more money in my pockets!

i've been using Mr. Rebates for nearly 5 years now and i have to admit, it's paid off. before i shop online, i visit Mr. Rebates to see if the store i'm shopping at is an affiliate.  if so, i'm able to earn a small % of my purchase in a cash back rebate for my purchase.

for instance... i just booked a vacation package on expedia.com. i visited Mr. Rebates first to navigate to expedia's website. i booked my vacation package for approx. $2500... with a 3% cash back rebate from Mr. Rebates... i'll earn approx. $75... that's an add'tl $75 i can put towards a nice dinner while i'm on vacation! w00t!

money you earn from cash back rebates can be deposited directly to your PayPal account free of charge... or you can request a check free of charge. it's real simple and doesn't take much to effort to visit a site first before the intended site you plan on shopping at.

they have several major dept stores such as Target, Nordstrom, Macys, Bloomingdale's, etc. other major brands like Sephora, Apple Store, Dell, Best Buy, Finishline, Diapers.com, etc. they have over 2000 stores to choose from.

anyway... i normally don't blog about stuff like this... but i'm always stoked about getting a good deal... and i think i've kept this website to myself for long enough. so sign up! start earning cash back on your online purchases! if you're primarily an online shopper, then this site is totally for you!

if you decide to join b'coz of my spiel, please thank me by putting me down as reference: shopping.girl79@gmail.com. thanks much! =)

hardwood floors get a make over

wed 01.11.12: we began work on the hardwood floors in the office and kid's room. the beautiful, natural hardwood floors needed a little face lift. we rented a drum sander from our local home depot for $44 for 4 hours. we were fortunate enough to get away with using one belt per grit (80 and 220) for two rooms that were approximately 100 sq ft each. we sanded the corners and edges of the floors with the corner cat finish sander the mister has in his toolbox.

thu 01.12.12: we vacuumed the rooms of wood dust and applied mineral spirit, followed by TSP to assure the surface was clean and free of any dust and particles.

sat 01.14.12: i learned A LOT from the clerks in the paint dept about staining wood. did you know the same color stain can have a different affect on wood that is cut from the same tree, but in different areas of the tree (e.g. trunk and branch)?? it's like wine pairing! anyway, back to the house... the mister wasn't satisfied with our sanding work and redid all the edges and a few spots on the center floor with a lot of help from his buddy, D. re-sanded, re-clean, then filled in cracks, gaps, holes, etc with wood filler... now, it's time to stain! we decided on minwax oil-based stain in ebony. it takes about 4 hours in between coats, so after we applied the first coat, we wrapped up the day on this task.

sun 01.15.12: the mister applied a second coat of stain to each room. roughly 4 hours later, we applied the first of many coats of polyurethane. my eyes were burning! this stuff is lethal! the caution label actually states this product can cause brain and nerve damage if exposed for long periods. it takes 8 hours to dry in between coats, so we called it a day, packed up and left.

mon 01.16.12: the mister applied another layer of polyurethane. it's recommended to apply at least 4-5 coats, more for high traffic areas. we'll probably have to return to the house each night this week, after work, to apply more coats.

sanding materials list:
drum sander
1 sandpaper belt in 80 grit
1 sandpaper belt in 220 grit
ryobi corner cat finish sander
1 packet of sandpaper for edger in 80 grit
1 packet of sandpaper for edger in 220 grit

approximate cost: $75

cleaning materials list:
mineral spirit
TSP
old t-shirts

approximate cost: $20

filling and staining materials list:
minwax high performance wood filler
2 quarts of minwax oil-based wood finish in ebony
old t-shirts
1 gallon of parks pro finisher in clear semigloss
2 10" lambskin pads w/block

approximate cost: $94

grand total: $189

garage clean up

the mister is serious about his garage... excuse my french, i mean... the man cave. he likes it to be easy to clean and as tidy as a work space can be. the garage wasn't in terrible condition when we received the keys to our new, old home. there was the usual wear and tear and collected dust over the years... several years. first thing the mister wanted done was coating the garage floors with epoxy... but before we could do that, we need to etch the surface... and before we can do that, we needed to scrub the floor clean.

we spent 3 days scrubbing the floor.. lots of comet, lots of water, lots of elbow grease. afterwards, we applied a generic version of CLR to remove rust stains, followed by simple green to de-grease and remove any soap resin. finally, b'coz the surface of the concrete floor was smooth, we applied UGL drylok etch to etch the surface so the epoxy would adhere to it... we basically acid washed the floor.

however, the etch didn't do the job we expected it to. boo! here comes the trial and error part... had we known, what we know now, then, we could have saved ourselves 3 days of cleaning and $40 of cleaning supplies by going straight to the diamond grinder.

we rented a diamond grinder from our local home depot for about $100 for 4 hours. the surface of the garage was finally at the state it needed to be in. imagine, microdermabrasion for concrete surfaces! the mister gave the area one final scrub down with water and simple green to remove the dust and let that dry overnight.

the mister and his buddy D, finally got to apply epoxy shield to the garage floor. unfortunately, the mister learned it's  no longer legal in la or orange county to sell oil-based clear coat paint that's applied over epoxy. something about the VOC being too high. this type of clear coat is similar to the clear coat applied to wood flooring. it adds that shine and makes it incredibly easy to clean up messes.

materials:
comet w/bleach
[generic version of] CLR
[generic version of] simple green
UGL drylock etch
stiff brushes
diamond grinder - $100 for 4 hours at home depot
epoxy - $112 for a kit
paint roller extension rod
9" paint rollers (the cheap stuff)

approximate cost: $280