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Posted by Lizzie on May-28-2008
I have issues with budgeting and planning. I don’t like to do either. However, with the way gas prices are today, I think it’s a good time to start. My husband and I aren’t going to retire any day soon and we’d like to keep our home, so this is something I really need to get a grip on. Right?
Lately I’ve seen a lot of people asking “What are you doing to cope?” That’s a good question. The economy is tanking and people are feeling the pinch. It’s come down to “Do I keep all 5 cell phones? Cut down to basic cable? Eat day old bread?” While I’ve been trying to learn to cut down on our expenses and find extra dollars here and there, I’ve been thinking of what my grandparents had to endure. And somehow managed to survive.
My great-grandmother was born before the Great Depression. They managed to live on $2-5 a week- if that. They didn’t have a car (much less two) and couldn’t afford to buy their children a different pair of shoes for each different outfit. As a matter of fact, my grandmother once told me that they had their “Sunday best”- which was only worn on Sunday - and their everyday clothes. Two outfits. That’s it. How did they do it? And meat was only eaten once a week- or twice if there was a holiday. They convened at the neighbor’s house when there was an interesting radio program playing, otherwise they did without (no TV mind you).
I look around my house and realize that we’ve got it good. I’m typing this on a PC and posting it via the Internet and if we were really that bad off, I would have neither of these luxuries. I wouldn’t have a special shampoo or be able to choose whole grain bread over white bread. I wouldn’t be able to say “Hey! I need new sandals because these are just ugly!” Nope. I would be canning and hoarding and scraping to make sure my kids had a roof over their heads, not worrying about going to basic cable instead of America’s Top 150 on Dish. My children have closets full of clothes and have milk and meat everyday. I’m scrimping and saving to keep these things. So they don’t go without them. Not so they’ll survive. Because I have no worries that our money woes are going to cause our kids to get sick, go homeless or die. We are LUCKY. I don’t think enough people realize just how lucky they are.
I’m still coming up with a budget, though. I like our little luxuries and don’t want to have to give them up. I like having cable and the internet and being able to buy my kids little cheap toys every so often. I like being able to choose between good food and processed. I like that I can take my girls to a decent doctor and not have to worry about them dying from an ear infection (my great-uncle died from an ear infection when he was 1 year old). We have one car (and it runs!), two tvs (we married our households so one of them is 15 years old), and one PC. Our bills are paid on time every month and our refrigerator is always stocked. We’ve got it good. I’m not complaining. I’m counting my blessings.
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Archive for the ‘family’ Category
Jul
16
Posted by Lizzie
Just wanted to post an update on my grandson. He’s officially 2 months old now. I know that I wrote a little bit about him the other day, but here’s a picture. Isn’t he adorable?
I’ve also decided that my new gardening blog is also going to be run by WP. I like MT, but there’s too much to learn right now and I kind of like some of the new features that come in the WP core (and my favorite plugins, of course). I may not like some of the things that people behind the software do in their professional lives, but WP really is my favorite platform. Now I just have to find the perfect theme.
That, by the way, was another reason I didn’t want to switch to MT in the end. I couldn’t find any good free templates. That may change in the next week or so, I don’t know. As it is, I’m sticking with what I know until after this school year. I won’t have time to learn the software while I’m going to school full time. I’m pretty sure I’ll survive.
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Jul
13
Posted by Lizzie
We’re refinancing our house. We had a bunch of work done on it last year and, well, honestly, since we went on vacation our finances are a little tight. I tried to warn him. Anyway, we contacted our mortgage lenders to see what we can do. Our house has to appraise for $20G more than what we paid for it. We’ve got a new water tank, new siding, new wiring, new spouting and a BUNCH of cosmetic work has been down, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Still, with property values down so much I can’t even begin to speculate what it’s worth.
I would seriously prefer that we not refinance. I think we can make it work without doing that and putting more debt on ourselves. I think that some of our “vacation” was excessive, but we can bounce back. But Grump has made up his mind and that’s that. Since he’s the finance wizard (I use that term very loosely) I’ll just let him have his way. I hope he knows what he’s doing.
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Jul
11
Posted by Lizzie
I’m babysitting again. Pee Wee is off to work (her infection taken care of) and she’s left me with KJ. Normally this would be ok (actually, for work it is ok) but yesterday she almost drove me over the edge. I took KJ with me in the morning for Mags’ dentist appointment. I knew that I wouldn’t be back in time for Pee Wee to go to work and thought that best. Then when she got home from work (around 5 pm) she pronounced herself ill and went to lie down. That’s fine. But then she asked me if I would watch KJ while she went to a friend’s birthday party. Honestly, I was seeing flames.
Um. No. I won’t do that. You’re sick remember? Yes, she did, so she went to lie down again. That was fine. So, I kept him with me all day yesterday. Today she wanted me to keep him in the morning after she got her medication. I explained to her that I had to work before she went to work, but apparently that didn’t register with her. She laid him in his bassinet beside me and went upstairs to do her hair. Lovely, huh? I would so love to walk away and teach her a very strong lesson, but then the only person who suffers there is KJ. Not fair to him. Now I’ve got to spend some time brainstorming and researching ways to make my darling daughter see the light. All the while fighting with Grump and giving Mags the attention she needs. Some days motherhood really sucks.
I’ve been considering trading my coffee fix for diet pills, because they apparently give you the energy boost that you may need and help you lose weight. I’ve gone back and forth about this for a while now, but now I’m thinking about it again. It looks like I’ll be getting up bright and early every morning at 6 am (I hate, hate, HATE getting up that early) to get my stuff done. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to accept the Honors College scholarship, because I’ll have to go to school full time to get it. It really doesn’t look like I’ll get much support in that area either. LOVELY! Makes my heart sing with joy.
It’ll be a good day when I lay down the law and two people in this house stop acting like I owe them something. Ya know?
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Jul
10
Posted by Lizzie
Once again our house is full of teenagers. I feel like packing up some Rimowa luggage and getting out of dodge. Right now one of them is begging me to cook, and amazingly the livingroom looks like someone picked up a box of junk and flung it willy-nilly all over the place. Hi, kids? Yeah, can someone PLEASE pick up in there? Thanks.
Since Grump has gone to afternoons it seems like the house always has some kids in it. Usually I don’t mind them, but then they start wanting to get on the computer, playing rough house with Mags and/or commandeering my television. I’d really like it if they found something in the back yard to do. Of course, that would take them away from technology and we can’t have that can we?
Pee Wee is having more problems with her breasts. She’s got another infection and, honestly, I’m a little worried. Her doctor is too because she won’t call in the antibiotics. The doctor said that Pee Wee shouldn’t be getting these repeat infections. Hopefully we can get her into the office tomorrow. If we can’t then we’ll be going to the emergency room for sure. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s nothing more than an infection.
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Jul
09
Posted by Lizzie
My grandson has officially passed the two month mark. He’s adorable (I’ll post pics at some point soon) and he’s getting so fat. He’s up to 12 lbs. 2 oz.. His little legs… Recently, though, he’s started to, um, expel some gas that smells an awful lot like whatever his mother has been eating. Not very tasty coming out as it was going in, I’m assuming.
Our basement is getting wet from all the rain and it’s got that smell. I could use a couple of Austin Air air purifiers to get rid of the “wet basement” odor, for sure. It’s horrendous. My mother-in-law let me know in no uncertain terms that “Ugh! It smells!” Yup. Thanks. I know. We have an unfinished basement, with sandstone walls. When it rains the water seeps through the ground then through the walls. Then it makes that lovely aroma that makes everyone want to gag.
Of course, we have dehumidifiers and/or the air to try to calm the scent, but the problem lies in the fact that the Heavens have been opening up daily pretty much. That’s a lot of water. That’s a lot of stench.
Add that to the super smelly diapers, baby gas, husband gas, dog gas, and the fish we had for dinner and… You get the picture? And no, I don’t use air fresheners because of the chemicals. Vanilla on lightbulbs works at night. I love that. Doesn’t help during the day when Grump and KJ and the basement are trying to outdo each other. 
I’m becoming immune, I think. That’s a good thing. Still, I’ve got to get some air purifiers.
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Jul
09
Posted by Lizzie
Sometimes (when my house is full) I wish I had a Slingbox (it works in tandem with my satellite so I can use the tv without the satellite hookup). There are two teenagers here, a restless man and a preschooler. All of them want to watch something else. Since I’m not feeling well I would love to be able to watch what I want to watch. Apparently, so does everyone else. It’s a beautiful thing.
At any rate, I’ve decided that I’m going to use my MT installation for a gardening blog. I’ve got sooo many ideas but don’t want to put them here. My MIL gave me a “Birds and Blooms” book and I LOVE it. It’s got a lot of interesting information and I want to try some of the tips. That would make a pretty decent niche blog, I think. Plus I’d have somewhere to put my flower photos.
See? That’s one of my problems. I get all these ideas and have to implement the right now and everything has to be perfect and then… See? I have been doing well with my Drama TV gig though. Writing a niche topic just once or twice a week works well for me apparently. And I get the practice. Hmmm. Yes, I’ll do well with a small niche blog.
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