Money Saving Tip

Just a quick stop in to share a very inexpensive way to wash your dishes in the dishwasher.  Not only are dishwashing detergents expensive, they are filled with harsh chemicals that harm our environment.  I switched to gel detergents a long time ago because the powders kept sticking in the little compartment in my dishwasher, and the dishes were covered with specks of detergent - not fun to place in your mouth!  But the gels are expensive, and honestly - don't do a very good job.

I've been looking at making my own laundry soap (a story for another day) and took some time to locate the ingredients for that.  It didn't really take much effort, but I had to look a little harder in my local store, since I was not accustomed to using them.  The ingredients just happened to be the same main ingredients for the dishwashing detergent:

Borax
and
Washing Soda (not Baking Soda)

Just a tablespoon of each in the little dishwasher detergent compartment will do the trick.  I then put plain white vinegar in the 'jet dry' spot to make sure no residue is left on the dishes.  Amazing.  It works.  The dishes come out clean and have no spots.

I figure I spend about $5 each 3 weeks or so on detergent.  Now, after spending about $3 on the two boxes of ingredients which will last a lifetime - well no, about a few months, I will be spending about 4 cents per load versus 23 cents per load.  Maybe not a ton of money, but the fact that I'm not putting phosphorus into the ground water makes me feel pretty smug.  Those lucky fish!

Snowflakes Are Falling, But Not From The Sky

I have become a new follower of Dave Ramsey and his financial program, "The Total Money Makeover". This is an incredible plan to spend less, live on less than you make, and pay off ALL debt.  That's right, ALL debt - not just your cards, or a loan.  All debt including your mortgage, credit cards, loans, cars, etc.  And with this plan, you can pay things off within years, not decades.  I love that.

So, over the course of the last 3 months, my husband and I have paid off 2 credit cards that thought they were in our pockets until death we did part.  We paid them off and said 'sayonara' to 2 whopping monthly finance charges.  Since then, we have paid for everything in cash (or debit card) - even all 4 of our birthdays (we all come within 6 weeks of each other!) and Christmas.  It has not been easy.  Not in any way.  But the rewards are starting to tumble in in the form of no additional credit card payments due because of overspending over the holidays.  We won't have to face several months of additional worry about how to pay for all those great gifts we found on sale - that never end up on sale after all the interest.


Through being a member of Dave's site, I came to know this great book buy-back program called Cash-4-Books.

First, you go collect all those books you don't read anymore - you know, the ones laying around collecting dust.  If you punch in the ISBN's of your unwanted books on the Cash-4-Books.net site, you can see what, if anything, they will offer you.  Then you send the books in and Voila!  The money shows up in your PayPal account (or through the mail).  It's a win-win, and I love win-wins!  It's not a ton of money - but I did get an offer of $33 on a book I only paid $29 for!  Most payments are in the $1-5 range - at least for my books.

But why sell our books?  I love books.  I literally have a visceral reaction when I walk into a library or book store.  I love the smell.  I love the idea that new information is there to be found.  It's like walking into a fairyland, waiting for the next adventure to begin around the next stack.  I can find information on anything in books.  Yes, internet is nice, but I love to feel the weight of the book in my hands and turn the pages that I assume no one else has yet turned.  But books also collect dust sitting on the shelves.  These books, which will not be read again, could benefit someone else.  I could donate them - certainly that would be easier than punching in all those tiny ISBN's, carting up the books and dragging them to the post office.  However, Dave's plan talks about selling everything not bolted down until your friends call you weird and the kids think they're next - just to get the bills paid that much faster.  Money earned this way is called a snowflake - typically (but not always) smaller amounts that are unexpected income.  The money I get from the books will go toward our 3rd credit card that will most likely now get completely paid off next month.

We won't really sell Everything.  However, have you ever looked around at some of the cool stuff you have laying around and wondered how much you could bring in to support your income?  I know many folks make a steady income on Ebay.  I couldn't do it, but it does intrigue me that it can be done - all from things you have lying around useless at home.

FYI:
Dave's site has a membership, but you can check it out for free for a week.  If you do decide it's for you and want to become a yearly member, if you pay the full price up front (versus monthly), he sends you his Total Money Makeover book - so don't go out and buy one and end up with two.  The day mine arrived, I was literally on my way out the door to get a copy at the library.

Oh... but if you do end up with two... I know where you could sell it!!

Coming Back Into Focus

Do you know the feeling when you somersault underwater, then come out of it not knowing which way is up and out into the fresh air? I have become quite familiar with that feeling over this past month. When several issues hit at once, that were frustrating, eye-opening and concerning, I had to find my way to fresh air. During that process, I stopped writing on my blog. I stopped, mostly because I had nothing to share. I had put aside my urge to check in with everyone, and to share things I was thinking about. I gave myself time to define my priorities, and to let go of those things that were no longer important.

I have made several discoveries about myself over the past month. I have learned that taking care of my family, my home, my body and my money are all priorities. Not that they weren't in the past, but I have reached absolute bottom with each of these areas lately, that I had to stare each one in the face long and hard to discover how I was going to pursue a comfortable standard for myself. Just how clean is clean? Just how much money needs to be in savings to feel secure? What foods make me feel sick and what make me feel better? How hard do I push for my kids to be involved in after school activities - or homework? How about family respect? Do I demand it at every turn?

My sister, Lisa discovered more cancer in her breast (pectoral) muscle - from the side that the initial tumors were removed. I never considered this would happen. Why? I knew it could. However, I knew what 'clean margins' meant - and when the doctors announced that they 'got it all' with the initial surgery, I never questioned it. I subscribed to the magic carpet that carried us all right out of harm's way and into the land of healing. I should have known better. But I just so desperately wanted to take a deep breath - I wanted to be certain Lisa would be fine forever. So when she called me with the new pathology report a few weeks ago, I felt all the trauma of the first cancer phone call over a year ago. Me, at a laundromat during one of my washer-break-down days, trying to shove the clothes into the dryer, putting quarters into the machine with blurry, tear-filled eyes. The quarters kept falling to the floor, and me, swearing under my breath. I wasn't angry at those quarters, but at life. At the ridiculous cosmos for causing my sister pain and anguish.

So you see, I had to step aside from this blog, from certain areas in my life that were taking considerable time and effort that I just didn't feel I could afford to give. I stopped creating art, making music for fun, enjoying friends, laughing. So many things stopped making sense, and I had to figure it out. Not really a depression, but a serious focusing to get clear on life and how I really want to live mine. I can't stop my sister's cancer. I can't change the housing market. I can't force my children to love school. I can't pay the bills unless I go to work. Looking at all of this with a positive light, I can learn more about breast cancer, to be pro-active rather than frightened. I can keep my house tidy until the right time comes to sell it. I can extend my kids' educational experiences by offering more museum trips and adventures that relate to their curriculum. I can find a way to de-stress at work, providing myself enough space to enjoy what I do and the people I work with.

And I can keep finding time to do the things I love, to keep everything in perspective.

I wish you all well.

The Dryer Saga, Part 3

Who'd have thought? You may have been around when I posted this about our dryer breaking down in January. Then, we were able to replace it with a free one, even though I was pining for a cherry-red, front-loading model. After a few months, it broke down, and I talked about that here. We were able to fix it, amazingly, as dryers don't seem too challenging to understand, once you figure out how to open them. So we were able to keep the free one after investing in a $14 part.

A few days ago, one of our sons just happened to mention that they had noticed the clothes in the dryer were still wet - the clothes they had put in a couple of days prior. They informed me - the dryer is broken, mom. Oh great.

How far do you push a free dryer? When do you throw in the towel and get a 'new' one? When do you throw in THAT towel and buy a really 'new' one from the store that gives guarantees and delivery and hauling away of the old one (or old ones in our case)? Those were the tough questions in our household this weekend.

I was ready to bite the bullet and get a brand new one. I'm tired of taking on other people's problem appliances. Why should I have to learn how a blower wheel works when other people get to watch their laundry spin round and round in their brand new front loaders? Grrr.

Earth to Jill... Remember why you started this blog in the first place??

Um... Yeah. So I started to do some research. The machine just wasn't starting up at all - no juice whatsoever. It could be many things, but we had to start at the door switch. Having learned recently how to open the dryer front, I took it off and quickly found the switch in question. Having unplugged the machine (of course), I removed the switch and set about looking for a replacement. Two appliance parts stores later, we found the part. Now to go home and find if this was the problem.

The part fit perfectly, with a little squeezing of some pliers, and low and behold... it started up. It's been drying all day now - and yes, we re-washed the stinky boy load and everything is just fine now. (Gotta give them kudos for trying to do their own laundry, right??)

What items have you fixed when you could have replaced?

Food Bill Reducing Tip Day!

I was reading about Stacey on her blog, My Friend Oprah, and learning how she uses whole, organic foods for her family, yet still keeps her food bill under $100 or so bucks a week. Ok. I just don't know how to do that. My weekly food bill can easily triple that, and there are times I have to run out toward the end of the week for more milk, bread, etc. Now... to be fair to us, we have teenagers, who eat constantly ($). And then they bring their friends over who eat constantly ($$). And we choose organic foods. ($$$) Another issue is our gluten allergy: 3 of us have it, and can't use wheat to make bread, pasta or pizza from scratch. So although we can keep the various substituting flours in the house to make these staples, the time involved is challenging for a busy mom ($$$$). So perhaps keeping the food bill under $100 is not very plausible. But I sure could learn to love even $200 a week for food. Just keep me away from the dreaded $300 mark!

So how do you keep your food bill down? What great tips do you have to share? In fact, I think we need to dub Thursday the official 'Mindfully Simple Food Bill Reducing Tip Day'. I will start with the following tip, that does help me (when I DO it):

Tip # 1: Make a menu plan for the week (or even 2 weeks). Create a list with the necessary foods for the plan and stick to it - don't waiver for those yummy looking chocolate covered somethings at Trader Joe's - you know what I'm talking about (don't do it!!).

Ok - Your turn. List your tips through the comments and we can keep a running tab of ideas.

A Day of Reflection

What does it mean to be mindfully simple in today's world?  In looking back at my reasons for starting this blog, I revisited my vow to make life for myself and my family a bit more thoughtful, more kind and more generous in a non-financial manner.  I wanted to find ways to give of our time and energy without leaving us exhausted and broke.  I wanted to find ways to involve our children in our community, to help them feel firmly planted in something real that you didn't have to turn on with a switch.  What I find challenging is balancing all that good thinking with the actuality of raising a family, holding down a couple of jobs and trying desperately to keep my head above water at all times.  (How do other people do this?)

First, I took a hard look at my habits for time management.  Knowing I wanted to retire early, I have been making plans to hold on to as much money that we bring in as possible.  In order to bring in more with little time spent, I have had to piggy back a few jobs, working harder for shorter periods of time rather than spreading work out over the whole week.  In this way, I can spend more time in the afternoons with my kids and feel that I am a steady presence in their lives.  After that, I looked at how I keep our home.  A while back, I complained that I am a rotten housekeeper.  I hate wasting my time on keeping our messes cleaned up - always have.  There's always something more exciting to do than fold laundry.  However, I really do love a clean house, and hate the embarrassment of friends stopping by unannounced, so we have jumped into super organized mode at our house for the past 4 weeks.  We have pulled out the stops to get the house and yard pulled together - not bad after living here for 10 years.  Where there were no curtains, we now have lovely and colorful cloths that shade our rooms.  Where there was a pile of styrofoam and packing materials, we now have a clean and clear closet.  Our camping equipment is within easy and organized reach for our inexpensive summer jaunts.  Our dressers hold only seasonal clothing, with the rest packed neatly away for the next turn or New England weather.  Coming home to less clutter makes me want to (gulp) vacuum.  I'm serious.  

Over the past few weekends, I have made sure I found time to garden. I find it so meditating, it is imperative that I get out in the yard regularly, no matter how chaotic our lives feel.  It is also so important that I be able to add to my family's diet by providing nutritious, organic vegetables.  My yard is not quite suitable for all this growing what with all the shade and such, so I am investing all my gardening energy into the new deck as my canvas.  With some coaxing, I think I can produce enough produce to keep our food costs low this summer.  

Beyond this, I am finding more time to consider community service for my family.  There are wonderful websites that offer connections to get started in volunteerism, even for children.  It takes some time to get started, but it is well worth the wait, I am sure.  I notice that just about every magazine I pick up these days has some article (or more) about living green.  It bothers me that our current economy situation has fueled a craze to 'go green' - bothered me because although it is high time someone notice the condition of our global economy, I know these things tend to blow over when the next fad bows in.  I suppose I have the same fear about my own new habits, but I hope they are all unfounded.

What are your reasons for living mindfully?  What makes you choose to be more careful each day with your purchases, diet, thoughts?

A New Release and A Free Video!

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has just sent out the notification that the Media Education Foundation has published a video titled, "Consuming Kids: The Commercialism of Childhood".  This video looks at how our children have been the targets of marketing tactics from birth on for decades.  It runs through how advertising in the past included children, but in a much more docile way.  Today's children are basically pelted with ads throughout even educational television to such as extent that many young ones aren't quite sure where the show takes a break and the ads begin.  This film is an attempt to bring our attention to the repetitive opportunities marketers make to 'teach' our children which products to purchase, or have us purchase.  Much as the dairy council will have us think that we need milk to build strong bones, or the beef industry, who makes us think we need to know 'where's the beef?', the commercials geared toward children blur the lines between safe, conscious, nutritious choices and garbage.

From the website:

Consuming Kids
The Commercialization of Childhood

Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children's advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children's marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids. 

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood folks are working to have folks sponsor a public screening of this important film, with a gift of your very own video to keep as a thank you for your efforts.  Make sure you contact them right away, as this offer is limited.  If you miss the offer, don't worry.  You can still purchase the video for $24.99 from Media Education Foundation.

The Conundrum of Earth Day Celebrations, and How Green is Your Wallet?

Since I have been away on a family trip for a few days, I am launching into a more in depth post that covers two separate, but related issues.  Once I get the time to download photos of our trip, I will post more on that.

The Conundrum of EARTH DAY Celebrations:

Earth day is fast approaching - this Saturday, to be exact.  Do you have your day of celebrating all planned out yet?  Do you have particular rituals to ring in another year of 'trying' to be grateful for our earth?  Or do you let things roll, participating in random activities that suit you?  Or beyond that, do you let Earth Day come and go without really acknowledging it at all? 

I have to admit, I was shocked when I recently read that Earth Day has been around since 1970. According to Wikipedia:

Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. This date is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

It was not until we moved to the Boston area about 10 years ago that we became aware of various activities to celebrate the Earth, and began to take more responsibility for our environmental actions.  Although there are many different activities here in our area to participate, the one which works for my family is the Charles River Cleanup.  We spend half of Earth Day walking down by the river, picking up an enormous amount of trash.  My husband loves this day, as he gets to wade into the river to capture discarded bottles, balls, and the many odd items (one year he found a tent!).  I found him wading boots on Freecycle just for this day every year - I'll post photos next week!.  My kids love that the Cleanup organizers hand out munchies and serve hotdogs at the end - and everyone gets a free t-shirt as well.  I love that we are out doing something physical in the fresh air, enjoying friends who do the same thing every year, and beautifying our community.  None of this costs us any money, and no one is trying to sell us anything as we do it.  

But not all 'Green', Earth Day activities are like this.  I'm sure if you are breathing, you have heard, watched, become aware of the scads of advertisements for 'green' this or that out in consumerville.  I have noticed that as more businesses are jumping on the 'green' wagon, consumers get the sense that by buying their products, we are doing something wonderful for the earth.  When in reality, we are still consuming, still moving away from recycling, and still keeping big business in business.  I came across good information at the Huffington Post.  Susan Linn talks about the marketing that is sent out to children regarding being green, and referring to Earth Day.  It always makes my blood boil to read how folks are targeting kids with advertising.  But it seems ludicrous that they think kids, who understand global warming so much better that some adults, would fall for their tactics.  Unfortunately, they use so many chemicals in their foods that they are hard for a child to resist, and they end up succumbing to the ridiculous feast.  I have actually read that participating in the fast food frenzy is much like being addicted to drugs.  Ok.  That's really scary.

How Green is Your Wallet?

As I said above, we just returned from our recent family trip.  Actually, we finish our trip tomorrow as we stopped off in Baltimore to visit family overnight, so we can cut the last leg of our trip into 2 more manageable pieces.  We went down to Williamsburg, Virginia, to check out the colonial community they have there.  It was a really beautiful area, and the weather, though rainy for much of the time we spent there, was much warmer than up north.  The people were fantastic - what they say about southern hospitality is really true.  We had so many people interested in who we were, why we had come down, how our drive was, etc.  But what we noticed right away was the lack of 'green' initiatives with the Colonial Williamsburg complex.  The place is HUGE with at least 5 hotels under the Williamsburg name.  There is the actual colony and shops, numerous restaurants, and museums as well.  Now, I have had the opportunity to stay in a few hotels lately, though I would not call myself much of a traveler. However, in my experiences, there has definitely been in shift toward more thoughtful, resource-saving activities such as re-using towels, recycling bins, glasses in the rooms, and a move away from styrofoam containers.  Well, I am sad to say that where we stayed, we had quite a bit of plastic/styrofoam dishes and cups for meals, plastic cups for drinking in the rooms (which split open within the first using, and so had to be tossed (in the recycle bag to bring home)).  I was shocked that it was not until we walked all the way through the colony (about a 30 minute walk) that we saw our first (and turns out only) recycling bin for glass, cans or plastic - none for paper, outside a sandwich shop in the merchant's center - not even the colonial part.  

I was really surprised to see that here we were in this preserved colonial community, and yet no one was working to preserve the present, so we could have it in the future!!

Is this a southern thing?  A Virginia thing?  I started thinking... it really pays it forward to research how your hotel recycles and reuses resources before you make the reservation.  And of course, I will be sending a letter to the corporate offices to share my opinion, with the hopes that they will begin to think about how to better use their products and processes in order to contain some of the resources we have left.  

But do you think about this before you travel?  Do you think about what mode of transportation gives you not only the best price but the best use of mileage as well?  Do you think about bringing your own food for some/all of the trip to minimize your own cost?  Do you think about camping versus hotels?  Do you have some secrets about how to be resourceful where others (hotels, restaurants, etc) fall short?  Definitely share them here!  And don't be shy - many of you readers are from other countries/regions and we could all learn from what you have to say!

I Have a New Reason to Purge My Drawers!

You know all that mindless junk lying around in your 'junk' drawers?  How about that box of doo-dads you have stashed away in some closet to go through 'later on'?  Do you have any pile of 'have to get to that's' anywhere?  Well...

I found a new website, courtesy of Family Circle Magazine, that not only recycles your old electronics, but may pay you for them as well.  How cool is that??  Not only do you clean out that drawer full of old cell phones, but you get paid for it as well.  And the shipping is free. The program is Gazelle.  They take the following items - so go clean out your closets:

Cell Phones

Digital Cameras

MP3 Players

PDAs

Laptops

Gaming Consoles

GPS Devices

Camcorders

Satellite Radios

External Hard Drives

Video Games

Movies

LCD Monitors

Blu-Ray Players

Calculators

Desktops

Wow.  It is great to know one can actually profit from recycling their odds and ends.  I received an offer for a camera ($28), playstation ($11 - though my kids would kill me), 2 cell phones ($8 each) and an old non-working laptop ($0) for a total of $55.  Not too shabby for junk lying around.  I get to clean out the cupboards, and the stuff gets recycled, then I get to stash the cash.  Now, that's what I call being mindfully resourceful!

Check out the website.  Once you add up what they offer you, post it back here.  

A Call to Act!

I am worried.  If you have listened to the radio, the news, or picked up a paper in the past couple of months, you know what state our national finances are in.  The scary part is the trickle down of resources, creating limited financing for states and regional programs.  I happen to work in a school for students with special needs, and we are again faced with tuition stays while the cost of educating these children raises.  My program alone will be expanding while the staff-power to handle such a load will not grow.  My concern is for the welfare of these students, my fellow staff members and for the program overall.

But what I'm really concerned about is public education.  In my son's elementary school, the school board is looking at 2 budgets: level funding and basic funding.  The first considers a budget without any new hires, and actually getting rid of a few teachers to balance the higher cost of purchasing for programs.  The second budget is the scarier one - this is the one where they keep talking about cutting the arts and music programs completely out of the educational process.  And not only that, all athletic program will be cut drastically, and our nurses will have to spread themselves across all schools.  Being that the president has not sent the expected economic stimulus funds, we will most likely be going with the second, more strict budget, laying off many, many teachers.

Being a musician, actually, a music therapist, I cannot tell you how integral the arts are to our children's education.  I cannot imagine why someone would assume they were expendable. Without the arts, certain important parts of the brain go under-stimulated.  These are the very parts of the brain that govern organization, patterning for language and thought, expression, emotions, memory, eye-hand coordination, impulse control, just to name a select few.  Those standard test scores they want to raise?  Well, you can kiss that pipe dream good bye without the arts or athletics.  No one will be able to sit long enough to focus on any standardized tests without any impulse control and organized thought.

Please.  Please - look into what your local school boards are considering, even if your children do not attend schools in that district/don't go to school any longer/or you don't have children.  I know here in our town, we need each and every individual to speak up for the right to keep the arts and athletics programs intact.  I know it takes time, but please contact your local state authority.  You can find them through this site.  All it takes is one phone call, email or snail mail letter.  You'll feel better once you do it, and a zillion parents will thank you in the end.

Saying Goodbye to Vietnam

My trip to Vietnam is coming to a close.  And I miss my family terribly, but I will miss this country as well.  The friends, the food, the combined pace of crazy traffic versus leisurely living have all burned a place in my mind as things I can learn from.  The picture above says so much to me.  This will be a picture to hang on my wall.  I want to remember these people who do so much with so little.  What we normally spend in one sitting at a middle-of-the-road restaurant back home is a weekly salary for a well-paid teacher.  Yet as much as I want to remember this experience and have it help me make good decisions back home, I also wonder how long will it be before I return to my old ways of living: spending money without considering the real costs, wasting food, and making mindless trips in the car for errands I could have lumped together to save both time and money.  How long before this wonderful experience becomes a faded memory?  How long before I just smile and shake my head at the fact that I bought a gourmet meal for 6 people for under $20?  

Can we really make long-standing changes to our behavior when these habits are old and strong?  How challenging will this be when we live in a culture that moves against the changes we are trying to make, and voluntarily living carefully is against the norm, and living mindfully is not chic or even understood.  It makes no difference to me if people agree with or like the way I want to live.  But it does make a difference to me if society makes it more challenging.  Luckily, I live in a world where I can make the choice of what is most important to me and my family.

Thinking this over, I have decided on the following changes I would like to work on:

• Look at the real reason for stress in my life and decrease it.
• Understand and get to the root of 'what is the real issue?' during difficult situations.
• Understand the 'real cost' of things before I buy them.
• Understand the need for rest, and recognize the difference between being rested and pushing myself too hard.
• Remind myself to be alone for periods of every day, just to be alone.
• Continue to eat dinner for breakfast - I love Pho!
  

So there's my list.  What's yours??

My teaching is finished and now I have a little time to see some of Vietnam before flying to the West Coast to visit family.  I have enjoyed teaching 26 lovely teachers, who are representatives of several schools for blind children.  I witnessed a beautiful concert in our honor this morning that brought me to tears.  20 blind students, all around 14-18 years old, stood in the auditorium to share the most beautiful, traditional Vietnamese music.  Huge drums and stringed instruments accompanied their amazing voices, as I stood in the back and basically wiped my eyes the entire time.  It was not only the music that was so moving for me.  It was the whole experience.  To come from such a privileged place - the US - and not to have thought I was so privileged.  

Of course, I'm not rolling in the dough.  I have a hard time 'making it' just like the next family.  Most months, my paychecks don't stretch far enough.  But here was a group of people who live in extreme poverty, but had the richness in their lives to come together to make incredible music.  And here they were giving their gift of music to us in appreciation for what WE did this week.  I felt both honored and very small at the same time.

Yesterday, I saw people living in the gutters as we drove around in the school van.  I saw men hanging hammocks from the trees along the street at night as their place of rest - just around the corner from my hotel.  When you purchase things, you are expected to haggle.  They jack up the price for foreigners, and it is expected that they will be bargained with.  But every time I do it, I keep thinking - this item is costing me $5.  At home it would be $25.  I should just give them the extra money.  But my colleagues assure me that it would be wrong.  And I suppose I understand.

Somehow, I need to bring this experience home with me as a way to be much more appreciative of my warm bed, car to drive, home and garden, steady job.  I don't have to live on the streets, nor will my children.  I can travel to foreign countries and visit new sights.  I can go to school to advance my education, or I can choose to change my occupation.  I can even change my life structure to include more time off with my family.  I have many choices which my new Vietnamese friends do not have.  And the biggest lesson I have to learn is that even with less, even with 15 people living under one roof, even with crazy traffic in a huge city, even with hardly enough food to feed their family - these folks are happy, social, loving and highly intelligent.  Happier and kinder people I have never met.  Every street corner has someone laughing, smiling or chatting away with someone else.  It has been a truly rich experience.  One that will live with me for a long time.

Putting things into perspective

So I had lunch together with my colleagues today in a very fancy, beautiful restaurant in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  The food was really great, and I was nervous by the time the bill came.  I had been warned that food bills could add up pretty quickly, so I was prepared for the worst.  I'm also not very good at the exchange yet.  So the bill came, and it was 560,000 Dong.  That's pretty much around $28 for an amazing lunch for 3 people.  Wow - I thought it was a pretty good deal.

Then we had dinner with a total of 5 people.  The bill came back at 524,000 Dong.  Again, about $23 for a huge dinner that back home would easily be around $150.  So, while I was mulling over the cheapness of it all, we heard that Vietnamese teacher's salaries are around US$50 - 200 per month.  This is so hard to understand and put into perspective.  So our dinner, so cheap at $23, could have been 1/2 someone's monthly salary.  How can people live on that?  That does explain why people here need to use every resource they can to make ends meet.  I am enjoying my exploration of the culture in Vietnam.  I am sure I will bring home more insight into living simply, and more appreciation for the way of life that I have.

I love things for free.  I really, really love it.  And not that many things come for free these days.  Have you heard about SKYPE?  It's not new, by any means, but some folks don't have much use for it unless they are traveling or have friends and family in far away places.  This week, I travel to Vietnam for a good long time.  In order to stay in touch with my family, we have downloaded Skype on all the computers.  This way, we can not only talk with each other regularly, we can even see each other with the webcams attached to the computers.  Pretty cool.  I checked with my cell carrier to find out how much cell calls would be while I'm away, and I received the quote of $1.99 per minute.  Youch!  So with Skype, we can talk for free - big difference from $1.99 per minute.

Skype is available free to download.  Once installed, you can 'call' another computer that has Skype without any costs involved.  However, if you want to call a land line or mobile phone, you have to add some money to an account, though the charge for these calls are a fraction of the cost of typical calls, phone to phone.  If you do want to add money to an account, the only stipulation is that you use the account at least once per year to keep it active (I did this just by calling my home phone once for about .10).  

For quality, I can't say that I would prefer this type of calling over your usual phone conversation.  It is wonderful to see people when traveling, or when they live far away.  I do find that I have to speak up quite a bit when talking as my computer microphone may not be as strong as if I had a separate mic.  And you do notice a delay from when you speak to when the recipient hears it (you see your own image on the screen as well).  But on the whole, these issues are small and insignificant compared to being able to communicate with loved ones.

Being far away from family is challenging and lonely.  Being in touch will be so much more wonderful now that we have Skype.

So I read that it's time for the  February Food Challenge, where folks write in their plan for food shopping for a month, focusing on spending less than usually budgeted.  Some families plan on spending less than $200 for the month for a family of 4!  I'm lucky if I get away with that for a week with my family of 4.

Is it possible?  Can you spend less but still feed your family good, nourishing meals?  We prefer organic fruits, vegetables and meats, as well as organic milk and eggs.  Just the milk alone is $6.50 per gallon.  I wonder where the coupons for the organic world are hiding.

I decided to do some sleuthing, and found the following e-coupons for some typical organic foods:

• Organic Valley
• Mambo Sprouts (various products)
• Stonyfield
• Santa Cruz Organic
• Coleman Natural
• Barbara's
• Health-e-savers
• Earthbound Farm
• Guiltless Gourmet
• GlutenFree.com
• Brown Cow
• Delicious Living (various products)
• Seventh Generation
• Country Choice Organics
• Turtle Mountain
• Yogi Teas
• Horizon Organics

That's a good start.  If you find any others, please post them in the comments section below.  Obviously, what you do with the food you buy is as important to what you buy.  We have been purchasing more dry beans and rice over the past few weeks and have seen a dramatic decrease in our food bill.  I find that by boiling the rinsed beans for 10 minutes and leaving them for an hour off heat is easy enough to get them ready to cook with later.  Other people use the soak and cook all day method, while others use their pressure cookers.  Any method is fine, and definitely costs less than the canned variety.  Other things we do is make meals that imitate our favorite restaurant meals.  As a family who loves to eat out, we have been learning how to eat more at home.  We now know how to make many meals from the Mexican, Vietnamese and Thai cultures.   I will post some of those recipes in the coming weeks.

What do you do to make your dollar go farther?  Share your ideas here.

Money Money Money Money

It's time to declare financial independence!  Well, to be more accurate, it's time to plan for how to become more financially independent - but the first way sounded much better.  I challenge you to do the same!

A new month brings me to a new decision.  I am adding "Taking care of finances" to my 'to do' list below.  I have spent a good part of this morning looking over personal finance blogs and various websites designed to help the layperson configure their finances.  I read a really inspiring blog about a woman working her way out of bankruptcy on her own.  No, we 're not considering anything drastic like that at all, but it is really hopeful to read how others are dealing with this economy after making mistakes.  I have that great feeling when I want to try something new, inspired by someone else's experience and successes.  You know how you wake up in the middle of the night and ask yourself, "Why am I so excited (happy, in love, anxious, or something else)?" - well, this happens to me.  

I have decided to treat financial freedom like a game.  If I think of it like work, it won't happen.  We have a few personal debts that need to be dealt with, on top of a monster mortgage and student loans, and though I won't go to the extreme of listing their amounts as we pay them off, I will periodically post our successes.  I have recently learned the difference between the snowball and DOLP methods of paying down debt and though they pertain mostly to credit card debt, of which we have none, we do have these enormous loans that need to be annihilated.  

The first step is to prioritize our debt.  After listing our balances and deciding who gets paid first, we will budget how much money goes out altogether.  Then, the first, largest payment goes to the top loan, while the others get the minimum payment.  You know how this goes...then the first loan gets paid off and the next in line gets the larger payment and gets paid off faster, etc.  

In  order for this to work for us, I have to set the following things in action:

• Set up our payment plan on the computer so it runs on it's own - it's much more fun if the game doesn't need constant attention
• Take a percentage of any 'extra income' and put it toward the top payment - nowreferred to as the apatosaurus or APS, for it's size and age
•  Clean out the basement and have a yard sale in the Spring.  All proceeds go to APS
• Start charging our sons rent (just kidding - but we may start charging for peanut butter)
• Do not take on any additional debt (duh)
• Lower the thermostat to 62 during the times we are home
• Look into moving to a rental to decrease our 'overhead' (a bit extreme, but possibly worth it)

How about you?  What are you doing to increase your financial independence?

You Can't Tell Me It's Impossible

My Mother Earth News Magazine arrived today.  I have really enjoyed this magazine most months, though haven't always rejoiced when it arrived in my mailbox.  The reason is I live in an urban town, far from chickens, goats, gardens and anything resembling the country.  I was raised on a gentleman's farm in a suburban setting, and seem to have left my heart there, so getting my subscription to Mother Earth News tied me to that time in my life.  However, the magazine content is typically about country living: chicken coop building, goat neutering, growing the finest, fattest, tastiest tomato, turning over the finest soil, and I just don't ever feel like I can relate to any articles in reality.  But my heart says not to give up.

Today's issue had a wonderful article written by Jules Dervaes from Southern California.  I found Path to Freedom and the Dervaes family online several years ago.  Awed by their amazing talent to turn an urban, dry plot of land in Southern California into an oasis of organic heaven, I tuned into their blog on a regular basis to look at photos, read reports of biodiesel and learn new recipes.  I never left any comments because I never felt like I could add to what I was reading.  I was mesmerized by their drive to experiment with what they had.  I was curious about their desire to have livestock, but not use the car to go pick them up, choosing to use public transportation instead.  Something kept bringing me back to check in on their successes, of which there were plenty.  Soon, they were growing enough food to feed more than just their family.  Local restaurants were benefitting from their hard work as well.  But the truly inspiring thing about it is they do it all on 1/10th of an acre.

I think about all the money I spend on organic food.  I think about how we've lost touch with where our food comes from.  I think about how I'd love for my kids to pull carrots by their fronds and munch them down right there in the garden.  I think about how we support mass growing and transportation of mediocre foods.  And I remember how my mother used to grin at her first garden-fresh tomato and cheese sandwich of the season, and even at such a young age I knew something was so special about growing your own food.  

I am inspired by the Dervaes family.  Unfortunately, I live in a town that is known for it's 'urban rubble' for soil.  We have tried to amend our little postage stamp yard, but the New England seasons and the deep shade from our neighboring trees makes growing anything but moss and weeds challenging.  You're not hearing me throwing in the trowel, though.  I will find a way to keep inspiration for sustainable living.  And while I work on it, you might want to check out Path to Freedom.  It will make you think.

Great Money Read!

I have waited for this book to come in at the library for weeks.  It's finally here!  Through all the reading I've been doing lately on voluntary simplicity, the names Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin have come up repeatedly.  I feel like they are the mom and pop of the VS movement, and I really ought to read their stuff.  So, here I am, with a somewhat dog-eared and beaten copy of their illustrious book, a 1999 edition (I've just learned they have a new one out this past year - well, she does, he has passed on).  I'm so excited, I can hardly crack the pages.  But here I go...  I love it already.  They dedicated the book to ...ME!  And to you and all your hard-working, eco-friendly friends.  The dedication reads: "We dedicate this book to all of the people who are actively engaged in leaving our planet in better shape than they found it".  Yes, that sound like me!

In looking beyond the dedication and into the table of contents, I read, "Chapter 1.  The Money Trap: The Old Road Map for Money.  How much have you earned in your life? and (I love this one) How much do you have to show for it?"

But it gets even better.  "Chapter 2.  Money Ain't What it Used to Be.  How much are you trading your life energy for?  and Keep track of every cent that comes into or goes out of your life."

This book was the catalyst for people deciding not to spend their lives working but working on spending their lives living.  They ask the very poignant question: Do you really want to keep working to pay for that new house, car, boat, vacation (insert the name of any large ticket item here) or would you rather do without or with less and work less as well.  Now, I don't want to give the impression that I am unhappy with my line of work.  However, if you asked me whether I would like to spend my days doing something else, I would say yes.  I would like to do so many other things:

• Spend more time enjoying my children before they are too old to want me around
• Give time to my community
• Create art with recycled materials
• Build a garden to feed my family
• Write stories for children
• Publish music for children
• Write a cookbook for special diets
  

In order to be able to do these things, I will either have to 1) win the lottery - fat chance since I never play the lottery, 2) retire - not gonna happen at my current base of pay/expenses, or 3) cut my working hours in correlation with cutting my expenses so I can be flexible with my time.  I like what's behind door number 3.

I'm excited to get into this book.  If you can get your hands on one, why don't you read it along with me and we'll compare notes?

Have you found a way to be flexible with your time to do the things you like best?

Visit Your Local Library for Passes

Something we love to do is go to museums.  But when you look at the cost of museum tickets, it really is challenging to afford the excursion.  The one place we visit most often is the Science Museum in Boston, so we have renewed that membership pretty regularly.  After going 2-3 times with the whole family, the membership is more than paid for, leaving us the rest of the year to enjoy the museum for 'free'.  

There are many other places I would like to visit in this area.  Boston has so much to offer, but my wallet will never keep up with the urges to see all there is to see.

However, my library has the answer!  Local libraries often have passes to area museums and exhibits for free (or a small fee).  This opens up so many opportunities for families.  Places like  the zoo, the aquarium, the Museum of Fine Art and the Museum of Natural History are on the list, and all I have to do to get a pass is reserve one.  It typically does not work to try to reserve the day you want to go, but with some foresight, we could have a fun-filled weekend for virtually no money.  What a great treat!  

What entertainment ideas have you found for free or very little money?

Summer Already?

Snow is still on the ground, but we’re thinking of summer already. In this area, January and February are the months we have to start looking into summer camps. It amazes me when this time of year comes around and I am barely getting over the holidays, let alone starting to think of summer. Go into any big box store, and I bet you $10 you’ll find the beginnings of swimsuits hitting the racks. Why is it that life needs to stay a few steps ahead of us? What’s wrong with signing kids up for summer camp in May? The camps don’t begin until June, so what’s the rush? And what about those swimsuits? Are the retailers assuming we’ll be so busy with summer camp that we can’t get to the stores during the warmer months? Try to find a good winter coat or pair of boots this time of year. Good luck. But a swimsuit? No problem. Better get it now, or they’ll be gone by the time you actually need it. Of course there’s no wearing it until 6 months from now, and who knows what will happen to your body by then.

So my boys are listing out their choices for summer camp like their gift lists from last month. And you’d think their last name was Rockefeller or Kennedy by the prices of the camps they want. So for five long weeks, we have to shell out a tidy sum for basketball, soccer, archery, etc. Where have the days gone when kids were able to run around outside all summer, leaving home in the morning, and not seen again until evening? What happened to lazy days swimming, biking, exploring?

It’s incredible how much our societal expectations have changed, determined by the economy and parents’ need to be in the work force. I know for our family, if I didn’t have to work, I would be spending those five weeks with my kids, helping them find great tree-climbing and cave-hunting experiences. But ask any family around here and you’ll find folks who have to work in order to stay afloat, and consequently, have to put their kids in camp to keep them busy and safe for the summer. It’s just expected that the kids go to camp, for at least 4, 6 and sometimes 8 full weeks. In fact, if I find a family that is not using a summer camp, I stop and ask what they are doing instead. It has become the exception rather than the norm to have a laid back, summery, summer. We just didn’t have to think about this stuff a few years ago.

Do you have summer plans for your family that vary from the norm? Share them here!