My $75/week grocery budget

A couple people asked how we keep our grocery budget around $75 a week for our family of 5.

It's a combination of things - smart shopping, cooking from scratch, and the good fortune of living in Southern California.

But, in an attempt to clarify how our $75 are spent, this is kind of what I do....

• Peruse the weekly sales ads. This is what is on sale here this week... You can click any of these for a larger picture.

Did you catch this gem??

• Buy what's on sale. Seems obvious. A lot of people do meal planning, and shop around that. I do the opposite - I buy what's on sale, and build my meal plan from there. One of my favorite markets, Sprouts, has "Double Ad Wednesday's", where you can shop the previous week's sale in addition to the new sale.

• Shop on the outside of the store - dairy, meats, produce, the end. I rarely venture into the aisles.

• Cook from scratch. The only thing I can think of, off hand, that we buy pre-made is some breakfast stuff - cereal (if it's on sale, duh), waffles, and sometimes pancake mix. A lot of times we make pancakes from scratch, but if the mix that The H likes is on sale, we buy it. It's delicious, so I don't care. But we don't make dinners out of a box, ever. I make bread pretty often, but haven't yet mastered sandwich bread, so we still buy that. Oh, and Kraft Shells and Cheese. Gabby loves that stuff.

• If there's an AMAZING sale, particularly on meat, stock the hell up. Whole roasting chickens, for example, regularly go on sale for something dumb like $0.49/lb. I buy a few.

• Don't be scared of things - tough, inexpensive cuts of meat are great for the crock pot.
  

• Don't waste stuff - roast chicken one night; pull the remaining meat off, and use for pasta, enchiladas, chicken tacos, etc. another night; use the carcass to make stock, and use the stock to make soup.

• Shop what's in season. I've said it before, but we are exceptionally lucky to live here, and have access to fresh, local produce all year long. When produce here is in season, it's a STEAL. Apples will go down to $0.49/lb, broccoli and cauliflower are regularly $0.99/head, bell peppers 3-4/$1, onions, radishes, green onions, cucumbers, parsley, cilantro are often 3/$1. We buy only what's on sale, and what's in season.

• The best part about buying seasonal produce? Man, the taste. It TASTES so much better than an apple that was picked forever ago.Buying seasonally was a shock to me, at first. It never occurred to me, being in Florida, the land of perpetual sun and hot, shopping in grocery stores exclusively, that fruits and vegetables have growing seasons. Turns out? When you buy stuff in season, it fits.... the season. Berries, tomatoes in the summer. Stone fruits in the fall. Squash and root vegetables in the winter. Cherries, asparagus in the spring. It's magic. And these things lend themselves to cooking the way you WANT to in those seasons - summer produce almost always taste best with minimal preparation. Winter veggies? Roast those goodies. It all seems.. purposeful. It makes sense.

And, it's cheaper. Classic supply and demand - when there's a bounty, prices drop.

• I have access to a TON of shopping - small markets, regular grocery chains, Target 4 of them!!), Costco (3 of them!), a local farmer's market. Some within walking distance, all within a 5 minute drive. So it's no big deal for me to stop at a couple places on my way around town to get what is on sale at each place. That obviously isn't the case for everyone, and not everyone wants to do that - it doesn't bug me, so I do it and save a few bucks.

• I bake a lot. I keep baking supplies on hand, and try to make desserts that can last for days without people getting annoyed or tired of them. We do a LOT of chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and sometimes cakes. We buy ice cream pretty frequently, too, because it's freaking delicious.

• SHOP THE BULK BINS, but only when it makes sense. I buy rice, beans, quinoa, oats, nuts, and some candies (gummy worms, I'm a little addicted). For me, flour and sugar are NOT cheaper in the bulk bins, but I buy the biggest bag of each that I can reasonably store.

• We buy the staples - milk, eggs, sandwich bread, etc - at Target. It's almost always cheaper there. Unless there's a rad sale somewhere. I try to keep my pantry well stocked, and tend to shop from there, and improvise rather than running out to the market if I'm missing an ingredient...

(Obviously, that only works if it's a non-essential ingredient ;). )

With two kids on two different school schedules, one kid with special dietary needs (temporarily - Gab can't have dairy in the afternoons/night with her evening chemo), and a picky H, putting meals together is sometimes a challenge, and sometimes, disjointed. This is what a typical day looks like:

Breakfast
#1 - fruit, or dry cereal, or peanut butter toast
#2 - dry cereal, or fruit
#3 & The H - pancakes
Me - yogurt, or overnight oats, or PB&J, usually at the office during the week

Lunch
#1 & #2 - neither like to take lunch, or buy lunch, so they bring snacks, and eat when they get home. Either leftovers from the night before, a sandwich, salad, etc.
#3 & The H - sandwiches, wraps, mac and cheese, hot dogs, etc.
Me - Usually sandwich, and/or salad, sometimes leftovers (they kind of creep me out, though)

Dinner
This is the meal we all eat together, usually. I normally cook, because I like to, and The H works from home in the evenings, so he may or may not be available. We do a wide range of things, and a LOT of it is casual stuff, particularly during the week. Sloppy joes (homemade, not the can!), grilled chicken and rice, pasta, stir fry, etc.

Snacks
Produce
PopChips (Costco has these SUPER cheap, and we all love them)
Whatever junk food we happen to have hanging out
Cheese

So, yeah. That's about it. Nothing ground breaking or revolutionary. We eat really well, we eat mostly healthily, and we don't really get bored - which is pretty much the key to success.

Three Things Thursday

1. Running update: I'm currently stalking the Disney Princess Half, and warily eyeballing this declaration of being 65% full. I can't commit until I successfully finish the 10K in December, so I'm really hoping this number doesn't go bonkers in the next 5 weeks! Additionally, I've got my eyes on this baby:

Coast to Coast Challenge! I need that medal.

Additionally, 1a., tonight is a 2 miler, per my training plan, and I actually said, this morning, "Two miles... that's it?" I never would have imagined those words coming out of my mouth.

2. I was really hyped this morning about this great Bento that I packed for Baby. She's decided she doesn't like sandwiches anymore, and has been incessantly asking for Lunchables. Gross. So, I made her a Lunchable:

And drove her all the way to her school, which is by my office (30 miles from home). Except, today is Veteran's Day. School is closed. Oops?

3. I'm still CO washing, and I think it's getting better? Hard saying, honestly, 'cause I've been braiding it and setting it loose in the morning, so it's tough to tell where the unruly ends and the creepy begins.

"Slums may well be breeding-grounds of crime, but middle-class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium."

I was pretty psyched to blog about my "homemade" and super simple Sloppy Joes.

I perfected my recipe, tested it out, and finally, finally documented the production of them last weekend.

In the meantime, I've also been becoming more conscious of what I'm feeding my kids, and the funk that has been invading our foods. I mean, I generally cook from fresh - meaning, no boxed meals in my home. Not generally, always, actually... I thought that was pretty impressive. I mean, working mom of 3, coming home and cooking meals from scratch nightly, and inexpensively. It doesn't have to be rough, y'know? A limited grocery budget DOES NOT have to mean you eat junk out of a brightly colored box every night.

In short, I was feeling pretty accomplished, and not a little self-righteous, particularly when watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

Imagine my annoyance (at myself) when I looked at the labels while I was photog'ing this Sloppy Joe magicalness, and the first component listed on one of my ingredients was HFCS.

Sigh.

So, the search for a replacement ketchup recipe is underway. If you've got one, pass it on.

Also, I'm not blogging my recipe. It seems wrong somehow now.

What HAS been successful for me lately: home-made laundry soap, and No 'Poo.

Someone on the internet made some laundry-soap, and said it was awesome (famous last words....). I had to wait until I ran out of mine, which I FINALLY did last weekend. So, I rushed off to Target to get some glycerine soap. I won't go into this, but... it was an adventure. Note to anyone who is interested: Just buy the giant pack at Target, it's the best deal you're gonna get, I promise. In fact, if you're close by, I've got a boatload that I can GIVE you.

Because, my friends, for this recipe, you only need a half of a bar.

So, the recipe is this:
1 bar glycerine soap (I used Dial White Tea), grated
2 c baking soda
2 gallons of water

It's recipe 8 from this link.

I don't want to blantantly rip off their rad recipe, so you can view the directions there. I actually halved the recipe, for storage reasons, and it was easy peasy. Done in less than 5 minutes!

We've been using it all week, and so far so good. It has virtually no scent at all, but that's fine with me - we already used free and clear stuff, so we're used to it.

My friend Snork has chronicled her No 'Poo experiments for a few months now, and... I dunno how all that is going for her. I know the second my hair started revolting the way hers had, I might be tempted to quit. I don't know if I'm hard enough to take waxy hair all the time.

I'm on day 9, and so far, so good. It's pretty pleasing, so far. I did a baking soda rinse one day, and it was okay. I was looking a bit greasy a day later....

So I read a lot (on the internet!) and concocted some paste out of baking soda and honey, followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. To be quite honest, I have no idea where I came up with it, where I found that, or why I thought it would be a good idea. It seemed risky, as I was staring at this clumpy mess I was about to massage into my head....

....But it was fab. I massaged it into my scalp, for a minute or so, in a circluar motion, and rinsed it out. Dumped the ACV rinse on, let it sit for a bit (while I shaved - multitasking!), and rinsed that.

This was the result. Soft, non-frizzy, full of body hair. It is pretty quickly stripping my hair of color, I think, but over all....

WIN!

On the "suck-less" front, I seem to have acquired shin splints. Which happens when you lecture other folks about the necessity of making sure you have good running shoes and failing to acquire some for yourself. Sooooo.... we've been ellipticalling. Snork and I started jalking together last spring, which morphed into "ellipti" nights followed by hot tub frollicking while kidlets played in the pool all summer. We were pretty psyched when we did this....


Last night, I did this...


Followed by this, on the same machine, but it was stupid and cut me off at 35 minutes....

That'd be a total of 5 miles.

Because, we rock.

This weekend, I plan on attempting a container garden, inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, The Happy (Athiest) Homemaker. I have high hopes for this. If it works out, it'll be one step closer to a completely clean diet, plus, you know, prep for TEOTWAWKI.

Kidding. (not really).

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”

I heart spring.

In Florida, it's not such a big deal. There's kind of only two seasons - sucky (cold), and suckier (hot). In SoCal, at least, there's a hint of a change. Days are sunnier, everything is green. It's lovely.

This was our first Easter with just the kidlets, and no cousins around to share it with... so I decided to start our own traditions. We had small baskets for each of them - filled with goofy stuff that they like. No eggs were hidden, no bunnies, no ham. Just us.

Okay, so "traditions", is kind of a strong word for what we did. I mean, it could be a tradition, eventually, but for now, it was just "stuff we decided to do, and then realized it was Easter".

Anyway. We went hiking out at Joshua Tree. It is a bit of a drive from the OC, clocking in at just over 2 hours, but it was well worth it.

Kidlets did some mild rock climbing...

And the desert wildflowers were blooming like mad. I won't bore you with all of them, but.. the cactus are my favorite.


There've also been a variety of other awesome things going on....

For starters, I did make it to gym last night, and through both running AND yoga.

I've eaten lunch out of things I brought every day for the last 2 weeks - with the exception of someone buying pizza last Friday.

I am back to pre-cruise weight. I'm pretending this is awesome, even though it irritates me that 3 months of work was wiped out in 3 days, and took another 3 weeks to reverse. Curse you, unlimited free food!

The weather has been super great for hiking, so I've been able to go out the last 2 weekends, and intend to do the same this weekend as well.

Green Day/AFI are coming in a few months... I am considering taking #1 to go. Admittedly, I just really want to go myself... and #1 provides an excellent excuse. I'm a bit concerned that my interests are now overlapping my kid's, becuase.... I cannot possibly be old enough for that to happen yet, can I?

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

Pretty intense, right?

I've fallen a bit off the frugal, no-box wagon as of late, and need to hop back on.

I'm not really sure where my failure was... I am certainly not sucking less at this rate. I didn't gym last week, except Monday. I ate out Friday night, and Saturday lunch. I ordered pizza last night. Sigh.

I have gymmed twice this week, so far. And intend to do something tonight, even if it's not in the gym. But honestly? That first night "back" was crappy. It felt like I'd never done anything ever but sit on my ass. Yoga was a whole new experience. If THAT ain't motivation to keep on keepin' on, I don't know what is.

Anyway. Onward and upward, right? Bringing the awesome this week...

Friday night, we went to this place that claims to have the "World's best burgers". Sadly, they lied. I mean, it was okay, but. The WORLD'S best!? Doubtful. I've experienced In N' Out, my friend, and this was no In N' Out. But, they did have Dos Equis Amber, so... I'll give them bonus points there. Nice work, place whose name I can't recall.

Saturday, I took the kidlets to Corner Bakery for lunch. I can't even tell you why, but I adore the hell out of Corner Bakery. We trolled through Snork's favorite Goodwill in Huntington Beach, and saw this lovely dress... along with these boots.... Then hit up our fave Japanese market, and picked up some Pocky's, and sukiyaki ingredients, which was a huge win.
Sunday. I did nothing. At all. I quite literally planted my ass in my couch and watched hulu and netflix all day. It was epic.

Monday, I had the idea that I would take the kidlets to the beach. Apparently, ALL of OC had the same idea, so we diverted to Pacific Whey Cafe to eat cupcakes on the patio overlooking the ocean.
Last night we picked up some chairs for our dining room... so for the first time in 6 months, we can EAT at our table, sitting in chairs! Thanks, Ikea!

I got to sleep in today (on a work day!) 'cause #3's daycare is closed. So rad that I get to pay full price for 3 days this week, daycare!! RAD!

So. Despite falling off (a teeny bit), I think I'm back on. I have a list to shop this weekend, and I won't stray. I've got visions of awesome meals dancing about in my head, and getting back on my training plan for the marathon in June. I have a spa gift certificate I can use up... massage and facial?! I think I will. The weather is going to be conducive to relaxing at home, and since my home is "mostly" clean, there's not much else for me to do.. Netflix should be delivering Alias: Season 3 to me tomorrow... I think my favorite cousin is coming for dinner. So, really. What IS there to complain about? It's all pretty awesome :)

For Squirrely....

Chicken tortilla soup. I swear it's easy, even if there are "ingredients".

I usually make this with what is leftover from a whole roasted chicken. This week, I had a plethora of bone-in chicken breast, 'cause it was on sale for something like $0.77/lb, so... that's what I used. It only took one for this recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken - I used about 1-1 1/2 cups shredded
1 Green bell pepper
3 stalks celery
1 med onion
5-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp chili powder
2 Tbs dried parsley
1 1/2 c crushed tomatoes (ish - I just used about half of a 28 oz can)
3 c chicken stock (ish, again - I just pour until it looks right?)
Salt and pepper to taste

So. Season chicken - salt and pepper. Brown in about 1Tb of olive oil, in a heavy bottomed soup pot.. thing.

While that is browning, chop up the bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic.

When the chicken is browned, remove from pan, and add the vegetables. Add parsley and chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Sautee until onions turn translucent.

Add the chicken back to the pot, and add crushed tomatoes, and chicken stock. I usually have my own chicken stock on hand, but since I didn't make this out of leftover chicken, I don't... in those cases, I love this brand... Low sodium FTW!
The liquids should just barely cover the chicken.
Bring to a boil, and lower heat to med. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot, and shred. Re-add the chicken, and simmer another 5-10 minutes.

I usually fry my own tortillas, but this time I had a bag from Trader Joe's... lazy all around. Serve topped with shredded cheese, salsa, and tortilla chips.
All told, about 45 minutes until complete.

Just for kicks, here's a cost break down on this...

Chicken - $1.25
Bell pepper - $0.49
Celery - $0.99 for the whole... thing, and there's still 2/3 left, so.. $0.33?
Onion - $0.25
Crushed tomatoes - half can - $0.75
Chicken stock - $2.00
Garlic - full head was $.33, so... $0.15?

I'm not adding in the stupid things, like salt, pepper, chili powder, 'cause.. it's stupid.

We could have had this for dinner twice, so counting Baby as a half meal each time, total of 9 meals came out of this.

Total, about $5.22. Round up, even, to $5.25, and it comes out to $0.58 per meal. Not bad!

Even taking into account the fact that I frugally sucked this week, and the leftover soup is sitting in my fridge and needs to be tossed, it's only $1.16 per meal.

AND, when you consider that this is usually made with leftover chicken, and home-made stock, well. It's practically free.

"In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions."

There's a dirty, dirty rumor going around that I have will-power of steel. What, with my frugalness and such.

Let me put those rumors to rest.... here's a list of far from frugal things that I can't give up...

1. The iPhone. I heart my phone. It's expensive, even after switching to a lesser plan... Around $150/month for two lines. We kept our number from Florida for our families, so it's still a local number for them. I use the map constantly. The apps... ohmygod the apps. I can check class times at the gym, movie times, restaurant recs, AIM, Facebook, weather, lolcats, Epic Fail, Pandora, IMDB, my white noise for sleeping, FML, Craigslist!!! So much... and the pictures. Lord. Granted, the camera really could suck less (no flash? Really, Apple?!), but when it works, it's a great shot.

2. Disneyland. We have annual passes for the kidlets and myself. Mine I paid for up front, and.... actually is coming up for renewal soon (note to self). But for the girls, we just did the monthly payment option for SoCal residents... Comes to $20, and we go probably once a month. We loved Disney World in FL, and while this is a distant, distant runner up in the awesomeness race, it's a great way to kill a day.

3. Starbucks. I have cut back, from a bazillion trips a week, to just once or twice. But it makes me sad.

4. Perfume. I love love love Michael Kors, and just dropped $70 on some (even after my $25 gift card). But, in just 2 business days, I'll smell oh so pretty. (I mean, I smell fine right now, but. This stuff is pure magic.)

5. Internet. We could have dropped the internet when we dropped the cable... our neighbor has unsecured network, apparently. But... I'm not an interwebs stealer.

6. Going out to eat. I love it. LOVE it. If I could swing it, I'd eat out all day, every day. Sadly, neither my wallet nor my waistline would appreciate it. So... we still do this, once or twice every few weeks. The H prefers to keep it down to once a month. I think Sunday breakfast out is heaven on earth. We compromise and head out about once every 2 weeks. Sigh.

So. That's it. My deep, dark, non-frugal secrets.

Now, if I wanted to, I *could* cut those things out but.... why? Why would I? I mean, I could if I NEEDED to... I have and I would again. But I'd be pretty pissy about them ;)

And in full disclosure... I don't do this out of some sense of nobility, or responsibility, or anything else good. If I had my way, I would own heaps of stuff. HEAPS. I would do LOTS of things, and stay in pretty, shiny places. This is done out of necessity. It's a necessity I've come to terms with, despite my protests.

So... it's not MY ideal situation. I recognize that I have more than enough to survive, and I'm pretty lucky in that respect. I also recognize how shallow and... well, elitest I could be. I'm not even entirely sure I don't WANT to be shallow and elitest.. I kinda think it might be fun. But that's not where I am... THIS is where I am.

And if THIS means that I have 3 great kids, and cars that run comfortably to get me to a job I like, and a home to live in that is SAFE, and food to eat at the end of the day... I'm gonna make the best of THIS.

Especially for Jill....

Pan-fried chicken breast, lazy-mom rice pilaf, in under 40 minutes.

Saute 1/4c onion and 4-5 cloves garlic (I'm stupid heavy on the garlic, because... I love it) in 1T olive oil over medium heat.Add about so much dried parsley....
And about 1/4c chopped red pepper...
When the onions have turned translucent, add the rice, along with 1T butter, and stir all together. Salt and pepper to taste.
When the rice just barely starts to brown, add the water.
My fool-proof rice ratio: 1 c rice, 2 c water. Turn heat up to high, bring to a boil. Stir, cover, and lower heat to low. LEAVE THE LID ON THE PAN. Whatever you do.... do not uncover it. You're using that steam to cook the rice. I promise, it will be fine.

Cook on low COVERED for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from heat, and leave lid on for an additional 5 minutes. Uncover, and voila. Lovely faux-rice pilaf. The general recipe also works for non-faux-pilaf rice as well.... 1 to 2 ratio, drizzle of olive oil and salt, bring to boil, cover and lower heat, cook on low for 20 min. Perfect rice, every time for me.

Chicken......
I had bone in, skin on chicken breast, 'cause it was on sale at my favorite store. You can use whatever seasoning you want. I trust that you know what that is :)

I used garlic salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder. Season liberally... I try to season under the skin if I remember...

Heat 1T oil over med heat (I use veg or canola for this). When heated, add chicken skin side down.
When that side is browned, flip and lower heat to med low. Cover, and cook until cooked through.
Remove from heat and let rest.... Because these were GINORMOUS, it actually only took 1 breast to feed me, 1, & 2. Baby already ate, and The H will have the other one... or part of it. It's freaking huge.
I served with the faux-rice pilaf and steamed broccoli.

Now... the thing that always jacks up my meals is my timing... for THIS, I seasoned the chicken breast, and let it sit while I started the rice. Chopped the veg's for the rice, sauteed them, etc., and started cooking the chicken when I put the water in the rice. This ended up with perfect timing, everything done at the same time.

And nary a box in sight ;)

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

So, I'm on this frugality kick as of late. And my challenge to myself this week was to not spend any money except for my cash on hand. I took out $40, to cover any miscellaneous gas, dinner with a friend, random grocery needs, my Friday Starbucks, etc.

In order to make this successful, I had to make a plan. I am a sucky planner. I mean, I LOVE planning fun things, like trips. But this was.not.fun.

Anyways. This was my menu for the week.

Sunday - Bourbon Chicken, first draft

Monday - Hamburgers

Tuesday - Grilled chicken breast with spinach salad and broccoli (2 & 3 had rice that was leftover from the weekend, and #1 had a sandwich with the leftover buns from Monday)

Wednesday - spaghetti for everyone else, baked potato with salsa and chicken for me (late gym night)

Thursday - Bourbon Chicken (the magical one, I'll post that recipe in a bit)

Tonight - Pizza

Okay. So, I realize a week is 7 days, and this is only 6, but I can't remember what I had Saturday.

Anyway.

Last weekend, I did a mass dumping of all weirdness in my fridge - including the mysteriously vanished Ikea foodsavers that I now need to replace. Sorry, I'm trying to be frugal, but at $4 for a set of 16 pieces, I am not washing some of the funk that was in there.

For some things - like the bourbon chicken - we didn't have quite the right ingredients, so I subbed what I did have on hand, to avoid hitting the market and destroying my resolve.

And it worked!! Success!!

Today is Friday, payday. This is what my fridge looks like:

In there right now, I have... 2 beers (!!), some rum, water, apple juice, milk, some peachy liquor of some kind (!?), eggs, cheese, a bag of spinach, green bell pepper, half of a SmartWater or whatever that I've been semi-drinking for 3 days.

And the freezer.....

Contents: A teeny bag of coffee sample from Cost Plus Worldmarket, an Ikea fishy-shaped ice cube tray, and a bag of frozen edemame.

And the benefit to this is... $2 left in my pocket, and $110 in the bank, after everything has cleared.

That'd be a bit of an improvement over my $5 last week. (I tried to calculate the percentage, but I got confused.)

Plus, adding in the additional cost savings of not having thrown any money away on crap that we didn't eat... well. I'm practically a millionaire now.

I suppose the key to making something USEFUL of this discipline is what I do now. I mean, I COULD use my leftover cash stash to pay for some new makeup. I could take the kidlets out to dinner. I could buy some brown leather boots, that I'm dying for. I could buy a purse. I could... go on and on about what I could do.

So. Is my discipline wasted now if I DO those things? I think so. I mean, I really, really, REALLY want to do stuff, like, ALL of the above. I will probably do a little of some of them. I'm not sure yet. I need to contemplate this.

Feel free to leave suggestions ;)

“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.

“The Internet is a giant international network of intelligent, informed computer enthusiasts, by which I mean, "people without lives."......

....We don't care. We have each other."

It's no secret to anyone who knows me, that I heart all things interwebs based.

I Facebook like it's going straight out of style. I spend a good amount of time on a particular message board that I love. I blog-hop. I read reviews. I watch tv and movies. I chat with people. I make fun of people. I laugh at LOLCats. Fail has become part of my vocabulary. I plan things. I meet people. I'd be lost without it.

I've never been one to need or necessarily WANT friends. I'm fine hanging out alone. When I moved to Cali, I came here alone - the rest of the fam followed about six months later. I had some time to kill.

One of the chicks on that message board lived here, so we started getting together occassionally for some drinks. That turned into jalking on the beach (wherein we pretended to exercise, but really it was just a long walk to the bar). Now we hang out regularly, gym together, and my kids adore her, and the boyfriend.

I found a super cool hiking group on Craigslist. My first time meeting them, we were supposed to do a group trip to Joshua Tree. We were carpooling, and I met them at some 7-11 off the freeway in OC. I get there, and it's these two dudes hanging out.

I rode out to the desert with two random guys from CL and lived to tell. It was pretty great, even.

I like doing things alone, but stuff like hiking... really is better with a group, especially if you're new at it, like me. So, because of the internet... I got to do something I would have never done otherwise.

My ex-roommates broke my car mirror off a few months back. You know what I found online? A step-by-step way to put a mirror back on a 2001 Dodge Stratus. And I did it. All by myself. Tools, and wires, and all. Me! Me who hates getting her oil changed because it's a "Boy Job". ME!

It's also thanks to the internet that I am in Cali. A recruiter in Long Beach found my resume online, and thought I'd be a great fit. I got the call on a Thursday, interviewed Tuesday, was offered the job on Friday, and moved exactly 1 week later. Done. And I couldn't be happier. I love living here.

I find super awesome books to read on Amazon.com, thanks to their "Other people who picked this also picked...." And then I use these reccommendations to seek out that same book at my public libraries (frugal!).

I learned to bento from a chick on my favorite message board, and then learned even MORE about it on lunchinabox.net. Then! Thanks to her Bento Locator, I found a great Japanese market super close to me, which I love.

Another chick I met on that message board came out for a "girls weekend" in May, and has been back twice... Once with her kidlet, for The Weekend of Awesome. She's thinking about moving (and I bet she'll find her job online!), and I realllly hope she does, 'cause she's rad.

This past Christmas Eve, I had dinner with those two chicks, and the Russian's boyfriend (whom she met on that same board. Stalker.), and then we spent the night wrapping my kids' presents and drinking beer. It couldn't have been more perfect. Well, except Squirrel could suck less at wrapping. Suck. Less.

A few years back, on a different message board (that I really don't frequent any more 'cause of a change of ownership. Yeah, Bravo, I'm lookin' at you!), I went to Manhattan all by myself to watch a tv show. Yep. That's right. Sure did. But I met some cool folks (Hi, Phil! Call me!), and had a blast... and dude. I took on Manhattan by myself.

Anyway. The point of all this is, plenty of folk think people hanging out online are weird. That's valid. Perhaps we are. But y'know what? I've found people who are ALSO weird, who like the same stuff I do, and we like each other, and have fun. I've done stuff I wouldn't have done otherwise with the help of the web. I've learned to come out of my shell a bit, and make friends. And so it might sound silly, but... I've proven things to myself, and others, about.. what I'm made of.

So. Suck on that, haters :)

“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.