Make it or buy it?

So I had a big pot of spaghetti sauce bubbling away on the stove top this afternoon. I left the house briefly a few times and when I re-entered, the savory scent of tomatoes, oregano and garlic had my mouth watering. Somewhere around the time of my husband's first layoff I decided that it might be beneficial to make some foods myself rather than buy them. (read "frugal"- the new buzzword, here)
A few notes.
     I love to cook and find it very therapeutic.
     My family loves to eat, so money or not, there needs to be food in this house.
     Some things are easy to make from scratch, but let's face it, some things are a hassle and better left to the commercial industry.
So what do I make from scratch now, that I used to buy? spaghetti sauce, bread, granola bars and cookies, ketchup, jelly, apple sauce, boursin cheese. Oh- and kale chips. Not that I ever bought them. Actually I had never heard of kale chips before, but these little "chips" are easy and cheap to make. They are salty and crunchy, yet they melt in your mouth. But... they make the house smell like cabbage, so maybe make the kale chips first and the spaghetti sauce second.
Well, I think I've strayed from my topic here. I came across a fabulous book. It's called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. It's by Jennifer Reese. I feel like Jennifer and I are kindred spirits (to borrow a phrase from Anne of Green Gables). I could have written the beginning of her book- if I'd thought of it first, darn it. In her introduction she describes her ongoing mental battles at the grocery store, debating the merrits of buying ready made, hydrogenated fat laden cupcakes versus the time taken to make cupkakes; grocery store tomatoes versus garden grown and even eggs; supermarket, farmers market, or your own free range chickens. Jennifer took the time (after her own loss of job) to determine whether a whole range of foods are better bought or homemade. It turns out that it's really easy and relatively cheap to make your own cream cheese. Who knew?
Like Jennifer, I don't advocate making everything from scratch all the time. But when you have the time and the desire, why not make it yourself? 9 times out of 10 you'll end up with a tastier and healthier, if not cheaper result.

    

The lockdown begins

So my husband was laid off back in March. A good time to learn how to "tighten the purse strings", "button down the hatches", "eliminate the fluff in the budget", "reassess priorities". Maybe so, if we hadn't already done that two and a half years ago. This is the second time he's been laid off since the beginning of the "great recession". People say the economy is turning around. I don't believe it. But...that's another blog. Back to the point.
What was the first thing I did (after having myself a good cry)? I made a list. Several lists, in fact. Lists of what non-essentials could be cut from the budget (what's your definition of "non-essential"?), what kinds of free things could we do to keep ourselves sane, what foods were already near composting in the freezer/ pantry/refrigerator., what menus incorporated those same foods so that I don't have to shop for as much food, how to avoid the high cost of coffee (coffee is, after all, an essential in my life), etc.
Eliminating the "non-essentials" is no easy task after I believed that we had already done that with the first lay off. Since my husband had only been re-employed for a year and a half, after being unemployed for a year and a half, we had not yet reinstituted many of those eliminated items.
Lockdown mode is an interesting place to find myself in. I waver in my opinion of its healthiness. It may be healthy for the budget, but maybe not so much for the relationship. Upon entering serious financial lockdown you have to be very careful that your emotions don't follow and get locked away as well.
But if I can keep it all in perspective I know that on one level I feel better knowing that I have a plan. A plan that I can follow strictly or flexibly depending on my needs and moods.
So what does my lockdown list look like?

1. Investigate alternatives to cable.
2. Costly massage, hair cut, chiropractor visits- eliminate or extend time in between.
3. Look for a different job for myself (one that includes medical benefits)
4. Cancel online movie and music services.
5. Find a cheaper coffee alternative.
6. Drive as little as possible around town.
7. Ask for camperships.
8. Make menus with cheap meals using food already in the house.
9. Know what's in the house to avoid throwing food away.

So- that's food for thought. It's a start on making it work. Time to make Spaghetti Pie for dinner- an inexpensive meal made from the refrigerator, freezer and pantry.