Friday, August 22, 2008

Not skimping

So, I have always been a money saver. But, when we purchased our home a few months ago, I became obsessed with saving money. OBSESSED. To the point where I really only have 4 summer shirts that I wear. One that has accumulated some mysterious pink stains on the back, which has led me to look into purchasing red dye just so I can keep it in rotation and not have to buy a new one.

There are some things I don't skimp on though. Fresh produce is one. I read lots of blogs that post pictures of their weekly grocery haul, and I often wonder - Where are the fruits and vegetables? People rarely talk about the produce they buy. Is it because it's hard to find good deals on produce, so why bother talking about it? Or is because they are only consuming frozen or canned veggies and fruits? And I'm not talking about the produce people have canned themselves. I'm talking tin cans here. I recently read a woman's meal plan on her blog where she talked about serving cans of mixed vegetables that she found for a good price. It didn't sound appealing to me. Sorry. I don't care how cheap it was. The only canned veggie I buy are green beans for Alex because he's ADDICTED. He dips them in ketchup. They're easy to chew. And I hope to learn to can some of my own soon. Although, by the time I learn, he'll probably be over them.

I also buy the "pricey" deli meat. If it were up to me, I would be fine with some of the pre-packaged deli meat that you find in the deli cases. But, my husband is a food snob and loves things like hot capocolla (did I spell that right?) and black forest ham. These generally add at least $10 to my grocery bill, but it's worth every penny. My husband hasn't quite converted into the frugal spender that I am today, and he is very easily tempted by take-out, drive-thrus and delivery pizza. Spending a bit more on higher quality, yummy deli meats is worth every penny. It tempts my husband to make a nice thick sandwich instead of heading to McDonalds.

Finally, I'm finding it difficult to say "no" to the "causes". Now, donating to charity is one thing that I have always done and will continue to do. But, now that I'm a mother and a home-owner, I have discovered a whole new world of "causes" to help support. The other day a nice young man from our town's highschool football team rang my doorbell and sold me a discount card for $20. It was pricey, in my opinion. But I bought it. My husband is a huge sports fan. And I am a fan of supporting schools. So, I agreed. It might come in handy. Probably not.

Today I purchased a $15 box of goodies to help support the DARE program. It contained flash cards, crayons, coloring books, stickers. Most of it was beyond Alex's level, but I will save it as Christmas present.

Anyways, I have a difficult time saying "no" to people, but so far I don't regret helping these various causes. I just hope it doesn't send me to the poor house.

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