Trash Talk

One of the most immediate effects of buying less stuff is the smaller amount of trash that we as a family generate. Our trash is picked up once a week, and we have one of those large cans that the truck picks up and dumps with automatic arms. In the old days, our can was filled to overflowing every week. We sometimes needed to make an extra trip to the dump, or slip a few bags in the bachelor neighbor’s trash can.

Now, however, we rarely fill our can. Buying more food in bulk cuts down on expensive packaging that goes right into the trash. We buy less in general – fulfilling the needs but not the wants – and as a result we throw less away. We have always recycled beverage containers, so the real difference must be attributed to our leaner budget.

It’s been difficult, to put it mildly, to rein in our former extravagant spending habits, especially on the daily little things that once seemed like no big deal. So it feels good to notice a positive byproduct of our frugality. There have been many spiritual revelations as a result of our new way of living, but the trash is a small, comforting, tangible bit of evidence that we are on a good path.

Less Is More

On the feast of the Epiphany, I am packing away the Christmas decorations for the 30th time since we’ve been married. Another holiday season has passed; the new year is as fresh as a virgin snowfall. Our four daughters arrived in a whirlwind of suitcases and excitement, filling our house once again with love and hilarity and the smell of cookies baking while they were here. Then, one by one, they went back to their real lives. Now we’re back to normal.

Due to our drastic financial constraints, I was worried about this Christmas. We have never financed a cash-only Christmas for our kids. Our excess of credit has been preserved on the carefully catalogued videotapes from over two decades of Christmas mornings, which we watch faithfully every year. As we watched this year, I squirmed with misgiving as I pictured the austerity that was coming on this Christmas morning.

This Christmas, the amount we spent on all four girls was the amount we used to spend on each of them. We gave them a little talk before Christmas, to let them know not to expect much. On Christmas Eve, the two gifts we put out for each of them seemed meager.

Yet, on Christmas morning, the girls were filled with sweetness and gratitude, and gushed over the things they received. They were probably more excited about the presents they were giving than the ones they received. I reflected that the poor economy was perhaps a blessing in disguise (although I rather agree with Winston Churchill’s assessment of that saying, that it was a blessing “very much in disguise . . .”). Our Christmas spirit seemed stronger than ever.

After being so worried about disappointing my girls, I find that I underestimated them, their grace, their good outlook, their appreciation, their perception of what really matters. “I didn’t think we were getting anything,” confided one of them later. “I was just happy to have all of us together.”

Another Epiphany for which to be grateful.

I Love Olive Oil

Shopping has always been a joy to me – I love to shop and am not afraid to admit it. One of my favorite places to shop is the grocery store. I can spend hours going up and down each aisle – reading labels, looking at new foods and generally taking everything in. The chances that much of what I see that is interesting will end up in my cart are high. I have a reputation with my wife’s family as a result. A couple of years ago my brother-in-law and I made a quick jaunt to the local grocery store to get a few last minute items for the Thanksgiving dinner. His remark to his wife on return was “Man, he really is a shopper!” And I was.

But things have changed and I no longer have the luxury of going on grocery store shopping adventures. Now, I get exactly what’s on the list. I look for the best bargain and many times end up with brand names I have never heard of and will never see a commercial for.

I spend as little as possible and never buy anything we already have. So if we have brown basmati rice I don’t buy brown long grain rice because I want something different. During these times brown rice is brown rice and I get whatever is cheapest.

This month we ran out of olive oil. I love olive oil – it’s what I cook with almost exclusively. I sauté in it, make dressing with it and even use it to oil the can opener. It is my preferred oil. It is my go-to oil. It is the oil of my life. You get the picture.

But we ran out.

And there were still other oils in the pantry. Corn oil. Canola oil. Even some Crisco my wife uses for Christmas baking. I could not justify buying more oil simply because it was not the type I love and cherish.

I made do. It was hard. It sucked. I hated it. I threw a tantrum in my mind. I wanted olive oil. Cold pressed extra virgin organic olive oil. I wanted it bad. I was jonesing for the stuff. Every time I went to the grocery store I would find myself in front of the oils – mentally arguing with myself, trying to rationalize a need for the olive oil I so desperately needed (wanted).

The good news: I made it the whole month. I used cooking oils that previously I have distained. I survived.

And on payday I bought the biggest, cheapest cold pressed olive oil I could find. I have never appreciated olive oil like I do now. I use it sparingly. I almost hoard it. I did pass on the organic this time. But maybe I’ll get a bottle for Christmas.

Ten Other Random Ways to Spend Less Money / Have More Money Each Month

1. Turn out lights fanatically (I think of this as channeling the spirit of my dad)

2. Water the lawn half as much as you think you need to

3. Take shorter showers: don’t space out!

4. Wear a sweater in the winter – in the house.

5. Get rid of any extra freezers or refrigerators or other appliances that require constant electricity

6. Go to free public events: you’ll meet your neighbors.

7. Rediscover the public library. Note the due dates on the calendar!

8. Recycle for the money (and for the planet)

9. Up the number of exemptions you take on your federal tax withholding

10. Cook meals from scratch: sorting and soaking beans can be fun!

Things I Miss

Sometimes I feel pretty stupid blogging about the pain of having no money when it is completely our fault for not having it. Well… almost completely. There are those pesky furlough days. And all my outside consulting work has dried up. But other than that we were the ones that spent our way into this hole.

And as a result I miss certain things.

• I miss being able to buy the fund raising product the little kid down the street is selling to support his school.
• I miss being able to send my kids money just to help out.
• I miss going out to the movies.
• I miss buying people lunch.
• I miss buying myself lunch.
• I miss not feeling guilty when I spend $5 at Walgreens.

But there are some things that I’m doing now – that are different and that I’m enjoying.

• I’m enjoying cooking again and especially looking at new recipes.
• I like thinking about ways to make everyones Christmas present.
• I like taking walks (they’re free!)
• I like not worrying about what I’m buying next.
• I like how this is actually bringing Valerie and I closer.

Bottom line – I know this will pass. Someday we’ll be out of this hole and this is the necessary part of the journey. I just wish it would happen faster.

Ten Ways To Reduce the Grocery Bill

1. Bring your lunch to work instead of going out

2. Only shop weekly for what you will use in one week

3. Avoid brand names or items not on sale

4. Use coupons

5. Ask for rain checks for items on weekly specials

6. Make iced tea out of the zillions of eclectic tea bags in the pantry

7. Plant a vegetable garden, but plant vegetables that you actually like

8. Buy staples like grains and baking ingredients out of the bins at bulk stores

9. Only go out to dinner on birthdays

10. Bring apples in the car so you don’t buy overpriced snacks when you get gas

More Americans feel economic pinch in their stomachs

More Americans feel economic pinch in their stomachs

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I read this and I feel bad for the many people who are having trouble putting food on the table. We are blessed those of us who only have to make small sacrifices each day. We’ve had to change where we shop and lost a few “luxuary” foods. But I do not go to bed hungry.

Ten Ways We Reduced Our Monthly Expenses

1. Applied for and received student loan deferments

2. Raised the deductible for our car insurance policies, which reduced our premiums

3. Asked for and got a lower mortgage rate on our second mortgage (just by calling the bank – this was easy as pie)

4. Reduced our TV cable bill by dropping some channels (not quite ready to get rid of cable altogether, especially during football season)

5. Switched to Redbox for movie rentals instead of Blockbuster (especially when we get free Redbox rental coupons via e-mail)

6. Recycled our extra freezer in the garage (which reduced our electric bill and scored us $50 from Edison)

7. Changed our home phone provider to our cable provider, which reduced our phone bill by $15 a month

8. Started paying cash for gas (often a lower price than that for using a card)

9. Discovered grocery shopping at Winco, especially in the bulk/bin section

10. Washed our own damn cars

The New Austerity

The New Austerity is difficult to practice at the grocery store. I must adapt my thinking to paying cash for the things we need, and not buying on credit the things we might enjoy. Items in my basket add up a lot more quickly when the total must be covered with what’s actually in my wallet. My thinner wallet.

The charging mentality: I can’t just charge one item. That would look stupid. I’ll get six or seven things (or ten or twenty things), so that using a credit card at the grocery store doesn’t seem so desperate.

The cash mentality: Spend as little as possible. Get change!

I watch the excess food in our pantry dwindle as we actually cook and eat some of the nonperishable I have been stocking up on over the years. The shelves are looking a little empty, a little sparse. What have we been saving it for, anyway? That rainy day is here.

Splurge

One of the really big differences in my life now is how I think about money and especially how I think about spending money.

The old me just spent money when he wanted to. Hungry – go out to eat. Want new music – buy it. Need a new computer – get it. It would just happen. I wouldn’t really think about the consequences. It seemed like somewhere in the back of my mind I figured we’d just catch up one day.

Actually it caught up to us. And so now I think differently.

One change I’ve made is to make my lunch for the past three weeks. I make a big pot of rice and a pot of beans on Sunday and then eat variations of the two all week long. This week I made a bit of a mistake and put fresh cilantro in the rice after it was done. I made enough rice for almost two weeks but by this Monday it smelled pretty foul. I’m thinking the fresh cilantro was no longer fresh. I tossed what was left.

That left me with nothing made for lunch on Tuesday – and I used an early start to the day as an excuse to have to buy lunch. How quickly the old ways of thinking come back.

I decided to go to subway – a 6” veggie delight costs $3.75. I figured I could get that and a cup of water and not hurt the budget too much. But something happened to me when I walked in – I ordered a 12” veggie delight and then turned it into a meal – over $7 now. (I even upped the size of the drink). I know better. But the inner 3 year old in me was feeling neglected and put out and just took over. I felt guilty the rest of the day.

When I got home I immediately confessed to my wife about my little spending spree. She laughed and said it was my splurge for November. The sad thing is she’s probably right.

It has a whole different meaning to me now: “splurge”.