I am nearly a month into the new schedule with the children in daycare. It has been a challenge. I have tried to be creative with food because I am reduced to $30 a week for food. When I say that, I mean food. There is no way I can do that with diapers, wipes and clothing. Having said that, I have relied on hand-me-downs from some of my friends and sales in which I found clothing for $3 a piece. I also changed my car insurance to save $77 a month. I am looking to change my homeowner's insurance too, but need to find out what my fire rating is. If I can get my fire rating down (related to the fire department's rating) I can also save $300 a year on homeowners.
But above all other ways to cut spending, I seriously shop around sales and with coupons. Unless I do not have a choice, if it is not on sale and I don't have a coupon, then I do not get it. Of course having to buy gluten free makes things a little more challenging and I still buy produce, but I really try to hold the line on those items. Diapers and wipes are the ones that can be sneaky; I have had to buy diapers without a coupon, but recently bought diapers but got a $7 Catalina, so it was like having a coupon.
For those who know me, I am known as a bit of a spendthrift. I used to fill some emotional voids in my life by buying things. For the most part, I was not even buying for me but buying for others. I liked to be the one who bought the best gift; I still do, but now I am trying to be more selective. Buying gifts now are not about biggest and best, but personal and more thoughtful. For example, I made blueberry jam this summer and I gave it to others as a gift. This holiday season I plan to make gift jars for teas, coffees and snacks. Each item is not expensive by itself, but is time consuming to create and I believe that those who receive them like them and appreciate the gift. Or, they are being kind and like collecting mason jars!
I am a list maker. I have seen lists for 100 things to do rather than drugs or eating while on a diet or any number of things. I thought I would create a list of things to do rather than go shopping.
1. clip coupons, because even you break down and go shopping, you at least have coupons now
2. clean your bathroom. If you have a husband or other males living in your house, you understand why this could be laborious and sap your desire to go shopping after it is completed
3.bake, sometimes the reason I would want to shop was because I was hungry for something I did not have in the house
4. weed around the garden. I need to be active, so weeding takes the focus from my mind and puts it into a more physical activity
5. organize something. I still need to organize my office, so I have told myself that until that room gets cleaned, there is no shopping. Of course, even if I organize it, I still will not go shopping but in the past I rewarded myself by going shopping, now I will change it to another thing to organize. This way my house will get organized and I will not have added anything new to further disorganize it!
I hope that by living this year more frugally I will cure myself of wasteful spending and be a more thoughtful person.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Remembering 9/11/01
When I think back to my life before 9/11/01, I can not believe how many changes have occurred. Many of those changes are for the better; some not so much, but I feel that I needed to record this time for later reflection.
I have a friend in England who had seen her parents board a flight bound for the US on the 10th. Her parents, unbeknownst to her, had changed their plans at the last minute, and decided to visit my parents first, rather than New York City. They were planning on staying at a hotel next to the World Trade Center. They decided to visit Maryland first; a move that saved their lives. They got to spend a month in the US not doing any of their planned activities, but they got to experience the US being nicer than at any other time in recent history.
On that morning, I was getting ready to go to work. I had a different teaching position than I do now, and did not have to go to work until noon. My mom called me and told me to turn on the TV. I asked her which channel and she said that it did not matter. I sat on the phone while watching TV when the second plane hit and when the Pentagon was struck. I remember them saying that they thought it was a bomb, that they did not think it was a plane. I also remember going into school early to help as many of our students have relatives in New York. I had also worked a summer program in which we had done a field trip to New York and had gone to the World Trade Center three weeks before. Those students came up to me and asked if that is where we had been and what we would have done if we had been there when the attacks happened. I had told them that we would have been alright, but I am not sure that we would have been. All I can think about is that I would have been responsible for getting them safely out of New York under terrible conditions. Then I think "Thank God we did not have to go through that." But, with time passing, I cry thinking about all those innocent lives that were lost. It is a kind of survivor's guilt.
The days and weeks that followed were just a blur, but I remember thinking that it was wonderful that we had stopped being so materialistic and egocentric and started caring about others. It reminded me of the reaction small communities have to tragedy, but this was nationally. We were nationalistic without being obnoxious; we were proud to be American. How long did it last?
Since that time, I have become a tenured teacher to International students, ended a relationship that had only just begun a year before that time, been a mom to an exchange student, been diagnosed with Celiac, gotten married, had two babies, sold a house and bought another. Evidence that life does move on even when it is hard to believe it can.
Please do not think that I have been the nicest person that I could have been. I am guilty of mean and thoughtless comments. I am guilty of making snap judgements based on appearances alone. I am guilty of not treating others with respect and dignity at all times. I am guilty of yelling at my children in frustration instead of stopping to take a breathe or even counting to 10.
Maybe on this day of remembrance that is what I need to do- make a commitment to be a better person. Not just because it is close to the new year, but because Gandhi once said that we should be the change we want to see. Before being guilty of treating others poorly, before snapping at others when I am having a bad day, I need to remember those days following 9/11/01 in which we all tried a little harder to be a little nicer. Maybe we need to make it a daily commitment. How many of us try a diet, cheat and then throw the diet out over a small digression? Let us all try to make each day count, not just for ourselves, but for others.
I have a friend in England who had seen her parents board a flight bound for the US on the 10th. Her parents, unbeknownst to her, had changed their plans at the last minute, and decided to visit my parents first, rather than New York City. They were planning on staying at a hotel next to the World Trade Center. They decided to visit Maryland first; a move that saved their lives. They got to spend a month in the US not doing any of their planned activities, but they got to experience the US being nicer than at any other time in recent history.
On that morning, I was getting ready to go to work. I had a different teaching position than I do now, and did not have to go to work until noon. My mom called me and told me to turn on the TV. I asked her which channel and she said that it did not matter. I sat on the phone while watching TV when the second plane hit and when the Pentagon was struck. I remember them saying that they thought it was a bomb, that they did not think it was a plane. I also remember going into school early to help as many of our students have relatives in New York. I had also worked a summer program in which we had done a field trip to New York and had gone to the World Trade Center three weeks before. Those students came up to me and asked if that is where we had been and what we would have done if we had been there when the attacks happened. I had told them that we would have been alright, but I am not sure that we would have been. All I can think about is that I would have been responsible for getting them safely out of New York under terrible conditions. Then I think "Thank God we did not have to go through that." But, with time passing, I cry thinking about all those innocent lives that were lost. It is a kind of survivor's guilt.
The days and weeks that followed were just a blur, but I remember thinking that it was wonderful that we had stopped being so materialistic and egocentric and started caring about others. It reminded me of the reaction small communities have to tragedy, but this was nationally. We were nationalistic without being obnoxious; we were proud to be American. How long did it last?
Since that time, I have become a tenured teacher to International students, ended a relationship that had only just begun a year before that time, been a mom to an exchange student, been diagnosed with Celiac, gotten married, had two babies, sold a house and bought another. Evidence that life does move on even when it is hard to believe it can.
Please do not think that I have been the nicest person that I could have been. I am guilty of mean and thoughtless comments. I am guilty of making snap judgements based on appearances alone. I am guilty of not treating others with respect and dignity at all times. I am guilty of yelling at my children in frustration instead of stopping to take a breathe or even counting to 10.
Maybe on this day of remembrance that is what I need to do- make a commitment to be a better person. Not just because it is close to the new year, but because Gandhi once said that we should be the change we want to see. Before being guilty of treating others poorly, before snapping at others when I am having a bad day, I need to remember those days following 9/11/01 in which we all tried a little harder to be a little nicer. Maybe we need to make it a daily commitment. How many of us try a diet, cheat and then throw the diet out over a small digression? Let us all try to make each day count, not just for ourselves, but for others.
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