I've been on a buying spree this month . . .

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I bit the bullet, so to speak and bought myself a new toy recently when my big refund check came in earlier this month.

My brother needed a new printer (his old Lexmark Z12 finally bit the dust last summer after a power surge) and so did I really, as my old Lexmark all in one is almost 7 years old now and the cartridges are rather pricey (roughly $26 for the black and closer to $30 for the color.)

So, my brother found our solution: a wireless all in one device.

I went online on the 5th and went straight to his Amazon wishlist and found it:

Kodak ESP5250 ES printer

And it finally arrived this past Friday after an order goof-up where we received a Kodak ESP 3250 EP on the 10th. Took almost 2 weeks to get the printer picked up and the correct one in, but it finally made it in while I was at work Friday evening and by the time I got home after 10, my brother already had it hooked up and running via USB on his computer.

My brother's computer is connected via USB to it temporarily until I can get his to work wireless, but the laptop was a breeze to set up. The printer wasn't hard to set up either: just had to figure out how to key in the WEP key for our wireless gateway into the printer, but once I did it only took a few seconds to connect.

Now I can print stuff without having to get out of bed, which I did earlier this evening.

Now that's awesome.

And in other news, we have a new refrigerator as of Tuesday . . . a 22 cubic foot Maytag with the french doors and bottom freezer pull out drawer with icemaker.

Now Mom can easily see what's in both the freezer and the fridge part without having to stand up - she can sit in her chair at the worktable in front of it.

What's next for the house? Besides getting the door boot ordered for the washing machine (we've still not done that yet, as we've been trying to get some smaller stuff done first) I really need a new coffeemaker. But all the ones I've seen at WM and BlueLight are crappy looking and frankly, a red coffeemaker is hard to find these days.

But I'm still searching . . . .

[pssorens]

Red coffemaker? Go to target. Our buyers tend to focus on red stuff for some odd reason.

[ralerin]

@Pssorens: Well, red's part of the company's colors...

@DGoddess: Ebay seems like a good place to start, too. I saw one of those fancy Senseo coffeemakers, the ones with the coffee pod that make one cup at a time?

[Rine]

Kenmore has a red coffeemaker...I sell a lot of them at my store, but I don't think it's a very good one to be honest. It's "okay." You can get the toaster, toaster oven, and blender in red, too.

Lots of nice things you've bought. Wireless printers are awesome!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

@DGoddess: Ebay seems like a good place to start, too. I saw one of those fancy Senseo coffeemakers, the ones with the coffee pod that make one cup at a time?

I've seen those Senseo coffeemakers, but I'm seeking something more along the lines of a 10-12 cup capacity, as I an easily go through at least 1/2 pot before I leave for work (closer to a full pot if I'm off work for the day.)

So from an economical standpoint, I come out ahead by buying my coffee in the larger cans when it's on sale and stocking up as opposed to the one-cup pods.

More bang for my buck. And I guess I'm a creature of habit when it comes to my coffee: as long as it's French Roast and I have my French vanilla creamer, I'm happy.

As far as checking Target goes: Mom and I go in there once in a while to see if they have anything interesting and I'm sure I can get a red coffeemaker there (I'd bought one there a couple of years ago: a red Mr. Coffee w/the cleaning cycle and adjustable brew strength. Sadly, I had to trash it almost a year later due to an ant infestation.)

I'll eventually get another one. I did find a really nice Kitchen Aid model out at Lowe's but I'm not sure I want to pay almost $100 bucks for one.

[Eric the Grey]

I can relate. We got our tax refund 2 weeks ago, and it's pretty much all gone, mostly for necessities.

Spent a ton on cloths for both of us, a new printer (all-in-one HP job to replace the crappy Epson I had), a new flat-screen to replace my old 21" CRT monitor that has been trying to die for the past 6 years, and a new mattress for our bed (almost a 1000 for said mattress! )

Yea, it went fast, but like I said, most of it was necessity. That doesn't mean we didn't blow some of it though



Eric the Grey

[Lindsey]

Jealous! I didn't get a tax refund, I actually owed money.. go figure.

[Jester]

I can relate. Been getting some new toys myself.

Later today, I will be picking up my new phone, a BlackBerry Curve. My Rumor is getting old and the keys are sticking, and I have built up lots of upgrade credit, so the BB is going to be free. Free is good. All I'll be paying for is a new tip for my universal car charger and a protective case, since I am a clutz.

Last week, my DVD player died. Predictable, really. It was a good one, but I did get it at a moving sale four or five years ago. It was bound to go. So when I was at the Shack scouting new phones, I saw a dvd player whose price happened to match the amount of the Visa gift card Mom sent me for Christmas that I had not decided what to do with yet. So all I paid was a few bucks in sales tax. Again, free is good.

As I was trying to hook up the dvd player, I was having trouble getting behind my old beat up 19" tube style tv. It didn't help that I am really an idiot when it comes to electronics. In frustration, I gave up, and decided it was time to get that flat top tv I've been eyeing since before Christmas. Free is good. Sadly, the tv wasn't free, but I got a pretty good deal on it. A nice Sylvania 22" LCD. I didn't have any more luck hooking that up, either, so I had to call in my roommate, Mr. Anti-Social. Did I not mention I am inept with electronics? In my defense, he's the guy that hooked everything up for me to begin with, and there is a lot going on: the tv, the dvd player, the vcr, the cable box/dvr, and the stereo, all hooked together. Sort of.

So yeah, new toys are awesome. Especially when 2 of them are essentially free!