Natural Parenting

We all know that times are tough these days.  People are losing their jobs, homes, cars, and many other things of great value to them.  It’s hard to come across a person that isn’t struggling financially in some way or another, so I feel that it’s really important to share our personal experience with you all.

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We are currently a one income family.  My husband works in manual labor, and doesn’t make as much money as a lot of people, but we are grateful that he makes as much as he does.  Up until last March, I was working as well, but at 7 months pregnant I could no longer carry the babies up and down the stairs.  (I nannied for triplets- it was a blast!)  So, since then, our income has dropped significantly, roughly 30%.

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Are we starving to death because of it?  Not hardly.  We are still able to eat fairly healthy, although we do eat a lot of beans and rice.  Also, we are getting our bills paid every month, which is saying more than a lot of people can.  The sad part is that we have zero savings from when I was working.  We spent what we made, like so many people do.  We had credit card debt, about $5,000 worth, that continued to accrue interest, and we were still only making the minimum payments.  We were being terribly irresponsible with our money, up until recently, at least.  It’s a work in progress, but we are starting to make some headway.

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The most important and helpful thing that got us started in the right direction was writing a budget.  Technically, I didn’t write it, I used the free budget tool at mint.com, but we did decide on a spending plan, which is the most important part (except for sticking to it, obviously).  We did that about 8-9 months ago, and I have to say, we haven’t been consistent with it at all.

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Food is our most difficult spending category to keep under control.  Last summer we were spending $1000, and sometimes even $1200 per month on food alone!  That was a third of our income!  (Patrick doesn’t make as much now, but he was able to get overtime then, and I was still working.)  We were just obsessed with fruit, which isn’t a bad thing, but it is when you don’t have the money for it.  (Most of it tasted like crap anyway, but I’ll save the fruit discussion for another post.)

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When I first tracked our expenses online, I was shocked to find out how much we were spending.  It really freaked me out!  I had no idea where our money was going before that day, and that was not a good position to be in.  We knew immediately that we had to get things in order, especially since I was nearing the end of having a job.

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The first thing we started trying to tackle was, of course, the food issue.  I can’t say we’ve done as well as I would have liked, but we’ve definitely made some improvement.  This month we really blew it, though.  Since we aren’t eating meat anymore after tomorrow, we went a little overboard and ate a bunch of animal carcass.  Meat is expensive, by the way, especially the organic stuff we buy.  Sheesh, I’m thankful we’re giving the stuff up, otherwise we’d be really broke, or we’d have to go without fruit and veggies!

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My goal, though, is for our food budget to remain under $450/month.  In the past year, sad to say, we’ve only accomplished this once.  BUT, 2010 is a new year, and we are determined to stay within our food budget, and all our other spending categories, as well.  We can do this!

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So, what is my plan of attack for this food stuff?  Well, initially, we are just going to be eating beans, rice, veggies, and fruit.  The reason for this is that Axel is still having some minor skin irritation, and constipation.  We want to really find the root of the cause, so we’ll eat plain for 2 weeks, or so, then I’ll start reintroducing foods one at a time.  I know beans are on some allergen lists, but I’ve always eaten beans, even when he was doing fine, so I know they are okay.  *(They were making him gassy, but I found a cure for that a few days ago- I’ll share the secret at the end of this post.)

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In all honesty, Patrick and I really like eating simply anyway.  It tastes good, it seems to be easier on the digestive track, and it’s simple to make (no complicated recipes).  Brown rice, beans, and some fresh sauteed vegetable are so tasty, that I’m starting to no longer want to cook anything else. (Just FYI, eating beans and brown rice together at a meal supplies you with the essential amino acids needed to make a complete protein, giving you a healthy alternative to fatty, fiber-less, expensive beef.)

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Plus, beans and rice are so cheap!  We buy organic beans for around $1.50/lb, give or take a little depending on what kind you get, and $3.39 for a 2 pound bag of organic brown rice.  (Actually, we just got about 10 of those bags for $1.99 each at Town Talk, but that’s a hit and miss type deal that doesn’t come around often.)  One bag of rice, plus two pounds of beans, ends up costing about $7, and that makes roughly 10 meals.  Add 10 meals worth of fresh veggies, such as zucchini, and you’ll tack on about $10 extra dollars.  That means you are spending only $1.70 per meal, and not only is it cheap, but it’s also healthy and delicious!

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Lately, we’ve started settling into a routine, and is goes something like this:

• Fresh fruit for breakfast everyday
• Salad for lunch every other day
• Beans and rice for lunch every other day
• Dinner varies
• Terribly unhealthy dessert almost every night like brownie batter (<—I know, this is terrible, but at least I make it with organic sugar and 1/2 wheat flour- sometimes

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We buy organic bananas and apples, but any other fruit we buy is conventional.  The only organic vegetable we buy regularly is romaine lettuce for our salads.  We try to eat a head each, every other day.  I know, most of you are thinking I’m some crazy health nut.  I wish I could say that I was, but the brownie batter addiction, and my lack of exercise disqualifies me, I’m afraid.  I’ll get better.

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So, my point is that we need to start taking control of our funds.  I’m almost done reading Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover, and it is really getting me pumped about saving our money, and becoming debt free.  He is a big believer in not living off of credit, or even having credit cards, actually.  I haven’t cut up my cards (YET), but I am going to try my hardest to not use them.  I don’t want to waste my money on credit card interest anymore.  I’ve always thought that a person had to have debt, and credit, to be able to live in this country, but I’m realizing more and more that isn’t exactly the case.  There are ways around it, you just have to have control over your spending, and plan ahead.

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I hope I haven’t rambled too much for you all, I just wanted to share a little about our money issues.  I know we’re not the only ones with them!  Just know that you are the only one in control of your money.  Don’t let creditors be your masters.  Make a budget, figure out where your money is ending up, and plan how to make it work better for you.  Also, go rent Dave Ramsey’s book from the library, or, if you have the funds, buy it from Amazon, I believe it’s the cheapest there.  (You can find it on my amazon products box to your right.)  It should help get you motivated to start trying to handle your money better, or at least give you a new perspective on the subject.

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Top Ways We Save:

• No eating out
• Make meal plan
• Have a list before grocery shopping
• Cloth diapers, and Elimination Communication
• Keep the heater thermostat at 65 degrees (that’s cold in Texas!)
• Only wash hair a couple times a month (it’s not needed, trust me!)
• Only drink water (we have a Berkey filter)
• Beans and brown rice, of course!

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Please share your money saving tips with us.  We would love to hear them!  Happy budgeting!

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*(We are no longer suffering from gassiness after we eat beans.  It’s a miracle!  I accomplished this by soaking the beans overnight, and changing the water out twice during that period.  Then, I put them in a pot to cook, and once the water had been boiling steadily, for a good ten minutes, I removed the water and rinsed the beans, then filled the pot back up with cold water.  This time, I let them cook until they were soft.  In the end, I drained them, so all I was left with was the beans, no liquid.  Ta-dah!  That’s all there is to it.  We’ve eaten them the past 3 days, and none of us have had gas issues.  You don’t know how thankful I am for this.  My husband, and son, mind you, can be very smelly men.)

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