food budget

This week really shot my attempt to live off my stockpile all to hell. I was detailed out for 12 hour shifts, four days this week. Monday, I brought my own lunch. Tuesday, I had lunch at the base bowling alley (two meals--one for there and one to go for later) $10. Wednesday, a friend went to Safeway to get some coffee and I opted to get one of their sandwiches, a bowl of potato cheese soup (and a hot chocolate) $11. Thursday, the same friend and I went to Giacomo's. Long story short, I paid for both of us, $18. So, in four days, I managed to spend the same amount on food that I had spent the other 25 days. Grrr. Still, my monthly grocery/dining out total came to less than $100.
Ever spent 8-12 hours doing nothing except checking paperwork for people who drive through a gate? That's how I spent the last four days. Thank goodness we had Spinning in my FitCamp this morning. I hadn't gone all week because my Commander excused me from it in order to fulfil the detail.
Back to the gym tomorrow. I finished out the week of crappy eating by having no lunch just Chinese dumplings from the Commissary and a whole can of sweet 'n' crunchy peanuts all washed down with a lemon Snapple. Dinner was a bag of Good 'n' Plenty and a cream soda from Happy Harry's/Walgreens. I will be so glad to get back to my normal routine.
Tomorrow brings about grocery shopping. Metro grocery store is closing so I figure I'll head over there to check out their prices. Gotta do some laundry too. I'm nearly out of black socks.

Let's save our energy!

I thank everyone for reading my blog. My "Perpetual" post got quite a bit of attention. However, I ask that we let the matter drop. Let's give it no more energy. LisaB hit the nail on the head when she said we "can't save every child." From the outside looking in, help is needed in many places. All we can do is pray. Let go and let God. I also ask: if you're an Anonymous commenting on her blog, let it go. You're only feeding the fire and taunting her. She'll do the best she can in the best way she knows how. Maybe it won't be to our "standards" or how we would do things but we can only hope that the children come out of it unscathed and feeling loved.
Okay! So how about that crazy football stuff going on this weekend?!?

Misconceptions

In the past, I've been accused of not understanding the situations of parents because I have no children. Au contraire, mon ami, I understand plenty AND I do have children. Now, granted, I haven't raised them and they aren't tax deductions on my 1040A but I have had children. I'm also sympathetic and empathetic to those who have children living with them. Everybody's children are different so how they act in one household may be completely different in someone else's. Everyone has different variations on their belief systems which causes them to raise their children a bit differently. Some choose to put the needs of their children before paying their bills and, well, others don't.
I attended training for foster parenting a couple years back and, shortly before the application process was complete, I took a long hard look at my situation and realized that I need to be a hell of a lot closer to being consumer debt free before I even consider adding a child/teenager to my home. Kiddos are stressful--good and bad (kids and stress)--and being stressed about paying down my debt would take a lot of the attention off them.
My goal is to have all my consumer debt paid off by the time I'm 35. That gives me just over two years and it's totally doable...provided I don't add to what I've already got. lol. In May 2011 (when I hit that milestone), I will be five years from my first retirement and, hopefully, quite a few credits closer to my Bachelor's but...I digress.
Going back to kids, stress, and debt. If you are stressed because you have kids--you put yourself there. If you're stressed because you have debt--you put yourself there. I fall into the latter category and am working to get myself out. Now, when I say "stressed", I don't mean that it keeps me up at night though that can be the situation for some. Instead I mean: at the times that I do think about making the payments for my debts, and wondering if I'll be able to double this month's payment or will I have to pay a few hundred $$ to get rid of the squirrel condo that is situated behind my chimney, my body reacts with traditional stress responses--elevated heart rate and the like. I am not going gray because of my debts, thank God. Are you washing the gray right outta your hair?

"Perpetual" people frustrate me!

I will never understand why people perpetuate their own crises. For example: my aunt. The woman tells me that she's down to her last $2 and then, not a week later, I get an Xmas card from her with $40 in it. There's no point in me saying anything other than "Thank you" so I do and then put the money in my wallet. Or she'll make some statement about she doesn't know what she'll do if the house sells (my uncle, her brother, has POA of my deceased grandma's house) and, in the next sentence she'll ask me to look up prices of Sony HD televisions.
There's another person, whom shall remain nameless but not unknown, she constantly complains about how little food she has to feed her children and how she had to go without dinner but, very soon, she's going to get her kids a pet for Xmas. Don't tell me that you bought and fed multiple kids the equivalent of ONE Happy Meal and now you're gonna add a pet to the mix and expect me to turn a blind eye. I have this woman's address, I'm half tempted to call CPS just based on what this woman has personally disclosed about her home life. It's the Mandatory Reporter in me just dying to smack this woman with some common sense!!