Time for a Com-Post

I thought I'd take this opportunity to discuss my composting activities. When we moved into our house, I decided that composting would be a) a source of free fertilizer, b) a way to reduce our garbage output, and c) an exciting activity. To begin with, I decided to just use pallets to make a basic frame for my pile, which I would place on the ground. I tied the pallets together with rope; when it was time to turn the pile, I would untie one corner so I could get in there with my garden fork. I don't have a photo of this since-retired composting system, but in this photo you can see where the pile was, on this side of the propane tank.

The problems with this system were that it was unattractive, it didn't contain the pile well enough, and the pile merged with the ground to become a muddy mess. Compost guidelines state that a pile should be at least 3 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter to create a critical mass of material to for the bacteria to efficiently decompose, but in the pallets the pile was too wide and too short. In addition, it rained a lot last fall and this spring, and water ran down the hill into the pile and kept it saturated. When turning the pile, it was hard to tell where the pile ended and the ground began.

So I found a different method. In a publication from the Brazos Valley Compost Corps, I found the design for a cylindrical pile that used hardware cloth, which is like finer chicken wire, or sturdier window screen. I used about 10 feet of 3-foot wide, 1/2-inch spaced hardware cloth, rolled into a cylinder and secured with zip ties. To get past the problem of a pile saturated from below with water, I laid 9 12" square concrete patio blocks on the ground, and placed my hardware cloth frame on top of it. I bought two T-posts to support the frame, and made spaces between stones to pound the posts into the ground. I zip-tied the posts to the frame. My setup was ready to use, so I put the compost from my old pile into the new pile. Here's a photo:

It is a little more difficult to turn the compost with this system, because the wire is in the way, but that is the only drawback, and it is minor. From what I can tell, compost items break down much faster than they did under the pallet system. There are hardly any undigested items below the top layer of material.

Near the end of the life of my old pile, some plant started growing out of it. I decided to follow my yard motto, which is "If you don't know, let it grow." At first I thought it was a bean plant, but then it came to resemble squash, both items that I have placed in the pile. But now I think it is watermelon. Or cantaloupe. Either way, I may just make this spot my new melon patch.

Car Crash - Not So Bad

That's why my car looked like late last June.  After a stop at Babies R' Us on the way home one night, I thought to myself, "Take the interstate home or this 45 mph highway?"  It was only a few miles, so I decided to take the latter, scenic route.  Wrong choice.  Some dude turned left in front of me in an intersection, despite his obligation to yield, and I hit him.

Car accidents are generally a bad thing.  But in this case, it worked out OK.  Here's why:

• MacKenzie and Lucy were not with me.
• There were no injuries.
• It was time to replace my car (which was totaled) anyway - I had been unsure about when do so.
• I got a good settlement for it from the insurance company.
• I remain optimistic the other guy will be saddled with liability.

Here's his vehicle, by the way:

This accident forced me to conduct a search for a new vehicle on a compressed schedule.  I didn't have rental car coverage on my insurance, so I had to foot the bill for that.  Thus, every day without a vehicle was costing me money (note: I now have rental coverage.  For only an additional $3-4/month, I now think it's worth it).  Our criteria for a replacement vehicle, in order, were as follows: Get something within our price range, in order to buy the vehicle outright (no loan).  Get something reliable (fewer problems, fewer repairs).  Get something with good gas mileage.

We are a one-vehicle family.  We realize that will probably have to change at some point, but we'd like to delay it as long as possible due to the additional expenses another car would bring with it.  So we had to decide between a) buying a nicer, larger vehicle now and a cheaper second car later, or b) buy a cheaper car now and a nicer, larger vehicle later.  The question was, how long will it take our family to outgrow a sedan?  We initially tried to split the difference by finding a Subaru Outback, PT Cruiser, or similar hatchback-type vehicle.  On the former, we couldn't find any that had less that 120,000 miles on them that were within our price range.  On the latter, we found several at a good price, but decided the quality of these vehicles wasn't quite what we were looking for (we relied a lot on Consumer Reports' used car ratings).  On the SUV front, Honda CR-Vs were similarly only available with very high mileage.  I would have been willing to bite the bullet on a minivan, but CR says only the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey are good, and late models of these vehicles are still high priced.  Plus, I hate those Sienna commercials.

Some other models we considered: Mazda 3 (no AC or ABS in mid-2000's base models), Scion xA (too small), Mercury Grand Marquis (kinda ugly).  In the end, we found this:

It's a Kia Sportage.  It seats five, has side and curtain airbags, and supposedly gets 25 mpg highway (I'm monitoring actual performance in this category).  It has fairly high miles on it, but the dealership did a lot of work on it after acquiring it as a trade-in (brakes, tires, drive belt).  I rather like the color, too.  CR said these vehicles were no good in their initial production prior to 2003.  The model was revived, however, in 2005 and has gotten good marks since that time.  So far, it's working out pretty well.

If you had asked me two months ago if I wanted to get into a car accident, I would have said no.  But looking back, it worked out fairly well for me.  This cloud had a thick silver lining.

Coupon Ethics

We've written on here several times about how we like to play the coupon game.  While we try to be frugal, we do not go to the extremes some people go to.  Some people take advantage of money-back guarantees, even if they like the product, just to get their money back.  Some people eat their entire meal at a restaurant, then complain that they didn't like it, just to get their money back.  Some people skimp on tips when out in public.  Some people keep a McDonald's cup in their car so they can get free refills whenever they want.  A perusal of money-saving websites will produce examples of people boasting about these very tactics.  We believe, as I'm sure you do, that these practices are unethical.  It is OK to walk out of Walgreens with a bunch of free products, for example, if you follow Walgreens' rules, but it's not nice to abuse the system to save money.

On a related note, we saw this coupon in the Sunday paper recently.  On its face, the coupon looks like a money-back guarantee offer; try the product, and if you don't like it, we'll give you your money back.  I would not send this in unless I tried, and hated, Red Baron Pizza by the Slice.

But if you look closer, the coupon describes it as a "rebate offer."  In a rebate situation, you buy the product, send in proof of purchase, and they mail you a check.  A rebate is open to everyone, and it is a lure to get you to buy the product.

So we're not sure what this is, and whether or not we should send it in.  Three factors, however, lead us to believe it is indeed ethical for us to send this in:

1. The inclusion of  a rebate form.  I've never seen a money-back guarantee form in the Sunday paper.  Usually, refund information is provided in small print on the side of the package.  By putting this form in the paper, Red Baron is saying one of two things: "We're so sure you won't like this product that we're giving you an easy-to-use refund form" or "This is a rebate; go buy our product!"
2. The inclusion of a $1 off coupon next to this form.  It is common to see combinations of coupons and rebates.  That's how extreme couponers like us make money.  I wouldn't expect Red Baron to distribute a coupon along with a money-back form.
3. The inclusion of a deadline.  Rebates always have deadlines to purchase a product, and deadlines to mail in the rebate form.  Money-back guarantees are usually available at any time.

In conjunction with the ambiguous refund/rebate language on the form, these reasons suggest to us that this is, in fact, a rebate form, and we are going to send it in with clear consciences.  What do you think?

My Favorite Reason to Coupon

I used to agree with Money Saving Mom in that everyone should use coupons. I no longer completely agree. I do think that many of the reasons people don't coupon aren't really very valid but I also know that life has seasons.

Last fall was not a season for us to be couponing. I was struggling to get through my work days while Craig was having to work hard full time as a grad student, part time as a sub and handling everything I had been doing. So, couponing fell by the wayside. I have a feeling that the next few months won't be full of lots of couponing either. But that is okay.

But the thing about getting out of the habit is that it is easy to convince yourself it isn't worth it. It does take time and effort and you begin to think that $0.35 off that box of cereal is not a big deal. Yet these last few months I've been reforming the habit and I realize that it does make a difference. Plus I love getting good deals, there is a certain thrill to it. Some people get their kicks by bungee jumping or parachuting out of airplane. All I need is the chance to get a free gallon of milk and I'm set for the week!

Recently though I was reminded of one of my favorite reasons to coupon- generosity.

Two weeks ago a little neon green bag was stuck in our door by the Girl Scouts asking for grooming and hygiene items for a local shelter. So a few days later we sat and went through our linen closet where we keep all the extras we have. We normally have quite the stash of toothpaste, shampoo, and deodorant that we have gotten for free or almost free (<$0.25), primarily at Walgreens. It didn't even take ten minutes to grab a few of each, put them in the bag and hang it outside for the girls to pick up the next day. And we just happened to be out that next morning when I looked around and noticed that we were the only home in the whole place that had a baggie on the doorknob. I was a little disappointed thinking of the girls that would be arriving soon but not having much to pick up. Now truthfully, if we didn't have the stuff on hand, we probably wouldn't have donated anything either. Even if I had remembered to pick something up at the store (and that is a big if), I probably would have just bought one or two cheap items. Instead we were able to donate at least $20 worth of items.

But generosity isn't limited to just charities. The last few years most of our friends were in school. The grad program Craig was in wasn't like a lot of them in that it didn't really offer much in the way of financial aid or grants nor did it leave a lot of time for part time work so many of his fellow students were living off student loans or the money they managed to make over the summer. Now, it would have been really awkward for us to offer to help them in most ways but it was easy to be able to offer the chance to raid our closet for items when they were over at our house, especially at the end of the semester when we knew they were surviving off ramen noodles. And since Craig was always bragging about the great deals he got, they knew we meant it when we begged them to take some shampoo because we couldn't open on the door without 5 bottles of Pert Plus falling on our head.

We've also been the recipient of generosity many times too. Just last weekend our Sunday School class had a ladies craft night were we taught each other sewing and knitting tips. One of the ladies in our group is known for her couponing and deal-finding and she did not disappoint. She managed to find these awesome knitting needle kits complete with a case and needles in multiple sizes for just $0.99 each. They were normally $19.99! So for just a few dollars, she was able to use her generosity and thoughtfulness and provide the group with over $100 worth of knitting supplies. So next time you see a coupon, don't think of it just as a way to save money. Think of it as a ticket to generosity.

A New Arrival

We had a special arrival at our house last week. No, not a baby, it's not quite time for that yet. A freezer! Not only do I do a lot of stocking up on meats and things when I find a good deal, but I also love freezer meals and for a long time I've had to balance the two or risk head injury when I go to retrieve a bag of peas. But not anymore, I now have space for everything I want to keep cold! I'm so excited.

We had been looking for a good deal on Craigslist but realized that the prices weren't great and since we would have to rent a truck to go pick it up, we would be better off buying new since a lot of stores deliver for free. We got a 7 cubic foot one which will leave plenty of space not only for meals and deals but also buying grass fed beef in bulk which is something we hope to do soon.

For now though, I'm all about stocking up meals for when baby does come. I've planned six weeks worth of meals (well, three but they will be repeated to make six). Some are frozen, some are pantry meals whose ingredients I can keep on hand. I've already made a list of all the ingredients so when deals come up, I'll know what and how much I need. And I'll be trying to make similar meals together to save time.

I've also made a list for each week of the fresh items we will need. That way whoever is around to help me that week (Craig if he is still on leave, my mom when she is here, etc.) can know what we have and what we need and can put it together easily. I know our Sunday School class also brings meals for new parents so with those and the days when we need to use up leftovers, I think we will end up with at least 2 months worth of meals.

Last week chicken and pasta was on sale so I made two meals worth of Chicken Packet filling and Chicken Spaghetti (using homemade cream of chicken soup) as well as Shepherds Pie.

This week I'll use the bones and veggie scraps from last week to make Chicken Broth (to keep in the freezer for the pantry meal Lentil Rice Casserole) and I hope to make lasagna, corn muffins and a big batch of lactation cookies.

Are there any great freezer meals or snacks that you know of that I should try?

Should I Buy This?

The idea was planted in my head recently that I should get a scooter. It made sense to me for two reasons:

• We only have one car. While this is fine most of the time, there are a few occasions when a second set of wheels would be nice, such as when our schedules conflict. These occasions are not frequent or pressing enough to necessitate a second car, but the threshold for getting a scooter is much lower. They cost much less, and I wouldn't need a special license, registration, or insurance for a model under 50 cc (I wouldn't need a helmet, either, but I'd still wear one - safety first!).
  

• My commute is pretty short. It also takes place along roads with 45 mph speed limits, which is not much more than the 35 mph maximum speed of most 50 cc scooters. This seems like an optimum route for a scooter trip. If I had to take the interstate everyday, it would be a different story.

The benefit to a scooter would be the savings on gas. These things get about 100 miles per gallon. With that in mind, I ran some numbers:

My commute is 8 miles round trip, which comes out to 40 miles per week. My car gets about 17.5 mpg, and if we assume gas is $2.75/gallon, I spend $6.18 per week to travel to/from work. With a scooter, I'd spend $1.10. If I use it 34 weeks per year (assuming I'm not hardy enough to ride it in winter or in rain), that would amount to savings of $173 per year.

Assuming I spend $1000 on a scooter, it would take almost 6 years for it to pay for itself. That's not quite the immediate benefit I was looking for. But how long would a scooter allow us to delay the purchase of a second vehicle? Maybe five years, or until we have multiple children with various activities to attend. If that delay allows us to save enough money to buy a vehicle with cash and avoid loan payments, that would put another check mark in the pro-purchase column.

Safety is another issue to consider. I have no interest in motorcycles, for safety reasons, but I feel pretty comfortable about a scooter (without having driven one in traffic, though). I think this is largely because of the lower speeds involved. I don't think MacKenzie shares this comfort. While no safety gear is required for a 50cc model, and many ride without it, the sites I've looked at have suggested wearing full gear, from gloves to jacket to pants to boots. I'd have to figure out what I want to wear, recognizing that this adds to my cost calculations. I want to keep my skin, though, so I won't skimp.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Most importantly, would it make me look cool?

If you love 'em then you better put a sling on 'em.

Even more than diapering my baby, I'm excited about wearing my baby! I've read lots of things that talk about the benefits of babywearing and I do believe it will help with breastfeeding and bonding and all that but I didn't really need a list of reasons why I should do it. It just sounds smart. I want my baby close by and I still want to be able to get stuff done. Baby wearing allows that. What's not to like?

But again, how to do it? There are pouches and wraps, ring slings and mei teis. They can be made of knit, cotton, linen, silk. Do I want a name brand or do I want to support a WAHM? Now I'm glad that there are so many options out there that there should be able to find something that works for anyone that wants to give it a try but it can be overwhelming.

I was given a pouch which I think will work well later when Nigel has head support but supposedly quite a few newborns only like to be worn upright so it is important to have a sling that can support their head initially. Ring slings and wraps are the best at this. For a long time I thought I wanted to go with the a wrap like the Storchenwiege Wrap but after talking to a couple babywearing mama's I decided to go with a ring sling instead. They didn't seem like they would be as versatile but I watched a couple youtube videos from Sakura Bloom and you can do a lot more with them than I thought without having to deal with the complicated methods of the wrap. Plus they are supposed to be great for nursing since the tail can be used as a cover-up.

We actually went to a great consignment sale last weekend where I found a Maya wrap for $10! (Don't let the name fool you, a Maya Wrap is really a ring sling not a wrap). They normally retail for $65 and I don't think this one was ever used, it even came with the still shrink-wrapped instructional dvd. It's one of the striped fabrics so it definitely looks a bit more "granola" that the others but it was such a steal and I think it will be great for around the house baby wearing.

I still want a Sakura Bloom sling. Sakura Bloom slings are like the BMW of babywearing devices and I love love love their linen kiwi sling. They just look so stylish and I think I would be more comfortable using something like that when I'm out and about and want the convenience of a sling but don't want to look like I should be wearing Birkenstocks - like when I'm attending church, MOPS, a wedding, etc.

I still like the idea of a wrap, though, for the newborn period. I've heard wonderful things about the moby. It's made of jersey so it's super soft. That same softness means it isn't so comfortable after the baby has gained a few months of poundage though so it won't have the same longevity as a ring sling, but for those first few months, it can't be beat. Since I'm spending more on the ring sling, I think I'll have to pass on the moby unless I can find a good deal on ebay or a fabric sale so I can make my own. Making your own is easy and not really that expensive if you consider that you get two or three wraps from just 6 yards of fabric but since it is cut lengthwise, even if you only want one wrap, you still have to buy 6 yards. I guess I need to find two other moms around here to go in with me and then it would be easy to make them for less than $10 each.

Now in theory, kiwi is a man-safe color so Craig could use the ring sling, but I'm not sure how comfortable he will be in it. Once we hit 3-4 months, I'm planning on getting an Ergo too for him and times when we want to hiking or go on longer expeditions to museums, the zoo, etc. New they are $115 but there are normally lots on Ebay so I'm pretty confident I can get one for much less than that ($60 seems to be the going rate).

Now I know that occasionally we might want a stroller too but we aren't planning on using it much so we didn't want to spend a lot. And strollers are expensive. That is actually the main reason we went to the consignment sale I mentioned before. We volunteered to work for a few hours so we could attend the pre-sale and were able to snag this great Peg Perego Stroller for only $40. At 10lbs it's lightweight and easy to collapse but more substantial than an umbrella stroller and it leans back for younger/sleeping babies.

Even if we end up getting all the slings I mentioned (maya, sakura, and ergo) and the stroller, we will only be spending about $200 on baby transportation which is probably what we would have spent on a new stroller if we weren't planning on doing so much baby wearing but we'll have quite a bit of flexibility.

If you made it to the end of this super long post, here is a little reward. It's a video made for a competition Sakura Bloom had. Just try and watch it without smiling.

Dirty Baby Business

I am so excited about cloth diapering it is ridiculous. Sometimes Craig has to remind me that I'm getting all giddy about something that will soon be covered in poop. But I can't help it.

We pretty much knew from the beginning that cloth diapering was something we wanted to at least give a try. For one, it's better for the environment. Most studies, as well as common sense, say that washing and reusing a diaper is more environmentally friendly than making a new one and having to dispose of it. Otherwise we would all be wearing disposable underwear, right? But as nice as I think our planet is, environmental reasons weren't really that big of a factor for us.

For me, it was the health factor. Neither of us have a good track record when it comes to skin issues so genetically, this kid has no chance and the idea of putting a chemical filled plastic sack on his/her skin just doesn't sound appealing. One argument I've heard several times as a negative to cloth diapering is that they need to be changed more often. Now, a baby in cloth diapers shouldn't be peeing more than any other baby so for me that is a plus. It will force me to make sure my baby isn't sitting in a dirty diaper just because I don't have to worry about leaks.

For Craig, it was definitely the money factor. Cloth diapering is so much cheaper. Even factoring in additional water usage (3-4 additional loads a week) and accounting for coupons and sales for disposables, we are going to save quite a bit. And the more kids we have, the more we save!

Yes, it will be more work but there is so much additional household work that comes with a baby that, I figure what's a few more loads of laundry? And since I won't have daily access to a car, at least I won't have to worry about running out of disposables and being stuck. The dealing with poop issue isn't a big concern to me either since the changing of the diaper is the worst part and that is the same no matter what type of diaper you use. All I have to do is take the whole wet bag, empty it into the washer, toss in the bag itself and run the load. I don't even have to touch anything until it's all clean again.

I think the biggest thing about using cloth diapers is that you have to want to. If you don't, no amount of saving money or health issue will make it worth it. Right now, as about to be evident by my excessive number of pictures, I'm really excited about them and most cloth diapering mamas I know are just as excited as me. But there may come a day when other things have to take priority or it really weighs me down and I have to be willing to adjust.

My biggest dilemma when it came to cloth diapering was what type I wanted to use. There are soooo many options out there. There are a 4 main types and withing each type there are different options such as sized or one-size, material options, and different brands to choose from. It's a lot to take in.

In the end, we decided to do a mix to start out with. The least expensive option is pre-folds and covers and that is what I am planning on doing for the bulk of my diapering. This is the old-school style but better (no pins and way more options than just gerber plastic pants). I've heard the pre-folds from green mountain diapers are some of the best quality. They come in more sizes than traditional pre-folds which means a bit more expense but the fit is better. I hope to get 1-2 dozen of the infant size to start out with. Pre-folds need covers to be waterproof but don't need that many covers since they are just the outside protective layer and can be reused a couple times unless you have a big blowout.

Here are my two flip covers which are one size. They will work from itty baby to toddler but I plan on also getting one of each of the most popular types of sized covers in small to see what works best with our baby. (Some work better on chunky thighs, others with long torsos, etc). I've also made a few wool covers to use too. (More on those in an upcoming post!)

Then I got a few fitteds. Fitteds are shaped like a diaper but still need a cover. They are one of the more expensive options so I wasn't planning on getting any but my mom and I were able to find some great bumgenius bamboo fitteds for 50% off since they were seconds. And the only reason they were seconds was because there is an extra tag!

They are supposed to be the best for the younger stage at holding everything in when it is more, uhm, flowy. Plus, the bamboo is really soft. They will use the same covers as the pre-folds.

Then I wanted a few one-sized pocket diapers. These are normally $17-20 a diaper but they can be used from ~8lbs up to toddler and work basically like a disposable except you wash them so they are handy for when you have a babysitter or grandparent who is confused by things that need to be folded or pinned/snappi-ed. I'm planning on using these for overnight since the pocket can be filled with extra absorbency pads (called doublers) and seem like they would be the quickest thing to try to use in the middle of the night when I'm barely coherent.
I'm now got two BumGenius ones and hope to get at least one from each of the other two brands I've heard great things about: Happy Heinies and Fuzzibunz.

I've also got this one as a gift.It's really neat but I'm not sure what to call it, it's not quite a pocket but it does have a snap-in liner and doubler so it's a complete diaper or I can use just the yellow wool part as an additional cover over pre-folds/fitted.

So that's my little but growing stash. As you can see, when I said before that I had finally decided what I wanted to use, I meant I didn't decide, I'm just going to go with them all! Once baby grows out of the smaller size pre-folds and covers, we will see what has worked best and go with that for the next size. I think the key to making cloth diapering work is being flexible and willing to try things to see what works best for us. (Well, that, and not going crazy and buying a lot more than we need.)

Beans, Beans and more beans - Lentil (and rice) Base

One of the methods I learned and quickly grew to love, was to start with a big pot of beans and use them in different ways throughout the week. My biggest set of recipes is with a lentils and rice base so I thought I would start with that. Plus, I love them. They are so versatile because they take on flavors very nicely. In fact, you really want to flavor lentils a lot because they tend to taste very "earthy" on their own.

You'll notice the title actually says Lentils (and Rice). That is because I almost always serve them together. Lentils are actually deficient in two amino acids (methionine and cystine for any fellow science geeks), but combine lentils with rice, which do have those two, and you get a complete protein! (Lentils are also a great source of Iron so Fallon, start eating your lentils!). In addition to the health reasons, beans can be dense if you aren't used to them, and I feel the rice helps balance out the meal.

So to start off your bean journey, sort your beans. Unlike processed foods, bags of beans are not always throughly checked and you don't want to end up with a rock in your soup. Just dig around and make sure nothing non-beany is in there, then mix 1 part lentils with about 1.5 parts rice. I know, could I be more vague about quantities, but really it doesn't matter. Beans are easy.

And the amount you will want will depend on how many additional meals you want to make from it. I do a whole bag of lentils with rice so the rest of my "measurements" will be based off of that but it makes a ton of meals for the two of us so feel free to start with just a cup or two of each.

Lentils are a quick cooking beans so you don't have to soak them, but I still do for phytic acid reasons. It's easy, just cover them with water and leave for the day with a spoonful of lemon juice. The next evening, you're ready to start cooking and flavoring. Throw a few tablespoons of butter in a big pot and add a cut up onion and a few cloves of garlic. Once the onions are soft and translucent (and buttery, yum!), drain the beans/rice, add it to the pot and add fresh water to cover it plus and inch or so. (When I'm feeling lazy, I just skip the sauteeing step and add everything together at once, it works.)

The beans and rice will absorb the water so just keep adding more a little at a time if you need too but don't add too much, you don't want it to be soup (not yet anyway, that recipe is coming!) Let simmer for about an hour, or until rice and lentils are soft. Then add more flavor some spices - salt and pepper plus anything else you have around, I like basil, thyme, parsley. Stick to more general spices because you will be using it for other things unless you take out what you want and flavor just those bowls and not the whole pot. Rosemary is a nice flavor, but not in your tacos.

That is it for the base. We normally eat the base as it is for the first meal, served in a bowl with toppings of our choice (sour cream, cheese, tomatos, lettuce, salsa, etc). It's not the most gourmet meal ever, but it's very filling. But the best part is the leftovers. The base might be a little soupy now but after a night in the fridge it will get nice and thick and from this base I can make: Lentil soup, Lentil Patties, Lentil Gyros, and Lentil Tacos. Stay tuned to see how!

Beans, Beans and more beans - Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I originally started this series last September and have just now gotten around to starting writing it again. Hopefully the wait was worth it!

I think I've mentioned a time or two that I have come to love having beans be a part of our diet. Nutritious, cheap, easy and delicious. Yes, beans can be delicious! But I didn't always love beans. In fact, as a child, I hated them with a passion. My mom made one meal with beans that I liked a (tex-mex casserole) and even then, I would try and eat around the beans. But the more I got into nutrition and frugal eating, the more I realized that I needed to eat beans. So I kept making them and and forcing myself to eat them, over and over and over again, until one day I realized that I actually liked them, and not just hidden in brownies. Crazy, but true!

One of my biggest hurdles with starting my bean-eating journey was I didn't know how to cook them. But the Pioneer woman got me started with her pinto bean recipe and I also found a blog that went step by step through different types of beans and how to cook and serve them. Alas, that blog is no longer around, but I thought I would try to do something similar here.

So this series will be about beans! We'll be covering it all, lentils, pinto's, black beans, and kidneys - yum. And if you are starting to cringe, thinking "but I don't like beans," well, give them a chance, I'm hoping to change your mind!

Happy Birthday to me!

(Caution: This is a really long post. But it is all about today so I didn't want to break it up. Feel free to skim if you wish, my feelings won't be hurt. Although I do still think it's a good post so don't feel like you have to skim it)

Today is a big day in my life. I'm 25 today. It know that it's not really that old, but it kinda seems like it is. That's a quarter of a century! I'm now in my late 20s. I've always thought about this as a big year and not always in a good way. So I might be more upset about it except that my 24th year was pretty bad. Imaging myself last year today, I had no idea that I was about to go through some of the worst experiences of my life. But I did. And while I am most certainly ready to move on, I don't want to only think negatively about them. For one thing, I love where I stand with what matters most to me and I am where I am because of those "negatives".

I now know, without a doubt, that no matter what happens to me, my God will not forsake me and will bring me through it; that my faith can with stand some pretty hard battering. I could have said that last year, but I don't think my heart would have completely known it like it does now.

I know that my marriage is strong and can withstand emotional experiences, physical separation and a few months of "survival mode." I would still never recommend that anyone improve their marriage by having their spouse live in another state for 3 months, but the things that last year I would have thought would weaken our marriage or be obstacles to overcome really brought us together. I love Craig more today that I ever have before - and that is saying a lot!

And this year also brought some of the best experiences of my life. But luckily, most of those aren't over so I get to look forward to more good stuff this next year, like meeting Nigel and learning to be a mom. Which is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to it so much.

And being 25 isn't the only change of today. It was also Craig's first day of work which means our little moving break is over and today I start being a SAHW. That really seems like a much bigger deal that my birthday actually because birthdays come no matter what, you can't stop them or hurry them up. But my being at home is something we have been working towards for a while now and I'm so proud that we have gotten here.

It seems odd to say that I'm proud of it but I am! I think women might be hesitant to put it that way because of the whole SAHM vs Working Mom stuff but I'm proud of staying home in the same way that I was proud of my outside the house job. I worked 3.5 years to get my degree and get a job in a lab. The first time I wrote down "Research Assistant" I knew what it took to get there, the time and energy and money that went into it, and I was proud of myself for accomplishing it all. The same is true with my new job. I know what Craig and I have both done to make this happen, the sacrifices and planning, the decisions, both large and small, that we had to think long term on even when it wasn't fun. Most SAHW/M "jobs" don't just happen any more than most people's careers do.

I'm also grateful because I know we aren't here on our own either. I'm grateful for my parents who gave me a childhood I want to emulate and showing me first hand how valuable a women at home can be. I'm grateful to God for providing us with the wisdom of our parents, mentors and other resources that helped us make wise decisions in the beginning of our adulthood and marriage so that we are able to do this now.

For example, we have always lived off of one income, even when we both worked full time. We house-sat even though it meant moving after three months in one place because it enabled us to save on rent. We haven't always made the best decisions ($5000 of student debt in my last semester of college, that one still hurts me to think about) but from the beginning of our marriage we have had people around us encouraging us when it would have been easy to fall into world ways of thinking about money and priorities. It really helps to have friends who also think a fun night involves homemade brownies and board games instead of going out for a dinner and a movie. Or thinking beyond finances just to attitudes of being a home. When we told people we were moving for Craig's job, most naturally asked what my plans were. I got a few funny looks when I said I was staying home but those were mostly from co-workers or general acquaintances. My family, close friends and church family were excited for us! They looked on it as a good thing and it is always much more fun to rejoice with those that are willing to rejoice with us!

In an odd way, I've been thinking of this as the goal for so long that it seems weird to actually be here. It's not an end, but a beginning and it's exciting to start thinking about it that way now. We'll keep moving forwarde on making new goals, financial and otherwise, for our family but this is a part of them now. And this afternoon, I'll march my barefoot pregnant self into the kitchen and make my birthday dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes and wait for Craig to come home and tell me all about his first day. It's not a fancy life but it's my life and I wouldn't want it any way.

2009 Recap

I had a nice deep "start the new year" post planned where I went over this past year and all I learned and yada yada yada but I'm not in a pensive mood right now so I decided I would do that next month when my birthday comes around.

Instead I am going to do this superficial blog recap carnival. You just post the first line of the first post of every month.

January: We went with my in-laws to the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY a few days ago to learn all about their bourbon-making process.

And despite my dislike of bourbon (and 99% of alcoholic beverages for that matter), I enjoyed myself.

February: When reading the sorts of hippie books and blogs I tend to read, sometimes you get the feeling that everything you touch will kill you, especially in the kitchen.

And it's gets worse when you start reading about hippie baby stuff.

March: I think it is fairly widely known that we like free stuff.

You don't have to be a long time reader to know that's the truth.

April: This commercial is great.

Now that's a statement you don't hear all the time, but at a second glance, you'll realize it was sarcasm.

May: Whew, I am sure glad it is May.

I'm pretty sure I'll be saying that again next May but for entirely different reasons.

June: I finished!

My May-Day Grocery Emergency challenge that is. This is the end to what I think may have been my most thought-out, well written series of the year.

July: Okay, now that you have a idea of how I feel about food, what do we really eat around here?

Oh, this was part of another series, the Nourishing Beginnings one. This has reminded me that I had a lot more to say about the subject of eating and now that I can talk about it again, I think I'll have to follow through with those post ideas.

August: I talked about kefir a bit when I first got my grains but wanted to wait until I was proficient before passing on my know-how.

Water Kefir, how I miss thee. You died while I was too sick to feed you but I'll be starting you up again soon.

September: We currently receive Money magazine here at the BRC household.

This is no longer true. After a while we found the articles to be repetitive or not applicable to us.

October: In the past week, I've read two different blog posts about Twilight.

Twilight. It's still my guilty pleasure. I can't help it.

November: Well, I'm back again and I lied, all I have to talk about is Nigel.

But it's a pretty good subject so expect that trend to continue in 2010. On a related side note, you may have noticed that the widget's "days so far" is now greater than the "days to go" meaning I am theoretically over halfway done being pregnant. Yah!

December: We had a good but noisy Thanksgiving with my family.

Ditto for Christmas.

Well, that was fun. Going over old posts reminded me of why I like to blog and what I like to blog about. Let me know if you do something similar on your post, I'll love to read your recaps.

Awesome phone conversations of the week

I'm not a big phone talker in general. I just don't really like talking on the phone all that much. I have a few close friends and family members that I like to keep up with by actually conversing but in general I do most of my long distance correspondence via the internet and I like it that way. But even I have to admit I had a couple pretty awesome phone conversations this week.

The first came a couple mornings ago at a little after 7am. It woke me up and when I looked to see who it was from, I saw my older brother's name. Now Rick is not much of a morning person at all and being a grad student, he can still pretty much get away with that so I immediately though that he was calling to tell me either 1) he was engaged ( a little birdie told me it might be happening soonish) or 2) someone was in the hospital. Now since the title of this post is about awesome phone conversations and not devastating phone conversations, you all can probably guess how this story is going to turn out. Yes, he is engaged!

(Photo stolen from my mom's facebook page)

It's very exciting and not just because none of my family members were dead. I can't wait until next week when I get to see them again and get to know her better since the last time we went to visit him and meet her, I spent most of the weekend napping or in the bathroom. Plus, I love me wedding planning news and most of my friends are married now so I don't get a chance to hear about it much. Fun times are coming!

The second awesome phone conversations happened yesterday when I got a call during the middle of the day from an unknown number. Turns out the driving study I did a few months ago had trouble getting enough people to participate so they raised the financial incentive. But to make things fair, they had to go back and paying everyone else the extra money too. Basically, she called and asked if I wanted to swing by her office and pick up $100. Why yes, yes I did. I don't know about you, but I don't often receive phone calls asking me to go pick up large amounts of cash, especially not just several weeks before Christmas, so that was way up there on awesome phone conversations.

So those were my awesome phone conversations of the week. I realize the title of this post makes it sound like it is going to be an recurring feature but I don't think it is, unless of course people just want to keep calling and offering me money!

Driving for dollars

We, the BRC, are quite frugal and like to find odd ways to increase our income. Between of the two of us, Craig is a definitely more aggressive at the search. Being in a college town, medical studies are quite prolific but I tend to be protective of our bodies. He participated in a flu study last fall and has given plasma in the past but that is about where I draw the line. When he mentioned he saw another study in the paper, I was about to say "No!" but he quickly explained that this was not a medical study but a transportation study. Since I am the main driver, I was the one who had to qualify, which I did.

I went last Friday to start the process. They installed a GPS system in my car while I filled out a questionaire about my driving behavior...

• How often do you drive without a seatbelt? Never
• How often do you drive 10 or more mph over the speed limit? Never
• How often do you feel the need to "get back" at driver's who pass you? Never

and personality...

• True or False: I like exciting activities (skydiving, etc). False
• True or False: I like to take risks. False
• True or False: I like to experience frequent changes. False

After discovering that I am a boring driver and person, they gave me a couple booklets to record my trips. It's not hard, every time I go somewhere, I just record the date, time and purpose of the trip (commute, errands, recreation, etc) and at the end of the day, I email my results in. After three weeks, I take the GPS system back and get $100. A little extra cash and no more risk of bodily harm than my typical driving, it's a compromise both Craig and I can be happy with.

PS: They are still looking for participants so if you are a male or female between the ages of 18-25 or a male between 35-55 living in my area, you should check it out and see if you qualify. Here's the website.

Money Saving Tips For the Big Spender

We currently receive Money magazine here at the BRC household. I enjoy the investment advice; not necessarily tips on specific funds/stocks to buy, but rather info concerning general long-term strategies. I also like to complain about its annual "Best Places to Live" issue. A problem with the magazine, at least for me, is that it unsurprisingly caters to a more affluent clientele. Each month, the magazine has a feature in which it profiles a family and fixes its finances. These families always make well over $100,000, which makes the column less than useful for a working-class guy like me.

This tailoring of magazine content to wealthier readers manifest itself again this month, when Money gave us "103 ways to trim the fat, not the fun, from your budget" (magazines sure love their lists). Here are some of the tips:

• Drop the pet insurance
• Reduce the hours of your gardener (or get rid of him)
• Play tennis at public courts, not the tennis club
• Take a home-swap vacation (not an outlandish suggestion in and of itself, but this one assumes your family spends $325/night on lodging on a normal vacation).
  

I'm afraid these tips won't help us with our budget.

Summer Update

I'm doing pretty well on my summer to-do list, which is good as I've only got a few weeks left. The one thing I'm behind on is my knitting and crocheting. I just couldn't do any for the first part of the summer as the eczema on my hand was too bad. But it cleared up a bit while I was on vacation and I was able to get all my washcloths done. I did three different patterns, figuring I would make more of whichever I liked most, or move on to other patterns if I didn't like any of them.
From left to right, these are the patterns I followed, ( L, M, R. I am pretty excited about the middle one, it has these cool little scrubby rows). The pattern included front post crocheting in it which I had never done and didn't quite have a handle on at first so the bottom is weird but it's only dishcloths so I'll try to let it go (okay, I'm trying to let it go at least). The other two are pretty standard. I'm hoping the rights one's airiness really will help prevent the dreaded kitchen cloth stink but only time will tell.

I also finally got my living room walls redecorated. I was tired of the old canvas I had painted, so I got two more and some fabric (it took me a month because I went weekly using a Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon each time, but I saved ~$23 that way). Once I had everything, it was super easy and I like the color it added. I didn't take a before photo because my camera battery was dead and I didn't want to wait, but here is the after.
Plus, it perfectly matches my brand new slipcover. It's red and super cheerful. I was so tired of those silly stripes so I love it but I'm a little worried about Craig's reaction. He isn't a big fan of slipcovers. I hope he likes it!

My summer is coming to a close pretty soon (in a scheduling type of way, not a temperature type of way, I still have months of heat left to deal with) and I'm glad. I'm tired of being so productive. I'm ready to start spending my weekends just lounging around with Craig.

Have I got a deal for you*

*said with Larry the cucumber's voice.

Remember back at the beginning of April, I finally splurged and bought some new camis from Shade? What, you don't remember that? Oh, well, go read this (or just believe me).

Anyway, I was raving excessively talking about them to my mom a while back and she told me I had to post the information on my blog because she wouldn't remember the company information (there seems to be something wrong with that, but I'm not sure exactly what?) All that just to say, I've been meaning to write this for a while but hadn't ever gotten around to it. Which is a shame because they are great.

I bought four and it isn't enough. They are so well made. In fact, they felt so substantial when I got them that I was worried they would be too hot. But they are made for layering so while they aren't see through or cheaply made, they are still light and comfortable. You can really believe me on that as I wear one almost every day - in Texas - in the summer - where it is really really hot.

And they are made to be modest. I have a long torso but I never have to worry about these not being long enough. I wear them under sweaters with necklines too low, blouses with fabric too shear, and shirts with hems to high.

I'm actually going to buy more, plus a few t-shirts. I made a skirt and got another one from a thrift store. They are both nice and summer-y but I need solid color t-shirts to go with them. I was at the mall last weekend and thought I would check The Gap, maybe then I wouldn't have to wait for mail to bring my shade stuff. Bad idea. Gap wanted to charge me $18.50 for a little white t-shirt. And it was poorly made - I put my hand in it and it was see through! I'll stick with Shade. I can get them for $10-11 and they often have coupon codes for free shipping or a couple dollars off on their blog.

So now that I have fully convinced you that I love this company (and you should too), here is where the deal comes in. I recently got an email from Shade offering my friends (that would be you) a special deal. I can send you an email for a free cami. You just have to sign up for the weekly email and pay shipping. If you get the cami then decide that it isn't a company you are interested in, just unsubscribe. Easy peasy right?

Now, for full disclosure I want to say that this isn't a blog sponsor thing. This blog isn't really big enough for that. Shade just sent me an email, they don't even know I have a blog. But I will get a coupon for $10 off my next purchase if I can get 5 of y'all signed up on the email list. Which is great for me too.

So if you want to try this, just leave a comment (make sure I have your email somehow, or I won't be able to email the deal to you). Or if you don't want to leave a comment, you could email me at brcbanter @ googlegroups . com

WFMW: Classic Hymns (for free!)

While blog hopping a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Page CXVI, a project/band that has reworked some old classic hymns. (Cool fact - the name is a reference to page 116 of Magician's Nephew. How much do I love the C.of N. geekiness?) While I am learned to love praise and worships songs, real hymns will always have a special place in my heart. From what I have listened to, Page CXVI has done a great job at accomplishing their mission.

You can download a sampling here for free, which includes 5 full hymns (Come thou Font, My Jesus I love Thee, Nothing but the blood, Solid Rock, and Joy). I think my favorite hymn (of all the hymns in the world, not just of these five) is The Solid Rock and their version is pretty good. Another great one is Joy (I've got the Joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart). When I first heard their twist on it, I thought it was a little depressing. But as I've been dealing with a lot of hard things these last couple weeks, I have come to really "get it." Sometimes joy isn't a feeling you just have, it's something you make yourself do. That's a hard concept but it helps when it is being pounded into your head through a beautiful song. So classical hymns work for me, especially when they are free!

*And yes, I made a mistake and didn't realize WFMW was a backwards edition but considered this post a break from the question answering.

Money Morale Booster

Today is the 3rd (well, at least it was when I wrote this so pretend). The third day of every month is normally a grumpy day for me because it is when one of my student loan payments is due. But not today and not ever again. Last month, we paid it off! Now, between the two of us, we still have a couple other student loans left, but this one was particularly annoying because I hadn't planned for it and I had already consolidated my loans when a few weeks before my last semester, the school figured out I was going to graduate early and dropped all my scholarships and grants (yes, you read that right), leaving me with another loan with a high interest rate. It was slightly annoying to say the least.

The point is, it's gone forever now. It's our first big milestone on the road to a debt-free life and I really didn't expect it to happen that soon.

About three days before we got married, Craig dropped a big change in my lap, he announced that he wanted to go back to school. No, he wasn't being cruel with his timing, he had told me he was interested in the school anyway so after he got to town and I was off with last minute fittings and table decoration errands, he met with some folks there and that sealed the deal in his mind. It was a big change in "the plans" and honestly, that wasn't a big deal to me. I knew he would be successful in any area, but this school really seemed to be a good fit with his interests and talents. And having grown up a military brat, change was pretty normal. I didn't so much care what the plan was, as long as we had one. But I do remember thinking "We are never going to be done paying off student loans." They might have been on my brain since that month was the first time I was actually asked to start paying them back.

But we didn't just stay in Texas, no, we planned and prayed and scrimped and saved and now we are living out his dream. And mine. I never imagined we would be able to pay off the loans at such a fast rate. We have been so blessed, not just with good jobs and nice paychecks, but with wisdom and guidance from others reinforcing the idea that debt is not good and it shouldn't be normal. It would have been easy for us to convince ourselves that we are in a point in our life when we could take on more debt, that this type of debt is okay, or that we could at least defer our loans and worry about paying them off later - but we didn't. I don't want to imply that it is always wrong to take on student loans but for us, the difference between taking on loans and paying them off was lifestyle and we choose a less fancy lifestyle. And I'm so grateful to God for his word that showed us this was a better bath and to those who supported us, both those we know personally and those we don't.

Because it was so worth it! It doesn't always seems like it but not having that weight on me, knowing that I never have to think about that bill again, is worth every hour I spent looking for new and interesting ways to fix lentils when I really just wanted to buy a steak, it's worth every minute we spend cutting coupons, every movie we don't go see, every sweater we buy at Goodwill. If we had payed off the minimum, it would have taken us about 10 years on that one loan, but we did it just two!

So for those of you out there on the same path we are, if you think you will never reach the end or even reach the next step, you will! And for those that have, remember that feeling. I know I will cling to it to give me strength to resist whatever new "want" springs up, whatever it may be.

20 Burgers for $2

UPDATE: Now it's only 8 burgers for $2. You can no longer combine these two deals. But the $25 GEICO gift card is by itself worth using.
____________________________________________________________________

No, seriously, we did it. Here's how you do it:

1. Go register at the GEICO homepage (link is at top right). You don't have to buy insurance or anything. When you get the resulting e-mail (in a few hours), log in, then close the window you just opened. Go back to your e-mail and click the link again, and it should take you to a page with a $25 Omaha Steaks gift card. There should be a long gift card number. Leave that page open.
   
2. Go here and enter your e-mail address. When you get an e-mail from them, click the link to begin shopping.
   
3. Over on the left, click on "Burgers, Brats..." You can select anything, but for this deal, select "8 5-oz. steak burgers for $12.99." For $2 more, you can get 12 4-oz. burgers. Add to cart, then checkout. 12 free burgers should be added to your order. Click checkout.
   
4. Put in your address.
5. On the next screen, enter the gift code from the GEICO e-mail in the proper box. Your bill should be down to $1.98 (or $3.98, if you went that route). Go ahead and pay, and you're done. Enjoy.

H/T Catherine.