“Joy is not in things; it is in us”

Cheesy, I know. But. Sometimes it helps to be reminded.

We found out last weekend (while I was cruising) that The H's job is being eliminated, sometime between May and July. The good news is, he'd be eligible for unemployment (woohoo?).

So, my frugality stint that had been sort of a game for me previously, is back with a vengence today. I'm eating a super awesome turkey sandwich on wheat, no mayo. If I'd packed smarter, I'd have had lettuce and goat cheese on it, but I forgot both at home. Sigh.

Cable is still gone, so nothing has changed there, except I realized I don't miss it, and all of my panicking when we dropped it was for naught!

In recent awesome news...

I discovered the most awesome farmers market near UCI. It had a great variety of organic/non-organic produce - most of it grown locally. Some of the smaller vendors seemed like they do grow organically, just haven't been certified. There was a chick selling fresh garlic and herb goat cheese... which was pretty heavenly. Fresh baguettes, grass-fed beef... all pretty great.

And then there was this beauty.

Quite honestly, the hats were weird, but not anything too exciting... and then I saw The Face. And I had to have a picture to share. And dude... the chick running the booth?! You would have thought I whipped out a crochet hook and started dismantling her hats right there, with the fit she threw about me taking that picture. Honestly, had she just been like, "Hey, could you not?"... this picture would have been deleted. However, she was a bitch, and now, this picture graces everything I can think of to post it on.

Cruising last weekend was super awesome, and Snork was heaps of fun. Plus, she brought the rum, so... Kisses! Someday I'll post pics.

I took kidlets to Dland Sunday and renewed my annual pass. For just $18 a month, I can enjoy the Happiest Place on Earth every day, excpet black out dates! Woot!

It's springtime in SoCal, which means it's wildflower season! I haven't gotten to get much hiking in lately, since it was raining, and raining, and then cruising, etc. We did hit Caspers Wilderness park this past weekend, and I think we're doing Crystal Cove next weekend, so I'm pretty psyched. Baby was NOT a good hiker at Caspers, though, so we may have to stay away from the Wilderness Park until she learns that she cannot, in fact, run ahead in a park with mountain lions. I know, I'm a mean mommy.

Sprouts has berries on sale this week... Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries... all for $1.49 a container! Sweet! I'm eating blueberries currently like my life depends on it.

I have kind of sucked at gym going. Which is exponentially suckier, considering the amount of food consumed over Cruise weekend. Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow. That gym is my bitch.

“It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.”

Budgeting must rank amongst my top 3 least favorite things in the world. I dislike it SO MUCH, in fact, that it may actually take all THREE spots, all by itself. I loathe it.

Part of it, I'm sure, comes from the fact that I just despise not having as MUCH money as I used to. It irritates me.

I grew up with parents who had no concept of budgets. At all. If payday was a Friday, we'd be eating steak on Saturday, and down to pancakes (homemade) with no syrup by Thursday. My mom couldn't cook, so. That should tell you how appealing that was.

At some point, we were swimming in cash. We bought what we wanted, went on trips where we wanted, and it was super fun. Seriously, like... super fun.

And I realized one day, that, y'know, I could cut back my "Coach bag of the month" frenzy, and maybe build an emergency fund.

So I consulted some people much smarter and FAR more disciplined than I, and started making some plans. It turned out to be a good thing I did, because a few months later I threw a tantrum at my job and walked.the.hell.out. (note, I do not suggest doing this.)

Fortunately, I had managed to sock away about three months of living expenses. Unfortunately, it took me six months to find a job. A job that was out of state, btw. And, awesome. So in the end, it worked out.

Even my handbag-habit helped out in the end... I re-sold some of my bags to pay bills. This little beauty? She made me a mortgage payment.

Anyway. It's been an adjustment going back to having to watch what I spend. It's annoying. I know there are some people out there who ENJOY this type of thing. I'm certainly NOT one of them.

The last 6 months or so have been rough. I moved the fam cross country, The H was unemployed for three months, catching up on things once he GOT employed. It's been tight. And, pretty tragic.

But, and here's the Awesome, the last 4 weeks, I've at LEAST made the week come in under budget!

I've done a few things to really get this under control lately.

1. Cut cable. It's been about 2 1/2 weeks now, and all is well. Somehow, we have pulled through so far. I'm pretty sure, any day now, #3 will stop asking for "Her Noggin". Sorry, Ni Hao, but you had to go.

2. Library Cards - we can literally hit up the local Barnes and Noble or Borders every weekend. Additionally, 1 & 2 each have book reports every 4 weeks. Oh, and, #1 has a research paper on monsoons (she picked it. She's weird that way.), and needs some books as reference.

3. I'm eating at home and packing lunches. I know this *sounds* pretty much like common sense, but... honestly. I'm a working mom with three kids. There were plenty of nights and lunches where it was just easier to pick up something. This way is easier, healthier, AND I feel better about what my kids are inhaling :)

4. I just stopped buying STUFF. Yep. Just stopped buying stuff. I make my game plan, pick up those things, and get my heiny out of there before I lose my mind.

5. Paying bills first. I know, stupid that this even has to be a consideration. I've been making payments, withdrawing "X" amount of cash, and leaving the debit card at home. And that cash... that's it until the next pay day, end of story.

6. Starbucks. Sigh. My beloved Starbucks has become a once-a-week treat. And, even that day I sometimes cut out if the line is too long. I was assisted by Starbucks cutting the super awesome Caramel Brulee Latte. Punks.

7. Selling some extra STUFF. I listed some stuff that I was decluttering on Craigslist, like my Garmin Forerunner, and a KitchenAid that I bought 2 years ago and used once. I didn't make much, but I did make some, and cleared out some extra space.

This frugalness is also paying off in other ways. I'm eating healthier again, and because I'm shopping sales, a lot of our produce is local and in season. I'm pretty stoked about that. I'm getting more creative with our meal planning again, which I think is fun. I'm learning new recipes to use what we have on hand, instead of making a trip to the store to pick up a "few" things (which invariably turns into 5 bags of junk). Or, even worse, just packing it in and going out. In the last week, I've mastered a Sloppy Joes recipe, as well as one for Bourbon Chicken... both were pretty awesome, and someday when I'm not busy panicking because I don't know if anyone will eat this, I'll share those.

In ADDITION to silly things, like having electricity and water, there are other benefits.... like the eating better has inspired me to hit the gym with at least some regularity. The kids are reading more. As a whole, we are interacting more as a family than we did before when we had cable. Oh, AND! I got to re-watch the Alias DVD's I have. Heart Vaughn!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still really not digging this "frugalness" yet. I'd REALLY like to be able to go out and replace the fucktons of MAC I just ran out of... alas, it is being "worked into" the budget, and will happen over the next few weeks. And these are SMALL victories... like, when I say "under budget", I mean my bills are paid and I have $5 left in my account. But... I told someone the other day, the small victories eventually add up to the BIG victories, so don't overlook them. My $5 might be teeny compared to what you've got, but. It's $5 more than I had 2 months ago, so I'm pretty stoked.

“Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything.”

I have this grand idea that I will someday, live frugally, eat cleanly, and be organized.

I am ridiculously UNorganized. It's sad, really. I routinely leave my daycare payment at home on Monday mornings. I am guaranteed to forget my thoughtfully-prepared lunches in my refrigerator at least 50% of the time. I live in blissful ignorance until it becomes a crisis. Sad.

Living frugally... is another sore spot with me. I just don't like it. I like pretty things. I like my hair to be pretty, and highlighty, and my toes to be colorful, and all of that. I like it. And, try as I might, I do NOT highlight as well as my girl did, or paint my toes as well as the nail place does. I just don't. And I like to buy pretty handbags, and lovely shoes. None of which are "frugal".

But, the ONE thing on this list that I am most interested in - and so far successful at! - is eating cleanly.

Mostly, at least.

I cook just about everything we eat from almost-scratch. I don't make my own pasta or anything like Emily, but. Cans and boxes have almost no place in my pantry. It helps that I really love cooking... all of it... the grocery shopping, meal planning, chopping, coming up with new recipes... and I'm getting more into doing this FRUGALLY. I love shopping in season, and I particularly love how affordable produce in Cali is.

My new favorite store is Sprouts. Awesome #5. I used to be a Trader Joes whore, and I certainly still love it for fun, affordable, funky foods. But when it comes to produce, Sprouts and it's affordability win out, hands down.

I walked out of Sprouts on Saturday, with sunburst tangerines, 6 grapefruit the size of my head (3 went to Snork), satsumas, blood oranges, 2 heads of red and green lettuce, kiwi, a fuckton of green bell peppers, mangos, organic broccoli, pears... all for under $10.

Many years ago, I lived with my cousin and her daughter. I was making dinner one time... french fries were involved. From scratch, like... potatoes. And the kidlet looks at me all crazy, and says, "What are you doing with those?" And I explained it, and she looked befuddled.

My kids are the opposite. Now, I pull out a frozen bag of fries, and they look at it funny.

Believe me, I'm far from a health nut. I could stand to lose a good 20 lbs (at least), I've got a can of Pepsi on my desk (opposite from my blood orange), and a bag of chocolate in my drawer. But it's a step, right?

UPDATE: Peppers? Gone. Finished by Sunday afternoon. I knew I should have bought more than 5.

UPDATE UPDATE.... Some mofo stole my blood orange at work. Bastards.