New House!

God has been so faithful this past few weeks. Since we found out that the church will be getting a new pastor in July and that we needed to move, we have seen His hand--sometimes not so clearly--moving throughout our lives. We have a beautiful new house and a great neighborhood. The church was such a blessing to us and to the school, and we'll miss the community there and in Cambridge; but we're very happy with our new location.

Thank you to everyone who helped us move.
Thank you to everyone at the church for your willing hospitality and gracious gift of the past two years.
Thank you especially to the boards of elders and trustees at the church for your patience, kindness, and support as we have looked for a new living situation! May God bless all of you.

Love,
The Shoemakers

Do we dare to dream?

This hasn't been easy. It hasn't been easy to maintain this blog. It hasn't been easy to pay down our debts. It hasn't been easy to keep our heads above water and our spirits high. It hasn't been easy to prepare for a new baby, adequately care for our children, find a housing arrangement we can afford/want to live in, and keep focused on our goals. Right now it feels like we'll never make it below the $60k mark and we'll always been stuck in the rat's maze of lost hopes.

Our dreams have taken a beating this year. June-to-June has been one of the most difficult times of our married lives, and it has certainly the hardest strain on us financially. The dream of paying down our debt in two years is now three years old and the current estimated date is another ten years away. Our dreams of traveling across the country, celebrating the freedom we have worked so hard to achieve seem faint compared to the monthly expenses and difficulties of weekly and monthly expenses. There are days when we don't even dare to dream because the passion of those dreams is so quickly extinguished. Do we even dare to dream anymore? Do we even dare to make plans, follow baby steps, walk through the ritual of the monthly budget only to find that we don't have enough money to pay our bills? What happened to intensity? What happened to our dreams?

Back to Baby Step 2

It has been nearly a year since we dropped from Baby Step 2 to Baby Step 1 on the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover plan. It's been a very hard year, as I'm sure you can imagine. We've done a lot of soul searching regarding our finances and the directions we are taking. We have talked about upping our Emergency Fund total so that we could afford a more catastrophic emergency--or another transmission change. We have talked about reviewing our plans for the future and whether or not we were on the right course. Writing blog posts and dreaming big dreams about world travel are all fun and games, but there is no substitute for cold hard cash in the bank and actual movement towards our real-life goals. It has been a long, hard road, but we feel as though we are finally back on track again.

This month we have finally moved back onto Baby Step 2: The Debt Snowball. We are currently less than two years away from paying down Emily's loans from That Horrible Woman. Caleb's...Caleb's student debts need a good infusion of cash to make a real impact, but I'm sure there's some real progress that we can make in that direction. Nice to be back on track.

Our Story pt. 5: Tight belts

To say that we've been living on a very tight budget would be only slightly true: we have been living below the poverty line for two years. We've had to deal with the incompetence of public health departments, the support of the WIC program, the food pantry. Everything has been a challenge. Every month we make the dollars scream as we press them harder for pennies. Somehow we make progress; somehow we have successes. It's amazing to me how much better our quality of life is, even if the stresses of financial struggles and the restless nights threaten to overtake us.

It's important to keep to the plan. We've made decisions in our life that we have followed through on that have helped keep the light at the tunnel brighter--and it isn't a train. We are eating better, spending more quality time together, and learning to live day-to-day with our eyes fixed on achievable goals.

When we moved to New York we had nothing. Now we have at least what we came with, plus an arsenal of financial, physical, and emotional weapons at our disposal that weren't there before. Orthodoxy has been an incredible blessing (fasting, for example, is wonderful for your wallet). Being a teacher means that I keep my mind sharp. Planning for the future, means that the life we dream for our girls will be better than our own. Even if the worse were to happen, we'd be taken care of. Tight belts are a little uncomfortable, but they won't kill you. Keep at it.

Taking stock of set-backs pt. 5: Life Necessities

Living below the poverty line means a lot of things. It means living from paycheck to paycheck often for months at a time. It means that the definition of "emergency" is a little more fluid. It means that every time someone wants to give us a Wal*Mart gift card for taking a survey, we jump at the opportunity. It means creating a sinking fund for things like $10 birthday gifts, $20 dinners, and being creative with the grocery budget. It also means that the government sends us a fairly sizable check each year. (We don't pay federal taxes during the year, and with all of the available credits there are we get upwards of $7-8000 between state and federal returns.)

When we were fully employed and making a median salary, these credits went onto our debt snowball and made a huge impact in our overall debt-to-income ratio. Now these large checks go towards the necessities of life: food, clothing, overdue repairs, et al. I'll admit that the frustration here is fairly minimal--not nonexistent, but less oppressive than say our student loan debt. For the most part, that tax credit each year does make a dent in our debts, but it also provides us with some much needed breathing room for our family finances. We know that we can take advantage of those checks to make sure the we and the girls have clothes that fit, the cars are in correct running condition, and those food stores are back to a comfortable level. Would I like to put all $7000 onto Emily's student loans and just get them out of the way: definitely! Does my family need to eat, be clothed, and have cars that run properly? Absolutely. So we compromise. It's not the most romantic or thrilling way to spend the spring, but it does make an impact on our mental as well as financial health.

So this year, if all goes according to plan, we will pay off the student loan from nowhere and drop Emily's student debt by $1-2000! Not bad for a family living below poverty.

Taking stock of set-backs pt 4: Payment Squeeze

That Horrible Woman behaves like a python in our family. She comes in quietly and innocuously, and when we least expect it decides to strangle the life out of us and devour us whole. Our payments went up. Quietly. Very quietly. We had no idea we were behind until we got an e-mail (not a phone call or letter as we requested) telling us that we were delinquent on our loan payments. (Keep in mind that That Horrible Woman was told to send us coupon books for payments, and has only sent them to Emily.) When we checked the website, sure enough the minimum monthly payment had increased slowly over the previous couple of months so that it was nearly a quarter of our monthly take-home just by itself. Caleb called That Horrible Woman and was given a figure for what the amount could be decreased to. When we called again (after becoming current) and referenced the call we had made previously the "person" sitting on the other end told us that that price could not be reached. Much eye rolling and negotiating later our payment has decreased to a manageable level.

"Manageable level" here means that we can afford the payment schedule currently set out for us by That Horrible Woman. It does not mean that we are on the fast-track towards paying down Caleb's student loan (which is still gradually increasing rather than decreasing). This is one of the hardest things from which to find encouragement. It seems like such a losing battle! When little Z sings "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" she likes to make a big deal out of the "Whoosh" of the rain washing the spider out of the water spout; and like the spider in that song I feel like we keep getting forced out of the drain only to continue our climb as soon as the weather clears up. Truly, the one thing that will keep us from completing our goal by the 2014 deadline will be Caleb's student loans and the oppressive feeling of helplessness associated with them.

I'd like to finish this post with some kind of positive upswing, and so I will focus on those things regarding our student debt which could be seen in a positive light:

1. We will be paying off the student loan from nowhere in less than a year (just a week from now)
2. We will have enough money from our tax credit to pay down a significant portion of Emily's loans
3. We are finally in a position to make snowball (not just minimum) payments on Emily's loans
4. Caleb's graduate degree has gotten him a job with only upward movement (even if that movement is slow)
5. We have not taken out any more debts and so are not going any further into debt
6. Every payment on Emily's student loan since last year has been on principal and not on interest

Taking stock of set-backs pt 3: Car repairs

We were so excited last spring when we purchased our new-to-us car--with cash--and had begun the life of the two-car family and the freedom that that would allow us. Indeed, we really have enjoyed the station wagon with all its space and available room for the girls and our large travel arrangements. It's a little rough on gas at times, but it is a real blessing having both cars around. Even with all of their woes.

This summer, you remember, we had the transmission blow on the station wagon as soon as we finished all of our long travels. $2000 later and a drained bank account later, we made it back up to New York with no great trials (except for Caleb's lost wedding ring) via DC and Emily's sister and brother-in-law's. When we got back to New York, however, we noticed that there was something funny with the breaks. When we took the car in to get it checked out, the very friendly (also very trustworthy) mechanic we found we needed new breaks and new tires. $900 later (and another cleared out bank account and our summer bonus money spent) we have a very fine car. To be honest with you, it was here that I realized we were going to be in for a long, hard slog.

With medical bills, car repairs, house cleanings, and other distracting monetary struggles we are finally coming back to where we were. I'll admit that the temptation is to be discouraged is just slightly stronger than overwhelming from time-to-time. I'd like nothing better than to pout and shake my fist towards the heavens, but that's ridiculous: the heavens are neither to blame nor in any position to respond. Taking time to look over the progress we have made over the year despite of the set-backs has been a real encouragement for us. Though we have struggled against That Horrible Woman and against our lack of affluence and the uncertainty of our position, we are still on some course towards success in our endeavors.

Our Story pt. 4: Starting over again

Believe it or not, the time in North Carolina was very good for our family overall. We learned a lot about ourselves. We discovered that there's a lot more to our relationship than just financial security and job satisfaction. We also learned how to apply for and to use government assistance programs, specifically the WIC program to help supplement our grocery budget. Parenthetically, WIC is a wonderful program, and the people who work for the WIC offices in counties across America need as much emotional support as they can get for all of the good they do for families.

From the time we moved to North Carolina in April until after little Z was born in August, Caleb spent days filling out applications and going to interviews. We had very exciting prospects, but nothing was coming through. Caleb actually had a great interview after Emily's folks sprang for a trip to Myrtle Beach for a week with a school in Greensboro that would have been ideal. The man actually said, "You're the one I want. I'm putting your name in front of the board." After that we never heard from them again except to hear "oh, no one called you?"

Right before Caleb took a trip to DC to visit some friends he got a phone call from Augustine Classical Academy about a position teaching Latin. During that weekend Caleb had a long conversation with the headmaster, and when he came back we sat and prayed about the position and took a long time going over our finances and what we could afford. When the original deal from ACA came through they could offer us ~$9500 with the possibility of $14500 (a very slim possibility). We ran the math, talked things over, and with the school providing housing, we were set to move; and move we did right after little Z was born. Caleb moved into the new house while Emily went to Cincinnati for her sister's wedding. When it was all said and done, last year we made $18500 from ACA and survived the year.

Next time we'll talk about making life work on a tight budget.

Taking stock of the setbacks pt. 1

We've been quiet, because it's been hard to admit that things are going very slowly. It's been hard to take stock of all of the things that have pushed us backwards on our course towards freedom and the ultimate family experience. It's hard to even discover what are all of the things that have been thrown up in our way and are making forward progress painful, discouraging, and very far away.

The purpose of this blog wasn't just to boast about our plans, but to help others who were also trying to make their way out of debt.  It was a means of staying accountable to you, friends and readers, and for our own encouragement when we were feeling like the end would never come. Today is one of those days: the end looks very far away and what we need is to take a look at what has been accomplished and what still needs to be overcome in order to meet our goals.

Current setbacks:

1. Housing crisis: we have to move, but we don't know what Caleb's salary will be and that's frustrating
2. Car repairs: we've had to throw some major cash at our cars since this summer
3. Payment squeeze: we've dropped down as low as we can on Caleb's payments to That Horrible Woman, and the prospects of getting out of those debts is bleak
4. Life and its necessities: huge tax refund going towards a lot of basic life necessities we've put off--like clothes, shoes, etc.

Useful Gifts

Post-Christmas is a great time to discover our new normal, now that we have new toys to play with - both kids and adults. So the girls have new legos, a new doll stroller, and a whole restaurant's worth of play food. I got an iPod touch and Caleb will be getting a smart phone.
In our precarious financial position, the holidays are the only time when we get silly electronic toys. I say silly since there's nothing I can do on the iPod that can't be done on the computer. Also silly because now I can carry around Facebook and angry birds, as if they need to be in my back pocket. I detest the idea of my girls being iThingy orphans, but have already caught myself ignoring them for the sake of whatever I happen to be doing online. Grr.
But what, you may ask, do Christmas gifts have to do with becoming debt free? We are not going to sell all these new toys for the sake of paying off our debt, though some in our situation might. While I do have an app for budgeting, that probably won't get us out of debt any sooner.
What will get us debt free is discipline. The iPod is an opportunity to practice this. I've already deleted Angry Birds and the only game apps I'll have are Fisher-Price. I'll need to keep myself from constantly checking Facebook and email, just like I keep myself from stopping at McDonalds when I'm out. Being in control of my sinful and selfish desires is key to living life as its meant to be lived.

Temptation to quit

I was speaking with my father-in-law this morning about C.S. Lewis's "Space Trilogy." Books that I have read and re-read countless times and find something wonderful to explore each time. Truly, one of the finest literary works of the 20th century. Gushing aside, there is a message that permeates each book in remarkable ways: the temptation to quit comes when we are most determined to finish. Here are some examples:

In Out of the Silent Planet Ransom (our kidnapped, space marooned hero) experiences heartache when, rather than go quickly to see Eldil on Malcandra. He and the creature who have adopted him go on a hunting trip first. In the process his friend is killed and the creatures realize that he should have gone to see Eldil right away. Lesson: distractions can be fatal.

In Perelandra Ransom (now exploring Venus) has summoned the story's narrator to his house before the scheduled interstellar excursion set for him by a visiting Eldil. While the narrator (Lewis himself) is walking between the train station and Ransom's house, he is beset with any number of fears and temptations that cause him to nearly flee in terror back to his own home. The lesson: when setting out on the virtuous path, the temptation to give up early will be overwhelming.

The temptation to quit is pervasive these days. So easy to just give up the ghost and let things slide. I have thought more than once that the dreams we have for our family and our future are nothing but smoke in the wind. I have grasped at straws. I have been let down time and time again. The temptation to circle the wagons, protect ourselves, avoid the dangers, avoid the heartache is sometimes more than I can handle. To be honest, I would love to just give up. It would be so easy to just go back to the way things were.

Why don't we just quit? Why not listen to the voices that are surrounding us? Because we believe that we can reach this goal. We want a better life for us and for our girls. We are tired of insecurity. We are fed up with foolishness. The cycle ends now....or at least is now coming to a close. No excuse will be good enough: only results.

Goal setting for the new year

The moral of the story is not the tortoise was faster than the hare. Clearly, the hare could have beaten the pokey tortoise if he had focused on the goal and not stopped to nap in the clover. What is clear from the story, however, is that the tortoise was able to win because he never let himself believe that it was impossible. Even when the hare left him in the dust, he still believed that the desired goal was achievable--so long as he didn't stop moving towards the finish line. This year, we have set several goals to be accomplished over the next twelve months. Some of these may take only a few weeks, some a few months, others the whole year. You can follow our progress here on this blog, and join us by creating a Finish List and following #FinishYear on Twitter.

Below are Caleb's goals for 2012:


I'm going to read 12 non-fiction books and 12 fiction books (no more than two books per month) for the year 2012

I'm going to help my wife follow her dream and start a small business

I'm going to finish writing my novel

I'm going to start memorizing the book of Psalms

I'm going to make it to the 12 Great Feasts

I'm going to finish my Church History and Christocentricity of the Old Testament curricula

Christmas Letter

This is the first year that we've the opportunity to write a Christmas Letter.  This is a tradition in my family, so I felt compelled to write out all our accomplishments for the year and to send it to various friends and family members (in limited quantities, our postage and ink budget was not as generous as I'd like).
For those who don't have a hard copy, here's our year in review.

December 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

In January of this year, we set ourselves an ambitious goal: to complete the calendar year without any major life changes. We are happy to report that during 2011 we have not moved, have had no births, and no changes in employment status – a first for our family. However, we have made some important changes.

First is a renewed commitment to becoming debt free. We began following Dave Ramsey's baby steps to financial peace in 2008, but haven't really been able to make headway until this year, due to unemployment. So far we have paid off Caleb's car, bought a used one for Emily with cash, and are beginning to make a dent in the student loan mountain. To motivate ourselves, we are planning a HUGE road trip for the summer after we get out of debt, hopefully 2014. You can follow our progress on the blog we set up: debtfreeroadtrip.blogger.com

Secondly, we are extremely excited to make joining the Eastern Orthodox Church our first act of 2012. On January 1, Z will be baptized and the rest of us will be confirmed, or chrismated as the Orthodox say, at New Skete Monastery, which is just down the road. We covet your prayers as we embark on this new journey of faith.

Turning now to our personal accomplishments this year:

Caleb has found great joy in his teaching position at Augustine Classical Academy. For 2011-'12 he has a very full course load, including three levels of Latin, Theology, Church History, and Drama. His students are currently: translating Virgil and Dr. Seuss's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas; wrestling with Augustine's Confessions; debating early Christian heresies; and rehearsing “A Winter's Tale” for performance in March.

Emily spends her days running after A and Z, as well as running around with them. Most weeks, they enjoy Story Hour at the library and MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers). Fridays the girls play at a neighbor's while Emily has some adult-time volunteering at the Food Co-op. This fall, she has also enjoyed the challenge of creative cooking with a weekly basket from our CSA (community supported agriculture), True Love Farms in NorthBennington, VT. Some of our favorite meals have been Kale Enchiladas, and Potato, Leek, Carrot and Celeriac Soup.

A, 2 ½, is growing into a responsible, inquisitive and creative big girl. She enjoys painting, singing, playing pretend, reading and cooking. She frequently declares her love for various objects and people, and is always willing to give hugs, snuggles and kisses. Her cute phrases and adorable actions are too many to mention, but here are a few highlights: “reading” the insides of a sandwich; saying “untundle” instead of “untangle”; switching personae by declaring “I'm Sister Bear” or “I'm Anya”.

Z, 16 months, is sweet, loving and quickly becoming a natural comedienne. Flashing her dimples, she says “cheese” eagerly for every camera, and happily dons any object she can while declaring “Hat!”

We look forward to next year and all the excitement it might bring!

Hoping you are well,

The Shoemakers

Never seen the righteous forsaken

...or their children begging bread (Ps. 37.25)

This year we were the recipient of a Christmas basket provided by the Elks in Greenwich, NY. We had no idea how we got on their list, but we received the call on Wednesday and the "basket" this afternoon. We got a 12lb. turkey, rolls, vegetables, apple sauce, milk, eggs, butter, potatoes,  pasta, sauce, and more! It was so much more than we were expecting! God has been so good to us, and it's becoming very clear every day how much we need Him to reach our goals.

We are down to $150 in our emergency fund, behind on a couple of bills, and trying to wrestle our way through the NYS health insurance maze. This was one more example of the way His provision is always exactly the right amount at the right time. Here are some pictures!

Who gets paid?

As we've learned how to control our money, we've also been learning a lot of about our life's priorities and budgetary decision. One of the big questions we have had to ask ourselves is: Who gets paid? Every month we allot our paycheck across the four/five weeks of the month as to what bill gets paid when; but what about the deeper question of who gets paid over the long haul of our lives? We pay for insurance because there's no certainty about tomorrow or the day after. We spend money on preventative maintenance for our cars so that they run safely and reliably. There are other areas of money spent that fill this category: paying now to protect the future. Lately, we've been asking this question about our food choices. Do we spend the money on food or doctor's bills?

For us, this decision is easy: spend the money on food that is healthy, local, and organic now rather than exorbitant doctor's bills later on. The connections between poor diet and chronic illness are too clear to ignore, and we are making the choice for a healthier lifestyle that will be less expensive when seen over the course of our lives. We have made the choice to say "no" to processed foods and dollar menu specials, and "yes" to healthy, nutritious foods purchased at the local co-op, our CSA, and locally raised meats.

A lot of people struggle to make ends meet, and many of them (including us) have ended up on government assistance. As a result, it's very easy to spend your assistance monies on foods which will ultimately harm you. It takes discipline and wisdom to use WIC and SNAP to your health advantage. The biggest weapon in our arsenal has been the sinking fund: setting aside money a little bit at a time to make these large-sum payments for better foods.

• We joined our local co-op, at which Emily volunteers each week to receive a 22% discount.
• We set aside money to pay for a winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for 9 weeks of fresh vegetables plus two root/preserve pick-ups in January and February.
• We have put aside money for either a side of pork or a quarter of beef from one of two farms down the road
• We set aside very little money for "eating out" each month, and when we do it's usually local, small, and inexpensive.

For us the choice was easy: pay for a healthier lifestyle rather than pay the piper later on.

Looking back on eating local part 2: a book review

Our first movement into becoming "locavores" was to brush up on the philosophy and thinking of the movement. Growing up in mostly rural areas, Caleb was used to the idea of finding the local farm stand and/or natural foods stores to do the majority of important shopping. Living in the city had turned us from what would have been a natural habit: eating local into the average suburban eater--no clear direction, buy what's on sale, don't pay attention to origin or season. We knew the shift back to thinking about localized food sources would be harder than just putting "local" in front of everything on our shopping list. Why were these things so important? What was so wrong with eating strawberries from California, tomatoes from Mexico, and corn from God-knows-where as long as we did the shopping at the local grocery store chain?

For inspiration and motivation we turned to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, published by Penguin. This book has been life changing for our family; here are a few of the reasons why:

Pollan's premise is simple: Eat food; not too much; mostly vegetables. It seems simple, but once you start to unpack each of those things, you begin to see how difficult the solution to the problem has become over the last seventy years. With the advent of nutritionism, eating food has been harder and harder for the average person. Food science has taken hold of our national consciousness, and you can't even go to the grocery store without being bombarded by messages from the shelves about the supposed health benefits of the products contained.

We found this book to be incredibly challenging and exciting as we worked our way through it. Since that time, we have been more aware of the things we are spending (or not spending) our money on. We joined our winter CSA as a way to eat better and ensure that we got our money's worth on food in a way that we never were able to when we were making things up as we go along. It's done wonders for our health, quality of life, and budget.

Crazy Couponing is Not For Me

I have a love-hate relationship with coupons.  When we first started working our budget, I got all excited about them and immediately began clipping, collecting, sorting, and organizing.  It didn't take me long to realize the dark, dirty truth about coupons.  Well, maybe not that dramatic but I did discover a few things which turned me off from being a truly Crazy Coupon-er.

When using coupons, don't:

 - buy more than necessary.

There are two ways that a coupon can cause a shopping cart to fill too quickly.  The first is that many coupons require one to purchase 2 or 3 of a given item in order to get a discount.  While some may see buying four gallons of ice cream to save a dollar as "stocking up", I see it as a waste.  Certainly, some items may be "stocked" at home (anything without an expiration date), but this mentality easily becomes a justification for buying too many at once.

The second way is by buying tag-along items which are not on sale.  For example, using a coupon for hot dog buns and then getting hot dogs as well.  This is especially true for "Free" coupons which require the purchase of another item.  Getting a free 2-liter of Coke is nice, but not when you must buy ten dollars worth of cookies and chips to get it.

- buy unnecessary items.

I'm all for saving a dollar, but buying an item simply because a coupon sits before you is not a good strategy for saving money.  I have taking to not clipping coupons for items that we generally do not buy to eliminate the temptation to "save money" on an item which will spend eternity in a cupboard.

- buy more unhealthy foods.

For the most part, whole and unprocessed foods do not have coupons.  The reason is simple: coupons are produced by the large companies which produce processed foods, not by farmers.  Coupons are designed to be used at large-scale, box-store grocery chains, not the farmers market.  This can lead one to spend a greater portion of the grocery budget on "cheaper" (i.e. discounted) foods, instead of those that are more nourishing and, simply, better. 

I tend not to clip coupons for foods I don't want to end up buying.  In our case, this includes microwave foods, anything with an unsightly amount of packaging, most things containing high fructose corn syrup, and anything with an ingredient list that's more than an inch long.  We aren't exclusive and we aren't paranoid (you will find Cheez-its in our pantry and Pepsi Throwback in our fridge), but I also don't want our diet to drift too much into that world.

- buy more expensive brand names.

As I mentioned above, coupons are put out by the large multi-national corporations which produce so much of our daily needs and everyone of those needs has a name, and a brand.  With the notable exception of Store coupons, generic brands do not generate coupons and, more often than not, are not on Sale.  Even with a coupon, brands are often still more expensive than generics; be sure to check.  This marketing at it's finest - companies know that you will pay more for their name brand simply because you have a coupon in hand and/or there's a little yellow Sale tag, even though the generic sitting right there is still $2 less, and has the exact same ingredients!

It is possible to go off the conspiracy theory deep end when discussing coupons and the companies behind them, but I try not to go that far.  I do use coupons.  A lot.  I have an accordion organizer that I carry around with me.  I am that lady standing in the middle of the aisle doing long division on the newspaper insert trying to figure out which Raisin Bran is cheaper per ounce.  I am every cashier's worst nightmare.  But I fall into these traps to some extent every time I shop.


In summary, when used wisely and carefully, coupons can save loads of money.  The key is to make your own list, don't let the circulars and their discounts write it for you.  Use coupons only on items you already buy in manageable quantities when you actually need them, and don't go crazy.

Looking back on local eating: part 1

The plan had been to blog our way through the month of September talking about becoming locavores. As it turned out, September is a really hard month to blog through when you're working and parenting full-time, struggling to pay your bills, and making plans for the future. Add to that the fun we had experimenting with being local consumers, and you've got a month of adventure and zero free time with which to blog about a runny nose. This, now, is our attempt to blog about our trials and triumphs in being locavores for a month, and the way that it has changed our lives forever.

It turns out that a 250 mile radius from our little village covers a good portion of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and a tiny sliver of Canada and Pennsylvania. I wouldn't say we struggled to remain local, though sometimes we forgot and splurged on something silly like bananas (the only thing our one year old would eat for breakfast for a while). Still, I would say that our menu was able to be incredibly varied including locally raised beef and turkey, produce, honey and maple syrup, and a delicious box of wine that lasted us for the entire month! Supplementing what we already do with new experiences, made this a big success; and it has forever changed the way we eat and think about food.

Things we already do:

• make our own yogurt
• compost our kitchen scraps
• members of our local co-op
• shop road side garden stands and farmers' market(s)
• buy locally raised beef and other meats
• shop local bakeries

Things we added to our regular food routine:

• reading books and articles about food production
• watching films about food business
• processing apples and other produce to freeze and use later
• joined One Million Against Monsanto
• joined a winter CSA (saving for a summer CSA)
• Grew our own pumpkin (accidentally..it just grew in our compost pile)
• wrote letters to our Senators and Representatives re food issues
• enjoyed a box of local wine for the entire month

Paper Towels are Groceries Too

Being on a tight budget is hard.  Really hard.  It's stressful to squeeze every dollar till it screams, and pinch every penny and cut every coupon.  It takes work to stay on top of all the envelopes and keep in mind that this $10 is to buy bread, eggs and milk when I suddenly realize that we're out of butter too and, wouldn't it be nice to have some cream cheese on hand, since it's on sale and I have a coupon.

Since most of the household buying decisions are made by me as Mom, I find myself under increasing pressure to make do with as little as possible so that money can be freed up to go towards our debt.  I deal with this by lumping a lot of things under the heading of "groceries".

Our budget form has many different categories, but I roll everything for the household, from Toiletries to Cleaning Supplies, into Groceries (mostly because we buy so many things at the same store, whether it be Walmart, Dollar General or IGA, and I don't want to stand in line at the check-out pulling $5 from one envelope and $20 from another while also balancing coupons and toddlers).

Ergo, the Grocery envelope is my All-purpose envelope.  Flour, coffee and dish detergent from the co-op - Grocery.  McDonalds coffee - Grocery.  Diapers - Grocery.  Infant tylenol and cough drops - Grocery.  Huge shopping trip to Price Chopper for 6 months worth of bread and toilet paper - you guessed it, Grocery.

All of this picking at the Grocery category throughout the month often ends up with me having two things: 1) an empty envelope when we're out of something important (like milk) and 2) incredible amounts of guilt for that $1 coffee or for paying $1.29 a pound for the Organic rolled oats or any number of other decisions made throughout the month that were justifiable at the time.

What to do?  I'm attempting to be easier on myself.  I know that, while not beneficial, going over budget by a gallon of milk or a roll of toilet paper is not going to kill anything.  Also, I, frequently, remind myself that there are some things in life which are more important than keeping the budget balanced (like my sanity, for one, and feeding my children, for another).  In future months this may lead to increasing of our grocery budget (gasp!) to prevent the completely-empty-envelope-and-refrigerator phenomenon.

Every month, we find ourselves walking the line between appropriate dollar stretching and being overly optimistic about how little it takes to adequately feed and clothe ourselves.  Just to make things more exciting, every month that line seems to be in a different place.

(Btw, our budget meetings don't actually look like that cartoon.  But it did make me laugh, so I thought I'd share.)

Locavore Challenge Days 3-7

This week has been crazy! Caleb started working at Augustine Classical Academy for the upcoming school year (first day was yesterday) Emily went to the Farmer's Market here in town for the first time this fall with our WIC checks, and we sent in a check to start our winter CSA! This may be a post full of exclamation points as I try to unpack all of the fun we've been having during this year's Locavore Challenge.

As you know we started with a day full of locally (within 250 mile) sourced foods. We also spent time on Day 2 going to roadside stands picking up squash, garlic, and whatever else local gardeners/farmers were selling out of their trolleys (it's an upstate NY thing, but I hope other places do this, too). Emily came back from the Farmer's Market with a huge haul of fresh vegetables and herbs. Take a look at the amazing produce she came home with: squash, herbs, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and green tomatoes.

While Caleb was at work on Tuesday, Ana (the 2 year old) and Emily used the Pretend Soup cookbook to make Green Spaghetti (pasta with pesto) for lunch.

 Caleb cooked up pasta sauce from our neighbor's garden, and Emily added fresh parsley and oregano and squash tonight for our delicious dinner

This is our whirlwind tour of the last week of our locavore challenge. Coming up we'll be reviewing Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food!