Tatum's Seventh Week

First--the weekly pic!

Seven weeks! I'll add the cute little words on her onesie when we get our other computer back...I miss Photoshop...

And now, for the start of our Tour de Tatum!

This is us the last night in our old place...

One of our pods packed to maximum capacity...

(more story later, we've got to get on the road!)

My trusty 4runner Max all loaded to the gills

My view for the next 2600 miles

Getting lost trying to find a taco bell...at least its beautiful! Seattle just had to throw us for one more loop!

Taking a break!

Trying to get the state sign...barely missed it!

We got to meet up with my cousin Michael and his wife Sarah and son Jadon near Portland

More to come later!

Living in Limbo

At the moment, Matt and I are waiting to hear if he's got a second interview at a store that's, quite literally, on the other side of the country.

The shortest driving distance is 2,850 miles, and if he gets it we'll probably be there by the first week in May.

We're really excited for this prospect as wherever we move will most likely be much more affordable on one salary, and if this doesn't pan out there's a few more opportunities that may open up for us to move before the baby is born in late July.

While this is great news long-term for us, in the short term it makes things a bit difficult to plan for.

I can't buy my plane ticket to California for my baby shower yet, because I'm not sure where I'll be coming from.

Do we spend $130 to renew our WA tabs, or wait a couple of weeks (while they're still not expired) and see if we need to be getting new state licence plates?

Our pantry/closet REALLY needs to be reorganized...but do I want to spend a few hours doing that if I'm just going to be packing it in boxes next weekend?

I want to make more soup, but should we spring for the Costco-sized portion of chicken stock that's a lot cheaper or do I pay more for each carton so we don't end up with 6 unused cartons?

As I'm looking at the immediate future I know I'll need to do a lot more meal planning, making my own household cleaners, and smart shopping to stretch our dollars. We know we can do it, since we've managed to kick our debt and build up about 3 months of emergency savings in a year and a half (and aren't we glad now!), but all of those frugal choices tend to be made with the long term in mind.

Meanwhile, if we do have to move it will be a very quick turnaround...not giving this pregnant full-time worker much time to plan, prepare, pack or clean.

Here's what we're trying to do in the short term, as we wait in this odd-limbo-time.

I'm trying to use up what's in the freezer and the pantry. Tonight we're probably going to go vegetarian and have Potatoes Romanoff that were made and frozen a couple weeks ago, with some sauteed asparagus and mushrooms before they go bad. Tomorrow I'm eyeing the half bag of navy beans and some frozen greens from last summer's CSA box for some sort of "anything soup." Not having been the biggest fan of chicken the first half of my pregnancy, I think its time stir-frys make a re-entrance as they're an easy way to throw together veggies, a protein and a carb in a short amount of time.

And Matt recently requested, yes, requested red beans, cornbread and fried okra for dinner. Not only is this something I was raised on and is definitely part of my comfort food list (I may be a California girl but my Mama's from Texas and raised us right on white gravy and chicken fried steak), but this is a pretty cheap meal to make from scratch. We may have to be making a weekly comeback of this meal as I have oodles of cornmeal, pinto beans are cheap and you can always find frozen okra. Plus its just darn good...oh man, now I want that for dinner.

The past two weekends I've made it a point to do a little bit beyond my regular house cleaning. Scuffs on the baseboards got wiped off, drains got cleaned out, the oven got a good scrubbing.  My thought is if I don't clean it now, I'll have to clean it later anyways. So, if we end up in a different state a month from now, I'm just saving myself future hassle of more cleaning.

We go through paper towels pretty slowly, and are nearing the end of our Costco-sized pack that we've had for almost a year. I'm trying to really stretch those last couple of rolls to avoid the high prices that single rolls in grocery stores cost. We have a cubby of rags and a bucket where wet/dirty ones go and it fills up fast every week...I can't imagine how many paper towels that would normally be!

Those are a few of the ways we're trying to not spend too much money while we wait in limbo. I'm sure there'll be a deluge of take-out pizzas and Torero's enchiladas if we do find we're moving and I'm coming home from work to pack until I go to sleep, but for now I'm trying to make do with what we have.

Any other tips you have for Living in Limbo?

Doing What You Love

Photo by Jenny W.



As most of you know, Matt and I have become very budget-conscious the past two years, and have worked hard to eliminate our credit card debt, build up some emergency savings, and are now chipping away at my student loans.

With all this stringency, however, we've definitely taken time and money to do things we enjoy...just for the heck of it. We have date nights and enjoy a nice dinner occasionally. We relish going to the movies (using our Entertainment coupons of course). And this past weekend while my cousin Amanda was in town, we jumped at the chance to get to do all the "touristy" things that are so fun to do (more on that later).

And, at the end of February, we're packing our bags and headed to Hawaii for 6 whole days of a babymoon! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for this! Other than our overnight stay on Bainbridge Island for our anniversary in 2009, this will be our first getaway that's for just the two of us since our honeymoon! Not that we don't love going to visit family or going to weddings, but it will be nice to have one trip before the baby arrives that will just be for us to enjoy each other's company. And I have to say, after 6 years of knowing this guy I still enjoy hanging out with him more than anyone else.

Our itinerary consists of:

Reading on the beach in the sun

Swimming in the ocean in the sun

Scanning the horizon for whales in the sun

Snorkeling around reefs in the sun

Sleeping on the sand in the sun

As you can see, we're excited to be in the sun. After months and months of wrapping ourselves in fleece and flannel and wearing two pairs of wool socks and a thermal base layer and fleece jacket in our house and sleeping with an electric blanket and watching tv swathed in a down comforter...we're a little excited to shed some layers and sunbathe.

We're from California, people, and I don't think the day I was born my skin was this fair. Its like reverse tanning. My legs may temporarily blind some of the locals in Hawaii, but they'll recover.

So yes, we're dipping a bit into our savings and are cutting back our budget this next month to pay for this trip, but that's when you have to weigh your priorities. For us, experiences are one of our top priorities. We've come to realize we want to use our "fun" money for memories that will last a long time, rather than some new physical item. When will be the next time just the two of us can sneak off to Maui? Probably not until our 20th anniversary, like my parents did! And the lovely thing is we still won't go into debt at all! See? Planning ahead does pay off!

What are your priorities? What is worth it to you to save your nickels and dimes for?

Aprons from the Giggling Gourmet

*UPDATE: After realizing I wanted a shop name that would reflect a variety of craft items, and after a lot of help during the naming contest I'm now The Ruffled Owl. You can check out my Etsy store here and the blog here*

If you haven't headed over to The Giggling Gourmet The Ruffled Owl yet take a look! I think I may try to start selling a few of my aprons, and last night I posted pics of my lovely models Carol and Eleni on the Aprons For Sale page you can find just below the header.

hee hee hee I love this pic!

I don't have prices yet cause I'm still working out how much it actually costs me and how much time I spend on it (in between working full time, walking the dog, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up, trying to spend quality time with my hubby...yada yada yada).  Anyways, I really enjoy making these so why not do its some more!

Oh, and there's a few new posts on Thursday Farms about Contentment and Telling Your Money Where to Go and how we FINALLY paid off our credit card debt! Hallelujah!

So head on over and check it out!

We Finished No Spend Month! (Albeit a bit early..)

We finished!

Okay, so we actually finished on Wednesday, July 28th because then I was headed out of town and my husband was hosting his parents and we didn't want to have absolutely nothing in the cupboards...but overall we did pretty good!

From July 1 to July 28th we spent $192 on food. (the last post said we were at $193 but looking over the accounts I saw one of the Safeway charges was actually for batteries) We were fortunate enough to get our CSA box of veggies so we ate a LOT of greens this month!

I actually found out I can only make 4 payments per billing cycle so we've just been putting money in a savings account and when August 6th hits we will be able to pay off ALL...did you hear me? ALLL our credit card debt! 

HALLELUJAH!!!

To bring you up to speed on the semi-interesting things in my life, Thursday morning while flying to Orange County I sat next to an interesting young man on the plane ride.

He looked to be about 12 with that gawky gangly hands-are-too-big age, but then I looked closer and he had the attempts of a beard. On his lap he clutched a big, fresh Bible. The whole plane ride he didn't read it, just sat clutching it like a talisman against anything bad happening. Turns out he was headed to LA to look at a Bible college so he must have been older than 12, but I still wanted to get him a sippy cup and pat his head and tell him things would be just all right.

After my parents picked me up we headed somewhere I could get a little taste of home cookin'...Souplantation!!! In however many years I've been going there, their Chinese chicken salad, focaccia bread and clam chowder tastes exactly the same. J met us there for lunch, and sometime during the course of discussion we talked about making your bed and whether or not you like the sheets smooth when you get in.  According to my brother, the best method is to never make your bed so you can get in and "scrinkle" the sheets up around you. My brother, the wordsmith.

Because we can't sit still, we then headed to Mark & Char's to help the bride-to-be "Shop at Char's." She was able to find nearly every single centerpiece item she needed within the boundaries of the house and yard. Amazing.

Then we were off to my Aunt's house for a BBQ and good times all around.  The best moment of the night came from when I was relating our No Spend Month to my Nana.  I mentioned having to make a few "creative" dishes and my brother, being curious about what we had managed to make, asked how I would rate those meals. With a tone showing just a bit of pride I said, "I'd say out of the whole month of meals, only two meals were about a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10."

Without missing a beat, Nana responds, "Despicable!"

I think we almost wet our pants laughing at that one. Nothing but the best for Nana!

That's all for today, stay tuned for Pics from the bonfire and J's "Folk n' Roll Concert!"

Oh..and that lovely wedding...but more on that later!

Last Week of No Spend Month!

Its the last week of No Spend Month! We start our financial week on Friday as that's our payday (we each get paid bi-weekly, but not the same week), and after another run to Trader Joe's we're at $193...$7 more dollars for 7 days!

I think I may have said originally we were going to try to go for a month on $150 but that hasn't really been possible for us so far, so we've been doing approximately $50/week. Most of that goes towards meat, dairy, eggs, breakfast items and fruit. And maybe a bottle of Two Buck Chuck ($3 up here in WA) if we have a bit extra.

One of the biggest challenges for us is that, since there's only the two of us, we don't really stockpile basics like flour, pasta, oil, beans, marinara, etc. I know some people who could go a year just eating what they had in their pantries, but by now ours is pretty bare.

I still have that can of water chestnuts I need to throw in a stir fry, and a can of pears I'll throw on a salad sometime, but other than that the stock is getting pretty low. Thankfully we had a 10 pound bag of organic brown rice, and a steady source of greens from our CSA, so we've been eating a lot of stir fry!

Here's a breakdown of what we got for this week's food supply:

As you can see we got some essentials (fruit, meat, dairy) with a few fun items like a beer or a bottle of wine. Tonight we're even splurging and having pizza which will cost us about $7 for two pizzas. But hey, its Saturday night and time to relax!

In other things we've tried to cut back as well. I'm running out of facewash so I've been using coconut oil and baking soda as a substitute sometimes. Watering down my shampoo and adding a bit of baking soda to that has helped stretch that out too. 

That's all the update so far...we may have to end No Spend Month a day or two early as I'll be headed to So Cal and enjoying time with my family, but we'll have accomplished our main goal, which was to kick most of our debt! You can head over to the Thursday Farm blog to check out our Debt-O-Meter and see how far we've come in a year! 

We're even thinking we'll do a bit more lenient version of the No Spend Month next month as well and finally get rid of all that Credit Card debt!

What the Kale?

So far on our no-spend month we've spent about $90 on groceries and have kept up chipping away at that debt.

Having our CSA veggies and fruit pre-paid is nice and we've got an abundance of kale at the moment. Here's a typical conversation between Matt and I in the evening.

Me: So...what do you want for dinner?

Matt: Oh, I don't know.

Me: That's helpful.

Matt: How 'bout chicken?

Me: Thank you for being specific...we have a lot of kale too...

Matt: Stir fry?

Me: Sounds okay to me. Its been two whole days since we had that.
(just kidding...kinda)

Joking aside we're blessed to have access to so much produce every week and are glad we signed up...since it forces us to eat our veggies.

I was not a veggie eater as a kid.

I liked three vegetables: corn, carrots and potatoes.

Basically anything that was sweet or starchy and you could smother in butter.

But then, Julia Child smothers a whole variety of vegetables in butter and they all taste good too...braised turnips anyone?

As I got older I realized I needed to be a bit more adult and eat salads...so I smothered them in ranch dressing and choked them down.

Then I discovered what baby spinach looked like...and that I actually liked it. And then Matt brought home mushrooms one day (which I never liked since they were usually tasteless and slimy), and after a quick saute in olive oil with salt and pepper I found I was in love with mushrooms.

Our affair with veggies got progressively worse (better?) from there.

During the summer months (used to be year round but we're trying to eat with the seasons now) we would glut ourselves on zucchini and squash.

I bought an eggplant because it looked pretty and figured out how to make it taste pretty too.

I even began using *gasp* onions and tomatoes. The former I love the flavor but hate the crunch so I chop them up into itty bitty pieces. Tomatoes are the opposite...its just the flavor that I can't stand. So I mask it with curry or Italian herbs or anything else.

One time at a farmer's market I was walking with my Mom and a friend. As we passed a display of those gorgeous heritage tomatoes in a rainbow of colors, my friend tried a sample. Her face lit up and she handed it to my mom, who mmmmed as well. They handed it to me.

I don't like tomatoes.

But these are heritage tomatoes!

They still taste like tomatoes.

If you don't like these I'll actually believe you!

Just to prove to my friend I loved her I tried the tomato. And almost gagged.

I just. don't. like. tomatoes.

But I still cook with them and currently have a three foot high robust tomato in the backyard waiting for it to bloom so I can make some marinara.

Kale, admittedly, isn't my favorite vegetable.

But throw some olive oil in a sauté pan, when its medium-hot throw some garlic in. After that's smelling like heaven throw in some torn up kale, stir it around and let it wilt. Top with some salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice and its actually edible.

For more ways on how to stretch your grocery dollars, read my article on Frugal Fine Dining.

Another No Spend Month

We're doing it again folks!

Trying to go the month of July spending $150 or so on food and not buy any superfluous items. Last year when we did this we were able to save enough to make our $1,000 emergency fund. That sure came in handy when last winter we spent $800 on tires for my car! We were lucky to not have to go into debt then, and quickly built the savings back up.

This year the goal is to kick most of the rest of our credit card debt. We use an Alaska Airlines Visa for our every day purchases and pay it off at the end of every week, but we still have some hanging around another credit card from way back in the college days.

My cycle was work during the school year, travel in the summer, rack up the debt, pay it off while working the following school year.

Then I graduated and traveled and then had real expenses like toothpaste and oil changes.

Its fluctuated a little bit, but from that time on I've basically had the same amount of debt...and once we got married it was "our" debt. We were almost out when we moved, then got a dog, then our dog (4 days after we got it) got hit by a car and we racked up a lot of costs.

Last summer I read about Dave Ramsey's philosophy of being debt-free and having an emergency plan, and in conjunction read about Rachel's "No Spend Month" on Small Notebook , and we decided to take the plunge.

We got our savings, and have been chipping away at the debt. We even moved to a place with significantly less rent to contribute more.

Hopefully by the end of this month we will be much much closer...and Lord willin' and the crik don't rise we'll be out of debt by late August!

We signed up for a CSA last month and have more than enough vegetables from that, so we may be eating a lot of vegetarian meals!

Two nights ago I made a very green stir fry. Zucchini, snow peas, garlic spears and some mixed greens...it tasted ok but definitely wasn't the best thing I've ever whipped up!

Last year I wrote an article on Frugal Fine Dining - check it out for the way that we stretch our grocery budget!

On our list of things to use this week are a can of clams, arepa flour and a can of garbanzo beans...wish me luck!!!

The Business of Christianity

If I've never said it before on this blog, I am a Christian. I love Jesus with all my heart and the only reason I'm worth more than a puffed up bag of dirt is because of His sacrifice to save my crummy sinful self.

Recently my husband and I started going to Mars Hill in Bellevue. I've gone to two community group meetings and really have enjoyed all the women I've met there.

Spur of the moment one of the girls got an opportunity to do a Beth Moore study for the group. We're doing the book of Esther, so off I go to one of those Christian bookstores I usually avoid like the plague to get the workbook.

I avoid these stores because, quite frankly, they make a killing of a profit off of Christianity. Everything from the Prayer of Jabez cell phone holders to Thomas Kinkade rugs to puppy dog and Bible verse mouse pads, the store seems to take advantage of Christian ladies looking to Christianify their house (okay I'm being a bit sarcastic but you get my point).

Looking in the Bible Study section I couldn't find anything on Beth Moore, which I found odd. I know my mom has done and taught a lot of her studies and loves them. When I asked the sales clerk he waved his hand around the top of the walls and said, "Well she sort of lines our store." And indeed there were the booklets all around the top of the display cabinets all around the store. Then he led me to the "Beth Moore Wall."

"Wow," I said, reaching for the handbook on Esther.

Out of curiosity I glanced at the prices for the Leader Kit. Then my jaw dropped.

$200

When I mentioned how shocked I was that the kit was so expensive to the clerk he replied, "Well, you DO get 6 DVDs, 1 Member Book, 1 Leader Guide and a DVD Promo Video."

I glanced at my $15 Member book which probably cost $3 to print and bind wholesale (the fact that most people in the world live on less than $2 a day flashing in my mind). The Leader Guide was hardly bigger than a pamphlet (actually its 11 x 17 paper folded and stapled). And what does it cost nowadays to burn and label a DVD? Maybe $2 with a nice label?

So what exactly does the $200 pay for?

For the filming and editing of the DVDs? She speaks on location from places like Washington DC or Jerusalem. Inspiring, I'm sure, but does the Word of God need to be taught on location to have an impact? And the introduction is filmed in something like a megachurch setting with a replica of the Oval Office behind her. The style of filming and editing is similar to what you would see from any video-equipped large church. Even a made-for-tv low budget film will still only run $15 or so.

Copyright laws. Okay, understandable in this day and age's obsession over owning what we came up with. I respect the fact that they've spent months or even years pouring over the Biblical text, immersing themselves in research and praying over their interpretation of the Word.

Looking casually at other Bible studies though, prices range from $4 to $30 a book. The Purpose Driven Life Bible study DVD only costs $7. Most other DVD Bible study series were usually $20 to $30. So why is THIS particular study, of which I've heard raving reviews, so darned expensive???

My conclusion is because this Bible study is for rich, predominantly white Americans. Its price tag precludes that. I know churches in Uganda or Romania or inner city churches in the US that could never spend that much on a Bible study because there are other things to pay for like the electricity bill or getting food to a single mother with 5 kids.

I am NOT saying Beth Moore or any other Biblical teacher/pastor/theologian not inspired by the Holy Spirit or are doing this for the money or anything like that.

Please don't misconstrue this as such.

Maybe the bone I have to pick is with the publishers.

I know my mom has grown through and loved the Beth Moore studies, and when I asked her why they were so expensive she understood my frustration.

As she told me, "That's when the richer churches to take the brunt of the cost to provide for other churches. There are some things we just have to swallow."

I wanted to yell that I didn't want to swallow that but couldn't because of the lump in my throat.

Like my mom says, "If you can make it through ministry with your relationship with Jesus intact, then you're a mature Christian."

What are your thoughts on the price to study the Bible?

American Idol Auditions for My Bro

Sorry for no funnies yesterday...I was in suspension all day while my brother was at American Idol auditions. For those of you who don't know, Jeremiah auditioned at the end of june with 12,000 other people in Pasadena. When we found out he was audition (through a fluke--Matt's cousin and his girlfriend were there too but J had wanted to keep it a secret) we quickly spread the news of what he was doing. He and about 200 other people made it through that round which seemed quite grueling, but we were sworn to secrecy because producers want people to think the audition all takes place over a few days. So sorry to those of you who thought he didn't make it through the first round, but we didn't want to risk him getting disqualified.

He went back for a second audition in July and sang in front of the producers and executive producers and made it through that round with about 60 other contestants. 12000 to 60 is pretty darn good if you ask me!!!

Anyways, yesterday was the big audition in front of Simon, Randy and Kara. I don't have all the details yet, but basically he wasn't prepared to sing a second song and didn't make this cut. Maybe next year he'll have a whole slew of songs prepared just in case, but we'll have to wait until then. At least it was affirmation that people other than us think he's got talent!

Now to make you smile since it lowers blood pressure makes you prettier and a whole other slew of things I'm sure.

This one's for Ammah who refers to graduates as "gradu-idiots"

A young man hired by a supermarket reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom and said, "Your first job will be to sweep out the store." "But I'm a college graduate," the young man replied indignantly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," said the manager. "Here, give me the broom....I'll show you how."

Hardey har har.

and this made me laugh today

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor day weekend! And if you missed my last hub on Eating well for cheap here it is again

http://hubpages.com/hub/frugaleating

I looked at our grocery bill from June--YOWSERS! August's groceries were less than HALF that! Woo hoo!

Love to you all

K8

Goodwill OUTLET.

Thought I forgot today, didn't ya?

Nope!

So the Goodwill Outlet. 

Picture Nordstroms. 

Now picture Walmart. 

And that's the level of difference between Goodwill and Goodwill Outlet. 

It's a large, dimly lit warehouse where there are large crates (probably 12 feet long by 3 feet deep) on wheels full of the goods in three big rows. Nothing is sorted--there's quilts in with Men's jackets, women's bras and kids jumpers. Burnt potholders, stained pillows, used underwear, dirty sheets...this is the stuff no decent Goodwill accepts. 

BUT...hidden in the soiled mess can be some decent stuff. 

After I got over the initial shock of the place I dug in. 

I sneezed. 

A woman next to me sneezed. 

The dust and dirt from the clothes was making everyone sneeze. 

There were only about 30 people in the whole warehouse, but they gravitated towards one another, anxious not to miss out on what someone else may be finding. I would be sorting through a pile and a woman literally came over and reaching in front of me began sorting before I could touch the pile beneath my hands. Good grief! Some clothing had tags, some didn't. Though it was gray and cool outside inside was muggy and hot. I could feel my cheeks flushing red as I pushed mounds of clothing aside--determined to find a jewel in this treasure hunt.

I did found a nice gray wool coat (dbl breasted pea coat) that had a missing button and a torn lining--but the wool was completely intact and the cut was really nice. Hmmm...project in the making? When I got home I googled the brand and found that the coat was worth over $200! I also found a button down brown shirt and a plaid country girl style button down shirt. Both were large ( I got guns, what can I say?) but what better way to learn to tailor them than with really cheap shirts I don't care if I screw up?!

The kicker of this place was that they weighed what you bought...by the POUND. I got that coat and two shirts for $4! Score!

So here's my first attempt at tailoring shirts, and I think I did a decent job!

And I got some gorgeous magenta acrylic fabric fabric and fun magenta buttons to remake my jacket...wish me luck 'cause that's a much larger bull to ride!

Onto my walk with Roy this afternoon. You know how (those of you who walk your dogs) sometimes you just brush against shrubs and plants that are overgrown into the sidewalk? Well I was about to do that today and quickly sidestepped after seeing this:

Uh...GIANT Spider! A Wolf spider! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! For those of you who may be unaware of this fact, I hate spiders. Hate. So I nearly peed in my running pants almost running smack dab into this sucker! I stooped to watch it and it was wrapping its most recent victim around and around in its silk. Creepy. Want to know how big it was?

And your humor for the day? On a corner near where we live there's a run down house that's recently started to be renovated. The sign they've posted by their front door?

I was afraid to take the picture but it was worth the laugh!

And Laurie asked about our Roy Boy. Oh he's fine and dandy. This is his face when you ask him if he has dog breath. "who me?"

The little stinker managed to open the metal scroll we keep our marriage license in and chew off the right edge of it. Does that mean we're not married anymore? JUST kidding! I was pretty irate at first and was about to throw the torn up thing away and order a new one, when I decided to stick it in a book, flatten it all out and eventually I'll tape it back together and frame it. We'll laugh in a few months :-). Ok, we're already laughing. Having a dog has really taught us not to become too attached to material things because it could end up food tomorrow. Oh Life's little lessons...

till tomorrow...here's a little quote

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I’m halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.”

The Challenge and The Heat Wave

Want to know how we did on the challenge?

I'm sure your on the edge of your seats, just like when you all read the beginning of my story.

haha.

Well, $250 for three weeks comes to about $80/week which is what we withdrew. Keep in mind the people who came up with this crazy idea work from home and spend a total of $18 on gas every week and a half! We, on the other hand, each put $20 in our tanks every week (and had to drive conservatively!). That left us with $40/week for food and anything else we may want.

And let me repeat--we're not broke and we didn't have to do this...it was a challenge we imposed upon ourselves so please refrain from sending us food stamps...we're not starving!

Do a little more math and you'll see that comes to $5.80 per day. For both of us. Yikes! Well, a few unexpected things came up...remember our rambunctious carpet eating Roy? We had to go out and drop a few bucks on him for some natural "calming aides" (which are working ok, it seems) and with this INSANE heat wave (last night it was 91 degrees at 11:30 at night!!!) we've been putting Roy in doggie daycare. Luckily we got the trial day free at one place, took him there twice more and today are trying a new place which is free the first time too. So for four days of him not boiling alive in our apartment (with the bedroom door closed it got WELL over 100 degrees there during the day) it was worth $50. Plus he's exhausted when he gets home--I've never seem him that tired!

Anyways, I categorized that aside from our challenge because that was more of an emergency anyways! We're nearly bare in our pantry right now which this weekend will allow for a thorough fridge cleaning and then I'll restock! I think we both really learned how easy it is to spend money without thinking. $1.55 for a coffee...$4 for some ice cream (ok we did get that even during our challenge) but you get the idea. Using the cash and consciously spending really stretched everything we have further than I thought. I even ate an easy mac dinner that was in the pantry from who knows how long ago! And I still have a freezer full of twice baked potatoes and brown rice!

Admittedly this heat wave has made cooking more difficult. When you're down to bare bones food the "quick meals" aren't much of an option. Cooking chicken still takes awhile and heats up the kitchen. Two days ago I spent 40 minutes in the kitchen over a hot skillet making coconut curry shrimp with a fan blowing about a foot away from my face.

Last night I just couldn't do it again so we emptied out our change honey jar and went to Taco Bell--we paid with all change and the clerk was not happy but we didn't care! No stoves or dishes! Yippee!!!

The only other fudges were I had to refill on gas yesterday (we used my car all weekend) and we got a few more staples like cheese and tortillas at Fred Meyer that went over our challenge money. I have to say other than that we've done pretty good for ourselves! We're not starving either!

When I go to restock I'll definitely look at everything differently, and Matt (who gallantly has been making lunches and coffee at home and bringing it in a thermos rather than getting Starbucks) said when someone bought him coffee and lunch that it wasn't as good as what he had been making. I knew he couldn't love that burnt flavor forever...

And (drumroll please) we reached our goal of emergency savings! We now have a little cushion should say my transmission blow or Roy decides to break another leg! (knock LOUDLY on wood). That was the whole reason for this challenge, and I'm proud to say we made it!

Back to this heat wave which is Ri-DONKulous (name that TV show...Nadine are you reading?), there is no relief. Here at work the AC comes and goes, our apartment is on the 5th floor and doesn't get a crossbreeze, and last night we tried to escape to the movies to cool off and the AC was off in the theater! What gives!?!? This morning when we woke up we both said, almost at the same time, "It's so COOL!" I got up and looked at the thermometer.

It was 81 degrees.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot cooler--we're supposed to even get in the 60s tonight! I can't even wait!!! You know, I've been in hot weather before. Tucson, Romania, Joshua Tree...I'm talking HOT like over 117! For whatever reason, this heat wave feels worse than all that! Maybe because it doesn't cool down at night or indoors anywhere.

I tried the library...no AC. I'm considering just taking a book to the grocery store and plopping down in the canned foods aisle to read.

Matt is averaging 4 showers a day.

Ok, enough of my complaining. I'm sure you don't want to hear that its so hot that when I painted my nails last night the polish blistered on my fingernails. Or using a fan feels like being in front of a blow dryer.

You have other important things to do like turn your thermostat down and don a sweater.

Have fun my friends, and drink a margarita for me.

Swagbucks

Ok, so this isn't a scam (i've searched). You sign up and earn "swagbucks" for searching and then you can use those for gift cerftificates or prizes. You use Google anyway, right? This is powered by Google so you get the same results.

Click on the banner to sign on, and I get bucks for you signing on then you get a friend to sign up with your name you get bucks...yada yada. you get the idea.

You never pay anything or give any financial information--this isn't a pyramid scheme! Give it a shot, I mean, who doesn't Google every day? Might as well get something in return!

Crap Crackers

I'm a decent cook. I may go so far as to say a good cook, but I don't want to get prideful here.

"Kait," I thought to myself last week as I munched on some delicious crackers, "You could totally make crackers."

Yes I could, I agreed with myself.

So as soon as I got home from work I looked up a recipe on foodnetwork.com with the best ratings. This rarely has failed me.

I attempted Cracked pepper and parmesan crackers...sounds delish right? I begin mixing the butter and flour and freshly grated parmesan but the dough was hardly dough at all--more like floury crumbs. Hmm... Well I got it to stick together, froze it and cut it in little rounds and popped it in the oven.

My first time making something I usually follow recipes to a T. Or close to a T. Maybe an S. You get my point. After I've made it according to the recipe and if it's good enough, I'll keep it around and change it up a bit.

Back to the crackers. I slice them thinly, lay them on a baking sheet and put them in for exactly how long the recipe says--22 minutes.

It was like burnt pepper shortbread.

Bad

Really.

When Matt came home and tried them he had a first.



He spit them out.



Ouch.



Then it was funny.



But still...




And that sums up my experiment of making crackers at home.



Anyone got any better recipes?

Penny Pinching Palmers and Recently Rotund Roy Boy

Hello all you lovely people!

We are back in Seattle after one last trip down to ole' Tustin to see the Curran house one more time. Thanks to all of you who showed up for the potluck birthday--it was a hoot! And special thanks to my wonderful hubby for manning the grill all weekend!

I have to say it may have been my best birthday weekend ever--friends, family, games, Knott's berry farm, small town parade and fireworks, BBQ, old home movies, and two amazing cakes done by my Aunt Wendy and Amanda! Definitely the icing on the weekend...

*insert ba-dum-dum drums here*

Matt's parents took good care of our Roy Boy, admitting they only gave him a "few" table scraps and he only jumped out of the car window in a parking lot once. Jokes aside, Roy was very attached to them by the time they left and keeps looking around for them. It's good to keep him moving around like that because he needs to walk off a few extra pounds he seems to have mysteriously put on...

Tonight the all-amazing-wanderlust Ammah rides into town. In case you haven't heard, she's been traipsing all over the country by herself and having the time of her life. From Prescott Valley she shot north to Moab, then over to Colorado where "she wanted to wade in the river but it had whitecaps so she thought that might not be the smartest thing to do." Good thinking, Ammah, especially since you don't swim and were by yourself!

From Colorado she headed north and spent her 4th of July weekend at Mount Rushmore. Somehow she seemed to think that this quaint town of 310 people located at the base of our most beloved Presidents would stay quaint for the holiday weekend celebrating our national freedom.

Not so much.

Thirty-THOUSAND people flocked there, including but not limited to a Harley-Davidson convention, international tourists and all sorts of interesting people Ammah has a knack for running into. And her hotel put her in the handicap room which did NOT go over well with her!

She was thankful to get out of the town and was headed to a Dude Ranch in Billings, Montana. She arrived to discover it was the Dude Ranch Lodge, located downtown. She flatly said to me over the phone, "There are NO horses. No cows. Nothin'." Then her voice got high and happy as she said, "But I did see a dude and that made things better!"

Now she's blazing a trail in her car named Lunar towards Seattle, gearing up to fix us chicken-fried steak, okra and who knows what else!

 You gotta love Ammah.

Our big news we decided last week was we're going to try to challenge ourselves to not spend more than $250 for the rest of the month on food, gas and entertainment. I got the idea from a site called Small Notebook, and they do it every year. 

It's called the No Spend Month, but its more like the Spend Less Three Weeks for us. Hopefully it will make us more appreciative of what we do own and resourceful with what we have. We'll be getting creative with how to keep guests entertained and fed, but we're actually really looking forward to this challenge! (ask me in three weeks...) There's a can of an interesting looking Asian sauce that has been sitting in our cupboard for 6 months that I've been afraid to test...guess the time is now!

This is our first jumpstart to Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps. And good news--I'll be getting my first Google check this month! WOo hoo!!! I'm trying my best to think of more topics to write about so if you have any ideas let me know!

And here's a link to the last hub I wrote (can't remember if i sent this or not)http://hubpages.com/hub/Redecorating-Despite-the-Economy

I'd add pictures but sadly I left my camera in Orange County so I'm waitin' for Mama to ship it back after their house finishes getting tented.

That's all my exciting news for now. Stay posted for the adventures of the Penny-Pinching Palmers and the Recently Rotund Roy Boy!

December 11th

Well it has been a heck of a week. First, let me underline the fact that I’ve had a cold/bronchitis since Thanksgiving, and have been hacking my lungs out.

Second, on Thursday morning Roy broke loose from his leash AND collar to bolt after a pug across the street and got hit by a car. I saw it happen as I stood there with his broken collar in my hand, and I have to say that’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever seen. 

The car braked but still hit him, and Roy skidded across the pavement twitching and convulsing and snapping at the air. I ran to him and in his panicked state he bit my hand, but two seconds later he was completely calm and still. Thank God I wasn’t freaking out right then. I kept my head and instantly checked his spine and major bones, and made sure nothing was protruding and he didn’t have any major open wounds while talking soothingly to him. He only had a few minor scratched, but he wouldn’t stand on his front left leg. The moment the car hit him nature had kicked in and his hind part was completely wet and soiled.

The woman who had been walking the pug yelled, “Do you want me to call a vet?” and I said yes. The man who had been driving the car got out and just felt awful, but I assured him that his collar broke and it was not his fault. I was about two blocks away from our apartment, and once I got Roy to stand a bit I lifted all 80 pounds of him and began to carry him back. I had to stop and put him down a couple of times, and made it to the door of the apartment when my arms told me I couldn’t go any further (80 lbs is a lot of dead weight for a girl that doesn’t work out! That’s two full bags of dog food!). Thank God the woman with the pug came and found me (without the pug) and told me what vet she called, and offered to stay with him while I went and got Matt.

As we took him in, he never whined or whimpered but was totally calm and submissive. The vet came out and handed us a list of things they wanted to do for him and the total came to almost $800! At that point, of course, we signed—but Matt being the logical one was already looking in the future. What if he needed surgery or more? 

I didn’t start crying until I had ran into the apartment and got Matt, but I didn’t stop crying until I went to sleep that night.

The first report was that he may have nerve damage, and needed an MRI, and had a broken shoulder which would require surgery. He also potentially had damaged his liver and lungs. We were potentially looking at costs of $4-6,000 or more. December 11th was probably one of the longest and hardest days I’ve ever experienced.

 I know we had only had him for a short period, but I was definitely attached to him and him to me. I couldn’t take three steps without him moving with me and plopping down with a happy sigh on my feet. But the reality was if we couldn’t afford to take care of him, we’d have to put him down. We went home and I put my bloody and soiled clothes in the washing machine, and Matt and I crawled into bed and just lay there, praying (and I crying).

After work I went to visit him, and he was happy as a lark when he saw me. He was in a kennel near the floor and hooked up to an IV, but when I opened the door and sat down he wiggled his way over until his head was buried in my lap and his tail was thumping happily. 

I had to figure out how to get him back inside when I left, and then he was standing up and trying to follow me out. The thought that we might have to put him down because of finances absolutely made me sick. After I left, I couldn’t eat anything and went home and just got in bed and cried myself to sleep. I cried so hard my face hurt. 

When Matt got home we talked (I cried) about it, and we knew this was a trial in our marriage—we do have different views on dogs. He sees them as pets and I see them as companions, and there’s nothing wrong with either view. But we don’t have that much money, and to put ourselves that much deeper into debt over an animal was a hard thing for Matt to swallow. 

We finally came to the conclusion of a price limit—I know it’s harsh but that’s what we had to do to be unified and on the same page. We were even looking up financial aid for pets online. The irony is we were going to sign him up for pet insurance that day. I know animals are just that—animals, but they’re God’s creatures too, and it made me physically sick that a dog that was so happy and full of life might have that taken away because of finances. All we could do was pray hard for a miracle and wait until morning.

Morning came and as I moved to get out of bed my body absolutely yelled in pain. All my muscles—my biceps, quads, back—everything had been strained to the max when I carried him that far, and the adrenaline didn’t quit until night and then holy moly! I’ll never be so glad to get in an Epsom salt bath as I will be tonight!

Around 9:30 the vet called, and as it turned out he didn’t need a MRI, had feeling in his foot, and may not even require surgery. Now this vet has absolutely given us a run for our money--$50 to take his blood pressure? With a machine? (I testily told the assistant that I could have done that myself with a second hand watch) $40 to clean each little scrape he had?! It was ridiculous! So I flat out explained that him needing the surgery or not was a matter of his life...and I did it all without crying and very firmly. He said he would call when he heard back from the orthopedic surgeon who was looking at the X-rays.

This ray of hope was almost too much to bear. I steeled myself for the worst and waited for six long hours before calling again. Well, my friends, God still does work miracles. The surgeon thought that surgery wouldn’t really benefit him, and the best thing for him would be house arrest and rest! Their only concern was that his heart might be bruised, and so they needed to keep him one more night and run an EKG on him. But, they hadn’t heard anything negative so far, and said we could most likely take him home tomorrow (Saturday)! When I asked what the full total was, it was less than half our agreed limit.

I went tonight to see him again and this time they had me wait in a room—then here he comes hopping on three legs with his tail wagging—my Roy Boy. His whole body was wriggling so hard I was amazed he could still stand on just the three legs! The vet assistant left me alone with him and I sat in the middle of the room as he hopped in a circle around me like he was saying, “Look mama! I can walk!” I grabbed his ears and snuggled his face calling him a big showoff, and he just licked me from my nose to my hair giving me an attractive cowlick. 

Then he settled down for a good long face rub with his eyes half closed and his tail smacking the door and the drawers on the wall like a metronome. He has a little cough but they said that will heal in time, and he’s even trying to move his foot forward when he walks which shows that there’s probably not any nerve damage!

We’ll most likely bring him home tomorrow, and then comes the huge task of keeping a 2 year old lab who likes to follow you everywhere laying down most of the time for the next 6-8 weeks. I bought a crate tonight, along with a plethora of bones and a soft cuddly toy (can you blame me?) in order to keep him in one place, and when we’re not there have a hard bone to keep his attention for a good period of time. I also bought a strong training collar for when we’re outside—even with a broken shoulder I still don’t trust him! Yesterday as he was in my lap another pug at the vet was being walked by and he tried to go to it! Crazy dog…you think he’d have learned to stay away from pugs.

So that’s my Christmas miracle. 

I told Matt to just tie a big red bow on him come Christmas Eve ‘cause that’s all the gift I wanted! 

Please keep him in your prayers as he’ll still be recovering, and that he won’t need any further medical attention. Pray we learn how best to handle keeping him down and calm, and that he takes to the crate well. Pray for us to have patience with him, and that he heals up fully so he can go hiking and backpacking with us like we so want a dog to do that with. He’s definitely got the energy!

And if you think God doesn’t care about animals guess again—I believe this was nothing short of a miracle and a blessing from God for us.