buy clothes and look nice in everything.  Then I moved to the Netherlands, where I consider the women to be quite stylish/trendy (not all of my friends agree, I would never survive where they're from).  For years I refused to buy clothes here, their style was far from mine.  Over time I started to give in, even though I look ridiculous in most of the Dutch clothes.  I've figured out a way to combine the Dutch and American clothes so that when I leave the house I still have an ounce of confidence left.  One of the biggest issues I have with style/trends is it's impracticality.  As you might have read in many of posts, I walk a lot, and everywhere.  When it's an hour round trip to take my daughter to toddler swimming class, do you really think I'm going to bust out the heels?  I get sweaty, it rains often, do you think I want to risk messing up any of my nice clothes or jackets?  I have a 2 1/2 yr old - I get dirty often, I'm home a lot, and I'm constantly cleaning or running errands; most trendy clothes just don't suit these situations.  Plus, I'm frugal (cheap), I don't want to wear my expensive clothes to run to the grocery store or to drop my kid off at school.  So this leaves me wearing jeans and cotton shirts most everyday.  I went to a birthday party recently and as I looked around at the Dutch women they were all dressed in some version of the same outfit.  A blazer or short leather jacket, a scarf, skinny jeans, and some type of ankle length shoes.  The scarf; I don't understand how they all do it, it would drive me crazy, I would feel as if I were being choked the entire time.  And the skinny jeans; it took me forever to understand this trend, I like loose fitting jeans and dare I say it, boot-cut.  But like I said, I occasionally try out the trends, and for the life of me, I can't find a pair of skinny jeans that fit me right.  I have decent legs, you'd think skinny jeans would suit me, but I also have a decent size midriff thanks to having a child and my eating habits.  And in order to get the pants to fit my waist, the legs end up being too loose.  My sister-in-law loves fashion and trends.  She looks nice, it looks fun, but there are few outfits of hers I would ever wear.  She tries to help me, she'll dress me up, put me in front of the mirror and wow, I look ridiculous.  How does an outfit that looks so trendy on one person look so silly on me?  It's not that I don't have the confidence to wear it, it's just not me.  I went to a party over the Christmas holidays, I gave in, dressed a bit more on the Dutch side, everyone noticed, everyone complimented me... and when I got home the first thing I did was strip it off because I was outrageously uncomfortable.  I put on my jeans, a tank top, a zip-up sweatshirt (all American Eagle, the only brand I truly love), and I could breath and relax again.  I'm not blind to style and fashion, even though my outfit choices might appear that way sometimes.  I look at websites and store fronts, they have so many great ideas.  But they also have so many layers and accessories.  I'm not on the thin side, and I'm constantly hot, layers are the last thing I want to wear.  My mother loves shopping, fashion, and make-up, what happened to me?  Don't think I'm not vain, because I can be.  I might be dressed casual but I'm always clean and have on make-up, I wouldn't leave the house otherwise.  (There is only one day a week I leave the house without make-up, toddler swimming  class days.)  I wonder if I'll ever find my style again... it's not just the move here that's changed my views on style, I'm getting older, what used to be acceptable no longer is.  Sometimes I flip threw my clothes and wonder how it's possible to own so many t-shirts with logos (long & short sleeve) or so many polo's, where are the blouses?  I try, and I try, I order a million things from H&M, keep one thing and ship the rest back.  H&M is one of the few places I shop in the Netherlands, mostly I count on my birthday or Christmas and the jeans my Mom mails me!  I keep telling myself once I have a car and will not be forced to walk everywhere my time will come... I'll be able to dress impractical and stylish, and will not have to worry about being hot and/or the climate conditions.  But until then, everyone is just going to have to deal with my boring, "relaxed" style.  I found a picture from dixi3chik/Polyvore, it's the closest thing to how I dress (and unbelievably, it's considered country, wow, didn't see that coming - my husband's probably chuckling right now).