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Bloggin' From The Camp House

I charged up my laptop only to discover I am at 87% battery.  This is the first time a laptop computer has been to camp.  There is an unwritten rule of no electronics at camp…..but I am a blogger so therefore I must blog

Things are cooking at camp. Literally, with both woodstoves running the temperature is almost 80 degrees!
Here I am out in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire! During the winter months camp is only accessible with snowshoes or a track runner.  Maybe a snow machine if the snow is just right.  Good thing we have access to all three. There is no electricity, or running water at camp. We use a gas refrigerator and stove.  Gaslights allow for late night board games.  An old wood cook stove and a barrel-type stove provide plenty of heat. Camp is small, consisting of 2 rooms on as many floors.  A counter separates the kitchen area from the dining/living/sleeping area.  The three built in seating quarters double as beds.  Upstairs, if you can manage yourself up the 30 degree ladder, houses a oversized king bed, table, chair, dresser and a chamber pot complete with a remarkably comfy wood seat.  Most of the time when nature calls we trek out the side door 20 feet or so to the outhouse.  It is a nice little two seater with a urinal. Three people could actually use the outhouse at one time.  To my knowledge that has never happened.  When my daughter comes to camp she insists someone (me) goes with her to the privy and if I am going out there I may as well use my time wisely.  The seats are back to back so the designer had some modesty in mind.  The surroundings at camp are just as pleasant inside as they are outside. The interior is mostly wood with a few areas of roughly spackled white walls. There are 4 entry doors each one hand made with a unique wood pattern.  Windows cover most of the wall surface.  Twenty windows grace the main floor  plus three more windows in the doors.  An unusual porthole window offers a peek to the outdoors on the west side. The upstairs has a rather unusually large round window with six petal shape windows surrounding the inner circle. The detail in the window trim work is exquisite. Not including the previously mentioned window, the upstairs boasts as many windows as the main floor.  


  We arrived on a Wednesday and will depart two days later on Friday.  These few days at camp will consist of; walking the loop that the boys make with the snowmobile, sledding, snowmobiling, knitting, reading and deep conversation that only seems to happen at camp.  I have often thought that camp is so very relaxing it lends itself nicely to helping one find a deeper connection with themselves. My family talks a lot.  We enjoy debates and discussion, even a good healthy argument now and then.  However our “camp talks” are different, they are deeper. When we are at home it seems as thought there is always something waiting that needs to be done.  Those thoughts of impending tasks take up space in our heads and don’t allow  for the level of clarity required to have a thoughtful conversation as a family.  Even if only one of us is distracted the conversation loses it’s focus.  At camp there is hardly ever anything that has to be done by a certain time. In the evening with the supper mess all around us we sit and talk and talk, as if we haven’t seen each other in years.  Camp talk is interesting and stimulating and one of the many features I look forward to when coming to camp.
    
As you sit by the woodstove and look west the mountains of Vermont fill the skyline.  Winter offers the best view in my opinion.  Every day the view changes.  Spots on the mountainside that were bare become covered with snow or the reverse happens as the snow melts and white covered areas slowly become bare. At night  the few homes on the hillside light up.  Over the past ten years I have noticed more lights on the hillside and bigger bare spots as people move north and build their homes.  Camp is roughly ten minutes from town and only a mile or so from a small store but it feels like you’re a hundred miles from anyone when you are here. As I look out the window a see the homes miles away I realize that the secret must be out.  I imagine within the next ten years the view will be littered with new construction.  As long as we don’t get any close abutters if that happens we might consider another move to a camp further up North. Although that would mean a Canadian citizenship.

Times They Are A Changin’............ Still

a passage from my Memoirs ....if I , in fact, had Memoirs

As I get older I see the past more clearly. Throughout grade school and into my teen years I enjoyed a self centered life style. I listened to the music I chose, hung out with a hand picked group of friends, I watched the movies I selected and so on.  Most of my young life I made the majority of my everyday decisions. Sure my parents decided what was for supper most days and the education system planned the majority of my weekdays.  But still I controlled my social life and my free time.  

In my house there was not set chores.  My Mother kept an immaculate house.  She collected primitive antiques that were strategically placed throughout our home.  She was a work-from-home Mom and enjoyed decorating.  I guess she enjoyed cleaning too.  Aside from cleaning the small half bath that I used I cannot recall ever cleaning any other part of the house. Occasionally I would tidy my bedroom and I may have vacuumed my room annually, but seriously that was it. If the wood box was empty you would be asked to fill it. When the eggs needed to be collected you were told to collect them. I honestly cannot recall having any set chores or real responsibilities as a child and teen. 

My biggest dilemma was deciding what to do with my time.  I did not have any real hobbies or interest that consumed my free time. Exposure to hobbies and interest was minimal in the late seventies and early eighties.  Basically I saw my Mother; work her flower garden, create craft gifts and decorations, bake and preserve food, play cards and endlessly rearrange all the furnishings in our home.  My Mother’s list is now part of my adult life.  Although as a young girl I did not find any of her hobbies remotely interesting.  Instead I would play by myself or occasionally with my neighbor.  As a pre-teen I spent countless hours listening to music and reading. Television viewing was limited to three channels, two of which were very fuzzy.  Outdoor time was also kept to a minimum for no other reason than nobody in my family spent a lot of time outdoors. 

While I found many play activities engaging I never experienced any real fun until I discovered boys. My first encounter was Michael Jackson- yes, the singer, songwriter, dancer Michael Jackson. I listened to his music and longed for the feelings he expressed in his music. I never missed an episode of The Dukes of Hazard and imagined Bo Duke was my boyfriend and I could almost feel the exhilaration of my imaginary relationship.  As a 11-13 year-old my character was in a peak stage for formation and I was filling it with Michael Jackson and Bo Duke. My body was changing and I was aware that boys looked at me with interest.  

Remember all the free time, well as a tween  a majority of my free time is “alone” free time.  I didn’t need a sitter which I very seldom ever had and I was now old enough to stay home alone. Can you see a problem brewing here?

If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times! Send your 0-10 year-olds to a sitter and live it up, or work and squirrel away the money, BUT once your child hits age 11 and through age 18 STAY HOME and STAY AWARE! This is when your child needs you the most.

My Mother was home and I was a really good quiet kid who had a lot of free time. So when I was old enough my parents gave me all kinds of freedom. The problem is that I had accidentally subliminally altered my character through music and TV.  Not just Michael Jackson and Bo Duke my music collection expanded and my tape deck ran non-stop.  TV shows that I watched included Dallas and Falcon Crest.  What I was putting in my head mutated into something very unhealthy. I had no real responsibilities at home therefore I felt I could do whatever I wanted.  I had nothing to lose. Why not? I always did what I wanted and nothing ever happened.  So off I went to junior high and met up with a new group of friends and well, continued to do as I please.  And if there was a boy involved that made it all the more exciting…no matter who the boy was.  I had the power!  Well my grades were bad, really bad.  I failed seventh grade and went to summer school and guess what?  I met another boy, older, nicer, even cute! Summer school wasn’t a punishment, it was an opportunity.  

Through all this my parents didn’t have a clue what was going on. Lying was easy because I had been so good that they believed everything I said, they never checked my stories.  I literally had no conscience. I couldn’t see how anything I was doing could possibly hurt anyone else.  I was having fun, how could anything go wrong.  I also had no morals, values or an iota of good character. I basically turned into an actress in order to do what I wanted to do.  

Fast forward 25 years. I now understand clearly what happened to me.  It wasn’t my parents fault and it wasn’t my fault.  Times were changing quickly when I was growing up. The home computer was being introduced, information was being shared more efficiently than ever before and music and TV was beginning it’s search for shock value.  Morals, values and respectable character were on their way out. Society was teetering on the edge of right and wrong, pushing all the limits like never before.

My parents didn’t have a chance, they couldn’t see it coming.  The impending doom of a need it now, will do anything for it world. What we call in instant society today. I see it and I hope you do to. I have been a parent for 22 years now, with my first child born when I was a teen. As a parent of 11-18 year-olds we need to stay on top of everything. Music, for example,  leaves a strong impression on children and teens. In our house we listen to mostly classical music, we always have so it doesn’t seem weird to the kids.  Whether we are in the car or the house radio we keep it fairly consistent.  The two youngest boys (6 and 10) both play the violin and the older son also plays piano.  Occasionally we put on some Johnny Cash or similar artists and we discuss the stories that were put to song.  We talk about what we like about the sounds and how they make us feel. We stress the importance of what sounds we put into our heads and how those sounds can change how we feel if we let them.  We remind them that ultimately they are in control of their feelings and their actions. I was exposed to music on the school bus and by my school friends.  We home-school so we have eliminated most of the outside factors of impressionable music.  Our ten year-old has asked for an MP3 player and we have casually declined stating the ear buds are not good for his still developing ear drums. Fact or not it will buy us some time.  When the time comes we will listen to the music before they buy it and brings it into our home.  We have laid a firm foundation pertaining to music so they clearly know what is acceptable and what is not. 

Television has been fairly easy for us as we choose not to have cable or a TV that gets any channels. We can watch movies which we enjoy doing every other month or so.  We go to a neighbor to watch the Super Bowl and every year my husband and I are more shocked than the year before when we see the commercials.  Go Daddy seems to at the top of the list for innuendo and promiscuity. The amount of ads that contain violence or pure lack of moral judgment and restraint are plentiful.  This past year I cannot recall one decent ad. I secretly wish my neighbor would mute the TV during the commercials, or better yet turn the thing off!  But then I would have nothing to offer during all the Super Bowl ad conversations that seem to linger on for weeks.

One hobby or interest we share as a family is reading. Our family reads, reads, reads. Books that my ten year-old reads I read and sometimes my mother-in-law will also read. We all have at least one book going at any given time.  Books create easy discussions and lend themselves to healthy debates about morals and values as well as practicing restraint. However books also require some necessary preview before children of certain ages read them.  I’ll admit I have never banned a book, but there have been some that made me uneasy.  My daughter read romance novels in a day when she was 13.  Adult romance novels……but we talked about them and I made it clear that the books were fiction, written for entertainment and not to be taken seriously. She still reads adult romance novels, sometimes a book a day,  she is almost 23, been married for two years and is expecting her first baby this summer.  In addition to reading our family hobbies include; snowmobiling, hiking, crafting, entertaining, drawing, skiing, bike riding, camping and farming. Most of which we do together as a family when our daily chores are done.  Get some hobbies and get with your kids! You can be the major influence in your child's formation....not TV, not music, not society YOU!

We DID it!! and so CAN YOU!!!

We reached our goal of being debt free in ten years.
Both myself and my husband had college loan debt (totaling over $25,000.00)when we met. Neither one of us had a credit card when we first met but we were swept away by the convincing mailings for low or no interest cards so we got a few (4). And before we knew it we were in (close to 6 figures) debt! 9 years ago we both worked 2 jobs and never seemed to put a dent in our debt. We were working hard making money and we knew how to spend it, we even saved a little. But what we didn't know was how to MANAGE our money. So we stayed in debt and our debt got bigger and bigger.  Sleepless night and high stress prompted us to change. Finally we had enough and "the plan" was born. We made a budget and a savings plan. We projected where we wanted to be financially by 2010. A long ways away from where we were in 2002. It seemed impossible but our desire to work less and spend time as a family far outweighed our desire to hold a big mortgage on a  high maintenance home and expensive automobiles. So we stayed as focused as we could. Expenses we didn't anticipated came up often seemingly sabotaging our plans, we would get mad and discouraged. One of us would want to throw in the towel and give up and the other one would remain persistent and positive.
It felt as if we started over at least 20 times over the past 8+ years. Most of the time I felt hopeless and impoverished. Then someone would come along and have a much worse story than mine to tell. A good friend filed for bankruptcy, another friend lost her young daughter tragically and other very upsetting stories. So then we would count our blessings and pass the blame on to the society we live in for making us want big expensive things. The temptation is everywhere TV, radio, billboards, mailings, catalogs, friends, neighbors and family members all tempting us to want more, need more. Having more would mean one would have to work more and be away from your family more. Hmmmmm.... that would mean also my family would have more time to be influenced by society to want and have more " things ". See the cycle here?
  So we swam against the tide and we did it! We hold only a small land mortgage and we have enough cash to put a hefty down payment on a nice, low maintenance house. We have a 2006 car that is paid for, no college loans, credit cards and no unsecured debt! Mr BusyMomatHome works full time and I am a homemaker and a homeschooling Mom. We sleep great at night and I do not worry about money. I get a certain amount of cash each week for gas, groceries and other things and that is all I spend. The rest of the paycheck goes into the bank and when we want to buy something we have the money and pay cash.
Debt Free living was HARD to do, we made a lot of mistakes and we went without a lot to get to this point. Now we feel like we can have and do whatever we want, the only difference is we pay cash and we really think and plan every expenditure. In return we feel really good about every cent that leaves us. Spending cash and obtaining control over your own money is quite liberating !

Read This Book!!! Get it FREE from your library...of corse.

Below is a book reveiw that pertains to living within your means and shopping locally.


Small Is Possible

Life in a Local Economy

By Lyle Estill

Copyright 2008

ISBN 978-0-86571-603-2

320 ESTILL (Abbott Library Sunapee, NH)



Questions:

1- What is the book about ? Essentially what question is the book asking and answering?

2- How does the author attempt to convince/lead you?

3- Entertainment factor?

4-Bonus positives?

5- Bonus negatives?

6- Overall Rating (5 Star scale)

* = 20% good 80% waste of time

** = 40% good 60% waste of time

*** = 60% good 40% waste of time

You get it…and ½ * = 10*



Choosing this book only involved scanning the non-fiction shelves at the Abbott Library for something to read. The words Local Economy on the spine of the book got me first, second was the size of the book. At 227 pages this soft cover text looked like an easy read.



Is local self-reliance possible? Lyle Estill says “yes.” According to the author the process however can be cumbersome and may require you to move to Chatham County South Carolina. In addition to pulling up your roots obtainment of this almost utopian society of self-sustainment involves family money, immersing yourself with like-minded people, endless talent and skill or the means to hire a lot of people with endless talent and skill. Oh, and you need to be a likable, smooth talker with a plentiful knowledge of civics. With this checklist in hand you are now ready to become self-sustaining.

OR…. You can take only what you need from this book, which is what I did. Lyle touches briefly on economic re-development, feeding, housing, fueling, financing, educating, healing, entertaining, and governing OURSELVES.

Lyle begins the story with personal information about life in his town. He quickly winds you through the curvy roads of his life to bring you to his present day in a local economy. Chatham County has a number of co-ops, and a lot of arts and culture. The towns are sparsely dotted with general stores, mom and pop shops, antique stores and the like with a majority owned by a local person that the author has some tellable tale of friendship with. The main local industry he tells about is biodiesel, because Lyle is The Lyle Estill, Biodiesel Guru.

Lyle was born and raised in Canada and has located himself in South Carolina. He has family money to back him up at every turn, he buys every “little” or “up and coming” local business he comes in contact with. From a internet company to a hydroponics greenhouse Lyle buys all or in-on many local companies and houses them in one grand location near his home. Employees are local and or relocated to town. There is ping pong, volleyball, a garden and fresh air at the work place. Workday leisure is important and napping IS allowed. Lyle takes the reader over a cliff as far as what we think of as a “normal workplace“ and he spends little time convincing us that it works. The proof is apparent in the entirety of the book. He carries the reader briefly through his own thoughts with somewhat of an attention deficit disorder type process. Not entirely bad just a bit of jumping around and a boat load of name dropping that in order to remember who is who requires some note taking from the reader.

The book is entertaining in parts. Lyle has a good sense of humor and inserts laughs in appropriate places with an odd randomness that qualifies as ADD. Classify this book as an informational book? No, I would disagree. Inspirational would be a better word. Inspirational as long as you are not easily discouraged. Not all of us have family money, can up and move, are business minded …and so on…Want to try to change your local economy where you are? This is not really a book to walk you through that process either. The only valuable tid-bit Lyle offers is to encourage people to learn Civics. When people understand local government that is when they become involved in local government, agreed.

I left the finished book with a little bit of readers remorse-and wanting a bit more from the author. I know Lyle holds more of the formula to self- sustaining and local economy than he has shared in this book. Overall I enjoyed the reading as a source of hope and entertainment. In all fairness he has written other books and I will check out his books before I hound him on Facebook.



Casual Reader Rating *** 3 stars. I do like this book, I am glad I read it and I feel I have taken away information that is valuable to my life. 1-2-3-stars. Why not 5 stars, well the fact that in his book Lyle offers some of his services pertaining to his local businesses for free and soon finds himself valuable and making a fair profit in the end is not surprising (under practiced in my world). He just doesn’t expand enough on how the average Jane-or Joe- can put his method of work-for-free, get people involved, become valuable, make people want to pay, then charge a reasonable price -into practice to obtain the general message of his writing which is becoming self-sustaining in a local economy. Lyle needed to offer me more facts and how-to information, he obviously has that knowledge why not share it. By the way Lyle drives a convertible Mercedes and yes it runs on biodeisel but my question, how much of his purchase money stayed local?

One Step Closer

The goal of self sufficiency gets closer each day. The plan has been to rid ourselves of as many monthly bills as possible. To date we have eliminated all credit cards. I must say it is very liberating to know that we do not have any credit cards. We navigate on a cash only basis. We have one car payment and two cars. The Pacifica has a $9,000.00 payoff and we will pay that off by July 1. Our student loans total $15,000.00 and will also be paid off by July 1.


Remaining large monthly payments will be our mortgage and a land payment. Totaling (with excess paid monthly on both principles) $2,100month $25,200 year

Additional monthly bills :

Gas 40 (480 year)

Oil 20 (240 year)

Electrical 80 (960 year)

Landline phone 30 (360 year)

Music lessons 125 (1500 year)

Camps 20 (240 year)

Museum membership 12.50 (150 year)

Fitness gym 30 (360 year)

Wood FREE main heating and hot water source

Auto gas, ins, maintenance 160 (1920 year)

Groceries 325 (3900 year)

Gifts mostly homemade 60 (720 year)



TOTALS $902.50 month ($10,830.00 year)



GRAND TOTAL $3002.50 month ($36,030.00 year)



If you are wondering how to pay off big bills I can offer you our strategy. First we made a budget based on what we wanted pay off or to SAVE, not the amount of money we made. This is huge. As Americans we are taught to spend according to what we make and what we can obtain through loans. This method of spending is wrong and only puts the consumer in debt and the producer (BIG BOX STORES, AUTO MAKERS, BANKS…..) gets richer. We looked at the car payment and our student loans as the immediate burden. Could we save $24,000.00 in less than a year? The answer was yes, but….we would need to manage our money very closely. We paid our monthly SL and car payments and put our tax return and $1500-$2000 a month away. Some months we put away more money some months less money. The goal was to pay these two bills off in March. We slipped up here and there, we underestimated heating costs and had some unexpected expenses but we didn’t let that get us down. We kept our goal in sight. By July 1 we will have $24,000.00 to pay off those bills.

Why not pay extra each month instead of balloon payments? This is personal choice. We were fueled by watching our money grow. It depends on what gets you fired up. Seeing my husband work so hard and sending all that money out the door each month just didn’t fit us. We needed to see the fruits of our labors. Would we do it that way again? We are hoping we never have monthly loan payments. We do not intend on ever taking out another auto loan. With our surplus income we are planning on making car payments to ourselves and when we reach the dollar amount we need to purchase a car we will take our pillowcase of cash and buy a car. We have already proven to ourselves that we can save.

What is missing? Cell phone…I am blessed in this area, my daughter put me on her plan and she pays the monthly bill. She generously provides me with a cell phone because she knows I would not have a cell phone otherwise. I don’t feel as if I need a cell phone. My parents and grandparents survived without a cell phone - and quite frankly the phone can be a disruptive bother that I can easily do without. Cable and internet? I put cable and internet together because to me they are one of the same. They both provide endless hours of mindless entertainment. Internet and cable both can be used constructively of course. One can search the internet for facts and recipes, read money saving blogs and the like. Cable can be educational and informative. However the ratio of informative viewing on either to the ratio of entertainment viewing is quite low. On average Americans watch 5 hours of television every day- with the bulk of their viewing being mindless entertainment. $130.00 a month for cable and internet! NO thank you. Internet is free at my local library and if I am not feeling social or the library is closed I sit in my car in the parking lot and upload my blog entries and check my e-mail and face book.---For FREE! At first it was a pain but like most things you get used to it and I really enjoy saving money. Besides cable would be a waste of money for us because we do not own a TV.

What about eating out and other frivolous spending? We eat out on average once a month. We are able to do this because I thrift store shop and consign a lot of clothes. Being a stay at home- school at home mom lends itself to saving money. One thrift store allows you to fill a paper bag with items for a $3.00 donation. Many times I find wonderful clothes for myself or family members and occasionally I find a beautiful Banana Republic skirt in pristine condition that is destined for a quick $5.00 in my pocket from the local consignment shop where it will sell for a fast $10.00. I have made my money back plus a $2.00 profit. Find 20-30 items in a month to consign and we have made the $50-$60 needed to go out to dinner without messing with the family budget. I must say that we like eating out but we don’t LOVE eating out. I enjoy cooking and have learned over the years that good home cooking beats restaurant food every time. All of out best meals have been at home. I contribute that to the fact that I do not work outside of the home. I have plenty of time to plan meals, shop for the ingredients and then leisurely prepare the meal.

All in all the way you decide to live your life and spend your money is ultimately your choice. I would caution you though…if your lifestyle reflects your neighbors and your neighbors neighbor and so on…is it really your choice? Or have you essentially conformed to a producer based theory of spending? Rather than a consumer based theory of saving and pay cash as you go?



One last thought… Which sounds better to you?

Pay off your current car loan. Keep your paid off car and continue to make car payments to yourself . In 3 years have enough cash to buy a factory left over or a low mileage used car of your liking. Pay cash and eliminate the interest! Pay cash and really dicker with the salesman and get the car you want at a low price. Walk away with a car you own!! No payments!

Or perpetually make car loan AND INTEREST payments. Pay thousands of dollars more for a car than it is worth. You are lining someone else pocket with your hard earned money………

It’s hard to change - we have been taught this Producer based theory all of our lives…….It is time for the consumer theory of spending our cash (not loaned cash with interest) they way we choose.

All I Want Is ONE uninterrupted shower...........

I did not take a shower on Mother’s Day. I wasn’t terribly dirty anyway, but I do enjoy a daily shower. Whether it be a quick sprinkle or a long steamy rinse a daily shower is sometimes the only peaceful part of my day.

For the past 22 years I have been ultimately responsible for a young tender child. My youngest is now 5 years old. He is learning, some days quicker than others, how to politely interrupt conversations and activities. However he has not fully grasped the concept of my daily shower time. We have addressed this many times over the years. I have always told my children you may interrupt someone when they are using the bathroom ONLY if there is an emergency. As a family we have reviewed what exactly constitutes an emergency-many times over. Still there is a knock at the bathroom door just as I lather up, my heart momentarily sinks into my big toe as my mind runs wild with every possible gruesome emergency it can produce. My 5 year-old pops his head around the bathroom door and inaudibly mumbles something. I continue to panic and ask him “Is there an emergency!” “no” he replies “it’s just that……” “OUT!” I yell “we will talk when I am out of the bathroom!”. I am cranky now….cranky, cranky, cranky. My peaceful moment for the day has been stolen yet again.

Over the years I have prepared my mind for just such a daily occurrence. Sometimes while showering my mind enters a peaceful bliss and I completely forget there are children on the other side of the door. Only to be yanked back to reality by a young voice asking if he can have a banana! Occasionally I can get all the way through a shower uninterrupted but I have yet to make it all the way through the drying off and dressing process with out someone needing something immediate from me.

Prior to my daily shower I have planned activities for my kids and there has been relentless reminders. I have tried everything I can think of to remedy this situation even the desperate abusing of the time out chair. My child came to the bathroom to ask “When can I get out of time-out?”



The decision was made years ago that I would not shower on my Day, to avoid any signs of Cranky Mommy Syndrome on Mother’s Day. I will continue this practice until my boys finally “get it” and by then my grandchildren will be around to take my children’s place. I can almost hear their sweet voices now “Grammie can I have a banana?”

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

COLUMBUS'S MOTHER: I don't care what you've discovered, Christopher. You could have written.




MICHELANGELO'S MOTHER: Mike, can't you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?



NAPOLEON'S MOTHER: All right, Napoleon. If you aren't hiding your report card inside your jacket, then take your hand out of there and prove it.



GOLDILOCKS'S MOTHER: I've got a bill here for a broken chair from the Bear family. Do you know anything about this Goldie?



ALBERT EINSTEIN'S MOTHER: But, Albert, it's your senior picture. Can't you do something about your hair? Styling gel, mousse, something...?



THOMAS EDISON'S MOTHER: Of course I'm proud that you invented the electric light bulb, Thomas. Now turn off that light and get to bed!



HUMPTY DUMPTY'S MOTHER: Humpty, If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times not to sit on that wall. But would you listen to me? No!

Another Day

Another day......politics, family crisis.....hope will prevail...it has too, sometimes it is all we have.

Another week, another $75.00

My family of four - two boys still at home ages 9 and 5- my husband and myself eat very well on a weekly budget of $75.00. In addition to lowering our food bill we also save by meal sharing. One night every other week we eat at our in-laws and on the weeks in between they come to our home for dinner. Basically we trade off, one night a week we eat at their home and the next week one night they eat at our home. This meal share has been fairly consistent for the past 5 years. Meal sharing does save money. On the night that my in-laws are joining us for dinner I cook a little extra and usually there is still leftovers. On the nights we go to their home for dinner I do not have to cook obviously, and I am saving time and gas/electricity. it’s a great way to stay in touch and could be exercised with not only family but with friends as well.

This Weeks Groceries and Menu



Meat

Beef Brisket 5.24
Bacon 3.99
Bnls Breast 3.60
Bnls Breast 3.55



Deli

Turkey Ham 2.67
Provolone 1.64

Produce

Strawberries 2.00
Green Peppers 2.86
GS Apples 2.76
3 Romaine Hearts 2.29
Oranges x4 2.05
5 Cucumbers 1.99
5LB Potatoes 1.99
Tangerines x4 1.91
Celery 1.49
1.95 lb onions 1.29
5.78 lb bananas 2.07
3.51 lb cabbage 1.37

Dairy

1 gal Milk 2.39
Butter 1.99
2 doz eggs 2.58

Grocery

Peanut Butter 2.50
Mint Tea 2.50
Quick Oats 2.00
Pancake Mix 2.00 (1.45 with coupon)
Raisins 2.79
Honey Nut Oats 1.50
5 lb Flour 1.99
Baking Mix 1.99
Syrup 1.69
Powdered sugar 1.59
2 whole wheat bread 2.78
Shrimp Ramen .25
Macaroni .69

TOTAL $75.44

Breakfast

Cereal
Toast
Oatmeal
Eggs
Pancakes

Lunch

PB & J
Ham & Cheese
Egg Salad
Dinner leftovers

Dinner

Corned Beef & Cabbage, Irish soda bread (St. Patrick’s Day is this week)
Bacon wrapped chicken, potatoes, salad
Bacon and carrot quiche (homemade pie crust) Asian cabbage salad
Chicken soup, cucumber salad, homemade bread
Stuffed peppers, leftover Asian cabbage salad
Macaroni, veggies and Parmesan, homemade bread
Left-overs and/or freezer fare ( aka ground beef recipe)

Dessert

Homemade Blueberry pie
No-bake cookies
Sweet bread
Oatmeal-raisen cookies

Snacks

Apples
Bananas
Oranges
Tangerines
Cookies
Carrots
Celery
Pepper Strips

Drinks

Water (we drink a lot of water)
Milk
Tea
Coffee