Furlough "Fun"

So. Back in October 2013, the government went over budget, or whatever, and put a lot of people on furlough, which is like vacation, but not paid, and you still have to work. Makes sense, right?

Because Pete works at a D.O.E. site, that means that the workers out there were going to be furloughed, except not work. Everyone out there FREAKED out. I mean, do you blame them? I'm including us in the freaking out group. We were like, does Pete look for a new job? Do I find a part-time job? We didn't know how long the furlough would last. I mean, he would still have a job, but just not get paid until the government was up and running again.

We ended up being fine. We had gotten a furlough notice letter in the mail, and it was going to be starting the next week. Thankfully, the government got things pulled together, and we didn't have to go on furlough.

We were lucky.

Now, I know that we didn't lose a job. Not even close. But that's the closest that I've felt to losing a job, and it was not a fun feeling. It made me take a really close look at our savings accounts, our budget, and our food storage. I felt like it was kind of a voice of warning, if you will. Like, how prepared are we for a financial disaster?

We worked really hard last year, and FINALLY got all of our debts (except mortgage) paid off. YAHOO! So that was kind of a relief. It's nice not having a car payment or whatever hanging over your head. But our savings would have held us through for maybe two months, which was a scary thought to me. I'd feel a lot better with 6 months of money (for like utility bills and whatnot), and 3 months of short-term food storage along with our long-term food storage.

I looked at our budget, and we live pretty minimally already: no cable, basic internet, no huge extravagances. So I knew that budget-wise we were doing all we could. Except...

Short-term food storage. We've purchased long-term food storage ("store and ignore"), which is stuff like wheat, rice, beans. I honestly haven't looked at it for years (it lasts in #10 cans for 30 or more years), and had to look up some of the stuff. Like, what in the world is germade? (Answer: pretty much like cream of wheat. Good to know.) But what about, like spaghetti sauce? Or even yummy things, like brownies? That's where the short-term storage comes in to play-stuff that you regularly eat, and rotate it through, like canned goods (canned corn, for example).

So, that's what I've been working on now. I've tried a few different things, and have been narrowing down what it is that I want to do. We had a lady come to our Relief Society meeting who talked about a shelf-stable three month food supply. She broke it down to 7 meals each of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then you get all the stuff for those like 12 times. So you eat each meal once a week and have enough for three months. I like the shelf-stable idea, because in case you lose power you don't have to worry about having things that would spoil (like in your fridge or freezer). She also talked about getting "just add water"-again, so you don't have to worry about adding eggs to something or whatever. Like muffin mixes-there are some you add all sorts of things to it, and ones where it only takes water to make.

I started looking at that. She had some ideas already. So I was like, "easy peasy, I'll just follow her list". But some of the stuff I know I would eat, but not necessarily Pete or my kids (like cream of wheat-I love it, but none of the rest of my family does).

Then I talked to another lady that was like, just write down everything you use in one week-meals, shampoo, etc., and just get that stuff over and over. Which I was like, okay, good idea, but again, there are some meals that I have that are SOOO not shelf-stable compatible.

Another strategy-write down everything I have in my pantry, and get a whole bunch of that. But I know myself, that I'd be like, what can I combine together for a meal? I need to know I have all the ingredients for a meal, and have it written down. So I think it's good to kind of do this, but kind of do the other, too.

So that's where I am right now. Like, kind of gathering things, but kind of not really specific meals so far. (Plus, I'm thinking I might need some more storage space, which is a whole different expense in itself.) So I've gotten Kraft Mac and Cheese, which my kids and I like for lunches sometimes. And pancake mix (the just add water kind). I've also been gathering more long-term storage stuff that I don't have, just so we can have some flavor, you know? Like, strawberry slices, and banana pieces. Just so I wouldn't lose my mind on MORE WHEAT AND BEANS-AGAIN.

Long story short, I hope that by the end of this year I have my three-month food supply. Of course, you need to rotate it through, but I hope I have a good amount going for us, and divided up into meals. I also hope to have more money in savings for us too. Because you never know when tragedy may strike (job loss, weather problem, or another furlough).

Photo a Day: Inside your Wallet

I once heard you can tell a lot about a person by looking in their wallet, or their garbage can. I really don't know if either of those are true. But here's my wallet:

Pretty empty. Minimalist? Boring? Plain? No personality? Hmmmm.

On the left, my checkbook. Also on the left, in a little side flap, are pics of my kids. In the middle, the change holder (it currently has 26 cents in it), and cards: temple recommend, health insurance cards, my library card. On the right, my license and debit card.

Every once in a while, there's actual cash in there. But it's usually 5s or 1s for kids' allowances. (Which, they don't get paid unless they do their chores. So I don't know if that's called an allowance or a payday.)

I also used to have a credit card, until I realized that having that in there made me spend more money than I should. So now I don't even carry it so I'm not tempted.

And, I'm still old school in the fact that I still write everything down in my check register, including debit usage and auto drafts (even though it's all on my bank account online, which I check every few days). And I have to know where I'm at to the penny (I've tried rounding, it doesn't work for me).

My wallet sits in my purse, which is equally empty. Sometimes there are receipts in my purse-until I get them written in my register, that is. I also have two pens, lip balm, hand sanitizer, keys, and breath mints.

Yeah, I'm going to go with minimalist, to make myself feel better.

Photo a Day: Mail

Our mail is usually pretty boring. Ads, more ads, and bills. A couple of weeks ago, however, we got this in the mail. It made my stomach turn.

If you can't see what that says, it's a collection notice.

If you know me at all, you know that I NEVER pay my bills late. EVER. Nor would I ever skip out on paying somebody.

Back in October, we switched internet providers, because our internet was super slow. (Although right now, with our new internet, my computer is still being really slow. Maybe it's my computer. But either way, it's annoying.)

So I paid our last bill to the old company, and sent in our modem. A month later (November), I got an email notice from them saying I owed them for the modem - like I had kept it, so they were charging us for keeping it. So I called, gave them all the information about how I sent it in. Supposedly they took the charge off, and all was well.

I didn't hear another peep from that company. Until a couple of weeks ago.

You know, that's the one thing I don't get. Why didn't the company try to get ahold of me first, instead of just sending stuff to collections and ding my credit? I didn't get any phone calls, or emails, or anything. Awesome.

After getting this notice, I called the company, and got it all straightened out on their end. And then I called the collection company.

I told the guy on the phone that there had been a mistake, and that I didn't actually owe the company that money - they had charged me for something that I didn't owe to them. He was all, "Well, you should pay us anyway, and then I'm sure they can get you a refund." And I replied, "I don't want to wait around and have to hound them for another four months trying to get a refund on something that I don't owe in the first place!" Very frustrating.

Anyway, I called again last week. And the charge was removed from the internet company. I called the collection company, and the charge was cleared with them too.

So yes, it's all taken care of. But I LOVE doing other people's jobs for them.

In One Month From Today...

...my vision will no longer look like this without contacts/glasses:

(This picture was titled "blurry mess".  I find that to be a very apt title, for both the picture and my current eyesight.)

Yes, that's right.  After much saving, and whining, and setbacks, and extra work to get the money, I have finally succeeded in accumulating enough money to get my beloved laser eye surgery.

Say it with me: WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Because I have astigmatism, and have to wear toric lenses (which kind of help the shape of your eyeball), I have to abstain from wearing contacts for three weeks so my eyes...unshape.  Or something.

Today is day 1 of wearing my glasses again.  Since I got contacts in...8th grade, I've pretty much worn them and NOT glasses.  Here and there, sure, but not constantly.  So after all day of glasses-wearing my ears hurt, because they're not used to having large thingies hanging out behind them.

Also, putting on my makeup this morning was really...exciting, since I couldn't really see what I was doing.

But what is for reals exciting is the fact that I'll be able to see my alarm clock in the morning, and not have to have it 6 inches from my face and I'm still squinting to read the numbers.  It will be exciting to not have to stick my finger in my eye twice a day and blinkety-blink a little clear disk around.  It will be exciting to actually be able to see the big "E" on the eye chart, instead of just knowing that it's down at the end of the room, and only see a big gray blur.

Speaking of "E": my brain, after setting the appointment today, went "EEEEEEEEE!" with giddiness.  (That doesn't sound right.  With "gid"?  Hmmm.  Happiness?  I mean, I would say "excitement", but now that's just overused in this post.  But you know what I mean.)

Let the countdown begin!

Out Cold

Well, it's done.  My old fridge kicked the bucket, if you will.

It had been coming for a long time.  I first mentioned The Leak in this post.  That was almost three years ago.

Then I wrote a letter to my fridge here.  Apparently it couldn't read.

Really, my fridge should have been ashamed a bit, having to use a bed pan to catch its leaks.

This fine tupperware sat in the back of my fridge and caught all the water coming down from my freezer.

I must say, I won't miss hacking out the layers of ice that would build up on the inside of my freezer, either.  Sure, it was a great way to get out aggression, but having ice fly around by my eyes as I chop away at it may not be the best hobby out there.
So, out with the old, in with the new!  Thus:

It's...just so pretty! *sniff*

My mom and my sister both have the freezer-on-the-bottom fridges, and I'm a fan.  Plus, I don't have to bend clear over when I want to get cheese or veggies out any more.

It's bigger than my old one.  And the door holds a full gallon of milk.  It's awesome.

The only downside: buying the fridge has cut significantly into my laser eye surgery fund.  I blame my old fridge for being selfish.

Memory Monday: Part-Time Model

My freshman year of college was oh-so-fun!  We would stay up till all hours, and do some of the craziest things.

During that year, I started to wonder where I would get the funds to keep going to college.  My freshman year I had a one-year scholarship to get me in-state tuition.  But I had no idea if I was going to stay and apply for residency (the rules were a lot less strict then than they are now), or...what.

At one point, I had a note up on my cork board.  It looked a little like this:

How to Pay for College 

sell a kidney on the black market

get another scholarship

take a year off and work

marry a Utah resident

convince my parents to move to Utah so I can get residency

rob a bank

Our school's joke of a newspaper would run help wanted ads, but sometimes I wondered if they were jokes.  There was always one for posing nude for an art class.  There was another for milking cows on someone's farm.  And the one that my roommate, floormate, and I decided that we'd actually go and check out.

The ad said, "Models needed!  All shapes, all sizes!"  Something like that.  We decided to call, just because.  We knew it would never turn into anything, but we were curious.

Between the three of us, we had the "all sizes" part of the ad down. My roommate, Stacy, was super tall and very athletic. She was from Las Vegas. The floormate, Becky, was teeny tiny-maybe about 4'10".  A lot of people thought she was, like, 12, because she looked really young.  She was from Fargo, North Dakota.  And then there was me-somewhere in between the tall and the short.

Becky from Fargo, ND

 

Me and Stacy from Las Vegas

We went down to where the "try-outs" were at.  They wanted us to bring a picture of ourselves.  Of course, not knowing how it all works at the time, we just brought little wallet-sized pictures, instead of big 8x10 head shots in a portfolio.  The "studio" was in the basement of some random building.  We walked through a hallway, and into the first room.  In there was a catwalk.  There was a really tall guy, walking back and forth on it.  He was practicing his turns.  It reminded me of Zoolander.  Then we went into the next room, which was an office.

The lady had us fill out all this paperwork.  And then she asked us for our pictures.  The whole time I had to hold back my laughter.  But I'm sure when she saw our "head shots" she had to hold her laughter back as well.  After we were done with paperwork, she began her interviews.  If you can call it that.

She started with Stacy.  She basically called her fat (which she wasn't) and told her that she might be a good plus-size model.  Ouch, right?  Then she moved to Becky, who she told could maybe model little kids' clothes.  Ouch again.  And then it was my turn.  She told me I was too short to model, but I should try acting.  Yee-haw.

What. A. Joke.

"All shapes, all sizes"?  They should have said, "All shapes and sizes if you want us to insult you".  Or "All shapes and sizes if you are between 5'9" and 6'2" and weigh 80 pounds".

We left, and just...started laughing hysterically.  We thought the whole thing was so funny.  Becky was all, "How about I chop my hair extra short and model 10-year-old boys' pants for JCPenney?!?!?"  And I was all, "Yes, I'm going to win the next Oscar!"

Good times, my friends.

I did end up getting a summer job at Zuka Juice in Logan, which helped take care of my financial woes for schooling (earning money in a legitimate way, and getting Utah residency at the same time).  I'm glad I didn't have to be a part-time model.

Money Money Money By the Pound!

Check it out:

These are some of the bills from Pete's kidney stone adventures.

And here's a list:
First emergency room trip: $1,160
Second emergency room visit where they didn't help Pete in ANY way: $973
First surgery that didn't work: $13,238
Second surgery: $15,377
One doctor bill: $5,056
Another doctor bill: $926

We're still waiting for 3 or 4 more bills to come from that whole awesome week.  But the total so far is...wait for it...

$36,730

No, I did not misplace my comma.  And the photographic evidence shows I'm not lying about the numbers.  It's too bad we have to pay, even when we don't get anything out of it.  Grrr about that.

So, to sum up:

Kidney stone week: $36,730, plus pain and agony and stress.

Aftereffects: still agony and stress

Health Insurance: priceless

Kidney Update

So, Pete had surgery Tuesday morning. When they went to get his stone, it went back up into his kidney.

*sigh*

The anesthesia made him really sick, and kind of made him trip out, I think. I visited him early in the afternoon, and he was just staring at the wall, all hunched over. Me: Pete, how are you doing? Pete: I feel weird. Me: Are you nauseous? Are you in pain? Pete: I feel weird. Me: Can I help you out somehow? Pete: I feel weird.

Quite the productive conversation.

Later he felt better. And now he knows to never do drugs.

Pete will probably feel like crap again today, because he had to go in and get his kidney blasted with sound waves to break up the stone this morning.

When the nurse, named "Loopy" (no joke) was checking Pete in, she asked if we had a living will. I said, "No, but I know what to do if something goes wrong," and made the slit-your-neck motion. Loopy said, "I told my husband he wasn't allowed to die, that I'd keep him around somehow." I'm all, "Like stuff his dead body?" Loopy: I had four little kids. I needed help. Me: "Kids, if you don't behave, you'll have to go sit on Dead Dad."

I really hope this is the last of it. Going to the hospital over and over is getting a little old.

Oh, and if anyone has any money they don't need, feel free to send it my way. Because dang.

Vampires, Wrecks, Money, and Blessings

Vampires.


No, I'm not talking about these vampires.


Nope, not these guys either.



I'm talking about these vampires. You know, the people that only come out in the early morning or late at night. They aren't searching for blood, but for good deals. They aren't armed with venom and sparkly skin, but with binders. Binders full of coupons. Coupons that can get them cheap stuff, or even stuff for free.

I've been bitten by the coupon bug. And I like it. I think I might be addicted. I talked about this bug briefly in this post. And I must say, it's been going really well. I haven't necessarily taken money out of my bottom line yet, but I have been getting way more stuff for that same amount of money. And my heart does a little leap of joy.

The habits of the coupons ladies, I have discovered, is that they shop early in the morning, or late at night. I've joined those ranks, mostly because I stand in the aisle of the grocery store doing math in my head, and pulling coupons out of my binder, and arranging my groceries into transactions in my cart. And I don't want too many people staring. (Yes, there are times and stores when you have to do more than one transaction. I never would have thought that I'd be the type to run to two different Albertsons, just to find some cereal.)

So yes, it's a lot different than how I used to shop even two months ago. But it's been paying off. I've even gotten some stuff for free.

And, in general, I've saved 50-ish% on my groceries. (Well, right now, like I said, I'm spending about the same. So I guess you could say instead I'm getting twice as much stuff.)

Wrecks.

Sad to say, today while I was leaving Albertsons, and heading to Walgreens and then Smiths in my quest for cheap grocery items, I got in a wreck. Not a huge one-we were in the parking lot. But the lady hit me in just such a way as to make my car immovable: she T-boned my front passenger wheel. I don't know for sure yet, but it looks like we might have to get an axle replaced. YAY for expensive car repairs! Oh, and we're down to one car for the next who-knows-how-long, because our insurance doesn't cover car rental, and there's no way that I'm going to spend $50 a day on car rental. Because that's not a racket.

Money.

However. I read this awesome book called The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This is an awesome read for anyone and everyone. I loved reading it, and not just because I'm into finance stuff. He had some really interesting statistics and great stories. Basically, he sets out an order of things to do with your money-baby steps, if you will. And because I had started doing the baby steps, we have enough money set aside to cover our car insurance deductible in what is called...wait for it...an emergency fund. Imagine that. Not that I'm looking forward to having that money leave us, but at least it's there, for this very scenario. I think I might have to write Dave a thank you note or something.

Blessings.

Now, even though I got in a wreck, (and let's be honest, who would want to get in a wreck?), I'm glad for several things that at least have occurred to me.

1) I'm glad I was alone, and not in a wreck with my kids in the car with me.

2) We were in a parking lot. No one was hurt. I had even felt prompted to pray last night really hard that we would all be safe. And I think that that's why this wreck was not a big deal-my Heavenly Father was looking out for me.

3) My dad came and got me. I have awesome parents.

4) I realized that I have so very much, including a car that gets to get repaired.

5) I have been feeling prompted, to the point of overwhelming pushing, that I need to get our finances in order. This feeling even started before reading that book, but it's been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. And I'm so very glad, because if I hadn't been feeling that way, we absolutely would not have had money sitting in the bank for emergencies. (Stupid, I know, especially for someone that graduated in finance.) The company for which Pete works has a contract at the Site, and in May 2012 that contract ends; we have no idea at that point whether things will dramatically change for us or whether things will stay the same. I don't know if that's why I've been pushed, or if there is something else in our future that is coming our way that we need to be ready for. But I'm so grateful for being pushed to save, and pushed to be smart with our money.

And for being pushed to become a "vampire".

Brave New World

I'm the kind of person that likes to start a project, and finish the project, without having other projects that are half completed.

My current life? So not like that right now. And it drives me crazy. I have a bunch of half-way, kind of started, PROJECT projects laying about. Like, big humongous, can't tackle in one sitting kind of projects.

For instance, I've started in on my genealogy. That's not just a one hour, or one day, or one week project. It's actually kind of an ongoing thing.

Or painting. Sure, I got Ivy's room done, but I have a huge 5-gallon thing of paint, sitting in my kitchen, just waiting. Waiting for me to clean walls and fix dings and move furniture and cover up carpet in my downstairs family room, and get kids out from under my feet so I can paint the dang white walls a beautiful blue already.

Scrapbooking. Neverending. About, oh, two plus years behind on that now.

Anyway, because I'm crazy, or JUST NOT BUSY ENOUGH, I've taken up a new "hobby", if you will.

Couponing.

Week after week, I'd go grocery shopping. And week after week, I'd get more and more frustrated at the prices of the items that I'd be buying, and my grand total.

I had heard the whole schpeal before: get coupons, hit the sales, yadda yadda. But I had never put forth the effort. Then my cousin and his wife came up not too long ago, and my cousin starts bragging to my dad about his wife's mad shopping skills, how she can literally come home from the grocery store with a car full of groceries, having not spent a single dime. And I got all jealous, and motivated, and thinking, maybe I can do that too.

So I started. And it sucks.

Don't get me wrong. It's good. And I'm still very motivated. But that first Sunday, when I sat down with 5 newspapers, attempting to separate ads and coupons and all that, it took me hours upon hours to get through it all. That was two weeks ago. Last week was better. It didn't take me as long, and I actually found some things that I knew were a good price, and was able to actually match up a coupon with a sale. (Yes, singular. But hey, I'm still just starting out.)

I figure if I can save even $25 a week on groceries, that's $100 a month. That's my starting goal. The first week, I spent just as much on groceries, but I got a ton of frozen chicken (it would normally have cost me $60 to get the amount of chicken that I spent $28 on). Last week I spent about $20 less than I normally would have. And this last shopping trip, I spent $103 but saved $100. YAY! I also got hot dogs, which normally I'd spend $1 on a package, but each package was 38 cents instead. So, thus far, I'm shooting about 50% off on 50% of my grocery needs. That's not too bad. Not too good, either, but I'm just starting out.

I've realized that this new "project"/way of life is going to be slow going. That I'm sure I'll get frustrated. And, I hate shopping, and making several stops. I know that there will be a big learning curve. But, I love saving money. I love that I feel smarter with my money. I know that there are a lot of ladies out there that know the system, and can help me out. I know I'll get better at it. And even if I can't hit $0, at least I'll be spending less than what I was.

Coupon world, here I come!

Reasons to Dance

-Brock went to the dentist for the first time. He screamed. A lot. It was kind of like when he rode the dragon ride at the fair. (Nooooo! I, don't, WAAAAAANNNNNT TOOOOO!) But then we convinced him to sit in the chair and go up and down. Then I counted his teeth for him. Then the dental hygienist started with her mirror and pick, and all of a sudden: "That feels good." He ended up doing everything but the X-rays.

-I signed Jakob up for a hip-hop class. We were originally going to have him take karate, but we're thinking the dancing thing is more down his alley right now. His first class was on Monday, and he loved it.

-We refinanced our house. It went a little like this: "Hey. How about we knock 11 years off your mortgage? Oh, and we'll also take 1.5% off the interest rate for you, too. Is that okay? And we're thinking we'll give you some cash back, which you'll use to pay off another debt you have. Also, it's only about $300 more a month, is that too much? And doing this will cut out October's house payment for you. How does that all sound?" Um, yeah. They really had to twist our arms to get us to sign the papers.

-I've found some awesome sites lately. Check 'em out: Item Not As Described, People Of Walmart (thanks, Marci!), Emails From Crazy People (mind the f-bombs), Lovely Listings, Passive-Aggressive Notes, Probably Bad News, and Awkward Family Photos. Hilarity ensues.

And here are our little dance machines getting all crazy. (Some of the sweetest moves are between 1 and 2 minutes. I wish I knew how to edit down videos.)

What Can $50 Buy?

For $50, Pete's work buddy bought his World of Warcraft characters and all their stuff. (Pete, are you ever gonna blog about that?)

And because we were all sorts of thrifty, we immediately went out and blew it all! But this is what it got for us:

Three Happy Meals from McDonald's, and two adult meals at Bajio's (YUM!)...


...tickets to the movie theater to see Bolt which was...okay. It was showing at the cheapos. The two youngest slept the whole time, Pete even dozed off, and the two older boys were all "Can we go yet?" Needless to say, it's probably not a buyer. But still kind of cute. And we also got...




...the new album by The Fray. Pete loves them, and I like most of their stuff.

We also rented Fireproof, which I really liked. It's a Christian film starring Kirk Cameron (Mike Seaver!). It's about a couple that are on the verge of divorce. I think it's really universal, because they fought about chores, and money, and addictions, and proper work relationships, and how to spend spare time. It talks about "never leave your partner behind", and loving someone no matter what. I just realized I've seen a lot of movies lately. Hmm.

Yep, a good (expensive) weekend.

Cut!

So. I've been making an effort to save money recently, mostly in the food aspect. Some weeks I do great, like this last grocery trip. I bought two weeks' worth of groceries (I may have to go back for milk, but otherwise good to go) and came in $25 under budget. Woo hoo! Other weeks...well, we won't go into details. "Dismal" is a good description.

What I would like, my dear friends, is some meal ideas of the dinner variety. Cheap. Easy. Hey, I'll even start:

Shepherd's Pie
1 lb. ground burger, browned
1 can cut green beans, drained, or 1 can corn, drained
1 can tomato soup
salt and pepper, to taste
4 servings of instant mashed potatoes

Combine the burger, green beans/corn, soup, and salt and pepper in a casserole dish. Prepare the potatoes; scoop and spread on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

See? Easy: a dump together dish. Cheap: overall, the cost is probably around $4-5. And nutritious to boot. So if you would be so kind, could you please share some ideas with me? And if you don't want to type out the full recipe in a comment, just maybe tell me what you make to point me in the right direction, and I can look up recipes online or in my small assortment of cookbooks.

I Want My Two Dollars!

The other day I went to Payless to get the boys new Sunday shoes. After all, Brock was wearing a 6 1/2, and now he wears 9 1/2. Squeezed toes must be a great feeling. And we saw these $3 shoes for Jakob. He instantly fell in love. With $3 shoes! They even had Iron man shoes there (which he didn't, uh, get a chance to see...ahem).


Jakob's school had a fundraiser-selling cookie dough. I bought some really overpriced buckets of dough, and after a billion years of thawing I had my doubts as to how good they would actually be. Now I'm a believer. I have a hunch this batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies won't last long today in our house.


The pan I've used all of 3 times. Remember, sometimes cheaper means crappier. Maybe the pan makers are under the impression that flakes of pan coating can be good for you or something.


Oh, and my leaky fridge? Turns out it was a leaky freezer leaking into the fridge. The guy came and "fixed" it. It was leaking again last night. I want my (way more than) two dollars!!

The other day we went to Wendy's for dinner, because I'm a fabulouso dinner-planner-aheader. They didn't give us the frosty at first, and then when we got home we realized our fries were missing. Doh! Just another day in the life of my crappy customer service karma.

And, have you seen "Better Off Dead"? Hilarious! "We have Fraunch toast, and Fraunch bread, and Fraunch fries..."

Merry Christmas, Tuna!

This is Tuna.

Tuna got a new battery. And a new alternator.

Isn't Tuna lucky?

It's like the equivalent of me getting...new jeans. Really expensive new jeans. (Yes, I want new jeans for Christmas. Probably not happening now, thanks to Tuna's break-down. No, I'm totally not bitter. Not that my jeans would cost as much, but every little penny blah blah blah.)

Yes, it could have been worse. Yes, it's a 10 1/2 year old car. No, we don't have a monthly car payment, so I need to count my blessings. But still, Christmastime? I guess I would prefer around tax refund time, so we would actually have the extra money.

Well, THAT Sucked

So, I just got back from the store. And my land! Are we all suddenly supposed to be billionaires? It seems that way with how much everything costs!

Now, I should be grateful, because 1) I got everything I needed, 2) I got about two weeks worth of groceries for about the cost of one week's worth, and 3) when I got home and put food away my pantry was extra full. (Number 3 could be because the pantry is really disorganized right now, but that's beside the point.)

But...I couldn't get anything "extra". I wanted to buy some bananas and apples, but I couldn't, because we're officially at 0 dollars until two weeks from now when we get paid again. Just the way the chips (bills) fell this pay period. So I got the necessities. I just hope I have enough formula to last for the next two weeks-Ivy sucks down a lot of formula. And diapers. Buying cheese, which we need in our house as much as the air we breathe, was almost painful because it was so expensive. I wanted to buy Halloween candy, but no way that was happening. We'll just have to turn out the lights and hide in our basement Halloween night. Or just be conveniently gone or something.

It just kind of makes me a little torked at the big wig Wall Street guys boo-hooing about their billionaire status going to millionaire status. Oh, wah! Would you like some cheese with that whine??? Because the average Joe is who is getting kicked in the butt the most with all this recession stuff. Gas, food, electricity...all the real necessities are jumping up cost-wise.

Okay, I'm going to stop ranting now. I'm getting myself too worked up to go to bed. Right now I hate thinking about money...or the lack thereof. Ugh!

If Ye Are Prepared...

No, I don't live anywhere a hurricane would reach.

Nor do I live anywhere near Tornado Alley.

BUT...

You know that year's supply of food storage that every family is supposed to have? We're nowhere close to that, either.

Today I'm going to change that. I'm going to rearrange finances the best I can to start building up our food storage. Because if something were to happen, we'd last maybe two weeks. Maybe. That's pathetic.

The plan: I'm going to come up with 14 dinners that are easy that my family likes. We'd only have to eat the same meal 26-ish times in a year. I'll also come up with 4-5 breakfasts and 4-5 lunches as well.

My parents gave us 72-hour kits a couple of years ago for Christmas. I haven't even opened them to see what all is in it. I know I need to add things like clothes and diapers.

The tools: There's a website called Your Family Ark that you can figure out how much of everything you need.

The goal: By the end of this year (2008), I want to have at least two months' worth of food storage. In 12 months' time, I hope we have a whole year's worth. We'll have to see how far money actually goes in this endeavor.

Wish me luck!

(I'm hoping by posting about this, it will get me motivated to keep on top of it. Maybe I'll have to do monthly updates or something.)

Update: I'm thinking having a year's worth in a year's time is REALLY ambitious. Maybe in 18-24 months? We'll have to see how it all pans out.