Our 7 Day Fiscal Fast In Progress

It's only day one and I'm already surprised at how many times in the day I've thought about spending money. I haven't acted on it, of course, but it has been really surprising to me how many times I've thought about ordering something online, running an errand that involves spending money, or just trying to get a jump on some Christmas shopping for Young One.



Probably not the best idea to start this spending freeze during the holidays. Or maybe it is. Maybe this is the BEST time to try this experiment.



While making some Christmas presents today, I realized that I didn't have enough of one crucial ingredient for the end product. Ugh. I thought I was going to have to wait. But, no!!! What Cheapskate Guru Jeff Yeager said in his book would happen. You just might finally use something that you haven't had the need to or didn't even know you had. I searched my cupboards, and sure enough, I did have a second box of the missing ingredient.



Looking into my pantry, I am amazed at how much food is really in there. Much of it has been there for a very long time. Bought for a recipe and not used, purchased on sale at a can't be missed price, or just impulse buys. My pantry is full. And I'm very excited about it getting some clearing out this week.



Young One is fully on board. We talked to him about this experiment last night and at first he seemed a bit worried. We assured him that we have plenty of money, that this is just something we're trying to clear out our cupboards a bit and to focus more on experiences and not stuff. Once that was talked about, he was just fine. I watched him start to ask for something or to go somewhere a couple of times, but then the gears shifted in his brain and he remembered our fiscal fast, and we ended up talking about something else.



I got to thinking this afternoon that I have the luxury of making this fiscal fast a choice and that so many people in our country, in our world, do not have the choice or the ability to live this way on a whim. It's day to day life for them. This week has already been very enlightening.



D came home tonight letting me know that he needs to get a haircut in preparation for a very important sales pitch next week. We did agree that work related expenses would have to continue (client lunches, gas for the commute, etc), I think he should let me cut his hair. I'm pretty good at it. I've been cutting Young One's hair for years. This would be the one time, though, that the clipper guard popped off and he ended up with a runway down the middle of his head. I guess I'll allow it. Client pitches mean you've got to look good. I'll let this one slide.



Something to think about: only 1/3 of the world's population is well fed. The rest are nutritionally deficient or starving.

The First of the Christmas Crafting

We're only giving homemade gifts this year. It really has nothing to do with the "economic downturn", "recession", or the bleak state of our nation's economy. It's more about our own personal scaling back, a hearkening (don't you love that word?) to a simpler time, or a goal in our family to focus less on material goods and more on personal experiences and the time we share with those we love.

I've been collecting craft ideas, with a special focus on using things that we already have or that use recycled products, in my Christmas folder. My Christmas folder is an organizational secret I've been using for years. In it are craft ideas, to do lists, secret present lists and pictures/sources of the gifts for Young One, and the return envelopes from all of the Christmas cards we receive (makes it easy if we can't find someones address or if we have a new addition to our list.) I rip up magazines all year, pulling out intriguing recipes, crafts, and gift ideas. Or I print ideas and recipes from the internet. There are many wonderful bloggers out there that are filled with great, simple ideas.

On a side note, I use and reuse Young One's old school folders for years, basically until they fall apart. This is another cheapskate tendency. I just can't bear to throw them away, so I have spaceship folders, Garfield (from a shortlived stage), and sports themed folders everywhere! I keep one in my car filled with restaurant coupons for those times when we're out and about and just can't decide on where to go to grab a bite to eat. I also keep my gas coupons, car wash coupons, and any freebie or discount offers that I might want to pick up while errand running.

Each Christmas gift that we're making this year has been carefully and thoughtfully chosen for it's recipient. Today, I made these Bath Bombs for some very special women in my life (who happen to know NOTHING about this blog, tee hee). Bath bombs, bath fizzies, if you don't know what they are, are these fun, scented fizzy thingies (technical term) that you place in your bath to fizz and scent the water deliciously. They also soften your skin beautifully. I had most of the ingredients in the house already, so this one went together very quickly!

Bath Bombs

You can find citric acid at your local health food store, at a wine making supply store, or online at Bulk Foods. Organic cane sugar (turbinado sugar) is found at your local grocery store. Read the entire recipe before starting! You must be very careful how much water you add. Trust me, I learned this the hard way and gave Young One the ones that bubbled over and out of the molds because they were too damp. He loved playing with them and smelled like a lime for a day. Very little water is the key. Use just enough to make it clump together.

1/2 cup citric acid

1 cup baking soda

3/4 cornstarch

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

About 6 drops of food coloring

10 to 15 drops of essential oil

equipment: a small spray bottle, ice cube trays, storage jars for gift giving

Stir together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch. Sift through a fine sieve or a flour sifter. Stir in sugar. Place a very small amount of water in the spray bottle. Add food coloring--try to match the color to the essential oil that you're using. I used a very small amount of green to match the lime essential oil that I used. Spritz the dry mixture lightly, it should be damp, but not fizzing. Mix with a metal spoon and spritz and mix until mixture clumps together. Add essential oil until strength of scent is to your liking. Continue mixing until scent is well dispersed. If mixture no longer clumps, spritz with more water and mix well. Pack firmly into ice cube tray, pressing firmly. Let dry at room temperature overnight. Pop out of trays gently and pack in jars. Label with instructions to add 2 to each bath to enjoy effervescent relaxation.

You could use candy molds or when I was making the last batch, I decided that packing them into a cookie scoop would be the easiest way to do it. Just pack firmly, pressing down on the mixture if you can, then pop out. I'll try this next time.

I'll share more of my Christmas gift making as time goes on. Print them and file away in your new Christmas folder. Did I inspired you to start one? I truly hope that you are simplifying your gift giving this year too. I figure, if we cut back, we can help others more this season. No, I'm not talking about making sure that other people can buy presents or get presents, like with Toys for Tots (although this organization does do wonderful things). I'd rather be able to give to the very poor. Those that are hungry or homeless. I feel their need is greater this year and because of our country's financial situation, there are probably greater numbers in need.

Peace to you!

The Housewife--Stretch a Buck A Spending Freeze

I'm eternally frugal. I'm a cheapskate and proud of it. I can stretch a buck so far that George's smile widens. I hate to spend more than I have to. I research almost all purchases, I use coupons and rebates, and like to do a victory dance at Walgreens when they pay me to take something home!

Cheapskates unite all over the web. I follow several frugal blogs and I just discovered, Jeff Yeager, The Ultimate Cheapskate, and am thoroughly enjoying his book, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road to True Riches. He was on the radio when I was out running errands and I sat in the parking lot of the grocery store for half an hour just so I could hear him speak. OF COURSE I didn't PURCHASE his book!! I requested if from the library (that's Cheapskate 101).

He and I see eye to eye on so much. His philosophy about how life is not about the money or the stuff you acquire, but what you experience is dead on. Life isn't about too much or too little money, but what is actually enough. And, surprisingly, you need very little stuff to be truly happy.

He brings up the idea of a self-imposed spending freeze early in his book. A Fiscal Fast, as he's coined it, where you agree in your household not to spend a dime for an agreed upon length of time. The goal, to creatively use up what you have and to find ways to entertain yourself without it costing you a dime. A side effect of this fast is that you'll save money, but it's much bigger than that.

I approached Hubby with doing this, thinking he would say, "no way, it can't be done." He thought about it for a minute and then said, "Could I still fill my car with gas if I needed to get to work?" I said sure and that we'd institute some rules, like, we'd go to the doctor and fill prescriptions if we needed them, if our furnace conked out we'd fix it, we'd leave automatic bill paying as scheduled, but really any other eventuality that we came up with could be pushed to another time. In other words, there really are very few fiscal emergencies that crop up.

We're going to give it a try. I'd like to start this Friday and fast for 7 days. Friday to Friday. And just see how it goes. My prediction is that it's going to be successful and that we'll surely survive and that we'll probably try to do it again. Jeff's rules: no stocking up ahead of time on things that you think you might need, just in case. So, no milk once we run out--we can finally clear out the frozen pancakes and waffles in the freezer and our oatmeal won't be made with milk in the morning. Young One can drink milk at school. No trips to the movies, movie rentals, arcade games, no impulse buys, and no runs to Target that turn a quick, inexpensive errand into a $100 cart full of extra doo dads. No Christmas shopping. Nothing that involves spending money.

I think it's going to be interesting and kind of fun. A week without spending ANY money. Why am I going into this thinking it's going to be easier than it may be?

Aren't these Cute?

I just love this blog. Snickerdoodles. First of all, it's a great name, it's one of my favorite cookies, and she's a darn good writer. Her make and take craft nights got me thinking that I should try to get a group organized too.

Follow the link above to her latest project. Great for the holidays, but I think you could probably have these out all year. And, she uses recycled materials. Love it!

Weight Watchers Announces New Momentum Plan

Forgive me if I laugh a bit, WW, but your new "plan" sounds like a laxative. In fact, I think in the medical world, there is one named that. Tired of that cramped, bloaty feeling? Try MOMENTUM. It'll blow the top off your colon.

I digress.

Those of you not on WW, may wonder what I'm talking about. Basically, WW is launching a new plan that combines both their flexible Points plan and their Core plan (which I know nothing about, really). The gist of the plan? Eat low Points value foods that make you feel fuller longer.

While this is brilliant marketing intended to capture the after the holidays, New Year's resolution folks, I don't think this is anything new to those of us on the plan for a while. In fact, when I read the new material, I offered up a big, "DUH!" to the great WW gods in the sky.

I don't think it takes many Weight Watchers clients more than a week to realize how to manipulate the system so that you don't get ravenously hungry. When I hear people complain about being on WW and being hungry, I always reply with, "you're doing it wrong, then." Because it's not that hard. Eat things that make you feel fuller longer. Again, I cry, "DUH!"

A 5 Point breakfast could be two pieces of dry toast (high calorie bread) or you could have one egg and an egg white scrambled (with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes--all "free foods"), a whole grapefruit, two pieces of light bread toasted topped with one tablespoon of honey, and a cup of coffee with fat free flavored creamer (almost a latte).

Weight Watchers also is pushing soup as a filling food. Another "Duh!" here. This one gets me every time. I can no longer watch the show Survivor anymore because the size zero people are wasting away, there's usually someone who claims to be a great cook or professional chef, and yet, they don't make soup from the one fish and the handful of rice they have. Heck, they could make soup out of the fish heads and bones that they don't eat!

It's OK Weight Watchers, I think this is just a marketing move and really isn't anything new to us oldbies on the plan. And it does sum up what most people very quickly figure out while on the plan. Is it going to sign up more people making the dreaded New Years Day Diet Plan? Probably. Maybe it will help them stick with it past February.

To me, though, learning this for myself was so much more important and so much more crucial to my success. I see WW as a learning tool--allowing me to learn a new way of eating, a new lifestyle. It's more about self discovery for me and that's why I think giving this bit of information away to your clients isn't really going to help them in the long run. (Although, your goal is to make money and not necessarily to teach your clients to no longer need your services, right?)

Enough of the fat rant. I'm off to clean my house. I did cardio for almost an hour and I feel GREAT.

My Favorite Day (well, hour)--A Little Holiday Cheer

I took an hour to myself yesterday and it was so much fun!














I love to decorate my front porch, especially during the holiday season. There's something about the scent of pine boughs, spruce tops, and juniper that just gets me happy. Snipping dried branches and flowers, rose hips, and berries from my yard (and purchasing just a few) and placing them in my porch containers is really very easy. Just give them a trim and stick them in! The secret up here in the frozen North, is to thaw out your containers of potting soil with hot water before adding the greenery. I always give them a good soaking after I put the greenery in. It helps to freeze the branches in place.

I feel almost Martha Stewart-ish over this.

Merry Christmas! Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza!

Who am I forgetting? Whatever your religious leanings, whatever you celebrate (or don't) this time of year, I wish you all good things!

Peace.

I'm a Little Late with This One

As you have read, I OD'd on gravy this Thanksgiving, but for some reason, I haven't met my pumpkin quota. Still craving pumpkin pie, I had to come up with something.

Actually, this recipe is the result of buying way too much bread for stuffing. I HAD to make it to use up the bread! It's a very Weight Watchers friendly recipe, coming in at about 4 WW Points per generous serving. (The recipe nutritional information included raisins and I left them out, so actually, my version is probably closer to 3 WW Points per serving) I wish I would have made it for the holiday because it really is delicious. You could add nuts, golden raisins or currents, or dried cranberries might be nice.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

8 slices whole wheat bread--about 8 cups of any kind of stale bread
1 cup egg substitute or egg whites
2 1/4 cups skim milk
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly oil a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside.
Crumble the bread by hand or food processor to make bread crumbs.
Combine the egg substitute, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, spices and vanilla.
Fold in raisins and bread crumbs. I think it's necessary to let the bread soak up the custard for a bit (15-30 minutes). It worked really well to put this in the oven about a half an hour before dinner is done. That way it's cool enough to enjoy shortly after
Pour mixture into prepared casserole and set dish in larger baking dish which has been partially filled with hot water.
Bake 40 minutes to 1 hour (mine was done very quickly) or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.