On being frugal and healthy

EDIT: About halfway through writing this post, I realized that I had way too much information to fit in one post and still keep your attention. So...I've decided to write my very first blog post series! It will be titled, "Grocery Stewardship." Come back next week for part 2!

I posted a while back about trying to eat healthy on a budget. I received some good advice, and a lot of encouragement. I feel like I've learned a lot in the short amount of time since that post, and really had some positive shifts in my thinking.

I'll point out first of all that Randy and I have done a lot of thinking about priorities in this area, and how to best glorify God. Some might say that we are selfish for buying more expensive food when there are so many people in need. But I think we have come to the conclusion that it would be better for us to just eat less and go without some food, than to consume nutritionless food just to save money. Different people have different ideas of what is healthy food, and that's okay. We are by no means purists. Even if we wanted to, we could not afford to eat 100% local, organic food, as ideal as that may be. We do live a little--we went out for lunch today and had burgers and fries. But we believe that stewardship does not just mean spending as little money as possible. In my experience, there are a lot of Christians who buy cheap everything at Wal-Mart or the dollar store, not because that's all they can afford, but because they have this idea that buying the cheapest version of everything is good stewardship. (Now, I know for some people, this frees them to have more money to give, and I'm certainly not against giving as much as possible. I think giving of our time and money is so essential to our faith. And for others, that really is all they can afford--I'll touch on that in the next post.) However, it's not a hill we will die on, but we disagree with that philosophy. We think that part of stewardship is being wise with our money. For instance, we bought a new (to us) car earlier this year. We could have spent $2500 and gotten a much cheaper car (and again, if that's all someone can afford, that's another issue entirely), but the car would have required much more money in maintenance and repairs, and we would have had to replace it much sooner than the late model car we purchased. On the other hand, we could have spent much more on a luxury car, but we would have been spending outside of our means, and we would unnecessarily be buying more than we need. We bought the car we did because we felt it was the wisest use of the resources we have been given. And this philosophy translates into our grocery budget as well.

Randy is the one who (unknowingly at the time) really nailed this down for me. We were shopping at Target one day, and the register printed off a coupon for us (one reason I love shopping at Target!). It was for $1 off any purchase of $1 or more at their food court. Sweet, right? Well, I've stopped drinking soda, and they didn't have iced tea, so I got an Icee. Real healthy, huh? After the coupon, it ended up costing me $0.27. Randy looked at me, and said, "That's too much." He was half joking, but it really hit me. What did I actually get for that $0.27? I mean, yes, it was only a few cents, but there was no nutritive value, and honestly, the thing was so sickeningly sweet that it didn't even taste that good. What he was saying, was that even a few cents is too much to pay for nothing, and it is certainly too much to pay for something harmful. And there you have it: our nutrition philosophy.

We could buy the cheapest food possible--white flour, white pasta, white rice, sugar, over-processed food. And God has made our bodies so wonderful at adapting to all the junk we put in them that we would survive--for now anyway. OR, we could spend all our money on organic food, which would lead to its own problems. We certainly don't want to put our faith in our food, or have an elitist mentality. And, as I am so fond of saying, a pesticide-grown apple is more nutritious (and cheaper!) than organic pop-tarts. So you know what? We pay more for some items, because their cheap counterparts are not worth buying. We don't get anything for our money. We have decided that stewardship, in the area of our grocery budget, means getting the most we can with the resources we've been given. Not getting the most food we can, but the most nutrition. But do you think that means I got to put more money in the grocery budget for this? Nope! So I've had to get creative.

Next post: How I've been able to stretch my grocery budget and buy the best food possible.

Paper plates

Please go here for some excellent thoughts on gender roles and the church.

A giveaway, and some bloggy love

Okay, well straight off, I'll let you know that I'm not personally doing a giveaway. But Katie is, over at Kitchen Stewardship. Enter here to win a copy of Nina Planck's Real Food: What to Eat and Why or Real Food for Mother and Baby (both excellent books!).

Also, if you're not reading Kitchen Stewardship, you totally should be. She is all about teaching us to be good stewards in general, but mostly in our kitchens (as could easily be deduced by the title). She talks a lot about finding balance between eating healthy on a realistic budget, and she is not afraid to challenge conventional "wisdom" on what we should and shouldn't be eating. Best of all, she does all this with an eternal perspective. She is Catholic, so I don't really line up with her doctrinally, but most of what she says can still be appreciated and implemented by a good ol' Protestant such as myself. :o)

If you take the time to check her out, let me know what you think!

Three Perspectives on Christmas

If you have a few moments, take a look at these three links and let me know what you think.

-The Santa Religion
-Christmas, by A.W. Pink
-What are the origins of Christmas and can a Christian celebrate it?

Stormy Weather

It's kind of a rainy, yucky day today, but it's stormy inside my house too...because I'm brainstorming. (I can almost hear you groaning at my pathetic pun.)

I've struggled a bit ever since we first got married to find a balance between being frugal and being healthy. There are ethical and spiritual issues tied up in that whole debate, not to mention the basic practical issues. I've spent the last year and a half kind of going back and forth between the two priorities. One month all of our food comes from Aldi, and a good deal of it is nutritionally bankrupt. The next month I get everything organic, and our wallet is bankrupt! Needless to say, it's a bit maddening for poor Randy, and for myself. Well, now we're at a point where I really need to get this nailed down.

I've mentioned in passing that I have a decent amount of debt that I brought into our marriage. I was extremely foolish in my early twenties, and got myself in a LOT of financial trouble. Most of that old debt has actually been charged off, and I've just been kind of ignoring it, as if it's going to go away. Smart, right? Not so much. Well, Randy and I have discussed it, and we are starting now to pay off all that old debt. Actually, let's be more accurate--Randy is paying off my old debt. (Talk about marriage being a picture of Christ and the church--don't think that escaped me!) I am not bringing any direct income into our household right now, but we both feel that we need to take care of this, and not put it off any longer. Randy is actually fine with me not bringing in any income (though he wants me to continue looking for another child/children to watch in our home), as long as I am actually working at home, and staying within our budget. And there's the rub.

I am really interested in nutrition and health, and knowing what I know, it's really hard to pay money for food that I know is just junk, no matter how cheap it is. (For the record, as much as I'm pro-organic food, I think it's much more important to focus on just eating real food, whether it has been certified organic or not. A pesticide-laden apple is still better than organic Oreos.) But especially now, when we are trying to be really aggressive about paying down debt, going over budget is not an option. I mean seriously--my husband is paying off the debt that I got myself into--what kind of wife am I if I just go and blow our money? So I have got to find a way to feed my family good, nutritious food, on a small budget. Don't get me wrong--I know I'm relatively spoiled, and some people would look at my grocery budget and think that I live rather lavishly. But just to put it in perspective, what we have to spend on groceries each month is what the government considers the thrifty plan.

So last night Randy and I had a really good, long talk about this. And I've been given an assignment. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to do some research--read all those articles I have bookmarked about eating healthy on a budget; take a look at my recipes and see if I can figure out what an average meal costs for us, and what it should cost; come up with a few "emergency meals"--things we can throw together quickly and inexpensively if one of us is sick or we are short on time, instead of running to McDonald's (because really, what good is it to freak out about organic eggs and milk when I'm eating double cheeseburgers?). So today I am brainstorming, trying to come up with some guidelines for us, and make our budget work. It's actually kind of fun, but overwhelming!

I would love any ideas you may want to share, or I'd love to hear if you've had a similar experience--trying to make your ideals work within your budget. I'll let you know how things turn out!

12 weeks

That's how long we have until Christmas. It'll be here before we know it!

Randy and I have really been evaluating our budget and our spending over the last year or so. We have been trying to be diligent about paying down debt, simplifying our life, being content with what we have, and being wise stewards of our money. We have decided to go pretty minimal with our Christmas gifts for each other this year, but we still want to be able to give nice gifts to our family and friends without breaking the budget. I always have the greatest intentions about making a bunch of gifts, and I end up cranking out maybe 2 or 3, and to be honest, they're not that spectacular. This year, I plan on getting an early start, and not waiting until December 1st. If you are on a tight budget as well, or just have the itch to be all crafty and homemade, here are some links to some projects that I may be tackling over the next several weeks. Don't be surprised if one of these shows up under your tree!

-Homemade Hand Scrub
-Silver Tray Chalkboard
-Altered Board Books
-Tin Advent Calendar
-Cinnamon Votives
-Heat Therapy Bags (Anjanette, I need a sewing lesson for these!)
-Bubbly Magnets
-Memory Game for Kids
-Woven Newspaper Basket

Also, here is a list of several more handmade gift ideas, and here are some ideas for gift baskets. The Salvation Army store near our house is overflowing with baskets! Cheaper than the dollar store, and it's a great way to reuse/recycle!

Are you changing your Christmas spending habits in light of the recession, or just simplifying and doing less? I'd love to hear your plans, and any other handmade gift ideas you may have!

Just don't know what to do with myself...

Oh, my. She sounds about like I feel right now.

Suzy is going back to her mother tomorrow. We don't feel like she is really ready to be the kind of mother that Suzy needs, but she is capable of caring for her right now, and she needs to do so. We have been back and forth over the last couple of weeks as to what was going to happen with this situation and when, and as much as we are heartbroken that she is leaving us, we are glad to get off this roller-coaster.

But that leaves me with a bit of a conundrum. Before Suzy came along, I was babysitting out of my home. Those little girls are now in another daycare, and taking them back is not really an option, for several reasons. Luckily, we are very good friends with the parents, so I still get to see them. For the past 2 1/2 months, I've been a stay at home mom. And now I don't know what to do (with myseeeeeeelllf....).

I've actually been asked about watching another relative's baby, but it would be full time at her house, which would significantly add to our fuel costs and wear on the car (it's about 30 minutes each way to her house), plus it would drastically reduce the amount of time I have to get things done around the house. I would be getting home close to the same time as Randy, so instead of spending time with him in the evenings, I would be rushing to throw dinner together, and then spending my evenings or weekends cleaning the house. Neither of us really feel like this is a good idea.

I could take on another child here at our house, but honestly, I don't know how much longer I want to go on taking care of other people's children without being able to have my own. I've come a long way in dealing emotionally with my infertility, but this whole situation with Suzy, and especially losing her, has brought some of that back to the surface. We would like to start looking into adoption, but we don't know where the money for that will come from, or how long it will take. We would rather not go through the foster system, for a myriad of reasons. And it would be cheaper to try the fertility drugs and try to get pregnant on our own that way, but we have talked and prayed and prayed and talked about that, and we feel strongly that it is not the right move for us. So unless something quasi-miraculous happens, we're left with adoption. The cost of adoption, coupled with the money it will take to pay off all my old debt (I was beyond foolish in my early 20s), seems almost insurmountable. It makes me wonder if I should get a full time job so that we can set aside more money for those things. But I have no real job skills outside of retail management, which I am definitely not doing again unless I have to. Finding a job in this economy when I am underqualified for pretty much everything does not sound too exciting.

If I had the luxury of knowing we could start a family any time we wanted to, I would just keep babysitting, until we had our own. But what if we don't have our own for 5 or 10 more years? What if we don't have kids? I have to recognize that it's a possibility. I may very well never get pregnant, and it's possible that adoption may not work out for us for one reason or another. I never wanted to be anything other than a wife and mother, so the thought of doing something else hasn't really crossed my mind. I never had grandiose dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or anything like that. I've thought about teaching, but that would require schooling, which we have no money for. And I do not wish to work in the public school system.

So if I'm not going to be a mom, then what do I do with myself? If I were living 50+ years ago, it wouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't have all the wonderful modern conveniences we have today, and so it wouldn't seem lazy to just be a stay at home wife. I'd have plenty to keep me busy. I can't say the idea doesn't appeal to me. I tend to have silly illusions of a June Cleaver-esque existence--staying home polishing the floors and baking bread all day in my apron and high heels. But that's not reality. Even if I can get past what other people would think of me (which I mostly don't care about) could I really justify staying home all day without children while my husband worked?

Ugh...I don't expect anyone to have the answers to these questions. It's mostly rhetorical. This is just where I am right now, feeling rather lost.