Expensive

Man, having a place of your own (even if you're only renting it) can get spendy quick. Since I've moved into my new place a month ago, the expenses that have built up just buying stuff I need in the house has been pretty eye-popping.

Yesterday I made the biggest purchase since I moved in--a grill. Now this isn't just any grill. I could have settled for a small charcoal burning grill or even a moderately sized gas grill, but that wouldn't be any fun, now would it? No, instead I went out and bought a ridiculously huge grill that you could probably put an entire pig in if you wanted to. If you want some details, check them out here.

I thawed out a nice big ham steak to cook on it tonight (after I go buy a gas tank for it, that is) and break it in. I think I should also probably buy a tarp for it, but that's another chunk of change I'm not all that interested in spending.

Last week I bought myself a 20" true flat tv for my room so that I could watch movies up there when the big screen was being used in the basement. I don't want to be a dick and steal the tv when my roommates are using it.

On top of those two big purchases I also had to get a dust bust hand held vacuum for cleaning the stairs and the tight areas that Roomba doesn't get to. I needed two lamps for my room since there is no ceiling lights in it. A touch lamp to go next to my computer desk and a five way directional uber-lamp manage to light everything up nicely at night.

Let's see, what else did I have to get? We needed a toaster and a water filter for the kitchen. Our water has kind of a rust taste to it and we were getting sick of it. The toaster we need to make, well, toast.

To get our place in decent order when we moved in, Karl and I dropped about $150 on cleaning supplies, utensils, and other odds & ends to get the place in order. We shouldn't have a need to get any more cleaning crap for a year or two.

On the tools side I picked up a drill, a saw, assorted tools like a hammer, screwdrivers, and pliers, along with other odds and ends. I really needed the saw to cut down a bunch of overhanging trees in the back yard that hadn't been taken care of probably ever. Thank goodness my grandma sold me her old push lawn mower for cheap or I'd have had to throw down some serious change for one of those.

All in all, this has been a very expensive month. It is now time to take a few months off from purchasing anything in order to recoup and regain a few dollars in the old checkbook.