This past year, my husband and I have been making a diligent effort to eat at home more, be more frugal and careful with our extraneous spending, and cut back on frivolous wants. I’m seeing progress in our overall budget. According to my QuickBook’s expense and income bar graph, we’ve spent much less this year than last, even though we didn’t make as much money. We’re moving in the right direction because of these following strategies:

• Grocery shopping at the 99-cent store. We are able to purchase soft drinks, Gatorade, and some bread and canned items for much less than at the grocery store.
• Reducing our driving. Recently, with the colder weather, I’ve been a little lazy about riding my bike, however I am still saving some gas by riding a few days a week to run errands or go to school or work.
• Reducing our wants. This is the first year that my husband has made an effort to reduce his wants;  he hasn’t gone out and purchased a new cell phone, he hasn’t wanted to purchase any electronics this year, and he has put his flat-panel television screen on hold indefinitely.

However, this weekend alone we spent over $50 on eating out, and the food wasn’t even that great. Actually, the food was pretty crappy! I analyzed how this happened by asking myself why we chose to eat out and consume greasy, horribly prepared food. The answer was simple: my husband, who works at home, wanted to get out of the house. He was feeling cooped up.  Our solution to this problem was to go out and eat! We could have chosen something more active, like a bike ride through the park, or a visit to a museum. But the cooler weather and time of day, evening, limited our activities down to going out to eat. That’s all we could come up with (and I was hungry!)

I realize that to really stick to our budget, and continue reducing our overall cost of dining out, I need to come up with some creative and fun activities that don’t revolve around food. So, I’m making a list to help me remember what options we have to solve our home-bound problem:

• Bike riding in the park with gloves, hat, and scarf. My husband enjoys this activity, as long as it isn’t too cold or too dark out.
• Getty Museum. This is one of our local, free museums. This is primarily a daytime activity, but early evening could work as well.
• Roller Skating. There’s a roller rink not too far from our house that my husband has been dying to check out. The prices aren’t too terribly steep, I think it would cost less than eating out and be way more fun.
• Board Games. We packed all of our board games when we thought we were moving to a less expensive living arrangement. However, I think I know where they are, so I can easily unpack them.
• Candy Cane Lane Cruising. This is seasonal, but a neighborhood only a few miles away from me is known for decking out their houses in Christmas lights. Between now and New Year’s this might be a great weekend activity.
• Playing Pool. Not too far from our house is a large pool hall. I’m guessing that a few rounds of pool and a couple of beers wouldn’t be that costly.

I’m stumped at this point. This is our problem, thinking of things to do at night that are inexpensive and nearby. With the holiday season near, we have a few holiday parties to attend, so that will get us out over the next several weeks. But after the holidays are over, we’ll be back to racking our brains for inexpensive, fun activities.

What activities entertain you and your loved ones in the evening that take place out of the house? Am I clearly missing some things from my list?

Windfalls in My Pocketbook

A couple of days ago, GetRichSlowly.org wrote an article about how saving large amounts on items, like refinancing a mortgage, can really add up to savings in your bank account. I guess my mailbox was listening, though it really wasn’t something I saved money on, because a large check I’ve been waiting on finally arrived. I knew that it was coming, but it was so late that I had kind of put it out of my mind. I had already budgeted all of our expenses for this month without that check. This means that 2/3 of this check will be deposited into our savings account.

On a side note, one of the pitfalls of owning your own business is being dependent on clients to pay their invoices in a timely manner. Sometimes, especially if the client is new, we will require a deposit to begin the project. However, some of our long term customers, who are in good standing, pay the bill in full when the project is complete. This year, because the economy has been so depressed, it is taking even our good clients a little longer to pay their bills, making us shuffle a little more than usual.

But back to savings, I have been really good with the 10% rule this week, my new goal for this year. A few smaller invoices have rolled in and I have promptly transferred 10% of the total to my savings account. Thank goodness for the ease of the internet, with a few clicks of the mouse, I can schedule a transfer within in minutes. With the new windfall, I will be able to stick more than 10% of it into savings, closer to 2/3 will be shoved in there. The other 1/3 will be set aside, perhaps for a used work truck that my husband would like to purchase, this hasn’t been completely thought out yet.

The 10% rule has been easy to follow so far because the invoices have been under $500. So each saved amount totaled somewhere between $50 and $15. Small enough amounts that don’t make a difference in our total spending, but do make a difference in our savings when I add them up. This week I have another large check coming in, the 10% rule should also apply to it as well, but it will be a more significant figure, more like $470. This kind of amount I will notice removed from our regular checking account, our main account that we use for everyday purchases and bills. However, because I have budgeted our monthly bills and the income we have coming in this month, that 10% shouldn’t affect our monthly spending. I should even be able to pay down our line of credit by $400 – $500 this month as well.

The trick to all of this is budgeting, click here for my most recent budget outlined.

My husband and I have been really saving on our groceries. We’ve been scouring the 99-cent store for dry goods, bread, and even some vegetables like lettuce. We then hit our regular grocery store for meat, milk, and some frozen goods. I have been able to get my lunches down to under $2.00, and my breakfast for under $.25. My weekly meals are pretty monotonous, but it works for me. Here is a breakdown of my Monday – Friday breakfast and lunch menu:

• Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oatmeal, a few dried cranberries, and brown sugar. I put all of these ingredients into a small Tupperware container, then just add hot water. Very healthy. Total Cost: $.20 (my large oatmeal and dried cranberries cost about $9.00, but lasts 2 months- or 40 working days)
• Lunch: 1 cup of Easy Mac macaroni and cheese, one cup of applesauce (no sugar added), one small bag of animal cookies. Somewhat healthy, the mac and cheese is a little high in sodium. Total Cost: $1.59

I also usually have a snack in the late afternoon, like cereal (I am a cereal lover and have always been!) For dinner, my husband and I usually have tacos (turkey or beef, which ever is on sale), hamburgers, spaghetti, chili and cornbread, or something easy and inexpensive. My husband also gets creative with the ingredients we have lying around and will make pizza using homemade pizza dough, or purchase a Bobelli pizza crust, throwing on fresh veggies for the toppings. Last night, to help get rid of the sniffles,  we had hot and sour soup and spring rolls. The spring rolls were frozen, made by the Chung brand, and very good, we were quite surprised.

Queso on the Grill

Eating so inexpensively allows us to splurge occasionally. For instance, my husband loves cooking outdoors. On the weekends, when the weather is sunny, warm, and perfect, he’ll purchase baby back ribs or sirloin steak and marinate them for a full day. After the spices have thoroughly soaked in, he’ll grill them to perfection.  We also include veggies to go with our meal, or a salad.

You’ll notice that I didn’t mention cooking myself, not once. That’s because I don’t cook. The extent of my cooking boils down to heating up pre-made garlic bread or making an easy mix corn bread, both side items. Main meals are generally my husband’s fortay. Luckily my husband knew this before we were married, so it’s never been an issue. Thank goodness for frozen meals, too!

I’m the expert on running on fumes. To be more specific, I run on fumes in a number of ways. Let me count them for you:

1. I can go about 3 hours in the morning on a Starbucks coffee alone. No food, just java juice, teaching 5- and 6-year old’s how to read up until their recess time. I run my body on a highly caffinated and sugary drink. (Sometimes this includes a 45 minute bike ride to school on a beautiful day).
2. I work a total of 12 hours a day, if I include my travel time. I start the work day at 8am (no travel included here) and finish around 6:30 pm or 7pm, depending on the day. I teach, I help my husband with his graphic design business, I post daily, and I have homework to complete. I rarely have time to breathe, let alone have a sit-down meal. (There’s a trend building here I think).
3. I can stretch our bank account dollars until our next payment arrives, whether it’s a client we’re waiting on, or my monthly (yes, monthly) paycheck. The most frustrating part of owning your own business is the infrequent payments; some clients pay within a week or two, others pay on a monthly basis, and still others take their time and pay when they feel like it, pushing 45 – 60 days at times.
4. I can hyper-mile our car until the gas light has been on for a full day running on fumes, or ride my bike if I feel like not filling that day. This isn’t as difficult for my husband and me since he works from home and rarely needs our one vehicle, and I enjoy biking to and from work or school.

I’ve always been a very active person, I can’t sit still for very long or remain unproductive. I’m not ADD or ADHD, I know what this looks like, I can actually focus on tasks and complete them. I just like to stay busy. I’ve been like this since I was a child; playing outside until the street lights came on, babysitting when I was a teenager, working two jobs or more jobs when I was attending college for my BA in my early 20’s. It’s very difficult for me to just sit.

Full Speed Ahead

Most friends and family members comment on my fast-walking pace as I zip around the neighborhood, school, or store. I physically can’t walk slowly, it hurts my hips, which you would think would be just the opposite. Whether I’ve eaten a balanced, nutritious meal, or I’ve only had my sugary Starbucks drink, my speed remains the same: full speed ahead.

When my husband and I visit our families, we become restless while the television is blasting in the background and our relatives are in a vegetative state on the couch. We fidget and squirm until we finally get up and leave for a bike ride, or a drive to the store, or a bar for a drink (not that I’m a big drinker – I’m always the designated driver, a complete tee-totatler). With the holiday season coming up, we’re making our plans and dreading the family visits. We love our families, but we don’t necessarily like how they celebrate the holidays, in front of the TV! So, we must decide how we are going to keep busy, active, and productive over the holiday season, whether I’m running on fumes or a full tank.

I’ve recently been reading Jonathan Kozol’s Shame of the Nation as an assignment for one of my teaching credential courses. Lately, I’ve only had time to read books that have been assigned, and not so much for pleasure. However, I find Shame of the Nation intriguing and pleasurable to read. One particular chapter described how state testing and test results have molded school curriculum’s, primarily in urban schools, towards a utilitarian type teaching model. Meaning, the students were being taught in subjects that would eventually employ them in specific industries and businesses. The curriculum was also limited to what would be on the state test, so many children were lacking common knowledge of history and science. What particularly sparked my interest was Kozol’s opinion that these children were being boxed into a certain career path and had very few choices. Basically, they weren’t being taught how to think independently or creatively. His explanation of this method of teaching inner-city children, is that there worth was viewed as less important factors in the overall economy. (I’m summarizing his view point in this statement).

This lead me to thinking that these school-to-work programs, as they are called, are formed upon a consumer-based economy. What would happen if our economy changed and it wasn’t so consumer driven? How would these school-to-work programs succeed if there wasn’t a need for so many restaurant cooks at the Hilton (one particular school-to-work example in the book). My thought behind this is what is to come of our future generation if we gear them towards a specific trade, but then that trade doesn’t exist in the future?

Unemployment Chart - Google

Today,  I read an article in the Los Angeles Times that our nation’s unemployment figure is 9.8%, however, this may not truly reflect the entire unemployment rate. They estimated it could be as high as 17%! The article also went on to describe how our economy may be coming out of this recession, but the employment will most likely lag behind for some time to come. Our current economic model is based on consumers purchasing items. If consumers are out of work, or scared because they might lose their jobs, they aren’t spending their money on frivolous items. This ultimately affects our economy.

If people’s spending habits change, due to this recession, what will the future economic model look like? Will our economy shrink? Will people, who have lost their jobs, have to become creative thinkers and start their own business or freelance permanently? What will the students, who are enrolled in the school-to-work program, do once they graduate? If they haven’t been taught how to think independently, or creatively, or lack the skills outside of the trade they have been taught, what kind of future do they have?

I obviously have many questions and not many answers. My obvious solution to educating our future children is allowing them to think outside the box, be creative, get those higher-thinking skills in place. This is something state testing doesn’t test, nor is it something that can be measured in a standardized test. Of course students need solid reading and math skills for everyday activities and tasks, but they also need to be knowledgeable in history and science, and ask thought-provoking questions about things that interest them. If we want to continue to be a prominent country in a world economic model, we need to prepare children accordingly.

What are your thoughts about the future of our economy? Will our economic model change or shrink? Are there other successful economic models to compare ours to? Should children be viewed as assets and taught specific trades if they are viewed as not being capable of far greater things? I’m curious to know what other’s think, feel free to share your thoughts.