So what do I do when the tax cuts expire?

    
Reading through the headlines on the Comcast homepage today I came across a small tidbit on the possibility that the tax cuts will expire in January. Without getting into my political persuasions I think it's fair to say that if the tax cuts expire we may all be in a pot of hot water come January. According to the Associated Press, "a married couple earning $50,000 to $80,000 with two children would see a tax increase of $2,200." We don't fall exactly into that category, but I think we are pretty close- actually we only have one child, so I'm doing the math and it doesn't look good.
     I've mentioned previously that my husband was laid off from his job in March. He recently accepted a job which he is starting in August. Yeah! We are all happy that the search is over. My foray into frugality, I fear, is not over. I continue to see this as a challenge in making my dollar stretch further and further.
     I'm still exercising at home. The Warrior X Fit program has become my favorite home work out. In addition, the 15 minute yoga Wake Up for a Beautiful Day found at Vimeo.com has really improved my morning tennis game.
     I'm still trying to eat up what's in the freezer rather than buying food. I think I'm generally more successful than not in this endeavor, but the freezer is not empty yet. Somehow new things keep finding their way in.
     I'm still making homemade rather than buying where it makes the most sense. A while back I mentioned reading the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. I'm still not quite finished with it. I bought the e-book because it was cheaper, but since I don't have a Kindle, I'm reading it on my laptop through Kindle for PC. This just means I won't be reading it during the day while I'm sitting on the beach. But anyway, I ,again, recommend this book. This woman has guts (after her success with chickens and lack of success with ducks, she went on to buy 2 of her own goats. You'll have to get the book yourself to see if she was successful.) On her recommendation, I made my own yogurt. It was cheaper than store bought, easy to make and the best yogurt I've ever had.
     So, there's no golden egg in my near future. I guess I'm in this for the long haul, but I'm still excited by the challenge to find new ways to make it work.

Love Your Library

     I feel like my last post was a little self serving. So I'm going to try and get myself back on track with this post.
     I am a reader. I've been a reader for as long as I can remember. What I mean is that I enjoy reading. In fact I think maybe there is a familial reading gene in my lineage. As I sit here typing this blog, both my mother and my neice are sitting with me on the porch reading (both under the ceiling fan, one swinging in the hammock). Sort of a perfect morning. As a young teenager, my friend Lisa and I spent hours upon hours reading Nancy Drew books. Sitting on the same screened porch where I sit now, we made our way through the entire series more than once. I didn't own many of those books; they came from the library. When I outgrew the Nancy Drew series (a very sad day for me) I moved on to books by Daphne DuMaurier, Charlotte Bronte, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Stephen King. My current library visits bring me down the stacks to Stuart Woods, Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and John Grisham. You could say I have an interest in detective/mystery books.
     But to talk just about books at the library is so limiting. The library is so much more. The library is books on CD for my long car trips to Cape Cod. It's movie DVDs. It's a cool place to sit and read in the summer and a warm place to sit and read in the winter. It's a wing back chair and the latest edition of Real Simple magazine. The library is a wi-fi hot spot for your lap top or tablet. Or sit down at one of the library's available computers.
     Every Monday our library is CT Works; a local resource for employment and career oportunities. They provide workshops, one on one sessions with job counselors and job networking groups.
     Our library offers ebooks for your Kindle or laptop.  A few months ago when I couldn't find a library hard copy of Dreams of Joy by Lisa See I was able to check out the ebook through the library. Ebooks are available for 3 weeks. There are even movies available to stream to your computer.  Our library also offers language learning through Mango Languages.
     My husband has now been unemployed for 5 months. In addition to his looking for employement we have been tossing around the idea of creating a professional organizing business. I did some research on the internet and found an online course on How to Become a Professional Organizer. The course is available for $60 from Universal Class.  Through CT Works my husband found the exact same course offered through our library- for free! How's that!
        I love free. I love my library. Check out your library and it's website to find out the wonderful offerings available to you for free.

Affordable Vacationing

When was the last time you and your family went on vacation? I'm not sure that the "Al Bundy Week in the Freezer Aisle" counts. Our last true family vacation was in 2007. We flew to Orlando, FL and spent 5 days at Walt Disney World. We scrimped and saved for this vacation. We used frequent flyer miles for at least 2 out of 3 airplane tickets. We stayed "off campus" to save money and rode the free shuttle to and from the park rather than rent a car.  Even with that, I think it took us 8-10 months to pay off the resulting credit card bill. I'm glad we waited until my son was 9 years old because, at least he was old enough to remember the Magic Kingdom. 

     This past December we took advantage of a Groupon. We spent a night at the Westport Inn for half price. We even "splurged" and got 2 half price rooms. One for us and one for our son. Westport is not far away, an hour drive, tops. We planned to make a weekend of it. Norwalk Maritime Aquarium on the way down; use the indoor pool and workout room while we were there; A tour of downtown Westport the next day; Louis' Lunch (birthplace of the hamburger) and Ikea on the way home. The weekend was mostly very nice. We love the aquarium, Westport is a nice town, Louis' Lunch is a great place to go for lunch (once) and Ikea is, well...Ikea. Sadly, the Westport Inn appeared half renovated and the pool was not in working order. Oh well. Bonus- we found a Trader Joe's while we were down there and I happened to be carrying a gift card in my wallet.

     That said, we are not a family who routinely plans a yearly vacation to (pricey) parts unknown. Working in a school system I often hear, "What did you do on your April vacation?" Hmm. How to answer? Nothing...Cleaned my linen closet...rediscovered Netflix. Hmm. Not very scintillating conversation.

     So, where do I vacation? The family homestead. This is no "staycation". No, we don't stay at home in Connecticut. Each summer we venture for a week or two  at a time (repeated several times throughout the summer) to my parents home on Cape Cod. We are lucky enough to have a place to stay, free of charge, in one of the most beautiful places in the United States. Every summer my parents graciously open up their house not only to me, my husband and my son, but also to my sister and her two children. We have the opportunity to swim in Barnstable Harbor, play tennis, sail, and enjoy friends, both old and new, without racking up huge credit card debt.

     But living with your family is not without its pitfalls. Much like the Westport Inn, you have to take the good with the difficult. While I struggle with sharing a bathroom and a certain lack of independence/control, I'm sure my parents are feeling a lack of privacy and perhaps remembering the old adage that "guests, like fish, begin to stink after 3 days". But we all grin and bear it. I'm sure my parents are conceding much more than I in this arrangement. I'm just thankful that they are so willing to adjust their lifestyles and schedules to us each year and give us the opportunity to vacation in such a wonderful and affordable way.

Do I need to join a gym?

I used to belong to a gym. In fact, it was in a gym that I met my husband. He struck up a conversation with me one evening during my after work workout. So, you could say that we became workout buddies. But really, I liked to workout and he liked to talk. Anyone who knows my husband knows that this is true. The second or third night that we worked out/talked together we walked the track for what seemed like hours. I remember that I couldn't get a word in edgewise to mention that maybe we should change activities or at the very least, change direction and I went home with blisters on my feet. Well, eventually we fell in love, not on adjacent Stair Master machines but perhaps over pizza and beer after the workout. We're still married, but we no longer belong to that, or any health club.

     That's not to say we don't work out, at least sporadically, but the cost of a gym membership is just no longer in the budget. Especially for two of us. What's a (poor) girl to do? We have lots of unused equipment in the basement. Over the years we have acquired a Nordic Track ski machine, Body by Jake thigh machine, Ab roller, aerobic step/videos, the Perfect Pull-up and some sort of all in one weight machine that I no longer remember the name of. (We had to get rid of it when we moved into this house and the ceiling height in the basement was too low for it to fit.)

     Now, I have a couple of problems with working out at home. Number 1: I get bored easily. Number 2: during the winter it's too cold in this house when I get home from work to even think about changing into workout clothes. Number 3: Now that my husband is unemployed he is often taking up space in my office, which is where I currently like to workout. Blah blah blah. I know. These are just excuses. But they are my excuses and I'm sticking to them.

     Ok, but despite that, I do try to work out and I have found a few things that work for me for very little money. You can buy hand weights, a mat, exercise ball, and exercise band in stores such as Walmart, Ocean State Job Lot, or Target for very little money. Since I like the feel of taking a class at the gym, I'm not much for those exercise pull-outs in health magazines. I have found that by Googling "free online yoga", "free online workout", or "free online exercises" I can find more than enough to suit my every workout need and mood. There are workouts ranging from a few minutes preview to full hour workouts of every type. I'll share with you a few of my favorites:

Spark People A whole variety of videos ranging from 10 to 20 minutes.

Yoga Yak Offers many yoga classes, all filmed in beautiful outdoor settings.

Warrior X Fit This is a new one for me, but it promises to be interesting and challenging. Each day you are offered 6 exercises to complete in 20 minutes. The more you exercise the farther you move up in the martial arts fitness platform.

     With these and so many other free offerings on the web it's hard to get bored. Now if I could just find a way to warm up the house in the winter. But that's for another entry.

NOTE: Consult your doctor or other medical provider before beginning any exercise program. Discontinue any exercise that causes you discomfort or pain. This blog is not meant to endorse any particular exercise program, but merely to inform you of the choices available. Use your own judgement please.