Audrey Shopping & Finances

Amazoning

Like so many, I’ve been trying to shop small and shop local, but sometimes I need it fast and cheap… and there’s Amazon for that.

Before I share all these unaffiliated Amazon links, let me share a few small businesses on Etsy that I’ve been loving lately:

And now for some Amazon purchases…

Kirkland Signature Shampoo & Conditioner | ELEVEN Australia Sea Salt Texture Spray
When I was last at Aubrey’s house I used her shampoo, conditioner, and sea salt spray. And I loved the smell and feel of them… so I came back home and order some.

Dreambaby Pouch Pal | Simple Modern Reusable Food Pouches
Moo gets the majority of her fruit nutrition from pouches. She doesn’t like fruit but she’ll eat these… but only if I’m holding it. She will squeeze it out if I give it to her. To prevent that I got the Pouch Pal and to lessen waste with the throwaway pouches I got some reusable one. We’re still adjusting to both of these items.

Baby Girl WILD ONE Outfit
M’s First (Zoom) Birthday Party outfit. It fit so nicely, the pants are super soft and silky, and I feel like I can match the pieces with other tops and bottoms.

The Home Edit Workbook
Sometimes I make very spontaneous purchases. *face palm* Hopefully I love this, but it’s a pre-order so time will tell. Lol

These were a few Christmas gifts for others:

Cathedral | Burrito Blanket | The Great Gatsby | Cat Sweatshirt
My brother asked for Cathedral and then beat me in two games on Christmas morning. K’s uncle got Moo a burrito swaddle when she was a baby so she returned the favor at Christmas and got him an adult burrito blanket. My sister loves The Great Gatsby so I got her this graphic novel. She also loves her kitties.

I made a few other purchases but they’re not-yet-gifted gifts… so I’m keeping them under wraps.

What have you recently bought from Amazon? (Or, better yet, Etsy?)

Audrey Shopping & Finances

Amazoning

Happy Almost Weekend! We have another Saturday/Sunday of zero plans ahead of us. I’m attending a virtual baby shower on Saturday afternoon & I’m sure we’ll go grocery shopping at some point, but beyond that we’re homebound. What a time to be alive.

Since we’re home A LOT more than we used to be and I can’t mindlessly wander Target and we have a child that grows 125% every other week… we’ve been amazoning. (I promise I shop small business sites very often, too!)

Here are some of our latest things (and why):

Replacement Cord

Bristol is an asshole.
I was lent a baby swing weeks after M was born, but we hadn’t used it in a while. Since she was getting too big for it I contacted my friend & said I’d return it to her. When I went to break down the swing and load the parts into my car I found that Bristol had chewed through the cord. So $25 later I was able to return the swing, good as new.

Get a dog, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.

Changing Table & Accessories

We needed a changing table in the living room. The small one across the playpen was getting too small & I needed the playpen up in our bedroom so M can play while I get dressed in the mornings.

I didn’t realize the table came with a pad- I might return the extra one I got. The covers are so soft and match our room decor. The bamboo liners are a necessity for cloth diapering 😉

Swimsuit

We started swim lessons with M once some pandemic restrictions were lifted. Our facility is very clean & I am the only one who comes in contact with M during the entire lesson. (Kaity wrote about the swim school here!)
ANYWAY- after a week of lessons I realized I had ZERO appropriate suits for swimming with a handsy baby (I had a strapless one, a lace one, and a keyhole-boob one… lol). So I got a slightly more conservative, nip-slip-free swimsuit. HAHAHA.

Father’s Day Grilling Gifts

Along with a matching daddy-daughter apron set, we got K some dredge shakers, a griddle cook book, and his own hibachi peeing-man squirt toy. We wanted him to feel legit.

Check out that picture quality ^^ Very nice, Amazon.

My purchases are so dull. My apologies if you’ve made it this far.

I also got M some spoons & myself some cotton gloves and moisturizing treatments because the skin on my hand is nothing short of dry & disgusting. (I’m seeing a dermatologist for it this month- it’s that bad.)

And that about sums it up. Please share what you’ve been buying or doing or dreaming about so that we can switch off my incredibly boring life 😬

I’m going to link up with Kristen for What’s New With You? (obviously nothing here) and Tanya for Prime Purchases.

 

What's New With You
Audrey Food & Drink, Shopping & Finances

Awesome Aldi Finds

Happy May, my friends. How are you holding up? Ohio is under a weird stay at home order but also manufacturing is allowed to resume and you can take your dog to the groomers but your children can’t go to school for the rest of the year… Anyway, manufacturing is allowed to resume if rules are followed so K has decided to bring back a few employees. He has masks and gloves for everyone and it will be 4 people working in a 23,000 sqft warehouse… so we’re alright.

On top of that, the disaster loan requirements state that you have to have your employees rehired by a certain date and your funds have to go to payroll/health insurance if you want to qualify for forgivingness and.. and.. and.. which doesn’t align with ANY of the stay at home orders but whatever. Our government doesn’t know up from down right now.

That train derailed rather quickly… That’s what happens when I’m stressed and angry and worried and exhausted. I know, I know- join the club.

I’m actually here to talk about my recent Aldi finds! Since we’re all instacart-ing or taking our one trip out of the house to the grocery store I thought it might be helpful and interesting to share these items:

London Fog Tea Latte (Simply Nature) This was SO yummy. I mixed mine with oat milk & microwaved it for an afternoon pick-me-up!

Moscato (Winking Owl) These are the best sweet wines from Aldi!

Red Pepper Hummas (Simply Nature) with Sea Salt Pita Chips (Specially Selected)

Caesar salad Kit (Little Salad Bar) The absolute best Caesar dressing ever.

Fresh Cut Salsa (Park Street Deli) Slightly sweet, very yummy, fresh salsa.

Thick Sliced Peppercorn Bacon (Appleton Farms) Inexpensive and delicious bacon!

Pork Egg Rolls (Fusia) A perfect snack. You gotta cook them in oven, though. The microwave makes them soggy.

Grain Bowls (Whole & Simple) They have several of these bowls… some breakfast foods, some more like lunch or dinner. They’re usually pretty healthy and full of protein.

Whipped Cream Cheese Spread (Happy Farms) It’s literally whipped Philadelphia c.c.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cups (Specially Selected) I think these might’ve been a Valentine’s Day special… *sigh*

Frozen California Rolls & Shrimp Rolls (Fusia) Listen… I know it’s weird buying frozen rolls from Aldi but these are actually pretty dang good for what they are. Lol

Aldi has great breads, vegetables, grains (including quinoa!), and frozen items. If you’ve never been in the store it can be a little overwhelming, but I’d urge you to check it out! (Take a quarter & some reusable bags.) This is NOT an Aldi sponsored post, lol.

Did I convince you to eat Aldi sushi? Lol. What are your favorite things to get from Aldi?? (I wish we had a Trader Joe’s but Aldi is closest thing we’ll ever have, ha.)

Audrey Shopping & Finances

StitchFix #3

Another StitchFix post, coming at ya. This one actually features a bump. Lol

I feel like my stylist listens to me for the most part, but I think she thinks I’m fancier than I actually am… Ha. If she sent me an all-loungewear or all-pajamas box I’d probably keep the whole thing.

Two things about these pictures: First, I was fresh out of the shower so my hair is wet and definitely not styled for the day, haha. Second, all the piles behind me are baby’s stuff that we pulled out of the nursery so we could paint. It’s been plaguing all my pictures and driving me nuts.

Ok. On to the clothes…

FULL MOON | Nuela Maternity One Pocket Knit Tank | Large | $44
Not really my style. Not really my color. It fit ok, but it’s not something I’d reach for in the closet.
RETURNED

And the most unflattering picture ever award goes to…

LAILA JAYDE | Pauleen Maternity Fitted Knit Dress | Large | $54
This dress was soft and probably pretty trendy but it was SO unflattering on me. It was a little big and it looked lazy on me. It hit me in all the wrong places, too. See how stubby my legs look? Also… finding a comfy bra is tough. How am I supposed to find a decent one that goes with the straps on some of these dresses?? Impossible.
RETURNED

The left is my SF pic, the right is an actual GOOD pic- lol

LUX & CO | Jaden Maternity On/Off the Shoulder Knit Top | Large | $38
I did not expect to love this shirt, but I do. It’s a pretty navy color and it’s so flattering. I wore it the first weekend I owned it. It requires a strapless bra (BLEH) but I can suffer for an afternoon picnic or outing.
KEPT obviously

LIVERPOOL | Mirabella Maternity Capri Skinny Jean | Size 12 | $74
Hahahaha… I could never justify spending that much on a pair of pants I plan to wear maybe 3 more months. Nope. Also, these were SO tight. Definitely too small. These made me look fluffy and pudgy in all the wrong places.
RETURNED

REPORT FOOTWEAR | Alexa Slip On Sneaker | Size 8 | $49
These shoes are absolutely my style. I also love the slip on feature since it’s becoming difficult to bend over. BUT they weren’t comfortable. And I had to unzip them a little to get my foot inside so they weren’t really slip on. At first sight I loved them, but not after trying them on.
RETURNED

And there we have it.

I talk about money and only wearing these clothes for a few months. I know that if I have a second or third pregnancy I can obviously pull these items back out. But I will be 100% up front with you and tell you we don’t know what the future looks like kid-wise. Which we’re totally fine with, but when it comes to clothes it’s a maybe-investment.

Including the styling fee and tax, I spent $40.76. I don’t think that’s terrible for a shirt, but probably more than I’d normally pay. I’ve paused the ‘Fixes until February (maybe longer). But if you want it, here’s my obligatory referral code: LINK.

Bummer about the shoes, right?

Audrey Shopping & Finances

Fake News

Well hey there. Turns out when I get overwhelming busy I also drop the ball here in Blogland. Our summer workload is always pretty nuts and the heat tends to zap my energy so those are my two major excuses. Now let’s get on with the show.

I saw this tweet a few weeks ago and really took it to heart:

I have not had Wendy’s, T Bell, or McDonald’s in WEEKS. (One exception- after the NASCAR race we needed food and stopped at a late-hour McDonald’s. My brother bought my meal.) Maybe you don’t normally eat at these places, but I do.

So like I said, I have not had any of these foods since the beginning of August and, honestly, it’s been so dang tough. Who knew I had such an unhealthy addiction to McDonald’s? (I did. I knew.)

But then I found THIS ARTICLE. Guys… being fiscally responsible when it comes to consumerism and knowing who/what/where your money is going is HARD.

I’m already careful to only buy cruelty-free, avoid any and all P&G products (because of animal testing), and stay vigilant as far as large company support goes (like Yeti vs. the NRA). The whole “who gives $$$ to what candidate” is an extremely exhausting avenue to take… Trust me, I tumbled down that rabbit hole after reading the tweet above.

So where do we draw the line? Some companies outwardly proclaim their ideology. Chick-fil-a and Hobby Lobby have been in the news for their stances. Employee conditions at Amazon and Walmart are always under a microscope. Have you noticed that Forever 21 has a Bible verse on their shopping bags? (I’m not condemning that- I’m just pointing it out.)

Anyway… lining up OUR beliefs with the companies and brands we financially support is tough- probably impossible, actually. So what do we do?

Honestly, I don’t know.

When I went to my first PRIDE parade last year I took note of which companies marched and who was represented. I know which vodka gives back to animals (it’s Tito’s). I try really, really hard to make good choices when spending my money.

How do you approach “responsible spending”? I’m not looking to judge anyone. I know some people focus on shopping local, some people don’t pay attention to cruelty-free things, etc. I’m genuinely curious if this is something you worry about.

In the meantime, I think I’m still going to ban McDonald’s- mainly because I’ve broken my addiction and I want to see how long I can keep it up. I’m going to be a little pickier about my spending in the future with some other brands, too.

But tell me… what do you value and how much time/energy/thought do you put into where you spend money?