Mileage Project Report

During March I have made a special effort to improve gas mileage on my minivan. I was getting 24.6 MPG. I reset the MPG calculator on March 1 and am ready to report: 25.7 MPG. I am super excited about this because it was almost all city driving. I made one highway trip of about 100 miles, otherwise it was all stoplights and suburban streets.

My next mileage project is highway travel. This week I'll be making exactly the same trip twice -- dropping off and picking up Sam for his spring break visit with my parents. I will do the first trip at my usual speed (north of 70 mph) and the second trip at the speed limit. I've heard that there is a significant difference in efficiency. We'll see.

Today was also grocery shopping day. Double coupons! I'm especially proud of the deal I got on food coloring and vanilla extract --

• McCormick food coloring, on sale for $2. I had a $1 coupon, which was doubled. FREE
• McCormick vanilla extract, on sale for $2. I had a $.75 coupon, which was doubled. $.50
• Store promotion gave me a coupon for $1.50 off my next purchase. $1 moneymaker

That's a fun game.

On Universal Health Care

Anyone who has been in my kitchen knows I am happy that Barack Obama is the president. There's a 2x3 foot area above the sink covered with Obama-related posters. I like it a lot.

I also like the health care bill. I understand why some people don't and I respect their opinions. I know there are risks to this kind of legislation, but I think the benefits far outweigh them.

My friend Aerin alerted me to this article that I enjoyed. Interesting perspective.

10 Things You Must Believe to Oppose Universal Health Care

Sam

Sam is often mysterious to me. The mood-controlling area of his brain seems to have a dividing wall with a door that he walks through and always closes behind him. He is either happy, delightful, chatty and cooperative or irrational, argumentative, and looooouuuudd. Helping him learn to cope with frustration without becoming irrational and uncommunicative is going to take a long time.

This morning he was very happy and funny. I had a chance to ask him about something I've been wondering for a while. When we arrive at school all the kids wait out on the playground in assigned areas by class. They are allowed to leave their backpacks in line and play until the bell rings, but Sam has been staying in line for the last several weeks. I've seen his friends run in circles calling "Hey, Sam, let's go play!" but he just shakes his head no. Jude and Owen run on the playground with the big kids and Sam watches from line.

Today the mood was right to ask nonchalantly why he does that. I don't want to pressure him to play. Me: "Sam, I've been wondering why you don't play on the playground before school." Sam: "Because I don't like to get bumped."

I am very proud of my little boundary-setter.

Frugality Friday: Cheap Eats

Not buying anything is the best money-saving idea ever, so I’m challenging myself to make meals straight from the pantry more often. I happened on a good one last week: beans and cornbread.

Yeah, me too. I thought it was going to be lame. But it was absolutely not.

Cornbread: I used the same batch of dough that made yeasted cornbread with cranberries and orange, but replaced sugar, orange rind, and cranberries with corn and cheddar cheese. Even the kids are still asking for more of that.

Beans: I usually make black beans with chipotle chiles, but couldn’t find any that night. (They were in the fridge, I just forgot.) Saute chopped onions until soft, add chili powder and cumin and cook another minute. I’ve heard this intensifies the flavor of spices, allows them to “bloom.” Doesn’t that sound lovely? Then add the cooked beans, salt, and some orange juice. Simmer 20 minutes or so, then mash to thicken.

Darn good and darn cheap.

(The bean recipe is very forgiving. I think the amounts I used were: 1 chopped onion, 1 Tbs chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1 lb. beans, 1/2 cup orange juice. I started with dry beans; would omit salt if using canned.)

Jude

Jude took this picture of his bed. He has his own vision of the world and it is sweetly crooked sometimes.

Last Sunday morning, an hour after getting dressed in corduroy pants, he bounced off the couch announcing, "Mom, I'm not wearing any underwear."

Today we drove past the cemetery by our house -- that we drive past every single day -- and he asked if there is a way in. I pointed out the entrance and suggested we could go there for a walk sometime. "I don't want to walk. I just want to check out it."

The last time he drew a picture, it was a full-page swirl of every color available, circles upon circles upon circles. Then he stacked several markers together and made them "surf" on the picture he'd drawn.

Grown-Up Book Reviews

Short reviews of the few books I've read so far this year.

The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer. Wow! A gorgeous book that I read at just the right time. Deals with women who rearranged their lives for the sake of small children and, 10 years into parenting, are reconsidering what to do with themselves. Wolitzer's characters are complicated and respect the broad range of feelings, contexts, and needs we bring to parenting.

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. I love Lamott's non-fiction. I read this several years ago and was happy to spot it at Goodwill. This is a kind of diary of Lamott's first year as a mother. I love how honestly she describes her irrational anxieties and the teeter-totter of loving your child so much you can hardly stand it and then feeling like you cannot bear another minute with him.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Fine but not great. Set in 1960's Mississippi, this book imagines the relationships between black domestic workers and the white women for whom they work. The characters are flat -- all good or all bad -- and the book is at least 100 pages longer than necessary.

Stockett got me interested in race relations again, so I'm reading Toni Morrison's Beloved. I know it is going to tear my heart out. A lot of great books will do that.

Frugality Friday: Gas Mileage

We follow most of the common recommendations for getting good gas mileage -- regular tune-ups, appropriate air pressure in tires, reasonable driving habits. My Toyota minivan has a readout that tells average gas mileage and I've been getting 24.6 mpg. I like to multiply that by the four people who usually travel in said van and figure we get excellent mileage.

Then I came up on a mileage-improving tidbit on Wisebread.com. I'm trying out some new things to see if I can improve on 24.6 mpg. I've been trying to accelerate more gently, coast more, and turn off the engine at the bank drive-thru. I reset the mpg calculator at the beginning of March and so far I'm doing worse. I'm at about 23.9.

I have a 100+ mile highway trip coming up and I'm counting on that to boost the average. Maybe I'll even drive the speed limit.

5/20 Recipes

Another resolution I made for 2010 was to try 20 new recipes. This goal comes naturally to me. I LOVE trying to recipes. Seeing a list of ingredients and instructions turn into something delicious - and the game of reading recipes and judging which ones will turn out well - is so concrete and satisfying.

1. Turkey-Mole Chili (slow cooker). Very good. A little heavy on the mole (Mexican condiment involving chili and chocolate) and too spicy for the kids. I’d probably use twice as many beans, more carrots, and a little less mole next time. Perhaps add corn.
2. Boule and Light Wheat breads Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. My in-laws gave me this book about a year ago and I just got the courage to try it. The title does not lie. I spent 5 minutes stirring flour, yeast, salt and water together one day, and the next day I baked a loaf of darn good bread.
3. Normandy Chicken with Apples (slow cooker). So-so. Way too sweet on the first day; the leftovers were better. I probably wouldn’t repeat this one.
4. Pot Roast. Fine, nothing special. I think maybe I don’t like pot roast all that much to begin with. It was on sale so I gave it a try.
5. Yeasted Cornbread with Cranberries and Orange, also from ABFMD. Awesome! The cornbread was light, fortified with orange rind & sugar, which produced a kind of marmalade-y layer in the bread.

Frugality Friday

Wednesday’s post about my efforts to save money generated so much interest that I think I’ll keep writing about it for a while. I’ve enjoyed your comments and notes.

Thursday I hit Target and made a big impression. I keep my coupons in a binder, sorted with plastic inserts designed to hold baseball cards. I was shopping alone for the express purpose of maximizing good deals, so the binder was open in the seat at the front of the cart. A Target employee walked past and cried out “What the? I’ve NEVER seen anyone so organized about coupons.” I don’t think she was admiring me, but I took it as a compliment.

I wanted to invite her to follow me to the checkout.

I saved more in coupons ($35) than I spent in total ($33), and that’s not counting the $5 Target giftcard I got from a promotion. Stacking deals seems to be the key, and at Target sometimes it is possible to stack more than two discounts. Target coupons and manufacturer coupons can be combined on one item, and if there is a sale, gift card promotion, or mail-in rebate ta-daa! awesome deal. I got two boxes of band-aids for $.02 each, a double-pack of 3-way lightbulbs for $2, and some face cleanser for $.50.

I’m also finding out that brand loyalty is VERY expensive. I’m trying out a new face cleanser because, what the heck? I can try it for $.50.

Good Picture Books

Sometime in January I proposed a few 2010 list-making options for myself. I’ve made a little progress on three of them, so I’ll make this a 3-part series. First, reviews of some books the boys and I got from the library recently. Later, reviews of grown-up books and new recipes I've tried. The goal is to get to 20 of each category by the end of the year.

Hunting the Daddyosaurus by Teresa Bateman, ill. Benrei Huang. Owen and Jude are totally delighted with rhyme and repetition, and they shout along with this story of two kid-dinos hunting around the house for their dad. “He’ll never escape as we shout out our chorus/ We’re hunting the marvelous Daddyosaurus.”

Yuck! by Brita Granstrom, ill. Mick Manning. I suppose the title makes the appeal obvious. Delightfully gross illustrations of baby animals eating their favorite treats - worms, rotten eggs -- followed by “That’s not our baby’s supper. YUCK!” We finally get to a human baby drinking “yummy” warm milk, and then the last page shows all the baby animals judging warm milk yucky. I love that this book introduces the concept of perspective & difference. Taste is relative and what is good just depends on who you are.

The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort, ill. G. Brian Karas. As you’d guess, an adaptation of the famous Wheels on the Bus. This version has seals, tigers, vipers and finally (a common punch line in kids books, I find) a skunk riding the bus. My emerging reader Sam is convinced that he is able to read this book. After dinner the last couple of nights I’ve asked Sam to read a book to his brothers, and he confidently sings every page of this book.

Frugality, Susan Style

Ben’s temporary leave from ministry is not something we anticipated. It is necessary and we believe God is guiding us here, but the uncertainty about the future in general and our finances in particular is a challenge.

We tend toward conservatism in our personal finances. We are secure for the near future, but we’re feeling motivated to minimize our household budget. During February we tried out several strategies for a more frugal lifestyle and here are some that seem to work for us. The challenge is oddly satisfying to me.

• Coupons! I’ve always used coupons for groceries, but now I’ve started following a blog that helps me match coupons with sales and find coupons online. I’m also trying to get the hang of stocking up on things when I find a coupon + sale deal. You should see the supply of Cheerios at our house! So far: grocery expense down about 30%.
• Limit shopping trips. Buying groceries 1x/wk., and being thoughtful about trips to other places where I’m tempted to spend money helps a lot. No idle browsing at the Learning Store, no wandering the mall. If I go to Target, I stick to a list and smack my own hand if I pick up something I never thought I needed until I got to the store.
• Eat in. Ben is good at this. We used to get take-out when planning or cooking just seemed like too much. Now, we choose something simple from the grocery store instead. Still costs more than actual cooking, but a lot less than restaurant food.
• Swagbucks. Returning to school means buying a LOT of books. Swagbucks gives me points for using its search engine, finding secret codes, etc. and then I redeem those points for Amazon gift cards. We’ve gotten about $50 of giftcards so far.
• Turn down the thermostat. We have a programmable thermostat, and we’ve turned the temp. down for day and night.
• Line dry the clothes. This one has made a noticeable difference already. I’ve been putting clothes in the dryer for about 15 minutes and then hanging them on a line in our basement. The February utility bill showed a significant decrease in electricity use.
• Cash For Books. We’re getting rid of some books to make room for the billions of pages of books Ben now needs to keep at home. Cash4Books has bought some from us. We only get a dollar or two per book, but the shipping is free and it turns out to be worth the effort for us.
• Sam Rips Pants. Don’t bother paying more for Sam’s pants or shoes because Jude or Owen might wear them. They won’t survive. Sam rips the knees out of every single pair of pants he wears.

Published Artist

Sam is in an art show! Our school district has student art on display at Barnes & Noble at the mall near our house, and Sam's "Tiger in the Jungle" collage was chosen for the show. Friday was opening night.

We all enjoyed seeing the whole display. Sam quietly studied lots of other artwork, and Jude jabbered enthusiastically about everything.

I think the art will be up for the whole month of March. I encourage you to check it out. Sam's piece is just outside the CD section, above (as you can see) Shakespeare.

Rock Stars

The guys were playing rock star recently. Ben told Sam -- who really looks like a bass player -- that he was the coolest-looking guy in the band. Jude overheard the comment and, eager to be equally cool, kept adding elements. He was the most-heavily-dressed guy in the band. And super cool.