(no subject)
So. Rod's car is in the shop, beaucoup bucks to repair (around $2100). Yes, I was slightly hysterical earlier today! Check with uberrod later for the full story of how the car ended up in the shop. That is not my tale to tell:)
Anyway after several phone calls and a few trips back and forth to the repair shop, I got financing for 12 months same as cash, I think they call it. Where if you make the minimum payments each month, there's no interest for the first 12 months. Yay. So $2100 divided by 12 is $175/month. Still more than I would like to pay, since that was essentially our monthly grocery budget, but we can do it. Somehow. Yeah, I guess we'll finally be eating all those dried beans that I have in the pantry. I knew we'd need them someday! (don't worry uberrod, we'll still have enough $$ for your regular lunches... I'm not going to make you take lentil loaf to work!)
I also stocked up on grocery items at Meijer today. They were having AWESOME sales. And we have meat in the freezer. And fresh veggies in the fridge. LOL... that was before I got the info on how much the car would cost, too. But I'm glad. And we won't be going without. Just... we have to tighten our belts even MORE again. *sigh* It's definitely a "no frills" kind of year right now. Although I suppose my idea of "no frills" doesn't always equal someone else's. I was reading something the other day that I liked. About how when one person says they are "broke" they mean they can't go on a big vacation that year. Or can't eat out every night. And another person says the same thing, but it means they can't pay their heating bill. Or can't afford shoes for their child. But luckily we're only somewhere in the middle. We've never had a LOT of money but we have enough for the basic necessities of food and shelter (lol, just barely sometimes!).
Sad anecdata, some relatives on my grandfather's side came to visit my grandparents, back when my father was just a child himself, during the great depression of the 1930s. These relatives had a little kid. And he was like maybe 3 or 4 years old, and he wasn't walking. My grandmother asked about it, and they said he used to walk, but he had stopped. Turned out his shoes were too tight, and they couldn't afford to buy new ones, and the poor little kid's feet were hurting so much he wouldn't walk! I cried when I heard that story. Oh and needless to say, my grandmother took them shopping and bought new shoes for him. So that is kind of my standard quality-of-life comparison thing. We still have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and shoes that fit. So we're doing fine. I keep telling myself that, to cheer myself up when I'm feeling blue...
Alrighty... time to start dinner. Gotta wash the lettuce for salad. Regular red and green leaf lettuce. No more pre-packaged organic salad greens for us! Oh and the CSA this year? Haha! Nope, not happening. When it gets warmer out I'll take inventory of the seeds I have here and see about actually growing some food in our own back yard. We did lettuce one year and it was really good! We didn't get a lot, but what came up was quite tasty.
P.S. RobH, if you're reading this, at what high day is the seed/garden tool blessing generally done? I'm thinking it is at Eostre/Spring Equinox? Just wondering. I always like to bring my box of garden supplies if I can remember.
Anyway after several phone calls and a few trips back and forth to the repair shop, I got financing for 12 months same as cash, I think they call it. Where if you make the minimum payments each month, there's no interest for the first 12 months. Yay. So $2100 divided by 12 is $175/month. Still more than I would like to pay, since that was essentially our monthly grocery budget, but we can do it. Somehow. Yeah, I guess we'll finally be eating all those dried beans that I have in the pantry. I knew we'd need them someday! (don't worry uberrod, we'll still have enough $$ for your regular lunches... I'm not going to make you take lentil loaf to work!)
I also stocked up on grocery items at Meijer today. They were having AWESOME sales. And we have meat in the freezer. And fresh veggies in the fridge. LOL... that was before I got the info on how much the car would cost, too. But I'm glad. And we won't be going without. Just... we have to tighten our belts even MORE again. *sigh* It's definitely a "no frills" kind of year right now. Although I suppose my idea of "no frills" doesn't always equal someone else's. I was reading something the other day that I liked. About how when one person says they are "broke" they mean they can't go on a big vacation that year. Or can't eat out every night. And another person says the same thing, but it means they can't pay their heating bill. Or can't afford shoes for their child. But luckily we're only somewhere in the middle. We've never had a LOT of money but we have enough for the basic necessities of food and shelter (lol, just barely sometimes!).
Sad anecdata, some relatives on my grandfather's side came to visit my grandparents, back when my father was just a child himself, during the great depression of the 1930s. These relatives had a little kid. And he was like maybe 3 or 4 years old, and he wasn't walking. My grandmother asked about it, and they said he used to walk, but he had stopped. Turned out his shoes were too tight, and they couldn't afford to buy new ones, and the poor little kid's feet were hurting so much he wouldn't walk! I cried when I heard that story. Oh and needless to say, my grandmother took them shopping and bought new shoes for him. So that is kind of my standard quality-of-life comparison thing. We still have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and shoes that fit. So we're doing fine. I keep telling myself that, to cheer myself up when I'm feeling blue...
Alrighty... time to start dinner. Gotta wash the lettuce for salad. Regular red and green leaf lettuce. No more pre-packaged organic salad greens for us! Oh and the CSA this year? Haha! Nope, not happening. When it gets warmer out I'll take inventory of the seeds I have here and see about actually growing some food in our own back yard. We did lettuce one year and it was really good! We didn't get a lot, but what came up was quite tasty.
P.S. RobH, if you're reading this, at what high day is the seed/garden tool blessing generally done? I'm thinking it is at Eostre/Spring Equinox? Just wondering. I always like to bring my box of garden supplies if I can remember.