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Frugal Failing #1

October 11th, 2006 at 12:50 pm

Alright, here goes, Frugal Failing #1 is....

FOOD

Several issues here so I'll just get started. BTW, I went mostly organic/non-processed earlier this year, so I am pleased for the most part with what I buy. It's once I get it in the house...

1 - I don't know how to cook for 2 people. Everything I cook could probably very easily feed a normal family of 4. Thing is, DH and I like to eat a lot. Take that both ways, as in we enjoy eating good food and we enjoy eating quantities of food. So, I cook a bunch, and if it's there we'll eat most of it (except for chili, I make enough apparently for 8). What's left goes into a container and in the fridge, or (ack!) into the trash or compost bucket.

2 - Speaking of leftovers: I'm probably earning a C- in this category. If I package it up as a meal I'm pretty likely to eat if for lunch at work or Thursday nights when DH is at pool league. If it's not packaged as a meal, it seems to get lost in the shuffle. At somepoint, it too goes in the trash or compost.

3 - DH earns an F+ for leftovers. He won't eat them unless it's chili or spaghetti sauce, or if I sneak it into something I'm actually cooking. =/

4 - I don't know if this is laziness or legitimate, but either way it bothers me. DH & I both work full time salary, but he's got one of those dream salary jobs where your lunch hour (or two) gets included in the 8 you're supposed to work for the day. *sigh* I mention this b/c it means I get home after he does and really just don't want to cook sometimes. More over, I really don't want to do the dishes when I'm done. This is hard to work around w/ little processed food in the house, so sometimes we just go out. BTW, more on DH can be found (eventually) in 'Personal Rant' in case you're curious.

5 - I can't keep up with produce to save my ever loving life, and am tired of finally going to use something just to have to (you guessed it) compost it.

I know the solutions are relatively simple: make menus, cook ahead, maybe plant a garden. It sounds so easy!!! =( Menus I can probably do. Cooking ahead would be great, but I don't currently have a standalone freezer, so all my great 'got it on sale' meat is in the regular freezer and doesn't leave room for much else.

The garden is a slightly different problem. Just bought this house in July as some know, and the yard is in absolute shambles. There are 5 yrs worth of dead limbs and leaves (compost!) back there, and everything is so over-grown it's hard to tell what is what, and where it is. We put it off until fall b/c we didn't want to get molested by mosquitoes working on it in the summer, but it's such a big project I'm starting to feel overwhelmed.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

6 Responses to “Frugal Failing #1”

  1. Champion Cheapskate Says:
    1160569710

    Practice makes perfect. Please refer to the messages welcoming you here. They think you are doing a good job (me too!). Yes, you will get better with practice. Try, try, again. Good luck Smile

  2. jodi Says:
    1160570994

    One of the greatest benefits for me in having a garden - less wasted food. There are a good number of veggies that can linger in the garden until you need them (lettuce, swiss chard, broccoli, spinach, etc.) - meaning that there is no more lettuce going bad in my crisper. When I want a salad, I cut what I need. I used to have a big problem keeping lettuce fresh (still do in the winter, in fact), but the garden eliminates this. Of course, there are plenty of things that need to be picked when they are ripe (tomatoes, beans, zucchini, etc.) that get too big or go bad if you don't pick them - but that's where creative menus and canning/freezing come into play. Hang in there, you'll get it!

  3. mjrube94 Says:
    1160578226

    Do you have a crockpot? I finally got one last Christmas. It may be a great asset for you if you work full time. You can set it up in the morning on your way out the door, and have a meal waiting for you when you get home. Splurge on Reynolds Crock-Pot liners, and there is ABSOLUTELY NO MESS!

    When hubby got it for me, he also got me a crockpot cookbook. I was shocked at how many things you can make. Check out your library and see if they have a similar cookbook, and if it seems like a worthwhile investment.

    Good luck!

  4. Lau Says:
    1160579891

    I also cook waaayyy too much. I think I got that from my mom. She does the same thing. We never had a big family but boy! Could she have fed the entire neighborhood. Now I just do it on purpose, not just "by accident". I cook big quantities, make portions and freeze.

    As far as the leftovers thing... it's gotta be a guy thing. My husband won't touch leftovers either and I don't get why...

  5. LuxLiving Says:
    1161784552

    Tinapbeana - I too bought a house that needed 'work'. Ours was a rental for years before we bought it and the renters had decided it was cheaper to dump their trash behind the fence than pay the 14.00 a month to have trash hauled. Nobody had touched a fallen limb, trimmed a tree, raked a leaf, etc. for YEARS. It was a mighty, mighty jungle. Which is one of the reasons were were able to buy so cheap. The fact that it was a jungle was also one of the reasons we bought it.

    We had two pubescent boys at the time who needed to learn how to labor and work. The only thing is that I forgot who would have to be right out there alongside them the whole time! ME! I'm no stranger to work, but still. AUGH!! We picked up 'trash' for a long, long time!!

    Little by little, we got it cleaned up. I just made a plan that I had to do housework and set up the crockpot from eight to ten each morning then I got to play on the computer from ten till noon every day (boys did their homeschool work from 8-12) and then lunch.

    At 1:00 M-F we had an outside appointment and we went out and hit it for as long as we could before we dropped. We'd drag ourselves inside to eat whatever for supper on the el-cheapo foam plates. I want to be environmentally friendly but there are limits to what I'm able to do. Washing dishes at that point would have been impossible.

    I made lists and more lists of what needed doing next. My goal was to raise the value of the house by 20,000 in six months time by our sweat alone. Easily said - not so easily done in the fact that it took sweat, but the reaching of the goal was somewhat easily achieved. I tell you all of that so maybe you can look at the yard/garden work as a financial goal that you're working towards. Put a dollar figure in your mind for each job as to what you'd have to pay a workman. Put another dollar figure in your mind as to what value it'll increase your property.

    Today, old renters come by and say they hardly recognize the place. And yes, the property value has increased DRAMATICALLY!!

    Good luck! I love a pioneering woman!!

  6. LuxLiving Says:
    1161784703

    *My leftovers theory - "love 'em, or go hungry. This is what we have and there are :NO dollars - zero, nada, zip for something else either here or OUT!"

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