Just as I predicted at the beginning of June, we spent a lot of money. We didn’t actually have to tap our emergency fund to put tires on our car, but that’s because I haven’t gotten around to buying tires yet. Um.

Some financial happenings from the month:

• Our move was cheaper than anticipated, thanks to the brute strength and determination of Shane, his dad and my dad. We did it ourselves through Budget truck rentals instead of hiring movers as originally planned.
• Since U-Haul flaked on my truck reservation, they kept their guarantee and gave me $50. Thanks!
• We bought a new couch. I’m sitting on it now. Worth the money.
• I’m building a stash of cloth diapers for Johnny. The initial expense is, well, expensive, but in theory we’ll save a lot of money by going this route. I’m keeping track of my CD purchases, and so far I’ve spent about $100. I’m not done buying yet. I just found a local CD retailer (Pittsburgh Cloth Diapers) and I’m going to check some out in person before buying. If you aren’t local, that site offers free shipping in the lower 48! Prices are competitive and there are discount codes.
• I tossed a bunch of condiments and abandoned frozen foods from our old place. I then went to Aldi near my new place and restocked up. I could have saved some money if I bought a cooler or made one somehow, but I just didn’t plan it in advance. Moving is spendy.

Financial things for July:

• By golly, I’m going to buy 4 tires this month. It’s time. I hope I can find a good deal and get a set that will truly last a lot of miles. I hope I can keep this under $500. Ick.
• We bought a used Wii* on Amazon tonight. It was $159 + shipping but no sales tax. I had one $5 Amazon gift card thanks to my Swagbucks searches *. We also bought the EA Sports Active game* and multiplayer pack*. Ought to be a good source of entertainment on my free TV, plus a good way to exercise. We’ll scope out a nearby second-hand video games shop to get some more games.
• We’ll need some shelves, curtains, and miscellany for our new place.
• I expect to get $150 back from our old apartment. The deposit was $200 and they’re keeping like $50 for the carpets to be cleaned.
• I expect a $100 gift card from Rent.com for our current apartment referral.

You’re welcome, economy. I’m stimulating the heck out of you right now! Hopefully our purchases will start to simmer down. I do think we’ll be able to add to our house savings this month. I really want to see that ticker start to move in the right direction.

*Affiliate link

I was at the mall this morning. There was a new Land Rover parked inside. You could lease it for “only” $799 per month for 36 months! And only $1,500 or so down, or a trade-in.

Oh my stinkin’ word.

That’s more than I pay for rent. And it’s just a car. I don’t think it even looked that cool.

So you could pay $28,800 + the down payment over a period of three years, but be sure you don’t go over 10,000 miles per year or you’ll pay extra. At the end of the lease, you’ll have to return the car.

If there’s anyone out there who thinks leasing a car for that amount of money is a good idea, please smack ‘em.

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I was at the mall today to buy some cloth diapers from a mom. I picked up 18 new or like-new prefolds and 6 doublers for $25. I think I got a pretty good deal, as I could have paid $50 or more for the lot if I bought it new.

I have six pocket-style diapers (two Happy Heinys, one BumGenius one size, and three Smartipants). I have some covers that should arrive in the mail shortly.

So far, I’ve been underwhelmed with cloth diapering. My baby has soaked through his diapers and it looks like I’ll definitely need to double up on the inserts. Hopefully that’ll stop the problem!

Also, though I’m still breastfeeding him, he’s also eating some solids. His stools (sorry! TMI I know!) are kind of sticky and semi-solid. It’s not easy to get the stool off the diaper in a non-gross way. I haven’t yet purchased a diaper sprayer but it looks like I need to. Or, I might get some flushable diaper liners. Once he’s mostly on solids, I expect it’ll be easier to get the stool in the toilet. Right?

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Our new apartment is about 14 miles from our previous one, and to me it feels like we’re in an entirely different city. Though I’m somewhat familiar with our new area, it’s still going to take awhile to learn new roads, find the best places to shop, and everything else that goes with living in a new place.

We did it ourselves after all

Though the original plan was to hire movers, we ended up renting a truck from Budget. The moving company came over to give an estimate and they figured it would be no less than six hours for three men to move and unload our belongings. I think it would have been a miracle to do it all that fast.

It would cost $770. I originally thought it would be around $500. The new price was a bit salty, especially since the total price could quickly hit $1,000 if the move took longer.

My dad and Shane’s dad wanted to help. They thought they could move our stuff no problem, and wanted a chance to come out and visit. They’re some of the best dads anyone could hope to have :)

I was concerned about them being able to move my Price is Right bed down all those stairs without injury or damage. The headboard exceeds 500 pounds, and that’s no exaggeration. Combine the insane weight with the bulk and delicate nature of the wood finish (and add 2.5 flights of steps) and you could have quite the disaster.

Fortunately, the three dads know what they’re doing and they’re strong enough to make it happen. The bed was a beast but it (and all my other junk) arrived safely. Everyone was sore and tired afterward, but no one got hurt.

My dad bought some furniture sliders and they worked wonderfully, even on asphalt!

U-Haul FAIL

I made a reservation for a U-Haul. To save me a trip, I called ahead to see if the truck was ready. The truck was supposed to be there at 9 a.m. It wasn’t. The guy who handles truck rentals wasn’t even at work yet — he wasn’t expected in until about 10 a.m. At that time, I called the number back and they let my phone ring for a long time, and then someone answered the phone and denied it was the U-haul.

Completely unprofessional and what a hassle! U-Haul supposedly has a guarantee where “your truck is there when we say it will be, or you get $50.” I will contact the company and hopefully get my $50.

By the grace of God, I was able to get a last-minute rental from Budget. The truck was larger than the one I intended to get at U-Haul and it was more expensive.

At the end of the day, we couldn’t find a gas station near Budget that sold diesel. We called several places and asked around, but they’re just hard to find it seems. Arg. Instead of returning the truck full, we had to pay a $30 service charge. Blah.

All told, our move cost about $250 including moving boxes and packing supplies. I had a bunch saved from our last move, but still needed to buy some. The cheapest deal I could find was $0.97 for a medium box at Home Depot.

Our new apartment was listed on Rent.com and since I used it as a referral, I should get a $100 Visa gift card from the site.

Final thoughts

Being a basement-level apartment, we’re going to need some additional lighting to help with dim days. Maybe some mirrors or special bulbs can help. Any suggestions?

The apartment comes with sheer window coverings, but I’ll need to get some mini-blinds or curtains for total privacy. This apartment is configured in a different way from our last one, so I needed to get a baby monitor so I can hear Johnny if he starts to wake.

We now have our own washer and dryer, and it’s so wonderful to have! It’s a front-loader and I think it’ll keep our energy costs down, plus I’ll save all that money I was putting into coin-op machines.

We still have a bit to unpack and organize. I’m looking forward to making this place our home and getting to know my community a little better!