Sometimes I am dumb.
It's not a confession I make lightly, but this is one of those times I gotta fess up. I am dumb.
This is October, see. And starting a couple years back, Kevin and I began watching scary movies during the month of October, kind of gearing up for Halloween. The first year it was all about Psycho and The Sixth Sense. Both excellent and creepy, but basically non-gory and with little actual violence.
Last year was The Shining, both the Jack Nicholson and the Stephen King mini-series versions, and The Lost Boys. A little more psychological terror and a little more blood, albeit of the giggling, stupid, boy-wasn't-this-made-in-the-eighties variety.
Last night we kicked it up a notch. We watched the old, original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Yep, I'm dumb.
Rich is out of town, Kevin and I both get scared of scary movies (I don't KNOW why we started doing this.....) so of course, the thing to do was to turn on the scariest of the slasher movies sporting the creepiest family that has ever lived on film.
Ten minutes in, we were sitting smack up against each other, feet up on the couch, eyes bulging in horror and vowing neither of us would ever, EVER pick up a hitchhiker. (So, maybe there is some redeeming value...) By the end of the film, Kevin and I are nearly inside each others skins, hanging on for dear life and trying not to scream louder than the poor, stupid heroine.
When it was over, we both sat gasping for breath, horrified at the idea that we were going to have to go upstairs and go to sleep within the next couple hours. Luckily, we had an episode of "Chuck" on the TiVo that cleansed our shaken spiritual palates and made it nearly okay to walk upstairs in the dark.
Oddly enough, we both slept without nightmares and Kevin says he never once peeked under his bed. I can't admit to the same, but I will make the excuse that my bed is on risers and old Leatherface might have been able to squeeze his bulk AND his creepy old Chain Saw under there.
Tomorrow we will be getting "The Silence of the Lambs" from Netflix. Some things never change.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Jumpstart, aka, Autumn on an Island
This Saturday I'm off to the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. I'm leaving home for a week-long master class on writing, staying in a beachside house with twenty-four other women writers, soaking up business and craft advice from the pros each day during the seminars. I'm thrilled beyond measure.
Preparing for a writing trip is an odd experience. Clothing is nowhere near the top of the list of things to be sorted and gathered and packed, which might mean I end up arriving there with plenty of notebooks and pens and my laptop but only one pair of socks and three t-shirts. I've been making sure my works in progress and completed manuscripts are in my laptop, saved in the proper format, not to mention in good enough shape to SHARE with other writers. That's stressful.
Also, I'm not experienced at critiquing others work and we'll be doing that in groups each evening. That's stressful.
I'm kind of anti-social and I'm going to be sharing a bedroom and bath with two other women, not to mention a whole house with LOTS of other women. That's kind of stressful until I think about the fact that we're all writers, mostly of romance and women's fiction, and seriously, how could that NOT be fun? Chances are good that I'm going to get spoiled to that atmosphere and have to seriously reacclimate upon returning to my man-filled home.
There might have been lots of problems with me taking off like that for a week of me-time, but lucky for me, I have a son who doesn't mind his mother leaving him for a week, a mother who doesn't mind coming down to babysit --ahem-- provide supervision for my son, and a husband who will be working in that direct area of South Carolina for the majority of that same week. Which is cool cause it means we can go on a date or two while I'm there and ride our bikes up and down the beach. Yay!
So while I'll be popping in and out of here all this week and while I WILL have access to the internet all of next week, you may not hear from me a lot while I'm gone. But I'll be gathering material and you can be sure it'll be put to good use when I return.
Preparing for a writing trip is an odd experience. Clothing is nowhere near the top of the list of things to be sorted and gathered and packed, which might mean I end up arriving there with plenty of notebooks and pens and my laptop but only one pair of socks and three t-shirts. I've been making sure my works in progress and completed manuscripts are in my laptop, saved in the proper format, not to mention in good enough shape to SHARE with other writers. That's stressful.
Also, I'm not experienced at critiquing others work and we'll be doing that in groups each evening. That's stressful.
I'm kind of anti-social and I'm going to be sharing a bedroom and bath with two other women, not to mention a whole house with LOTS of other women. That's kind of stressful until I think about the fact that we're all writers, mostly of romance and women's fiction, and seriously, how could that NOT be fun? Chances are good that I'm going to get spoiled to that atmosphere and have to seriously reacclimate upon returning to my man-filled home.
There might have been lots of problems with me taking off like that for a week of me-time, but lucky for me, I have a son who doesn't mind his mother leaving him for a week, a mother who doesn't mind coming down to babysit --ahem-- provide supervision for my son, and a husband who will be working in that direct area of South Carolina for the majority of that same week. Which is cool cause it means we can go on a date or two while I'm there and ride our bikes up and down the beach. Yay!
So while I'll be popping in and out of here all this week and while I WILL have access to the internet all of next week, you may not hear from me a lot while I'm gone. But I'll be gathering material and you can be sure it'll be put to good use when I return.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Updated Life of Beki
The major changes going on in my life (and the lives of those in my immediate trajectory) have continued, sadly, leaving me physically exhausted and with little time for MySpace gossip, er, I mean NETWORKING. But I'm here with an update before I fall asleep again and before I get so into my day tomorrow morning that Friday suddenly appears out of nowhere.
The debt diet is working big time. Our credit cards are relegated to a big block of ice in the freezer and I've gotten a job. Yes, a job. Stop laughing. I know I've explained (in a much earlier blog) all the different jobs I have held along with several instances of firing. But this job might be different. For one thing I'm an independent contractor so I can claim business expenses on the income tax return (which is a BIG deal). It's also a job to which I can wear jeans and t-shirts, no make-up and can completely shun a hairstyle.
I'm a maid. I can hear my brother and sister laughing right now. We'll give them a few seconds to stop and come back.
So I'm a maid. Kind of like Merry Maids but without the good attitude. I'm doing residential housecleaning which means a different home each day of the week, roughly eighteen hours of work each week and it's a surprisingly good-paying job.
The physical labor is something else again. I had no idea how bad it would hurt to clean house. Go ahead and laugh, but I really didn't. I have never been what you'd call domestic. I don't cook well and as long as there is no visible dirt, I'm pretty happy. I have always been able to deal with a certain level of clutter in the house and I'm not ever in a hurry to clean a bathroom floor. Ah, those days are gone. I went out each day last week and cleaned a house and then came home and couldn't help but to clean somewhere in my own home. It's a sickness, it really is. But at least it's something that will help pay down debt, allow me to still be at home when my boy gets home from school, and leave plenty of writing time to boot. And if on top of all that I just happen to learn how to efficiently clean a house, well, I'm sure Rich won't turn up his nose at that skill.
Fall TV viewing has only gotten consistently better with "Chuck," "The Big Bang Theory," and "Private Practice" keeping me entertained. I'm also adding to the list "Dirty Sexy Money," a show which definitely suffers from stupid title disease, but which gave me goosebumps when ending a recent episode with a verse and chorus of Concrete Blonde's version of "Everybody Knows," which is a Leonard Cohen song not to be sniffed at. I'd be a fangirl for sure, if only for that, but the show really is cool. Tangled and dripping with diamonds for sure, but very cool at the same time. Not at all Paris Hilton-y. Besides, who doesn't like Peter Krause? If we could call him "Casey" and bring in Dan to be a partner in his lawfirm, I might be in heaven.
My own personal non-diet-lifestyle-change is still going well. I'm another four pounds down at the moment for a grand total of twenty-six. It's a noticeable difference now. The other day I stole back from my son my "Dragon's Last Roar" high school grad t-shirt when I realized it fit again. It's hanging gloriously in my closet since there's no way I'm going to wear in public a shirt which proclaims I graduated high school in 1990. Why advertise?
I hope all of you, my friends, are doing well and moving forward with your own personal goals. Each big goal is only a series of little steps and each can only be met one step at a time. Take your time on the journey, experience each step and when you reach your goal, embrace the joy that comes with your success. I'm waiting, excited, to do the same.
The debt diet is working big time. Our credit cards are relegated to a big block of ice in the freezer and I've gotten a job. Yes, a job. Stop laughing. I know I've explained (in a much earlier blog) all the different jobs I have held along with several instances of firing. But this job might be different. For one thing I'm an independent contractor so I can claim business expenses on the income tax return (which is a BIG deal). It's also a job to which I can wear jeans and t-shirts, no make-up and can completely shun a hairstyle.
I'm a maid. I can hear my brother and sister laughing right now. We'll give them a few seconds to stop and come back.
So I'm a maid. Kind of like Merry Maids but without the good attitude. I'm doing residential housecleaning which means a different home each day of the week, roughly eighteen hours of work each week and it's a surprisingly good-paying job.
The physical labor is something else again. I had no idea how bad it would hurt to clean house. Go ahead and laugh, but I really didn't. I have never been what you'd call domestic. I don't cook well and as long as there is no visible dirt, I'm pretty happy. I have always been able to deal with a certain level of clutter in the house and I'm not ever in a hurry to clean a bathroom floor. Ah, those days are gone. I went out each day last week and cleaned a house and then came home and couldn't help but to clean somewhere in my own home. It's a sickness, it really is. But at least it's something that will help pay down debt, allow me to still be at home when my boy gets home from school, and leave plenty of writing time to boot. And if on top of all that I just happen to learn how to efficiently clean a house, well, I'm sure Rich won't turn up his nose at that skill.
Fall TV viewing has only gotten consistently better with "Chuck," "The Big Bang Theory," and "Private Practice" keeping me entertained. I'm also adding to the list "Dirty Sexy Money," a show which definitely suffers from stupid title disease, but which gave me goosebumps when ending a recent episode with a verse and chorus of Concrete Blonde's version of "Everybody Knows," which is a Leonard Cohen song not to be sniffed at. I'd be a fangirl for sure, if only for that, but the show really is cool. Tangled and dripping with diamonds for sure, but very cool at the same time. Not at all Paris Hilton-y. Besides, who doesn't like Peter Krause? If we could call him "Casey" and bring in Dan to be a partner in his lawfirm, I might be in heaven.
My own personal non-diet-lifestyle-change is still going well. I'm another four pounds down at the moment for a grand total of twenty-six. It's a noticeable difference now. The other day I stole back from my son my "Dragon's Last Roar" high school grad t-shirt when I realized it fit again. It's hanging gloriously in my closet since there's no way I'm going to wear in public a shirt which proclaims I graduated high school in 1990. Why advertise?
I hope all of you, my friends, are doing well and moving forward with your own personal goals. Each big goal is only a series of little steps and each can only be met one step at a time. Take your time on the journey, experience each step and when you reach your goal, embrace the joy that comes with your success. I'm waiting, excited, to do the same.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Trimming the Fat, Vol III, In Pursuit of Health
Ah, the eternal quest for a healthy balance between what is good and what is good for you. I managed to ignore that quest for a little too long but over the last couple years have turned a corner, embracing exercise and healthy eating while vowing never to DIET again.
I can't diet. There is something inside my head that rebels if I even think that I "can't" have a certain food. Let's take brownies for example, as I am ordinately fond of those little gifts from Satan. If I tell myself I can't have brownies, I begin to see brownies everywhere. I believe I can smell brownies around me and I will hunt them down and demolish several at once, just to show that I can. I know, smart, right? Yeah, that'll show me to restrict my foods.
So instead of dieting over the last couple years I've rearranged my way of thinking about eating to some degree. It's mostly about fuel now with only occasional forays into Taco Bell or guilt-free Krispy Kreme snacking (only) while I'm at the beach. I can eat anything I want to eat and now, in so doing, I just don't. Instead, I tend to eat salad every day, often twice a day. I keep grapes and carrots on hand. I make sure to get seven handsful of fruits and veggies every day and I eat very little meat and only super-grainy bread.
I eat real butter but skim milk. If a brownie somehow wanders across my path, I'll eat it, but I'll leave all his buddies on the tray. I drink all the water I'm supposed to every day and only diet sodas and unsweetened tea in restaurants (which is really fine if you add a packet of Sweet&Low).
I also exercise three to five times a week using an elliptical machine, 8 and 10 pound weights, bicycle rides with my sweetheart, evening trail walks with a friend, and some (highly unskilled) yoga poses. After two years doing all this I lost a whopping six pounds. Not much encouragement, right? But I felt better. I actually wanted to be moving and my body hadn't ever been any closer to exercise than reading about it in a book. I felt that change and I jumped on it. I got my doctor to put me on a prescription to help with the weight loss.
Two and a half months in, I'm twenty-two pounds lighter. For the first time in years I'm getting really close to the good side of the 200 pound mark. Another fifty-few pounds and I'm in the best shape I've been since college. And possibly better because I certainly didn't exercise more than my beer-swigging arm then. So I'm feeling good right now.
On the other hand (there's always a dark side with me....) none of my clothes fit properly anymore and it's going to be a WHILE before I will break down and buy new ones because I'll just keep shrinking out of them at this point. So, while I am losing weight and feeling GREAT, I still feel stupid in my clothes. Luckily, I'm thirty-five now and I refuse to waste time worrying what strangers think of me. So my weird baggy attire will get me through a few more months and at some point in the future I will emerge from them, like a butterfly breaking free of its cocoon in the spring.
For now I'm off to find food for my solo dinner. Salad and something are on the menu and I know there's not a brownie in the whole house. Good weekend to you all!
I can't diet. There is something inside my head that rebels if I even think that I "can't" have a certain food. Let's take brownies for example, as I am ordinately fond of those little gifts from Satan. If I tell myself I can't have brownies, I begin to see brownies everywhere. I believe I can smell brownies around me and I will hunt them down and demolish several at once, just to show that I can. I know, smart, right? Yeah, that'll show me to restrict my foods.
So instead of dieting over the last couple years I've rearranged my way of thinking about eating to some degree. It's mostly about fuel now with only occasional forays into Taco Bell or guilt-free Krispy Kreme snacking (only) while I'm at the beach. I can eat anything I want to eat and now, in so doing, I just don't. Instead, I tend to eat salad every day, often twice a day. I keep grapes and carrots on hand. I make sure to get seven handsful of fruits and veggies every day and I eat very little meat and only super-grainy bread.
I eat real butter but skim milk. If a brownie somehow wanders across my path, I'll eat it, but I'll leave all his buddies on the tray. I drink all the water I'm supposed to every day and only diet sodas and unsweetened tea in restaurants (which is really fine if you add a packet of Sweet&Low).
I also exercise three to five times a week using an elliptical machine, 8 and 10 pound weights, bicycle rides with my sweetheart, evening trail walks with a friend, and some (highly unskilled) yoga poses. After two years doing all this I lost a whopping six pounds. Not much encouragement, right? But I felt better. I actually wanted to be moving and my body hadn't ever been any closer to exercise than reading about it in a book. I felt that change and I jumped on it. I got my doctor to put me on a prescription to help with the weight loss.
Two and a half months in, I'm twenty-two pounds lighter. For the first time in years I'm getting really close to the good side of the 200 pound mark. Another fifty-few pounds and I'm in the best shape I've been since college. And possibly better because I certainly didn't exercise more than my beer-swigging arm then. So I'm feeling good right now.
On the other hand (there's always a dark side with me....) none of my clothes fit properly anymore and it's going to be a WHILE before I will break down and buy new ones because I'll just keep shrinking out of them at this point. So, while I am losing weight and feeling GREAT, I still feel stupid in my clothes. Luckily, I'm thirty-five now and I refuse to waste time worrying what strangers think of me. So my weird baggy attire will get me through a few more months and at some point in the future I will emerge from them, like a butterfly breaking free of its cocoon in the spring.
For now I'm off to find food for my solo dinner. Salad and something are on the menu and I know there's not a brownie in the whole house. Good weekend to you all!
Trimming the Fat, Vol II, In Which I Discover Great TV
You know how fall TV season is, right? Shows are hyped for months, you get excited by the sound of something, it airs once, maybe twice and then it's gone forever. I got sucked into the great big Black Donnelly's plot last spring before NBC ripped my heart out by taking it off way yonder too early. So over the last month or so, I've been waffling between excited a few new shows and being a gloomy gus over which would be cancelled first in order to make way for an even dumber reality show.
So what a surprise this has been!
I'm a huge Gray's Anatomy fan and dearly love the character of Addison Montgomery. So of course I was terrified to hear the word "spin-off" in relation to her name. But Private Practice has turned out to be quite a coup. Well done with quirky, interesting characters. The show has an entirely different feel than Grey's Anatomy which, in my view, is a very good thing. Go Shonda!
Next up on the viewing list was Chuck. Oh, my, is it fun. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Chuck. Incredible story, good supporting cast, great lead actor. Funny as all get out. Someone is going to smack me down on this but I'm willing to say it's the most original show I've seen on tv (including cable, by the way) for quite some time. It's got sci-fi (lord, I hope it's FI...) and comedy and plenty of action. Just a very, very good show. I love it already and have moved it into the top five on my DVR.
So I wasn't sure about Big Shots. I hate that guy, you know, the dark-haired, unshaven smirky guy. I can't stand him and his face. But I love Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina and Michael Vartan is nothing if not good acting wrapped up in eye candy. But I wasn't sure about this show. I nearly deleted it from the Tivo before I even watched it, truth to tell, because there was so much else on there already. But I decided to give it a show. Knowing it was going to be horrible and shallow. And it kind of was both. There was enough that took me by surprise to make me give it a few weeks to see if it evolves at all. The really weird thing about it is the set up that these four guys are supposed to be the male Sex in the City group. Okay. I'll go with that. But they're married. Which might not be a big deal except it means that their wives are relegated to the backgrounds of their lives which kind of makes me loathe them all in subtle ways. What was that scene at the end of the one guy's wife's birthday party when all four guys left together? Hello, guys? Forgetting to take anything home with you?
The biggest surprise so far is The Big Bang Theory. I laughed so loud during the pilot episode that I scared my dogs. While it sounds easy and stupid (beautiful blonde girl moves in next door to really smart geeky guys) it's actually clever and focused and (gulp) real. These geeks sound like real geeks right down to discussing why Superman would have actually killed Lois Lane when he tried to scoop her up in mid-air. And the dumb blonde isn't dumb. Wonder of wonders, she's kind of normal and really only appears dumb in the face of the guy's outstanding genius. And the one geek with the hair and the many languages? I can almost guarantee that you KNOW this guy somewhere in your life. I do. And I'm not naming names. And one more thing: sarcasm sign. I need one of those, myself.
I still haven't revved up the energy to watch Cane or Dirty Sexy Money but the return of Heroes didn't disappoint and, surprisingly, neither did the return of Grey's Anatomy. Which was quite shocking, actually. I couldn't see a good way out of that Season Three ending hole, but again, Shonda does not disappoint.
TV is on a roll, big time. I suggest some good open-minded viewing, and maybe the network wonks can chill for a few weeks before they start cancelling things all willy-nilly and giving us shows like Beauty and the Bachelor Survive Kid Nation.
So what a surprise this has been!
I'm a huge Gray's Anatomy fan and dearly love the character of Addison Montgomery. So of course I was terrified to hear the word "spin-off" in relation to her name. But Private Practice has turned out to be quite a coup. Well done with quirky, interesting characters. The show has an entirely different feel than Grey's Anatomy which, in my view, is a very good thing. Go Shonda!
Next up on the viewing list was Chuck. Oh, my, is it fun. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Chuck. Incredible story, good supporting cast, great lead actor. Funny as all get out. Someone is going to smack me down on this but I'm willing to say it's the most original show I've seen on tv (including cable, by the way) for quite some time. It's got sci-fi (lord, I hope it's FI...) and comedy and plenty of action. Just a very, very good show. I love it already and have moved it into the top five on my DVR.
So I wasn't sure about Big Shots. I hate that guy, you know, the dark-haired, unshaven smirky guy. I can't stand him and his face. But I love Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina and Michael Vartan is nothing if not good acting wrapped up in eye candy. But I wasn't sure about this show. I nearly deleted it from the Tivo before I even watched it, truth to tell, because there was so much else on there already. But I decided to give it a show. Knowing it was going to be horrible and shallow. And it kind of was both. There was enough that took me by surprise to make me give it a few weeks to see if it evolves at all. The really weird thing about it is the set up that these four guys are supposed to be the male Sex in the City group. Okay. I'll go with that. But they're married. Which might not be a big deal except it means that their wives are relegated to the backgrounds of their lives which kind of makes me loathe them all in subtle ways. What was that scene at the end of the one guy's wife's birthday party when all four guys left together? Hello, guys? Forgetting to take anything home with you?
The biggest surprise so far is The Big Bang Theory. I laughed so loud during the pilot episode that I scared my dogs. While it sounds easy and stupid (beautiful blonde girl moves in next door to really smart geeky guys) it's actually clever and focused and (gulp) real. These geeks sound like real geeks right down to discussing why Superman would have actually killed Lois Lane when he tried to scoop her up in mid-air. And the dumb blonde isn't dumb. Wonder of wonders, she's kind of normal and really only appears dumb in the face of the guy's outstanding genius. And the one geek with the hair and the many languages? I can almost guarantee that you KNOW this guy somewhere in your life. I do. And I'm not naming names. And one more thing: sarcasm sign. I need one of those, myself.
I still haven't revved up the energy to watch Cane or Dirty Sexy Money but the return of Heroes didn't disappoint and, surprisingly, neither did the return of Grey's Anatomy. Which was quite shocking, actually. I couldn't see a good way out of that Season Three ending hole, but again, Shonda does not disappoint.
TV is on a roll, big time. I suggest some good open-minded viewing, and maybe the network wonks can chill for a few weeks before they start cancelling things all willy-nilly and giving us shows like Beauty and the Bachelor Survive Kid Nation.
Trimming the Fat, Vol I, In Which We Reduce Our Debt
My brother and his bride gave me a book for my birthday last month. The book has made quite an impact on our little household so far. I read it and was inspired and then Rich read it and was inspired. We've begun making sweeping changes in the way we operate our home, our budget, our goals. The book was Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.
Now, while we weren't in bad shape (compared to pretty much all other Americans), it's been a rough year. Rich's job has been horrible, giving him work when they have it and effectively just letting him be laid off when they don't have it. So while we are nearly always frugal and I am sometimes downright cheap, this year has caused a pinch that will be felt clear through Christmas of next year.
In the process of trimming the fat from our budget, working steely-eyed at clearing all credit card debt, and dreaming about paying off the mortgage, a fundamental shift has occurred in our relationship. It's been nice to partner toward a cause that will benefit us both and our son. It's been like a game so far to call our service providers and talk them down from their regular monthly rates, to call our credit cards and talk them down from their ridiculous interest rates.
I've been selling off items of clothing, home decor, pieces of furniture to build some cash to pay off some debt. Oddly, that's been fun too, though we don't really own that much of real value since I don't believe in buying furniture NEW to begin with. In our entire home we only have two pieces of furniture we bought new from a store and both of those were on massive sale when I got them. I'm just frugal by nature.
We've rediscovered Aldi grocery stores. Do you know you can buy a bag of snack chips in there for 99 cents? (and did you know that computer keyboards don't have a cent symbol on them? huh.) I'd forgotten what good savings live there. We've even cut back on things like pop (why buy soda when water is free and teabags are cheap?), fast foods, and convenience meals.
We're keeping the Netflix account because it's cheap to begin with and it's already keeping us out of the movie theaters on weekends. How many movies come out that you just HAVE to see on the big screen? The Harry Potters and anything with a superhero spring to mind. Anything else can be put off until it arrives in the little red envelope in my mailbox.
It's a good goal to have, controlling the household budget, reducing debt, and paying off the mortgage, but it's taking an effort for sure. And that's a good thing. May as well have something challenging to keep our focus on each other.
I highly recommend the book. And if you read it, go ahead and get your calculator out. You'll need it.
Now, while we weren't in bad shape (compared to pretty much all other Americans), it's been a rough year. Rich's job has been horrible, giving him work when they have it and effectively just letting him be laid off when they don't have it. So while we are nearly always frugal and I am sometimes downright cheap, this year has caused a pinch that will be felt clear through Christmas of next year.
In the process of trimming the fat from our budget, working steely-eyed at clearing all credit card debt, and dreaming about paying off the mortgage, a fundamental shift has occurred in our relationship. It's been nice to partner toward a cause that will benefit us both and our son. It's been like a game so far to call our service providers and talk them down from their regular monthly rates, to call our credit cards and talk them down from their ridiculous interest rates.
I've been selling off items of clothing, home decor, pieces of furniture to build some cash to pay off some debt. Oddly, that's been fun too, though we don't really own that much of real value since I don't believe in buying furniture NEW to begin with. In our entire home we only have two pieces of furniture we bought new from a store and both of those were on massive sale when I got them. I'm just frugal by nature.
We've rediscovered Aldi grocery stores. Do you know you can buy a bag of snack chips in there for 99 cents? (and did you know that computer keyboards don't have a cent symbol on them? huh.) I'd forgotten what good savings live there. We've even cut back on things like pop (why buy soda when water is free and teabags are cheap?), fast foods, and convenience meals.
We're keeping the Netflix account because it's cheap to begin with and it's already keeping us out of the movie theaters on weekends. How many movies come out that you just HAVE to see on the big screen? The Harry Potters and anything with a superhero spring to mind. Anything else can be put off until it arrives in the little red envelope in my mailbox.
It's a good goal to have, controlling the household budget, reducing debt, and paying off the mortgage, but it's taking an effort for sure. And that's a good thing. May as well have something challenging to keep our focus on each other.
I highly recommend the book. And if you read it, go ahead and get your calculator out. You'll need it.
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