One more week and we are almost there! There is still a crapload of food in the pantry and the freezer. We won't go hungry anytime soon that is for sure. And I can happily report, neither will the cat. Our nice landloard/firefighting friend brought over some vittles last week and I also gave a friend a pizza stone and in exchange, she gave the Claw her favorite bag of kibble. I wish we could do that for everything.
The more and more I think about it, I think commune living would suit me just fine. The idea of living off the land and only using what you needed and paring down your basics to true necessities sounds very appealing. Being saddled with so many wordly possessions is truly a burden. Cole and I watched the Story of Stuff http://www.storyofstuff.com/ and we were both stunned at the amount of garbage we generate. He asked me what recyling meant and of course, me being me, went into an entire technical tirade of recyling, what it means, why we should do it, why most of us don't, etc. The best part is he actually got it. He promised he will start bringing home his water bottles from school because he doesn't want to kill our planet. I love that my son is not your typical 6 year old consumer.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Par-tay (like it's 1929)
Was awesome.
We had so much fun and so much food and so much booze!! All for under 100 bones! I supplied the hardboiled eggs, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese for the kids and potato salad and everyone else brought either a food item or a beverage item and we had tons of food left over. People were able to take more food home than they brought. I'll never understand the math of potlucks...but whatever, it works and everyone was happy.
Here are a few things I did for the party that I would normally never do but saved me a shitload of money.
1) Instead of buying juices and sodas for the kids, I went super old school ghetto and bought 5 packets of Hawiian Punch at 20 cents a piece. I had 4 pitchers of punch and no one went thirsty or complained.
2) I had potatoes in the pantry that had maybe 3 more days before their little eyes started bugging out. I found a recipe online for a potato salad and whipped up one of the best potato salads ever, if I do say so myself. Well, at least, that is what Bill said. Plus I had all of the ingredients in my pantry. I also used all of the hard boiled eggs that were cracked for the egg decorating. Nothing went to waste.
3) I served beverages in large red plastic cups and sharpied everyones name on their cup. One guest, one cup. I have to say, this was probably one of the most brilliant things I have ever thought of, EVER. Not only did we not run out of cups, but people (including kids) seemed to be more responsible drinkers. How do I know? I did not have to pour out and throw away half full cups. Most of the cups I grabbed were empty because people didn't set their drink down and forget which was theirs.
4) We saved all of the plastic eggs, baskets and bags for next years party...
We had so much fun and so much food and so much booze!! All for under 100 bones! I supplied the hardboiled eggs, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese for the kids and potato salad and everyone else brought either a food item or a beverage item and we had tons of food left over. People were able to take more food home than they brought. I'll never understand the math of potlucks...but whatever, it works and everyone was happy.
Here are a few things I did for the party that I would normally never do but saved me a shitload of money.
1) Instead of buying juices and sodas for the kids, I went super old school ghetto and bought 5 packets of Hawiian Punch at 20 cents a piece. I had 4 pitchers of punch and no one went thirsty or complained.
2) I had potatoes in the pantry that had maybe 3 more days before their little eyes started bugging out. I found a recipe online for a potato salad and whipped up one of the best potato salads ever, if I do say so myself. Well, at least, that is what Bill said. Plus I had all of the ingredients in my pantry. I also used all of the hard boiled eggs that were cracked for the egg decorating. Nothing went to waste.
3) I served beverages in large red plastic cups and sharpied everyones name on their cup. One guest, one cup. I have to say, this was probably one of the most brilliant things I have ever thought of, EVER. Not only did we not run out of cups, but people (including kids) seemed to be more responsible drinkers. How do I know? I did not have to pour out and throw away half full cups. Most of the cups I grabbed were empty because people didn't set their drink down and forget which was theirs.
4) We saved all of the plastic eggs, baskets and bags for next years party...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter Egg Hunting
Armed with the $100 I withdrew from the coffers in March for our post Easter Party, Cole and I ventured forth to hunt the retail sales for our discounted Easter themed supplies. I figured I would spend 30 bucks on grass, baskets, eggs, and fillers and the rest would go towards food for the party. I've gotten pretty good at sniffing out a sale and I had no doubt that throwing a party for 100 bucks for over 20 people would be a fairly easy.
First, in my defense, I had no idea just how much the recession has impacted all of us. We went to store after store looking for anything that had a bunny on it. Lets just say the real Easter Egg Hunt occured days before the actual party. I almost felt like George Bush looking for his imaginary weapons, they were no where to be found. Not one measly plastic egg, not one cheap and garish basket and not one glimmer of Easter dye could be located. I went to Target, Michaels, Walmart, Party City and Vons. Everywhere we went, we were shocked at the pastel-less landscape.
WTF? According to a sales person, they didn't stock up as much this year and they didn't restock because of the economy, they were out of Easter crap before Easter. I found my holy grail at CVS. The sale prices were not nearly as orgasmic as they were last year, (items were up to 90% off(schwing!)). Not this year, the remaining paltry items were only reduced by 50%. I took my reaming like a trooper and we set up shop in the office and went to work filling up all of the now precious easter eggs with the even more precious easter filler. We spent around $40 bones, not the best I've ever done, but certainly, by far, not the worst.
I'd like to give a nod, a middle finger and a hearty fuck you to all the greedy bastards on Wall Street for almost ruining Easter for us.
First, in my defense, I had no idea just how much the recession has impacted all of us. We went to store after store looking for anything that had a bunny on it. Lets just say the real Easter Egg Hunt occured days before the actual party. I almost felt like George Bush looking for his imaginary weapons, they were no where to be found. Not one measly plastic egg, not one cheap and garish basket and not one glimmer of Easter dye could be located. I went to Target, Michaels, Walmart, Party City and Vons. Everywhere we went, we were shocked at the pastel-less landscape.
WTF? According to a sales person, they didn't stock up as much this year and they didn't restock because of the economy, they were out of Easter crap before Easter. I found my holy grail at CVS. The sale prices were not nearly as orgasmic as they were last year, (items were up to 90% off(schwing!)). Not this year, the remaining paltry items were only reduced by 50%. I took my reaming like a trooper and we set up shop in the office and went to work filling up all of the now precious easter eggs with the even more precious easter filler. We spent around $40 bones, not the best I've ever done, but certainly, by far, not the worst.
I'd like to give a nod, a middle finger and a hearty fuck you to all the greedy bastards on Wall Street for almost ruining Easter for us.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Party Animal Lite
One of the hardest things about not having disposable money is turning down all of the get-togethers and parties. We are by no means on the top 10 of party lists. In fact, you could call us party fillers. People invite us to parties because they need bodies, not because we are hot and in demand. In fact, having a kid in LA is like having the plague. No one wants yo' ass at a party, especially if you have a snot nose in tow. Add not having money and you may as well be dead. You can imagine how many parties we get invited to on a regular basis.
So we gets invited to 3 parties this weekend. We could only make it to one because frankly, we do not know how to juggle so many calling cards on our plate. We chose the one that we were invited to first because we had actually carved that date and time on the kitchen table so we wouldn't forget.
Talk about the right party to go to! Not only did we gorge ourselves on some stellar, home cooked, super fresh and healthy food, but our hostess, who read about our challenge, gave us a bag o' carbs. She is on a new diet and has cut carbs out of her diet and instead of throwing the perfectly good food away, she thought it would be better to donate the food to us! YAY! Thanks to Kelsie for being "the man" and providing us with cheese. We didn't even have to stand in line.
So we gets invited to 3 parties this weekend. We could only make it to one because frankly, we do not know how to juggle so many calling cards on our plate. We chose the one that we were invited to first because we had actually carved that date and time on the kitchen table so we wouldn't forget.
Talk about the right party to go to! Not only did we gorge ourselves on some stellar, home cooked, super fresh and healthy food, but our hostess, who read about our challenge, gave us a bag o' carbs. She is on a new diet and has cut carbs out of her diet and instead of throwing the perfectly good food away, she thought it would be better to donate the food to us! YAY! Thanks to Kelsie for being "the man" and providing us with cheese. We didn't even have to stand in line.
Week in Review
This week did not go without some hitches, in fact, you could say that some of the stitching in the fabric needed darning but overall, I believe it ended on a high note.
We are still not sure what we are going to do once we run out of cat food. Who would have thunk that kitty kibble would be so hard to procure during times of duress? I have a few aces up my sleeve so I'm not giving up yet. As god is my witness, she will never go hungry again (but the solution will not be found at the store).
The other little tear in the fabric was Bill ran out of milk, which isn't the end of the world, but he wasn't happy. Half of his quick meals that he planned for April require milk. It will be interesting to see how he works this out. Additionally, he was at a meeting in the Marina last week and he had to ask his business partner to buy him a burger...to say the least, he was NOT pleased. I have to give him a ton credit for sticking with the challenge.
For me, this week has been ok. We still have fresh stores of veggies that I am able to cook with. If I haven't mentioned this yet, we inadvertently put a double whammy on the challenge because we are trying to eat healthy as well as not spend a dime. We are both trying to shed a few pounds, but in a healthy way, not crash dieting. When we run out of the fresh stuff, it is going to be challenging to find and make stuff that won't get us all gooey in the middle again. With that said, I highly recommend onions, garlic, asparagus (good in the fridge but bad on the wallet), bell peppers, celery and eggplant. That stuff has been in the fridge since March 31 and it is still good. The celery is not as firm, but it tastes fine when chopped up and sauteed with garlic, onions and olive oil.
We also discovered that when you are jonesing for some potato chips, if you thinly slice potatoes, lightly salt them and stick them in the oven, within ten minutes, you can have some delicious and nutritious ghetto chips that will sate your craving for something crunchy, salty and greezy.
We are still not sure what we are going to do once we run out of cat food. Who would have thunk that kitty kibble would be so hard to procure during times of duress? I have a few aces up my sleeve so I'm not giving up yet. As god is my witness, she will never go hungry again (but the solution will not be found at the store).
The other little tear in the fabric was Bill ran out of milk, which isn't the end of the world, but he wasn't happy. Half of his quick meals that he planned for April require milk. It will be interesting to see how he works this out. Additionally, he was at a meeting in the Marina last week and he had to ask his business partner to buy him a burger...to say the least, he was NOT pleased. I have to give him a ton credit for sticking with the challenge.
For me, this week has been ok. We still have fresh stores of veggies that I am able to cook with. If I haven't mentioned this yet, we inadvertently put a double whammy on the challenge because we are trying to eat healthy as well as not spend a dime. We are both trying to shed a few pounds, but in a healthy way, not crash dieting. When we run out of the fresh stuff, it is going to be challenging to find and make stuff that won't get us all gooey in the middle again. With that said, I highly recommend onions, garlic, asparagus (good in the fridge but bad on the wallet), bell peppers, celery and eggplant. That stuff has been in the fridge since March 31 and it is still good. The celery is not as firm, but it tastes fine when chopped up and sauteed with garlic, onions and olive oil.
We also discovered that when you are jonesing for some potato chips, if you thinly slice potatoes, lightly salt them and stick them in the oven, within ten minutes, you can have some delicious and nutritious ghetto chips that will sate your craving for something crunchy, salty and greezy.
Friday, April 10, 2009
First Road Block
When I was stocking up a few weeks back, I DID consider the cat's needs, I really did. I looked in her huge 5 gallon bucket of cat food and it was 3/4 full. No problem, I thought, she will sail right through April without any worries of going hungry...
Last night, we looked in her container and we have serious doubts that she will make it by the end of next week. WTF?? I'm convinced Bill must be snacking on her kibble during the day. How does a petite cat such as ours put away that much food in that short of time? She must be a stress eater.
So, our initial thought was, guess we have to go to the store and buy her food, there is no way we are going to let her go hungry. But this morning, I woke up and changed my mind. I refuse to be beaten this early on in the month by cat food.
I would rather beg than be beaten, so, to all my friends and future friends out there, if you have an extra bag of dry cat food that you are not using, let me know, I'll be more than happy to take it off your hands or we will trade you something, a service (I cut hair, Bill mows lawns, I can cook, I'll give you a microderabrasion treatment, an article of clothing (except my dirty underwear, you underwear sniffers can look elsewhere and Bill doesn't wear any). I can weed the garden or give you a nice massage. Think about what you want and we may be able to barter. Have a movie you want? Chances are, we have it in our dvd library, speaking of libraries, I have books, maybe you want a few books? I can also offer you up my opinion on something. Most people come to me when they want the stark truth with no frosting or flowers. I'll be happy to tell you your ass looks too fat in those pants, or that your girlfriend is a nasty tramp. I just need some cat food. Or rather, my cat needs some cat food. She will be very grateful.
Last night, we looked in her container and we have serious doubts that she will make it by the end of next week. WTF?? I'm convinced Bill must be snacking on her kibble during the day. How does a petite cat such as ours put away that much food in that short of time? She must be a stress eater.
So, our initial thought was, guess we have to go to the store and buy her food, there is no way we are going to let her go hungry. But this morning, I woke up and changed my mind. I refuse to be beaten this early on in the month by cat food.
I would rather beg than be beaten, so, to all my friends and future friends out there, if you have an extra bag of dry cat food that you are not using, let me know, I'll be more than happy to take it off your hands or we will trade you something, a service (I cut hair, Bill mows lawns, I can cook, I'll give you a microderabrasion treatment, an article of clothing (except my dirty underwear, you underwear sniffers can look elsewhere and Bill doesn't wear any). I can weed the garden or give you a nice massage. Think about what you want and we may be able to barter. Have a movie you want? Chances are, we have it in our dvd library, speaking of libraries, I have books, maybe you want a few books? I can also offer you up my opinion on something. Most people come to me when they want the stark truth with no frosting or flowers. I'll be happy to tell you your ass looks too fat in those pants, or that your girlfriend is a nasty tramp. I just need some cat food. Or rather, my cat needs some cat food. She will be very grateful.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
First weekend...
...was not terrible. We have tons of food in the fridge, I am still cooking from fresh veggies I bought on March 31 and we still have a plenty of booze in the house. No fighting over who gets the last can of Coors Light, yet.
Here are some of the activities we did this weekend that did not cost us a dime.
Cole and I participated in the Santa Anita race. I ran the 5K and he ran a 1/8 mile dash. Technically not free but because I registered in advance, but it was free in April.
Bill hung out with his Saturday Morning Old Man's Tennis Gang and played tennis.
Gave Kitty Claw a bath instead of taking her to a groomers.
Clean the house using no cleaning products except vinegar and baking soda. (I think Bill used Comet for the toilets, but I am totally ok with that because the Comet is free, plus I didn't have to clean the toilets.)
Additionally, we are learning how to replace the things we normally do, which costs bucks, with things that are free.
Go to the movies and watch I Love You, Man, instead, we watched 3 movies at home and I made homemade popcorn, old fashioned stovetop style.
Grab a quick snack on the way home from elder tennis, instead, Bill managed to live without his bag of Lays until he got home and scarfed down some free real grub.
Get a massage after the run, instead, I sat on the massager and rubbed out all of the aches.
Again, the first weekend was not bad, as we expected. We are anxiously awaiting when we run out of normal provisions and we'll have to improvise. A task, I predict, that will challenge and frustrate Bill more than me or Cole.
PS: Bill has this aversion towards food that has expired dates, even though I have shown him articles that clearly state the dates are usually arbitrary and are used more for tracking than for freshness. Especially with canned goods and even some refrigerated items such as cheese, fruits, meats. Using your senses, such as sight, smell and common are better tools than manufacturer's dates. This might be the one issue that tears a huge gaping chasm in our otherwise perfect love nest.
Here are some of the activities we did this weekend that did not cost us a dime.
Cole and I participated in the Santa Anita race. I ran the 5K and he ran a 1/8 mile dash. Technically not free but because I registered in advance, but it was free in April.
Bill hung out with his Saturday Morning Old Man's Tennis Gang and played tennis.
Gave Kitty Claw a bath instead of taking her to a groomers.
Clean the house using no cleaning products except vinegar and baking soda. (I think Bill used Comet for the toilets, but I am totally ok with that because the Comet is free, plus I didn't have to clean the toilets.)
Additionally, we are learning how to replace the things we normally do, which costs bucks, with things that are free.
Go to the movies and watch I Love You, Man, instead, we watched 3 movies at home and I made homemade popcorn, old fashioned stovetop style.
Grab a quick snack on the way home from elder tennis, instead, Bill managed to live without his bag of Lays until he got home and scarfed down some free real grub.
Get a massage after the run, instead, I sat on the massager and rubbed out all of the aches.
Again, the first weekend was not bad, as we expected. We are anxiously awaiting when we run out of normal provisions and we'll have to improvise. A task, I predict, that will challenge and frustrate Bill more than me or Cole.
PS: Bill has this aversion towards food that has expired dates, even though I have shown him articles that clearly state the dates are usually arbitrary and are used more for tracking than for freshness. Especially with canned goods and even some refrigerated items such as cheese, fruits, meats. Using your senses, such as sight, smell and common are better tools than manufacturer's dates. This might be the one issue that tears a huge gaping chasm in our otherwise perfect love nest.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Lunch
I almost cried today during lunch. Ok, not really cried, but I kinda got annoyed at myself for allowing my rationed oatmeal to overflow in the microwave, wasting half of it.
I swear, if no one else was in the kitchen, I would have scooped up the spilled oatmeal right back into my bowl, but instead I almost cried. Even though it is only Day 2 of the spend free month, I already see a difference in my relationship with the things around me, especially food. Just 2 days ago, spilt oatmeal wouldn't have made a blip in my day, now I'm effing blogging about it.
I swear, if no one else was in the kitchen, I would have scooped up the spilled oatmeal right back into my bowl, but instead I almost cried. Even though it is only Day 2 of the spend free month, I already see a difference in my relationship with the things around me, especially food. Just 2 days ago, spilt oatmeal wouldn't have made a blip in my day, now I'm effing blogging about it.
First day!
Our first day of spend free April was yesterday and boy was it uneventful. It was like any other day except when we talked about going to the store and getting something, we would say, oh rats, it's spend free April, we'll just have to remember to get it next month.
This is a fool-proof method for saving money because we are both old and losing our minds. Neither one of us will remember what we needed to get by next month so we won't remember to spend money on it. Who knew Alzheimer's could be incorporated into a savings plan?
The tally for the day: $0.00
This is a fool-proof method for saving money because we are both old and losing our minds. Neither one of us will remember what we needed to get by next month so we won't remember to spend money on it. Who knew Alzheimer's could be incorporated into a savings plan?
The tally for the day: $0.00
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)