Corn

I finally got to watch King Corn. Wow, we had just added corn back into our diet a few months ago, as Kaylee is now able to handle it pretty well. I'm not sure anymore how much I really want to keep it as a part of my diet though. I think I'd feel differently if it were a different variety of corn, like maybe the good unadulterated variety that still has nutritional value, and that we grow. But I think we're totally done buying any HFCS in anything, (not that we have for a long time but still) grain fed beef - even eating out isn't even close to being worth it, or non-organic corn products like chips. I just can't continue to be a contributing factor in supporting such an industry. It is so incredibly sad where this country is headed in terms of food. This is definitely another film that I think everyone should see.

Wrap up

I am happy to report that we survived our no spend month. It wasn't nearly as painful as I expected it to be, although the last day for some reason was somewhat rough, I had a crazy urge to make cookies and we had no brown sugar. I resisted since there really was no need for cookies, and we had $2.36 to spare at the end of it all. Our total for week four was $61.59. Gas was the big stress, I think when it comes down to it losing the extra hour each day with Jereriah since he was taking the bus was the hardest thing. It was also hard to stay home every day with Kaylee and only going out for walks around the neighborhood. We were getting a bit board of our books without a trip to the library and boarder lined on cabin fever a few days. I've got to get to sleep, so I'll post more soon on how this experience was overall, but I really feel that it was good for us, and it's something we'll probably do more than once a year... or maybe we'll just actually create and try to stick to a budget. One thing I know will hapen though is that we're doing away with the credit cards, they're going to continue to live in their storage locker. Although we'll take out the debit one, because trying to make deposits in an atm without an atm card when you've gotten to the bank to late and their night deposit box is locked for some reason can really bum you out. (especially because the bank is really far away!)

The world in which I live

A friend of mine posted this article on her blog and I had to post it as well, since I the truth of the article rings so true to me each day. This is the place I live in (or close to it) and the people I interact with every day. True we've now officially moved out of Boulder County but since J still works in Boulder and I'm doing MOPS and other things there, we always seem to find ourselves back there. We're actually thinking of trying to get farther away sometime soon, but that's a post for another day. Right now I'm still loving the beautiful uniqueness that is Boulder. Here's the article.
Best Outside Towns

Week Three

It's weird to me how fast money can just disappear. I somehow convinced myself that this challenge was no big deal and that we'd reach the end of the month with like $100 to spare or something. I think it is my innocence when it comes to purchasing gas. It costs a lot to go anywhere, and that's been the big lesson to me. The transportation for J to get to work, even if on the bus, is like just another tax to his income, it amazes me. This week as of the 23rd (I'm late writing this up) we spent $63.95, the cars needed some gas and the kitties needed food, that was a big one, almost half the expense. Granted it will last them through the next month an a half, but still.
I feel like food has been the easiest thing to alter/scale back on. And I have had a lot of fun getting a bit more creative in the kitchen. We always cook from scratch anyway, but I wonder why we haven't been doing some of this stuff before now. I have come to realize that I always have something soaking, and the crock pot is an indispensable tool. I've been experimenting with sprouting things (this is going to take more practice - I'm not good about changing water/rinsing), have continued to make granola, bread, and lots of other goodies. But the most fun one is making our own yogurt. We've done keifer before, with a starter, but the yogurt is a new one, and it's fun. No, I'm not eating it so I have no clue how it actually tastes, but J says it's good and since he goes through a lot of the stuff it's a huge savings to do it ourselves vs buying it. Next month we try making miso and experiment with other fermenting things... I just have to buy something to put it in.

The move you know...

Well, I was attempting to post something and have discovered more limitations of the blogger ap. But there are ways around everything so I've put my information in a link on my website, the lines in the tables still disappeared but oh well. You can read it there. I'm sorry to send you on a goose chase to read what I have to say but formatting issues prevent tables at all, such is life. So on with what I was writing about in the first place...

Forgive me for a brief political interlude, but I felt that I had to share this. The more we know about things, the more we can make informed decisions. I hope that this information and the links at the bottom help you make an informed decision in this years election.

2008 Presidential Candidate Comparison Talking Points

Week two totals

This week was not too huge of an impact on our budget. We made it through the week with a grand total of $27.65. Jereriah took the bus to work almost every day, so we only had the 12 miles a day to the bus stop in gas cost; in addition to my one trip into town and one trip to Louisville. We will have to fill up some gas tanks next week but I feel pretty confident as of today that we'll make it through the end of the month within our budget. We were immensely blessed this week by a generous gift of a meal out by my father, as a late anniversary gift. He also gave us a musk melon and bottle of maple syrup... so sweet of him! It was definately a treat to eat out this month, and to spend some time with him. We also came across a few awesome deals from the dollar bags at VC; we got about 10 mangoes definately in need of immediate love, so I made some puree that will go to make some mango coconut frozen pudding and grace our smoothies. And today we made an amazing GF mango upside down cake. Here's a picture.

Updates

Financial Fasting - Week 1: This may sound totally crazy, but I'm really kind of loving this. Yes, it is really difficult and yes, I am feeling like there are many things I am going without. But oh how freeing it is to know that for once I'm not accumulating more junk in my house, and that I'm not lugging a ton of plastic in my wallet. We are kicking ourself for not filling up the cars on the 31st, but we're also learning that because of that we may have to be a bit more creative the rest of the month. Transportation is definitely the biggest challenge for us. Living at least 6 miles from town and 21 from J's office make it tough. Plus being on the highway, with a baby make bicycles impractical and walking not even an option.
So the first week, (actually through today, so the first 10 days) we spent $54.17, most of that went towards water and groceries, but also $9 to gas. It is amazing how fast it adds up. I just hope that Kaylee's blueberry addiction ends soon, or at least she learns to function a bit better with the rationing that I've had to enforce, because it is definitely making things a bit difficult, those juicy organic gems aren't exactly cheap, at least not here. And yes, we're still eating all GF, organic and locally as much as possible, I'm not compromising my standards just because money is more of an issue. I honestly don't see it as much of a problem, but I guess I don't eat the same way most people do. I actually think we're eating a bit healthier as I'm really forced to soak my beans and make grains if I want to eat at all rather than just grab something 'convenient' (can't remember or think of what that would be right now - fruit maybe? or open a can of beans?) Anyway, the $1 bags of 'questionable' produce have been awesome for fresh fruits/veggies. We have actually had 2 pies, and a few fruit salad's because of them, and some awesome red swiss chard.

EC update- I have put off writing this because I didn't want to jinx myself and have things change. But, Kaylee is amazing. She has been so consistant in telling us when she has to go and going when she is given the opportunity that I have only had one almost full load of diapers each week for the past three weeks. She has been a huge fan of the 'big potty' and hasn't been too keen on using her little ones, which I guess is fine. She still grabs them and carries them around when she has to go and I didn't take notice that she was tapping her diaper. Or if she's diaper free she'll sit on it and go without even being prompted. She's so amazing! I'm just blown away at how much we as humans grow and accomplish just within the first year of life here on earth.