Can You Do That?

Lately "recession-talk" seems everywhere. I don't know about you, but I am watching co-workers get laid off left and right. Every day Kevin and I wonder how much longer they will keep me. I am not worried about it, because I can't be until there is something to worry about, you know? Anyway, I read this article the other day, that made me think. You can read it here.

After I read this, I had to know how much Kevin and I are spending each week on food. So I went to the handy dandy "my spending report" at wellsfargo.com. Turns out we are spending a little over $80/week on groceries. So, we're not doing horribly, but that article made me wonder if we could be doing better. Last month Kevin and I decided to seriously budget towards the end of the month. We didn't set any specific limitations for ourselves and it was before I'd read this article. I had so much fun being creative with the food we already had. I used more canned veggies, and took a second, third and fourth look at all my frozen and dry goods. By the end of the month we avoided going to the grocery for two weeks straight!

This week I decided to meal plan, ok so I did it in church on Sunday. But honestly, the pastor was talking about a little tree, and a little bee (or was it a butterfly? or a bird? I don't know). I wasn't tracking with him, and my mole skin was calling my name from my purse. I thought about the food we had at home, as well as a few things to pick up at Trader Joe's, and I planned the week. It's Thursday, and usually by today I have convinced Kevin to go out at least once. But this week, I've cooked every night, and I even have recipes that I want to use this weekend.

Finally in my job we have been brainstorming ways that we can encourage Community Coordinators to plan events where residents can share resources. For example I love the idea of hosting a "free-day" kind of like a garage sale, but where everything is free. Recently we have shared our car with friends, been more intentional about inviting friends to eat with us, and cooking for other families. Last weekend I cleaned out our closets and drawers for donation. Now the trick will be not going out and re-filling the closets with unnecessary new clothes.

I have also found this book to be especially helpful on this very topic. To be continued.