Category: Intentional Spending

Since we originally planned to drive to pick up our son from NJ, my husband rearranged his work schedule to accomodate that, and though we couldn’t pick him up because of the van breaking down, we spent the day at home getting some small organizing projects done. 

One thing we did that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time is remove the window a/c units from the kids’ bedrooms (we don’t have one in our room).   The units were old, dirty, and didn’t work well, in addition to blocking any air from circulating when the other windows were open.  We rarely used them because of that, but somehow I resisted actually removing them because I kept thinking we might need them and then regret not having them.  As soon as they were out, and I mean immediately, the air started flowing in and cooling off the rooms.  The airflow pattern for that entire floor is now much better, and combined with their ceiling fans on hot nights they already have, it’s much cooler in their rooms.  (The morning after we took out the units, two of the kids complained about being cold in the night – and that was after a day of 95 degree heat!)

We also took out the window unit for the main floor last week.  That has been wonderful – we finally have a cross breeze!  It has been comfortable in the house this last week, though we’ve had weather in the high 90s (and the humidity is yuck!), though I guess that’s relative to what you’re used to.  If we needed it to always be 72 degrees, this would feel way too hot.  No one would mind if it were cooler, but unlike last year, when the kids were continually complaining if we didn’t put the a/c on when it was this hot outside, so far no one has said anything about it being too hot inside. 

I’ve also been doing lots of canning, which supposedly heats the house up a lot and is a bad thing to do when it’s hot outside.  I’m sooooo grateful to my husband for putting in a high quality exhaust van in the kitchen that vents to the outside when we redid the kitchen this winter.  It was a huge amount of work, and it’s not the kind of thing that someone looks at and is impressed by; it’s the kind of thing no one thinks about.  But this is another big factor in the house staying much cooler this year – the cooking heat is exhausted right out, instead of being recirculated around with the old vent hood we had.  Last year I would feel sweat tricking down my face any time I cooked in the summer, and could only manage the heat by cooking in the evenings, and that was with the a/c ON! 

It’s  mentally very freeing to me to have taken these units out, and find that not only can we live without them, we’re quite comfortable!   I feel more in touch with the weather outside, and I especially like keeping my kids appreciation for things high.  Life will be easier for them not only now, but when the get older because they are happy with what they have and don’t have high material expectations, and I encourage that by consciously not unnecessarily raising the bar. 

Avivah

A while back I made a discovery that will probably not be useful to the vast majority of you.  But it was interesting to me.  🙂

My husband works in the resturant business, though they are so efficient about managing food waste that there’s rarely anything left over, so it’s not as though he comes home loaded down with leftovers every day.  If he does bring something home, it’s because they have no way to make money selling it.  One day, he brought home the bottom part of the cauliflower that was being cut off and would have been thrown away, the base of the it along with the green leaves attached to it.  He didn’t know anything about it but thought it looked like it should be edible.

Honestly, it didn’t look appetizing to me, but we boiled it and suprise – it was really, really tasty!  We all liked it better than the part of the cauliflower we usually eat.  When his co-worker from Columbia saw him taking the stems today (they went through  7 cases of cauliflower today – they periodically prepare a large amount of pickled cauliflower at a time), he told him, “Yes, that’s the best part, it’s delicious!”  So it’s not much of a secret in other countries, it seems. 

Stems from seven cases of cauliflower – isn’t that a lot, you wonder?   Yes, it was – about fifty pounds worth.  But what can you do with so much of a perishable vegetable that needs refrigeration?  I definitely don’t have that kind of space in my fridge!  I cooked up a bunch of it in my two largest pots, then cut it into smaller pieces – and canned it.  I still feel amazed at how compact things become when cooked.  Twenty pounds made four gallons, cooked .  My seven year old daughter enjoyed filling the jars with me after dinner – she especially enjoys using the magnetic wand to fish the lids out of boiling water, and then putting them on the jar.    But she did most of the other parts, too – filling them (all I did was pack it down) with the vegetables, then putting the spices in, and adding the boiling liquid before closing it up.

It’s still processing in the pressure canner as I write, and I have two large pots full waiting to be cooked, and one cooked pot full – and we enjoyed a large amount of it with dinner as a side dish.  It’s good that it’s so yummy, because it’s worth the work.  I’m thinking that maybe I’ll can what is left tomorrow, if my day isn’t too hectic (though Fridays usually aren’t the best time for this kind of activity :)).

Avivah 

I’m so used to mentioning buying in bulk, that I didn’t think about the fact that how to do it might be something some of you aren’t familiar with.

Most people look to co-op buying to buy in bulk, but I’ve never participated in a co-op.  Their prices are cheaper than health food stores, but they aren’t cheap.  At least all the ones I looked into were pricey.

Firstly, check your local ethnic stores – I get my rice in 20 lb bags at an Asian store.  I bought a case (24- 1 kilo bags) of buckwheat at the Russian store for much cheaper than I could get it in a health food store.  Things that are considered specialty items in health food stores are basic foods for their clienteles, and priced accordingly.  If you have an LDS storehouse near you, they have things like bulk wheat grains as well as other supplies.  I checked into them but they didn’t have what I needed when I needed it.  I used to buy directly from the bulk distributor that supplied the local health food stores, but then I found that Amish and Mennonite grocery stores carried the kind of things I wanted in bulk at prices that were pretty close to the huge distributor’s price.  It’s still quite a drive but it’s an hour closer, and when I go, I buy a lot.  So now that’s where I buy rolled/quick/steel cut oats, wheat, cornmeal, etc. 

I stock up on beans and other grains at the regular groceries when they have sales.  I don’t know why, but I’ve always found it cheaper to buy the 1 or 2 lb bags than any bulk sources I’ve been able to find.  I periodically look at prices for 50 lb bags, but they are just too expensive.  I prefer shopping like this anyway, because it allows me to buy a wide variety of beans, instead of a couple of huge bags.

I buy some veggies in bulk, too.  I once asked the manager of a local vegetable store if I could get a large bag (50 lb) of carrots, since it would be easier for me than bagging all of my own.  Not only did he say yes, but the price was half of what was listed.  I’ve done the same with some other veggies.

I buy chicken by the case from a local butcher.  A nice perk is that he delivers, so it’s very easy.  I call, he brings it, and all I have to do is stick it in the freezer.

I buy nuts and dried fruit from a store that sells mostly to resturants but sells their overruns at very cheap prices to the general public.  When I last went, I spent about $28, and got many, many pounds of peanuts and cashews (something like 70 lb, but I can’t remember the breakdown and don’t want to go look in the buckets to figure it out :o).  That’s a pretty typical trip for me.

Whenever something is being sold for a really good price, I buy a lot of it.  That’s usually at the standard grocery stores.  People regularly ask me if I’m making a party or comments like that when they look in my cart, because I always have an unusually large amount of something.  When I was at the nut store two weeks ago, the woman next to me said, “You’re either making a party or you work in a zoo.”  I told her neither, I just have a large family.  The argument could be made that having a large family is a cross between an ongoing party and living in a zoo, lol!

I constantly keep my eye open for new sources, and I periodically find them.  A couple of weeks ago I found the wholesale veggie distribution point for all the major and minor stores in the area – and they’ll sell direct to the public for a good price; you don’t even have to buy such large amounts.  I wouldn’t have found it if I hadn’t taken a few extra minutes to drive around (it was very intimidating looking, with dozens of loading docks and 18 wheelers loading up, no other regular buyers like me in sight) and ask if they would sell to me. 

It took time to find all the places I buy from now.  Google bulk distributors for your area, ask managers at local stores if they will sell to you in bulk (they will – when we were vegetarian I used to buy soy milk by the case from our big box supermarket – they ordered it just for me).  They almost always will, and often you’ll get a discount for doing so.  Don’t assume that if they’ll sell it bulk or discount, they’ll have it posted.  They don’t.  I regularly walk out of certain stores buying things at a price lower than everyone else buying the same stuff, because of the amounts and my willingness to just ask what the discount is when I buy x amount.

Have fun saving money and stocking your pantry!

Avivah

Yesterday I did my huge monthly shopping trip, and came home with oodles of good stuff.  I really enjoy shopping for food and coming home with my bundles and boxes to take care of my family with – my husband says he’s glad he married someone who gets so much pleasure out of food shopping for the family.  I’m easy to entertain.  🙂

At one of my favorite stores (a grocery outlet), there was a box that said, “Everything in this box is 25 cents a pound.”  I looked in the box, but didn’t recognize the vegetable inside, so I went over to the woman in charge of the vegetable section of the store and asked what it was.  She told me she didn’t know, but someone told her it was something like a sweet potato.  I asked them how much it would be if I bought a case (I think she’s getting used to me asking this, lol), and they said $7.50.  I figured for that price I should try it, and then when the young lady was helping me with the case, she heaped it full of lots more of them, so I ended up with at least 60 pounds (if my math was right, that’s less than .13 a lb!). 

It looked vaguely familiar to me from an Asian vegetable store that I periodically stop in at, where I know it sells for $1 lb.  I didn’t know what it was called, but noticed a produce sticker on it that said ‘boniato’.  It didn’t ring a bell, so I googled it (I LOVE Google – I use it all the time), and came up with some information on how to store it, cook it, and some recipes.  It seems it’s more perishable than sweet potatoes, and they turn brown quickly when you peel them, so I peeled fast and kept a large bowl of water next to me to pop them into right away.  I prepared boniato pudding and served it for dinner – it was a mixture of shredded boniato (less sweet than a sweet potato and more starchy), milk, sweetener, coconut, eggs, and spices.  Except for the sugar it was filled with good stuff, and I used raw sugar and halved the amount it called for.  The kids gobbled it up.  I made two very full 9 x 13 pans, and they only ate one pan full, so I’ll give them the second one for breakfast tomorrow. 

It’s fun to find new things to cook with and especially to do it on a lean budget!

Avivah

Many of you know me from other places, so you remember that three years ago we converted a mini school bus to run on waste vegetable oil.  That was a successful experience that we all enjoyed, but we (sniff) sold the van last winter.  When we were driving the veggie van, I enjoyed watching the gas prices climb, feeling that the higher they went, the better an investment our van had been.  But since it’s no longer with us, my husband and I are discussing strategies to limit our dependence on a vehicle. 

Why?  Well, obviously, gas prices are high, and in my opinion, they are going to continue steadily rising due to the limited nature of oil and the ever increasing demand from various countries that until now haven’t used much.  We already employ most of the strategies I hear suggested for saving on transportation costs: we have only one vehicle, we drive it as little as we need to, my husband carpools or takes public transportation to work all but one day a week (when those options aren’t available), we carpool my son to high school, I do one food shopping trip a month, and bunch all my errands as much as possible.  And we still are spending over $300 monthly on gas.

So what to do?  I feel like it’s going to take something more drastic to make any difference, as the increasing costs of gas are outpacing whatever we may save by cutting back, so that we’re hardly managing to stay ahead of costs.  I thought about buying another mini school bus to convert, and spoke to the manager of the company we purchased from before, but the costs are much higher now than they were. 

My husband didn’t like that idea, anyway.  He feels that we need to stop looking for cheaper ways to drive and instead, develop a different paradigm regarding getting where we need to go.  Things like, not automatically assuming the only way to get anywhere is a car – walking, taking a bus, staying home more.

We spoke seriously as a family about the possibility of getting rid of our van, and as much as we liked that idea, it isn’t viable for us right now.  We live in an area where some things are walking distance, but not most.  The main things we need a vehicle for are: carpool for son, husband takes it to work one day a week, and shopping.  We considered paying someone to take our son to school, renting a van once a month to do all the shopping, walking more as a family and taking public transportation when we wanted to take a trip – but the numbers just don’t work.  If we paid someone to take our son to school (six trips/three roundtrip daily – current rate is $80 one way), that alone would cost almost as much as we spend in gas and insurance (we don’t have a car payment). 

We’re looking into scooters as an option for my husband to use for his commute.  He has a 40 mile drive, in one direction, and replacing his driving even one day with a scooter would be a big help.  Scooters with motors under a certain size don’t require a special license or insurance, but they also aren’t allowed on roads that have speeds of over 45 mph.  So driving on the highway would be out.  My husband borrowed a scooter from a friend yesterday, to see how driving around feels, and is planning to take it to work tomorrow and see if the drive is manageable.  It is very cool looking, and he so far enjoyed zipping around with it.  For his commute, he mapped out a route that will take him along slower roads, so the drive will take much longer than usual.  It might be fun for a while, but a two hour drive in the outdoors isn’t something that seems that it will work long term. 

For short commutes of 10 miles or less, though, I think scooters are the way to go.  They’re inexpensive to buy, very good on gas (about 70 – 100 mpg), and just right for when one person needs to get somewhere.  I’ll let you know how it works out!

Avivah

For the first eight years and four children of my marriage, I didn’t have a dryer.  I did have a freestanding clothes dryer rack, though, and that’s what I used.  It was simple, cheap, and it worked.

How did we do it?  Well, the first thing was not being able to depend on an electric dryer, because we didn’t have one.  I’m sure that during those winter days that were damp I would have used a dryer if I had one. (Especially when we had a child who didn’t stay dry during the nights, and that meant lots of sheets and blankets regularly needing to be laundered!)  Necessity is the mother of invention, but it also means that we push ourselves to do good things that we might otherwised not be motivated to do – and hanging clothes outside to dry was one of those things for me.

The second thing that helped was being aware of the weather and what clean clothes each child had available.  In the six months of sunny weather we were graced with, it wasn’t hard to wash clothes in the morning and have them dry an hour or so after hanging them up.  But in the winter, when the rack came indoors on cloudy days, and even on sunny days the cold weather precluded quick drying, I needed to plan ahead to ensure that everyone had clean clothes when they needed them. 

When we moved to Washington state, the house we rented had a washer and dryer, and it was easier to just use what was there instead of setting up any other system.  And then we left the West coast, but didn’t really rethink the clothes drying issue enough to take action.

What has me musing about drying clothes in the sun today?  After a very long time of wanting to get back to sun drying, my husband has put up a clothesline in the backyard for me.  Today was the first time in years that I was able to hang clothes outside in an organized way.  And I really enjoyed it – it’s one of those things that you can do, being present in the moment and feeling the pleasure of the outdoors while you do it.  I enlisted my just turned six year old son (had a birthday on Sat.) to help – I held the clothes in place, he clipped the clothespins on.

About a year ago, I was looking into retractable clotheslines.  The price made me hesitate, but it sounded like a great idea – pull it out when in use, unhook it so it retracts when not in use.  But the reviews I read seemed lukewarm and I didn’t want to spend over $60 on junk.  So this year I headed to the Home Depot and bought a length of clothesline about 200 feet long.  It has been waiting for my husband to have time to put it up, but he finally was able to do it a few days ago.  He affixed two by fours to the side of the house and the side of the garage, then strung the clothesline between it, back and forth several times.  (He left the line too loose, out of good intentions, but that’s something he’s going to remedy for me tomorrow – the clothes were drooping quite low because there was so much slack in the lines.  It did make it very easy for the six year old to help, though, because it was so easy for him to reach!)

I enjoy simplicity in life, and a clothesline is as simple as it gets!  I also like knowing that with a very small amount of time, I can save money on electricity, reduce my energy consumption and dependence on outside energy suppliers, get a little exercise and enjoy the smell of freshly dried sun kissed clothes.  Mmmm!

Avivah 

I mentioned a while ago that I was concerned about emergency preparation, and though it’s something that I think about almost daily, I keep pushing off sharing my thoughts here with you. I’m a positive person in general, and I don’t want to sound negative.  But I feel it’s not any kindness not to share something that could be important for your family.  So here goes.  🙂

About four months ago, I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for a while, and asked how things were.  He told me about his new position, writing up emergency preparation plans for the county in which he lived.  This involved a very large amount of research (I think he said nine months’ worth), and then he prepared his recommendation for the public, based on all his research.  I was very interested in what were the suggestions for an emergency were, as well as what could precipitate the kind of emergency that would necessitate using those suggestions.

Firstly, the suggestions:  have three days of whatever you need in your house at any given time (food, medicine, water, hygiene products, etc).  I commented that three days of supplies didn’t seem like a very large cushion to me.  He agreed, and said that the recommendation is made based on what they think people will be able to hear, not on what will actually be most appropriate.  He said that provisions for a month would really be the kind of recommendation they might want to make, but know that most people would hear that number and it would seem so intimidating that they give up before even starting.  So they give a number that will give most people something to strive for, but something they feel is doable and realistic, because it’s better than nothing. 

I understood this reasoning (though all of us would be wise to understand how much more than three days of supplies we really need than that), but I found it alarming to consider that most of the American population doesn’t have even three days of food in their home.  We live in a time of so much affluence, yet have become dependent on constant trips to the store for whatever we need, relying on the retailers to provide us with what we need when we need it.  We’re very fortunate to live in a world in which our food comes to use regularly through the various channels and with remarkably little interruption.

But have you ever thought about what would happen if there were even a small disruption in one part of the supply chain? Each part is so linked to the next that even a small problem in one area could become a very big problem.  We can’t plan for every eventuality, and I don’t believe in living in fear and anxiety about what could go wrong.  But I do think that we need to make our best effort to be prepared for whatever eventualities may come our way. 

What does this mean for me personally?  I try to have at least a month’s supply of food stored, working towards more (but with the increases in food costs, I’m finding it a challenge to get my pantry built up further while maintaining my current food budget).  Foods like grains and beans keep well for long term storage, as well as canned fruits, veggies, and fish.  Some recent things I’m doing with this in mind: I’ve started a garden so as to be less dependent on retailers, am learning about foods that grow locally in the wild, and have just bought a pressure canner and jars, so that I can preserve foods that will stay without electricity (we would lose all the food in the freezer if we lost power for more than a day or two), and are cooked and ready to eat with no additional prepping necessary.  I have bottled water stored in gallon jugs – not nearly enough for a long term emergency, but enough for two or three days for our family. My concern about insufficient water is part of what made me decide it’s time to learn to can, because having lots of dried beans on hand only helps if you have the water to cook them in!  But with a canner, I can preserve soups, chilis, beans, meat, fruits and veggies – in a ready to eat form, for long term storage.  (It also makes it convenient to have something cooked I can just pull out for dinner – I’n not thinking of it being useful only in case of a catastrophe!).

Last week, we had a tornado watch in our area, and when residual parts of the storm hit here, it was scary.  But after a minute of panicked thinking, I mentally checked off: we have food (stored), water (bottled), light (candles and flashlights), etc – and that gave me peace of mind that I had done my best to be prepared. 

 Do I think that we’re going to have an emergency that will necessitate using these things?  I certainly hope not!  But I do believe that being prepared keeps an emergency from feeling like an emergency for you.  Life happens – illness, natural disasters, terrorism, layoffs.  I don’t believe that it’s possible to plan for every eventuality, and it’s not my goal.  I believe that G-d is in charge and I try my best to be a responsible steward of our resources for the sake of my family, who depend on me. 

Avivah