Consumer Strike 2009

It's been so long since I had time to read any blogs it took me over an hour to catch up! Now I kind of want a nap :) Not simply out of sloth, but because I worked over 58 hours in five days, every day including Christmas until today. Hello, $3.16/hr waitress overtime...

Meg, the Vintage Flapper undertook a no-spend month challenge for the month of December. Darling and I discussed last February, during which we didn't even spend money for food (except once, I think). We've decided to undergo a similar challenge in 2009, but with some pretty important changes.

First off, we are going to label our experience a Consumer Strike. We want our actions to represent not only a series of frugal choices, but to also express our desire for dramatic changes to the economic system. We believe that corporations have been too long rewarded for exploitive employment policies, misleading advertisements, irresponsible packaging and shipment, and excessive use of experimental chemicals in food products. Thousands of people are being laid off right now because that system is not sustainable, environmentally or economically, and I don't believe that citizens should be pressured by the government to "stimulate" corporations who have dug us into a deep and terrible pit. I in no way wish to offend the many laid off workers or the families who are suffering due to this recession; our actions are not intended to bring an end to our faulty system, but encourage rapid and drastic change for the better.

Our consumer strike will last for the first two months of 2009. During January and February we will do our best to abide by the following guidelines, each of which is designed to improve the quality of our lives while abstaining from supporting irresponsible corporate mechanisms:

* Our transportation will be limited to walking and taking the bus. No accepting rides from friends or borrowing cars.

* No eating out or visiting bars or coffee shops, even if a friend really wants to take us out and offers to pay.

* The only grocery store we will visit is Wheatsville, which is a worker-owned co-op. There we will only purchase local eggs, which are packaged in containers we can return and are reused by the farmer, and organic bulk items we will package ourselves in canning jars. No packaging, preservatives, or convenience foods will come home with us from these trips. Except, of course, in the case of 7th toilet paper, which I am not yet prepared to go without.

* We will obtain our fruits and vegetables from Greenlings, which will be limited to only local produce. This will stimulate our most vital economy: that of our community.

* Excepting groceries, our money will be spent only on debt servicing, rent, bills, and preparations for our travel plans in March and April (plane tickets and hotel reservations, mostly).

During this Strike we hope to achieve a greater understanding of ourselves and our money, evaluate our priorities and financial habits, and inspire those observing us to challenge themselves and improve on their own lives. Obviously if an emergency comes up, we will react accordingly.

I have lots of other fun goals for the new year, including learning to preserve food with my canner and the dehydrator I've yet to even experiment with, developing my knitting skills, look at volunteer opportunities, arrange regular baking workshops, and reintroduce myself to our dentist and optometrist. So much to do, so little time between shifts!

Christmas Fun

Our holiday schedule was overwhelmingly busy. Tuesday Darling and I hosted a sugar cookie party, for which ten people at a time were in my kitchen cutting out, baking, and decorating cookies. Afterwards we attended a community dinner with three neighbors (Darling managed to prepare his delicious borscht despite the cookie madness that lasted from noon until three). Immediately after dinner my husband and I went to the Austin Ballet production of The Nutcracker.

Christmas Eve Darling and I went to a Baptist church to listen to my sister-in-law sing. I steamed a figgy pudding that night and we watched A Christmas Story.

Christmas day we woke up early and ate a light breakfast. Darling surprised me with a home canning kit and a kitchen thermometer, which I am incredibly pleased with. It's absolutely huge,
I am now capable of preserving 7 quarts of food at a time (I think). And now that I have a good kitchen thermometer with a clip I am that much closer to making my own yogurt and cheese, and am perfectly capable of making my own cough drops and candies. My kitchen prowess will increase exponentially with these tools, and it introduces a leap towards independence and sustainability. I have a grand plan that involves procuring many local apples, turning it into apple juice, passing it on to my friend with the tools and know-how to produce beer and wine, and enjoying cheap, local, and affordable organic hard cider.

Hope everyone else is enjoying the holidays!

"oh dear me, let me see..."

Last night Darling and I watched Babes In Toyland (the 1960's color version) via youtube. I've always loved Mary and disliked her beau Tom, who's best song compares her to "just a toy".

Seeing this song again makes me wonder if the seeds of Tread Softly were sown earlier than I thought. This was my very favorite, if only for the colors and melody, but even as a young child I related to Mary's anxiety over paying bills and meeting debt payments (the earliest Christmas I remember involved a huge fight over credit cards). If you haven't seen the movie, do so. Mary's not the ditz she claims to be. Like the overwhelmed debtors of today, she assumes her inability to meet basic living expenses while raising 6 siblings is a failure of intelligence.

Little Holiday Miracles: Butter, Linux, and Work

Darling and I purchased two pints of organic whipping cream on sale for 2/$5. Organic butter is so expensive, even on sale, that making our own seemed worthwhile. I researched the process rather briefly online before deciding to try the least complicated process.

I poured about a fourth of a pint of whipping cream into a narrow, widemouthed jar that fit easily in my hand. Then I shook it. Within a couple of minutes it became whipped cream far better than anything out of an aerosol can. As I continued shaking, it became thicker and thicker, until suddenly the butter and buttermilk separated. The result was about a 1/4 cup of incredibly delicious creamy butter. The entire process took less than ten minutes. I traded some to my neighbor in exchange for a couple of slices of bread and enjoyed buttered toast, pasta, and salad from our garden. For dessert we had iced chocolate cake made from scratch with whipped cream. I haven't checked prices to figure out if we'll be saving money by making our own butter, but the taste is so unbelievably superior I may never buy Earth Balance Buttery Spread again!

We were experimenting in the hopes of producing a most delicious and impressive sugar cookie recipe by Monday. I'm hosting a Cookie Decorating and Gingerbread Baking Party/workshop on Monday, so I need to prepare a lot of dough this weekend.

Today Darling's Christmas present arrived, but he's not putting it together until Christmas day. I mentioned before that he'll be building his own computer, but I didn't know until a few days ago that we will be using the Linux operating system. Doing some research, I'm learning that Linux is an excellent alternative to proprietary systems. I'm still very nervous though, I always figured that Linux users were super techies and I could not fathom their penguiny software. Guess I'll be finding out :)

Another present arrived via e-mail a little after the packages came: a note from our lawyer, informing us that Darling is legal to work in the U.S. again! He's so excited and can't wait to get the card.

Rent Solution

Yesterday our landlord, M, called and asked if Darling and I might want to consider farm work again. This was discussed earlier in the year, but never worked out due to the time restraints of school. Now that the Fall Semester is over, Darling and I have a lot more time on our hands, and with Spring around the corner, M has a lot less. I eagerly agreed and we sketched out a tentative plan.

Because M's land is out of town, we brainstormed ways to keep back and forth travel at a minimum. In order to get the most out of every trip, we will set out early, camp overnight, work most of the next day, and return home in time for the community meal. Our first excursion is planned for the first week in January. A previous tenant had a similar arrangement with the landlord, and gave it positive reviews, so I am really looking forward to this in the new year. If it works out as planned, Darling and I will be camping at least once a month, develop our farming skills under the instruction of a bio-intensive vegan, and pay our rent doing something we love. If we can cover most of rent this way, I will have the choice of either substantially reducing my hours, or, more likely, double our rate of savings and debt servicing. Having done very similar work in the past with Darling on two different farms, we know what we're getting into labor and "pay" wise (no money will actually change hands). We just need to iron out the details and get sowing!

Lovely Winter Days

I am currently listening to Now That's What I Call Christmas. More disturbing, it was in Darling's collection. Snug between KMFDM and Bella Morte, no doubt.

Yesterday Darling and I set out to run errands. The weather was so cold and wet we finally agreed, having reached the bus stop, that it would make a lot more sense for us to hit town on a nicer day. Why go out in freezing weather when it temperatures will be back in the mid seventies in three days? We purchased a couple of bottles of sherry and a six-pack of frozen tamales on the way back to the house and enjoyed both while watching Hogfather. So perfect!

Today I ran said errands in slightly nicer weather (cold, but not wet). Deposited money in the bank, mailed off Christmas cards, returned library books, and visited the grocery store. Silken Tofu is on sale, so I'm stocking up. Also purchased a couple of bags of flour and lots of dried fruit, which is now soaking in sherry for next week's figgy pudding. I did some knitting, had dinner with neighbors, and sent a chunk of money to my student loan holders. All in all, a nice couple of days off. Hoping to learn to knit mittens tomorrow. I do love having two and three day weekends.

Holiday Spending Spree

For some reason my last couple of posts haven't published, possibly because our Internet connection has been acting up. So I have a lot of catching up to do!

Darling and I have been decorating and preparing for the yuletide season. It snowed last week, which is a very celebrated phenomena in Austin, TX (today it is probably about 75 degrees F). We noticed the huge, beautiful snowflakes while hanging red and green lights in our front windows, so that kicked off our winter celebrations just perfectly. Two days ago Darling and I bought a small tree and set it up in our office. We haven't quite decorated it just yet, but we have purchased white lights and my wonderful Darling recycled a used aluminum pie pan to make a gorgeous star for the top.

For the first year we are buying each other Christmas presents. Darling picked out exactly what he wanted: all the components needed to build his own computer. As he has wanted to do this for several years, has just completed his computer building course at ACC, and is purchasing all the new, high-quality parts for less than the cost of our flat-screen monitor, there is no way I could refuse this request and I am in fact very proud and happy for my increasingly techno-savvy husband. We are a strange pair of Luddites, refusing common toys such as phones and television but embracing solar cells and programming languages

My own gift is going to be a surprise. When I was young, my mother could not prevent me from finding out what I was getting for Christmas before the big day. My curiosity is just overwhelming when it comes to gifts. I have just a little more self-control now, but it still feels agonizing to know that I have something coming but won't know what it is for WEEKS. Agonizing in a nice way, of course :)

Of course life isn't short of surprises. Last week I received an amazing Christmas bonus of over $600! This unexpected windfall has led to a certain amount of anxiety, probably because my finances have felt a little out of control. For the past several months, we have barely earned enough to get by, so my careful budgeting charts and procedures have fallen to the wayside. I am behind in many areas, debt servicing in particular, but don't want to mail the cash away to various creditors and find myself, yet again, without an emergency fund. There are also certain activities Darling and I have promised each other year after year that are consistently put off until "next year," certain indulgences such as a bottle of sherry, affording to mail various holiday gifts around the world, holiday contributions, and tickets to a performance of the Nutcracker. I know these are all justifications for not immediately doing something responsible with our windfall, which is why we will complete our holiday spending tomorrow (errands include going to be post office, the bulk section of Wheatsville, the dairy section of Sun Harvest, a liquor store, and a church), and then put the rest of the money in savings.

Yes, we are totally going to The Nutcracker ballet. But we are also going to write a big check to our lawyer, my brother, and our student loan holders. We won't go completely mad...Though looking at all the big ticket expenses I've listed in this post, it kind of feels like it. I promise that our spending spree ends tomorrow.

In other news, we chopped away the last of our basil (just before the snow) and have a large container of pesto. Yesterday I learned how to turn a heel and am my first sock is about half done. And Darling has created an amazing, Christmas Borscht recipe to use up the many beets our Greenling order provides.

A General Economic History of The United States

We humans live in a series of systems that occasionally seem inescapable. These systems are political, financial, religious, legal, social, ecological, intermixed, and more. Some of these systems are dangerously faulty (such as the American health system) and others are potentially broken (the economic system). Depending on which of these systems one finds most emotionally and intellectually engaging, one defines her role in her culture. Most of us prefer to be recognized by our small scale roles: we are wives in our family systems, parishioners or perhaps high priestesses in our religious systems, neighbors, volunteers, etc.

How the status quo defines the masses, however, is another thing. Our forefathers introduced themselves in our constitution as "We The People." Our nation began in such a way that the primary role of The American People was not to be subjects, but citizens. This shiny new democracy gave new privilege and responsibility to its people, which we are violently desirous to protect at almost any cost, even when France (our good friends at the time, who helped us win our independence from Britain by forcing England to withdraw, regroup, leave us alone, later ask to be allies, and send us handsome husbands with great accents a few generations later) pointed out the excellent benefits of socialism. Our role was defined as a political one, which implied that we were entitled to many rights, responsibilities, and precious freedoms.

It is nearly inarguable that the primary role of the people has shifted rapidly from "Citizen" to "Consumer" in the past forty years or so. Even though voter turnout has remained more or less steady for presidential elections (hovering between 50 and 60% besides a dip to 49.1% in 1996 and this year's record 61%), our importance as voters has been overshadowed in news forecasts and political speeches by our importance as consumers. From a historical perspective, this makes perfect, if disheartening, sense.

The birth of our nation coincided with the birth of the industrial era. With the industrial era came the incentive to produce, or participate in the production, of goods beyond the requirement or even desires of one's own household or community. Trade has gone on for hundreds of thousands of years, most likely a social activity more than anything else, but shopping as we know it, relative to human activity, is a concept still in its infancy.

Jean-Beaptiste Say was the first to develop an explanation for the role of money and consumer goods. Say's Law of Markets basically states that the moment a product is created, the producer would immediately exchange it for money, before it has time to decline in value. Then, the producer would become consumer, trading the money for new product, "for the value of money is also perishable." in other words, supply created demand. Formulated 200 years ago, this theory was simply an observation of what was happening. People really were buying just for the heck of buying, and selling for the benefit of buying more. Saving and investing had yet to become an issue: most American homes still featured a cow in the back yard and some hens in the kitchen and large multi-generation families. Most people probably had some money set aside, but it certainly wasn't as important as having their summer vegetables canned or the wool socks darned before winter.

Fast forward, to the Great Depression. By now, money was for more than pins and bobbins, and quite a large part of the market depended on the production and consumption of food, clothing, shelter, and entertainment. Suddenly, despite the abundance of goods, people weren't buying. In fact, people were practically hoarding what little they did have, and many continued to do so for the rest of their lives!

John Maynard Keynes observed the inability Say's Law to explain the Great Depression and created a general theory, now known as Keynesian Economics, to take into account savings, investments, wage adjustments, and most importantly, recessions.

Keyne's believed that the proper response to a recession is to lower interest rates and stimulate growth via infrastructure development. America is large enough that it stands to reason that we need new roads, bridges, schools, and so on pretty much everywhere, all the time. Pay the people, and they will spend money.

This is a very important swing in fiscal and social thought. I don't know about you, but I like having an infrastructure (though I would prefer more bike and buggy lanes, fewer overpasses, please). But, and this is a big and bold but indeed, this is the first time the yoke of our economic system was shifted from the shoulders of corporations and onto the consumers'. Before, producers were assumed responsible for the market as both sellers and the buyers. The government took big payoffs every once in a while, barely regulated when things got bad enough, and buyers were told to beware. With Say's Build It Sell It theory, businesses were on their own. Because Henry Ford recognized that his business would not succeed if his workers could not buy the cars they built, it stands to reason that many employers were at least vaguely aware of the need for some sort of wage-price equilibrium.

We could now see that the world economy depends on consumption, and consumption depended on employment. The government could produce jobs, employers were inclined to offer decent jobs, and consumers could leave their farms and take part in exchange for a better quality of life supplied by this arrangement.

Ancient social contracts were broken. Family was redefined: the elderly could no longer expect to be supported by their families upon retirement, neighbors no longer trusted each other to watch the other's kids, women demanded liberation. The benefits have been worthwhile, an amazing new freedom and quality of life our ancestors could not have imagined. However, the impoverished and downtrodden were no longer the responsibility of the families or communities they lived with: single moms, the chronically ill, the disabled, the newly immigrated and refugees, neglected and orphaned children, wounded veterans of war, the elderly, and others found themselves dependent on the state, and employment could not solve this problem. Even strong and capable workers were so busy earning money they no longer had time to insulate themselves from a potential lack of cash. They had little time to tend gardens, cook meals, train children, maintain their cars, clean their homes, care for their elderly, own livestock, or even clean their own homes. Women followed the men out of the house and into the workplace like confused Eves following our Adams outside the Garden on Eden in search of more fruit. The most temporary of unemployment could be devastating. The need to invest in the long-term future soared, the time and ability to prepare for the near future plummeted. Government and business had to step in and fill the space that family and community once occupied when it came to supporting the less fortunate or temporarily disabled. The government needed businesses to pay taxes, the businesses needed employees to consume, the citizens needed government to care for their unemployed.

In 1974 Arthur B. Laffer created a curve. He happened to be having dinner with the incredibly influential Jude Wanniski, Donald Rumsfeld, who was Chief of Staff to President Gerald Ford at the time, and Dick Cheney (some obscure bigwig you've probably never heard of...). Laffer's economic theory is based on the tax system. If you don't tax The People at all, the government has no revenue and ultimately fails, if you tax 100%, the people will have no incentive to work, earn no money, and the government fails (unless you are the Soviet Union which was going strong at this point, as Jonathan Chait points out in his book The Big Con). Besides 0 and 100, there are no hard numbers officially associated with the curve. It is just assumed, as this video explains, that at a certain tax rate earners at the top tax bracket will commit less tax fraud and invest more money than they otherwise would. An important note about this video: At one point he mentions that, in 1970 the highest tax bracket paid 70% tax, which affected people who earned as little as $108,000. He does not adjust for inflation to inform us that $108,000 in 1970 is the equivalent of over $500,000 today.

The Laffer Curve is pretty laughable, at best an experimental Voodoo Economics, a phrase George H. Bush coined to describe it, at worse an obvious visual aid to show how eager politicians are to bribe the rich. Yet it inspired a radical shift in the conservative Republican agenda: once dedicated to small government and a balanced budget, now only truly concerned with lowering taxes by any means necessary. With Laffer as his economic adviser, Reagan implied in more than one speech that cutting taxes would result in cutting government spending. Not so. The powers that be determined that "deficits don't matter," and since the 1980's every president has cut taxes, dismantled and handicapped countless important government programs, empowered corporate lobbyists beyond their wildest dreams, and failed to reduce or even curtail government spending.

Recessions hit in the 1970s and the 1980s, it was realized that oil and other natural resources are nonrenewable, education prices were increasing steadily, health care became totally unaffordable to the working class, the unions so many of our grandparents fought and died for went the way of the urban hen house, and everyone was getting a little worn out trying to keep up with the cost of living when wages ceased keeping pace with inflation. The rich were getting richer as the government cut their taxes time and time again, the poor were getting desperate as their benefits were cut. The tech bubble came and went, but benefited India and the corporations that now take their business there more than anyone else. Clinton proved to be the "New Democrat" by taking up the cause conservative Republicans once held dear, balancing the budget, while neglecting the traditional Democrat ideal of creating social programs. In fact, he created a surplus while cutting welfare benefits, replacing them with skill training programs that proved useless to the many single mothers plunged into desperate poverty as a result.

There's no telling what would have happened had easy credit not become available in the 1980's. Strapped for cash? Use credit. Starting, of course, with the elite, using credit cards went from being seen as a little tacky and suspicious (like writing checks today), to vogue, to the norm. For a brief period in history, consumers, government, and business could relax. By cutting taxes and encouraging investment, government only had to sit back and wait for a brighter, more profitable tomorrow. Corporations could continue to pay less than living wage to their employees, who would make ends meet with credit. The price of certain products could inflate based on how much consumers were willing to pay and how much they were capable of borrowing, which inspired a ludicrous housing market bubble. Other products and services could be shipped in from other countries, enabling consumers to buy despicably bad quality foods (cardboard stuffed wontons, for instance) at offensively low prices. Only recently has the housing market bubble burst, taking much of the credit industry down with it and leaving us stripped of our final weapon against an economy gone sour.

We have reached a point in history that, like the Great Depression, will require a massive reassessment of how our economic system works. Supply does not create demand - and more importantly - Demand Can Not Create Supply, particularly when it comes to nonrenewable resources such as oil. Producers are finding themselves between a rock and a hard spot: not only is the market flooded with unwanted product, but consumers couldn't purchase it if they wanted to, and the government is due any day now to find out that deficits DO matter - at least in the minds of voters. Right now our system is unsustainable: it depends too heavily on the exploitation of our people and our environment, the abundance of relatively rare components such as aluminum, and our willingness to consume products that are bad for us and harming our children. What will happen to the economy when everyone choses to abstain from foods containing dangerous hormones and pesticides, atmosphere destroying chemicals and oils such as gasoline, and paper products made from our old growth forests? Because every day more citizens are taking that route. And soon it will become very apparent that better quality products cannot permanently save our current economic situation.

Why not? Tune in tomorrow ;)

Home-made Vegan "Meat"

Jenny linked to my very casual Simple Bread Baking Instructions. Because preparing our own food is probably the most financially (and ecologically) productive activity Darling and I engage in, I thought we should maybe share what goes on in our kitchen in more detail.

Two days ago I had a day off and decided to make my own seitan. Seitan is basically marinated wheat gluten, which I learned to make from a borrowed copy of Sarah Kramer's amazing cookbook, La Dolce Vegan, two years ago. Until Friday I always followed her instructions for chicken and sausage to a T, but it seems I lost them during last year's move. Fortunately, making the gluten is as straightforward, easier, and faster than baking bread, and the flavor is a matter of spice.

The novice seitan-maker (seitanist?) has can begin her non-soy-faux-meat journey in one of two ways: you can start from scratch with white flour or purchase vital-wheat gluten at health food stores (or a Mennonite bulk store, as I do). If you happen to have a few pounds of white flour on hand, it's worthwhile to extract the gluten yourself just for the experience. it's more economical and just as healthy to use white rather than wheat flour, you'll be washing away the germ and nutrients with either flour. Of course make sure to use unbleached white flour to cut down on your arsenic intake.

All you will need to make the "meat" is flour and lots of ice-cold water. put about ten cups of flour in a bowl, add just enough cold water, stiring often, to create a sticky ball of dough. I haven't done this in years, so I'm sorry not to be able to give a precise amount, but add the water in very small doses (1/8 cup at a time?), stirring well in between additions, until you have a sticky dough similar to that of bread dough (in otherwords, you should be able to take it out of the bowl, with flour-covered hands, and knead it without having it fall apart and ooze uncontrollably between your fingers). If too much water is added, it is easy to compensate by adding more flour.

Knead this dough for about five minutes, then let it sit for at least ten minutes in a covered bowl.

Add enouggh ice water directly to the bowl to cover the seitan, and prepare yourself for an invariable sinking feeling. The dough will seem to instantly liquefy, leaving you with nothing salvageable. It is in all actuality playing dead, in the same way home-baked bread straight from the oven is at first soul-shatteringly rock-hard. Reach into the cloudy water, find the ball of future seitan, and pull hold the remnants together as well you can as you drain the cloudy water. What is left will be a small fraction of the original ball of dough. Knead this, add more water, and repeat, holding together as much of the flour as you can each time. Regardless of your dedication, entire chunks of flour will rinse away. Gluten is the sticky, chewy substance of flour that gives baked goods these qualities. What you are washing away is everything else, and there is a lot of it. Fortunately, gluten tends to bind together, so after the third or fourth rinse it should be easier to hold together, and will soon be a solid, sticky mass.

By this point I usually abandon the bowl and ice water, and knead the seitan under a running faucet for the rest of my life. Or at least it feels like it, which is agonizing for someone who desperately hates to waste water. Which is why I don't make this substance at home anymore. You are meant to knead and rinse until the water no longer becomes cloudy, which in my experience is never. So I generally knead and rinse until the water is hardly cloudy at all and I give up. And then you have a chewy, gooey, flavorless batch of future meat substitute.

If using vital wheat gluten, add one part powder to one part water, knead for five minutes, and you are done. I usually prepare two cups at a time, which is enough for at least two good "meat" heavy meals (four large sausages, for instance) or several meals such as stir fries or stews. The simmering process I use takes all day, so this is something one wants to do in bulk.

Fill a saucepan large enough to hold the all of your seitan comfortably with water. Add any savory spices and flavors you wish your "meat" to taste of. I might use the following recipe:

Five Cups Water
1 Cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes (provides a "chicken" flavor, and is loaded with B vitamins)
2-3 tablespoons thyme
As much fresh sage as I have in the house, or an 1/8 cup dried sage
2-3 tablespoons rosemary
2-3 tablespoons dill
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons celery salt
Lots of onion, onion powder, or both
Lots of garlic, garlic powder, or both
Anything else delicious and savory, to taste, until you have a delicious and strong-flavored stew.

Shape the seitan before adding to the broth. This is far easier said than done. Last time I did this, I cut out four sausage shapes with scissors and cut the rest into beef-tip sized chunks. The smaller the size, the better the texture and flavor. Simmer the faux meat in this stew until the liquid has evaporate within an inch. Let sit overnight (if eaten immediately it has a spongy texture), simmer some more in the morning, and store with its broth, either in the fridge (it might last about a week) or in the freezer (6 months?).

Dom likes to fry or bake large chunks of seitan to eat with eggs and mashed potatoes. I like to bread the chunks and fry them in the same way my Mom used to fry chicken. Lately, however, I have taken to sautéing the small chunks of seitan in their broth with lots of greens.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

4 Years Of Love

Darling and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary yesterday, and it was so wonderful! We shared a bottle of Texan red wine and spent the day reading to each other, enjoying a yummy brunch of our favorite breakfast foods (a green smoothie, local eggs and local potatoes), and generally just enjoying each other's company.

Traditionally we enjoy Mexican Food for our anniversary dinner, but this year we decided to go somewhere especially nice and discovered a lovely downtown establishment, Maria Maria. This was by far the swankiest restaurant I have ever stepped foot in, for which I borrowed a dress and shoes from a friend. Of course it was freezing by the time we needed to catch the bus, so I ended up wearing the following to get to the restaurant: A (borrowed) silky, glamorous black and cream knee-length dress with a plunging neckline, black tights (purchased, still packaged, from Salvation Army), gray slacks (Also Sally Army), a nice cream knit sweater jacket (adopted from the Lost and Found at work), my brown corduroy jacket (second-hand, from a friend), a brown scarf (purchased from a homeless man last year for $5), and the same black flats I wear as river shoes but are still quite comfy to walk in (Sally Army). So coming into the restaurant I looked like a bag lady, once there I nipped into the restroom and packed away the slacks, flat shoes, and other excess clothing, ate dinner looking fabulous, and changed back into my warm, comfy attire after paying the bill. Which was way less trouble than, say, finding parking downtown.

Comfortably attired, we walked home from downtown along the river, enjoying the stars and the moon and all sorts of romantic goo I doubt any of you want to read about ;)

I am so grateful to my Darling, who is so strong and supportive and - thanks to my mother's advice - never, ever, tells me "no." He is the most intelligent and loving, compassionate and aware person I have ever had the pleasure of befriending. I still can't understand what on Earth convinced this man to let me hijack his life. All I had to do was ask, and this angel agreed to spend his entire life by my side, which proves that there must be something to this weird wild universe of ours after all, something really worthwhile and deep.

Pie Pumpkins

Jenny asked me how one cooks a pie pumpkin. First, you don't do everything I did in my first attempt at pumpkin pie.

Do not use a large, jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, even if it's sitting on the side of the road, an abandoned (and free) Halloween decoration with no where to go. The smaller the vegetable, the sweeter and easier to handle.

Do not attempt to skin a raw pumpkin. Especially a raw, full-sized pumpkin. For hours.

Do not use a store bought pie crust.

Do not roast the seeds at over 400 degrees.

So, those are the don'ts. Here are the dos.

Choose a vegetable no larger than five pounds. I generally choose the smallest one available, between 1 and 3 pounds, since I have to carry it home with the rest of my groceries. You'll only need about a pound per recipe anyway.

Cut the pumpkin in half and pull out all of the seeds. Rinse the seeds, sprinkle with salt and nutritional yeast flakes, and bake at about 250 degrees until they are crispy (maybe 20 minutes?). These are very healthy and beneficial for men in particular, and taste better the slower they are cooked.

Scrape out the "guts," the same stringy goo you'll find in most squash. Place the two pumpkin halves in a baking dish with about a quarter inch of water and bake at about 350 degrees for 40 minutes or less, depending on its size. It is done when a fork easily penetrates the flesh, like a baked potato. You could also boil, steam, or even microwave the pumpkin. My cooking method is the one that heats up the house best. Usually I bake the pumpkin the night before I use it, simply to heat our home before bed. Have I mentioned we're not using the heater this year?

After the two halves have cooled, the skin should easily peel off. The pumpkin flesh should be soft and very moist. At this point you could freeze the pumpkin for later use, as I often do. I have considered pureeing it and then freezing, but don't really see the necessity.

Darling loves pumpkin. I put this vegetable in green smoothies (still frozen), muffins, bread, and of course, pie.

Tofu pumpkin pie is the heartiest, healthiest, and cheapest version. I combine baked pumpkin, silken tofu, soy milk, and spices in our blender and bake in a pie-crust for about half an hour.

When preparing pumpkin muffins or bread, I substitute yogurt for the oil and use a fork to mash this with the pumpkin until creamy. If I didn't use excessive amounts of sugar, this recipe would appear almost healthy :)

I don't know what conventional pumpkins are selling for, but at 99 cents a pound whole pie pumpkins are a steal compared to $1.25 canned organic pumpkins available where I shop.

Shopping and December Net Worth

Two days ago Darling and I walked down to The Savation Army for some recreational spending. We purchased a programmable coffee maker for $4.00, a Michael Franti documentary for $4.00, and a bag of Texas-themed cookie cutters (including an armadillo!!!) for $2.00. Except the documentary, these are things we've wanted for a long time, so it feels like money well-spent. And no, I didn't necessarily need cactus and boot-shaped cutters, but last year I had to carve my sugar cookies with a butter knife, so this Christmas everyone is getting gingerbread cows and liking them.

Now that I have a coffee maker, of course, I had to go to the store and buy coffee. Hopefully for the last time. Did you know Starbuck's managers get free ground coffee every week? Don't you wish one of your best friends works for Starbucks? Since I was at the store I also picked up cream of tartar for 99 cents, a box of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Celestial Seasons tea, yet another pie pumpkin, coffee filters, a box of mustard (put up the wallet, Tread!), and then suddenly I was at another, non-locally-owned store, purchasing cheap yarn with which to learn to knit socks. So, um, spending binge, anyone? Shame on me.

My binge is possibly the result of being very, very stressed about money for the past several months, and having cash in hand. Which is no excuse. Ah well, Net Worth Calculating Time:

We have $729.91 in funds, $187.83 more than last month.

We are $15,214.79 in debt, $300 less than last month.

This brings our Net Worth to -$14,484.88.

So today's spending was...celebratory, I guess. Hope I do at least as well next month.

The Thanksgiving Meal Summary

Our early Thanksgiving was a total success. We cooked for ten people and had loads of leftovers.

This is what made it to the table:

Two tofurkeys, roasted with carrots, turnips, parsnip, potatoes, and onion. Everything but the parsnips (and the tofurkeys, of course) came from local farms.

Beets and turnips, wrapped and baked in foil and served sliced. These were an unexpected hit!

Featherbed biscuits from my Vegetarian Times cookbook.

A salad made up of several types of lettuce, onion, carrot, and tomatoes. The lettuce came from our garden and the onion and tomatoes came from a local farm (last of the season in the case of the fruit, I'm sure). Darling made a dressing with (local Texas) olive oil, (local) fresh-squeezed lemon juice, fresh (and local) herbs, and balsamic vinegar.

A quiche made of free-range eggs, local turnip greens, cheese (think it was local...), and a blue-corn flour crust.

Sweet potato casserole made with local taters, local fresh-squeezed orange juice, and coconut.

We served warm apple cider which we made by warming organic apple juice on the stove with mulling spices, and store-bought eggnog for my Mom.

For dessert I made a vegan coconut cream pie, and most of our guests brought desserts (as per the request of my sweet-loving husband). My brother and sister-in-law brought a home-made key lime pie, which was so delicious and made from the limes they've received from their own Greenling order.

It was so pleasant, and although the gift exchange was a little awkward, it's nice to have that mostly out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of the season. Hope you all are enjoying your holidays!

November in Texas

Our Greenling order was amazing this week! We received loads of root vegetables such as sweet potatoes (including the largest one I have ever seen), huge beets, carrots (who knew anyone is still harvesting carrots?), and beautiful red radishes. Our box also contained a couple of oranges and lemons, several apples, parsley, mustard greens, kale, romaine (I think), an entire head of bibb lettuce with root ball attached (now in garden, along with the 10 other plants they've sent literally fresh enough to plant), avocados, and onions. All local and mostly organic, for $34. I am so grateful to live in a state still producing so much bounty, even if I do miss snow

It was sunny and warm enough to go into the garden for the first time in over a week, and I had a great time pulling weeds and planting some flowers. I raked up enough leaves to mulch the big garden, and determined that the herb garden is officially sustainable for the time being: the cold nights have killed most of the less-hearty annuals, but the perennials (mexican marigold, basil, mint, chives, and more) are large and healthy enough to fend for themselves. Next spring I'll make the patch a little larger and plant some more mint, which I hope will eventually take over the yard.

Now that I've played outside, I need to get the inside cleaned up before tomorrow's dinner. My dining table is covered in vegetables, my fridge needs to be cleaned, my sink is full of dishes, and the floor needs to be vacuumed, preferably before we go on our last minute shop or my Mom gets here this evening.

ThanksChristmas

My family does not have many holiday traditions. There are certain things we like to do during this time of year, such as bake sugar cookies, exchange gifts, and decorate a tree, but these activities are not official, predictable, or mandatory. My mom and Dad, separated since before I could remember, then married and divorced again, have provided me with numerous half and step-siblings, countless estranged aunts, uncles, and cousins, somehow no grandparents of any availability whatsoever, a handful of step-parents, and a set of adopted parents. Every year was spent with different people doing different things at different times. Holidays are something we make up as we go along.

This year Darling and I will prepare a small dinner for my Mom, Dad, brother, sister-in-law, and a few friends. Since I work Thanksgiving day, I am cooking Thanksgiving Eve. Since the actual Holiday Meal will be hosted by my sister-in-law's mother, I'm doing my best not to step on her toes and to maintain our budget by cooking a small, simple, and local meal. This time of year, local in Texas means collard and mustard greens, sweet potatoes, and lemonade. We'll also purchase a tofurkey and roast potatoes, carrots, and parsnip. We've asked our guests to bring desserts.

My Mom has made the executive decision that we'll be exchanging gifts for Thanksgiving, and enjoy Christmas in our varied, personal ways. To be honest I detest this idea, but can't really say no to the big pile of gifts I know my Mom has for us. So we'll be giving trinkets to everyone and make her happy.

Is anyone else doing anything different or unusual this year?

Needles n' Pie

Yesterday I went on a walk and meandered into Hobby Lobby. My knitting friend and instructor has advised me to purchase double pointed needles for socks and hats, so I checked out the prices on those. At $3.50 for two pairs, they seemed pretty affordable, and I decided to make the purchase. In front on me at the checkout was a pretty blond woman who offered me one of her coupons - she had two, could only use one, and it expired that day. The coupon knocked more than a dollar off the price of my needles :)

I feel a little guilty buying needles at a box store, but I'm dedicated to buying yarn at a local shop as soon as we have the funds.

When I got home from work today my Darling asked me to bake "cake." I obliged by putting some zucchini bread and muffins in the oven. Soon after, there was a knock on our door. Our closest neighbor had just baked a acorn squash pie (they share our home heating technique) and brought some slices over to share. So we had pie, muffins, and herb tea for dinner. And of course we passed some baked goods along to our neighbors.

Bits And Pieces

I got a call from my brother informing me that he's about hooked me up with a Whole Foods job, now I just need to get in touch with the lady who will be hiring me. This leads me to wonder if I'll officially go part-time as a waitress, try to do both jobs full time, or arrange for a part-time schedule with Whole Foods. Whichever way it goes I'll be pretty happy, though I'm trying not to get overexcited until I've signed on the dotted line.

I "won" a nose piercing (due to my workplace being a strange, wonderful place) so I now have a bit of surgical steel through my left nostril. I've wanted one since I was little, so it's nice to have accomplished that little dream.

Last night a coworker, D, mentioned his desire to take his girlfriend, her thirteen year old son, and his newborn to Washington D.C. to attend Obama's inauguration. Even though it never occurred to me in the past, such a trip sounded incredibly worthwhile and I expressed interest in carpooling. We'll be discussing that over the next couple of weeks. Even if D decides not to go, we have other friends making the drive who might invite us along. I've considered making my first attempt at travel writing, a field I find incredibly intriguing and intimidating. It would be really awesome if I could make some small income sharing my travel adventures.

Simple Complications

"Isn't it complicated to depend on the bus system?" a friend asked this evening. I was in her apartment enjoying a cup of tea, having come home and discovered myself locked out of our apartment. Darling was on his way home via the #3. I frowned and tried to formulate an answer that would make sense without turning into a lecture. Our life is not complicated. Our life is almost painfully simple because we choose to live a car free lifestyle. Darling and I don't over-schedule ourselves, nor do we spend many evenings out on the town or promise to attend out-of-the-way engagements, events, or appointments. We make choices on where we live, work, shop, play, and go to school based on the bus route. While this is limiting at times, it enables us to enjoy an organized life and regular schedule.

Sometimes, of course, we feel the pinch of our careful lifestyle. It is likely we will run into complications whenever we are required to accommodate others. It is these complications that seem to convince many people that owning a car is mandatory and somehow "simplifies" their life. An example of this is moving. I can't count how many times people have told me that moving is extremely difficult or impossible without a car. I have moved four time since my marriage in 2004 without the benefit of my own vehicle, once from the east coast to Austin, TX. Arranging for a vehicle was about as strenuous as negotiating the lease. We have also gone on a few road trips, dropped friends off at airports, gone camping, and enjoyed numerous other car-related endeavors without signing a lease or renting. Our car-free lifestyle takes creativity and planning at times, but it's nothing compared to the cost of owning and maintaining a car, truck, or SUV year round.

The current complication I'm facing involves my part-time job hunt. It is astounding to see that "reliable vehicle" has replaced "reliable transportation" on numerous job postings. It is fascinating to discover that a suburban housewife refers to her home as only "a few miles" south of downtown when she lives a 20 minute drive down a highway from downtown. It is amazing how many people think the phrase, "I don't drive any more than I absolutely have to," somehow translates into "I don't have any problem driving to and from your suburban home five days a week." Seriously, friends? Gas can fluctuate in price all it wants, but we're dealing with a nonrenewable resource and a horrible pollutant here. It is hard to believe that the majority of potential employees out there have no problem driving to and from jobs, that they take for granted the hideous commute and overlarge carbon footprint. I'm so grateful that Darling and I don't have to compromise our principles or our wallets when it comes to driving!

I'm still job-hunting, but I'm not going in for the kill until I find something that fits my needs and matches my lifestyle.

The Job Hunt

Today I sent out two resumes and filled out an application. Tomorrow I intend to apply for at least one job in person. I also ventured into one of those temporary staffing agencies, but I doubt I'll even get a call back and I don't know what I'd do if they did. Being asked to pee in a cup is an offensive violation of my privacy, and there were signs all over that office demanding I be prepared to do so at a moment's notice.

I haven't found anything promising in the way of drafting. If I had a personal computer and a copy of AutoCad I might try e-lancing, but I don't see that happening any time too terribly soon. At the moment I'm not looking to build my career so much as pad our budget.

I'm not considering quitting my job (which I really, really enjoy and is actually quite profitable much of the time) but we obviously need supplemental income at this time. I'm aiming for a job that will at least cover rent without interfering with my current position. That will free up a several hundred dollars to throw at my brother and lawyer, and maybe cover our March travel expenses...

Immigration and Beans

Yesterday we drove to San Antonio in my brother's ginormous boat of a 1970's sedan. Darling's biometrics appointment took about 5 minutes total, leaving us giddy with disbelief. Hard to believe it cost $128 for a photograph and some fingerprints taken, but hopefully his work permit will come in a timely manner. I have a fantasy that he'll be working by December...

I had a migraine by the time we got home, which grew into the worse migraine I've ever had and made for a rather unfortunate night. I had a phone interview at 5:00 pm for a domestic job, and I probably sounded like a very perky zombie getting hit in the head with an axe - which is how I felt. This morning I got a call that the position was filled by the first girl interviewed. This has happened to me repeatedly in the past few weeks :(

My migraine subsided by morning, so I chopped, baked, and skinned a pumpkin. So far it has made a pie and a smoothie. Soon it will be muffins. I plan on purchasing a few more pie pumpkins before the season is over and freeze the flesh (Austin is too humid to store them without a proper root cellar). They are Darling's favorite veg, and at 99 cents a pound a pretty good deal for all the antioxidant beta-carotene.

After breakfast, Darling and I walked to the store and spent $21 on groceries. We purchased 2 dozen local eggs for $3, which is the deal of the century in my "$4 a carton of local/organic eggs" world. At the checkout line, there was a cart of Halloween candy marked half off. At the bottom of the cart were huge 6lb 15oz cans of beans marked 2/99. We puzzled over what that meant. Could the beans be $2.99 each? We asked the cashier, who called a grocery manager for clarification. There was no grocery manager available by the time he finished checking us out, and a line building, so the cashier simply rang up the can for $2.99 and sent us on our way. We rarely purchase canned beans since dried beans are cheaper and can be purchased in bulk, but we like to have a couple of cans put aside in case of emergency. We now have enough black-eyed peas to last us a week of emergencies :)

Yes We Can - Can You?

"Cooking, knitting, and gardening are the new sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll," Darling said this morning. I totally agree.

I'm very happy about our new president, I'm very proud of my country. After eight years of shame and embarrassment, I can tell people from other countries that I'm a Texan and maybe their first reaction won't be thoughts of Bush.

However, we still live in a country gripped by corporate control, totally at the mercy of Big Oil, Big Medicine, and Big Bad Food. Much of the "civilized" world is in the same position, there is little any man, any administration can do to solve the problems of climate change, pollution, obesity, and the myriad of issues that must be dealt with for the sake of our children and ourselves. Many, many people in the United States have agreed that "Yes We Can." Hopefully the time is coming that every American man and woman can look in the mirror in the morning and say, "Yes I can."

Government regulators may not be able to force or persuade automakers to build energy efficient vehicles. But I CAN make the choice not to drive unless absolutely necessary. Grocery stores are not liable for the tons of petroleum and paper products wasted in the packaging and transportation of foods across the country, but I CAN make the choice to spend more on local goods and on whole foods, to take my own bags to the store and bring bulk grains home in jars. Kraft and other major food companies will forever rely on deceptive advertising and false claims, cheap products advertised to our children and recommended by major magazines and television shows. I CAN turn off the television and cook from scratch, I CAN replace convenience with quality. I CAN refuse to work for exploitative employers who don't offer appropriate pay and benefits, I CAN say no to cell phones, new clothes, coffee shops, spendthrift friends, movies theaters, new books, television, hair stylists, mortgages, and the million other desires that make single-income living impossible. I CAN say no to credit! The government can not force corporations to play nice. But The People can abstain from the practices that are sold to us as necessary and force the system to change and provide us with tools and processes that improve our lives rather than stain them with artificial coloring and credit ratings.

I can do it. We can do it.

Haloween Vampire

When I worked Halloween night, a scheduling glitch kept me on duty until 3:30 a.m. Arriving home at 4 in the morning, I only had an hour to sleep before showering, catching the bus, going to school, and taking an exam (studying all along the way...).

When I got home from school at 5 p.m. yesterday, I passed out and slept until 10:00 p.m., at which point I was roused and reminded of my promise to be a friend's designated driver. We partied until 4 in the morning, and again I came home to a few hours sleep.

Having worked all day, I am now a very sleepy, very grumpy vampire. Except I don't consume blood. Not in any literal sense, at least.

Partially as a result of the upset schedule, and a slow weekend for the restaurant as a whole, I only earned about $100 this weekend. Not, say, the $500+ required of me to keep our household running. And I'm not working next weekend. So I need to work all day every day this week. Unless I do really, really well tomorrow, I might have to cancel our Greenling order. Which is just as well, since we still have a couple of squash, at least two bell peppers, green beans, 3 onions, several hot peppers, and some zucchinis from the last couple of orders to deal with. But I'd rather maintain and store a surplus than go without...

November Net Worth

Assets (cash, bank accounts, and investments): $542.18, $1,138.51 less than last I checked.

Debt (family, lawyer, student loans, and money I owe my employer for health insurance): $15,514.79, a full $960.25 more than October

Net Worth: -$14, 972.61, which is $2,098.76 less than last month :(

Yuck, that's the lowest it's been since February - when we were still calculating our dental needs as debt! Last month we had our highest worth ever, but it was inflated because we hadn't sent my brother's loan to Homeland Security just yet.

It's a little depressing to see our money situation deteriorate so quickly, all because of a paperwork mishap in an immigration process we thought we were done with. It might take us 5 or 6 months just to get us back to last October's numbers.

First of Three

Last year I cooked three large dinners to commemorate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Each get-together took place the day before each holiday. I decided to do the same this year and had my first get-together last night.

It was a little small, but I still spent eight hours cooking creepy food. I made homemade veggie ravioli with pesto (zombie guts), zucchini bread (slug muffins), a veggie plate with zucchini, tomatoes, squash, carrots, and bell peppers, and Darling prepared skull-and-crossbones potato salad (the taters were skull shaped, and sliced olives created huge eye sockets). For dessert I served "Snot Pudding", which contained lemon pudding mix, key lime juice, tofu, cranberry concentrate, banana, and a sprinkling of fresh mint. The pudding was very unevenly blended, so the flavors were all distinct, a strange mix of sweet and sour that proved too creepy for some of the kids in attendance :)

Now to start thinking about Thanksgiving...

One Sep Forward, Two Steps Back

I admit to feeling a little panicked about our increasing expenses this month. In the past few weeks, Darling and I have taken on lawyer bills, new family debt repayment, health and life insurance payments, the deferment period ended on my student loan, and the price of monthly bus tickets increased from $10/month to $18/month - doubling our transportation costs! We officially have higher expenses than expected income, and it maybe months before Darling can legally embark on the job hunt.

In the past, the first expense I look to cut is food. We've been spending about $70 a week on groceries for the past month, and we can live on half that. Not this month, however. We're on the cusp of the holiday season, and it's often now that I buy the baking goods - nuts, cocoa, coconut, molasses, and brown sugar - that will see us through the rest of the year's desserts. This year we're developing our food storage skills and trying to put some of this fall produce aside to be enjoyed midwinter. This is not the time to say no to fresh fruit and veg. Most importantly, cooking is the most economical way of heating the house, and consuming more calories produces personal insulation.

I'm hoping to cut down on our bills substantially now that a/c season is over, and our landlord is changing our phone package to include long distance, which will create a substantial savings. Other than that, I'm not sure where we can dig up some savings without abandoning our new insurance policies...

Money Update

Did the money stuff today. This is the first time since June we've known we'd make rent more than a few days in advance. I also have money set aside for the bills the landlord hasn't gotten to us yet, have our first payment to our lawyer processing, and confirmed our Greenling account. I'm going to spend $20 today on groceries and fun stuff like that. I'm really tempted to stop into Breeds and purchase at least one more garlic plant with some of that grocery money. We don't, however, have the $100 I owe my brother (will pay him $150 next Monday), or have money set aside for our loan payment or Mom's phone bill (also postponed until next Monday).

I've been quite fortunate at work for the past couple of weeks, pulling in some of the best tips in my 1 1/2 years of being a waitresses. I hope that keeps up through the holidays. We received two letters from Homeland Security, one scary and the other encouraging. Darling has his third biometrics appointment in four years scheduled for November 7th. A few weeks after we'll find out whether we need another marriage validation interview. The first one was so easy, I suspect another will be a breeze. My husband and I are overwhelmingly in love, and I can't imagine that anyone could identify the sacrifices we've made for the sake of his residency as fraudulent.

3rd Party Charges Revisited

Remember last month when my phone bill doubled and discovered the fraudulent 3rd Party Charges? I checked my bill for this month and discovered another $13 charged to my account from one of the same companies I'd complained about last month!

I called customer service and explained the situation, asking that the charges be removed considering I'd requested 3rd party protection last month. The woman assisting me explained that although I have 3rd Party protection, that only prevents new companies from getting my information - the corporations already stealing from me have every right to continue doing so!!!
She then went on to review the (close to $100) in charges they've billed me, going so far as to say - "oh, in September they were much cheaper."

"This is a totally fraudulent company!" I tried not to yell, "They are not doing me any favors stealing less one month!"

I then called the fraudulent company and was told that all charges would be credited back to my phone account, but they couldn't guarantee I'd be protected from future charges. I've been encouraged by thieves and my phone company alike to simply not pay that portion of my bill and wait for the credit, which will take two to three months. I have never paid a bill late; my utility accounts are my only source of credit! My credit score affects my ability to rent apartments and cars, and may affect my job opportunities! I cannot believe this ridiculous door to theft is left open for all land-line users, and consumers are expected to just play their idiotic games!

Basic Bread Recipe

This is My Basic Bread Recipe that I taught my beginner bakers. You'll notice that I use a minimum of tools, only one measuring cup, a regular spoon, and a large spoon.

I pour two cups of hot water straight from the facet into a large mixing bowl. I add two spoons of raw organic sugar (or plain white sugar, depending on what's available) and two spoons of instant yeast. I stir the yeast until it dissolves and allow it to happily munch on the sugar for ten minutes. After that ten minutes I check for the foamy "growth" of yeast on the warm water, and add a half-spoon of salt, a cup of unbleached white flour, and a lid's worth of vegetable oil (probably about two tablespoons).

If I want this to be herb bread, I also add a handful of oregano, sage, thyme, or in yesterday's case, rosemary. Often I add about a half cup of flax.

I mix the ingredients, then add a cup of whole wheat flour and mix that well. After adding the third cup of flour, the dough should stir into a sticky ball. I coat this ball in more whole wheat flour and turn it onto the counter, cover my hands in flour, and knead this ball for a full ten minutes, adding more flour each time it becomes sticky enough to cling to the surface.

After kneading for at least ten minutes (this is one measurement I never fudge), I apply a liberal coating of olive oil on the surface of the ball of dough, place it back in the mixing bowl, and cover it with a towel for an hour. After that hour, it has doubled in size. I punch it down, knead it for a few minutes longer, and let it rise in a covered bread pan for another half hour. I bake it in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for half an hour.

Bread Fun And Politics

Today I hung out with two work friends and taught them how to bake bread. It was interesting going through the process step-by-step, kind of relearning the process myself and remembering my early fascination with yeast, gluten, flour, and herbs. Having two other creative minds with me made it even more enjoyable because we played with ideas and discussed flavor combination, and together came up with a delicious rosemary and flax seed recipe. It felt good to show them at what phases experimentation is appropriate - and why certain things have to be done a certain way. Having taught myself to bake, I fell into certain pit falls because I didn't know how to tell when bread was well-kneaded, didn't know not to panic when the bread comes out of the oven hard as a rock (it softens within minutes). It was so satisfying to share our end-result over coffee.

While waiting for dough to rise, we decided to participate in early voting, making the day all the more productive. In fact, I felt that both acts were highly democratic and patriotic. I believe I voted for a politician who may truly bring about change (hint, hint), while helping friends learn a precious skill that will enable them to make healthier, more sustainable choices in the future.

Garlic and Food Fun

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since my last post! We've been busy with work and school, I guess.

Today I went shopping for apples, bananas, and sugar and ended up stopping by the hardware and garden center on the way to the store and found some garlic seedlings hidden in the back. We were planning on planting garlic cloves (a month late) but it seemed just as sensible to buy and plant six seedlings. It's good to see some green in that ground while waiting to see if that spinach will eventually decide to sprout. Since each plant produces one bulb (which in turn can contain as many as 20 cloves), I'm thinking of picking up the store's remaining seedlings next week. There's no such thing as having too much garlic, after all.

Despite feeling drawn to the grocery store - again - I confirmed our Greenling order and can't wait to see it on Thursday. A local box, 21 smoothie bananas, and 5 apples. Darling and I still have some veg leftover from the order two weeks ago (it will take us at least another month to go through our four onions), so we know we're getting enough food. We just have to make an effort to use it.

We have most of rent in the bank, which is a relief. I still haven't been able to set up our weekly automatic payment system, but we're getting there.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Jenny, writer of one of my favorite blogs, FrugalVegcafe, has passed along the Kreativ Blogger award to me.

These are the rules for getting this award:

- List 6 things about yourself
- Pass this award on to other bloggers
1. I have a very hard time noticing facial features, including haircuts. I have had friends grow very long beards and then shave them without ever noticing a difference. This makes it very hard for me to recognize friends and coworkers out of context, as well as actors and other celebrities.

2. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people ask, and then answer, their own questions to make their point. Example: "He wanted me to drive him to work - but guess what - I'm out of gas." I think this bothers me because it takes a direct and neutral statement ("He wanted me to drive him to work but I'm out of gas.") and makes it unnecessarily antagonistic. Am I the only person who feels this way?

3. I cannot properly pronounce the "or" syllable. When I say "word" it sounds like "ward." I went to speech therapy for years, so it is not noticeable at all. However, I am totally incapable of pronouncing my own middle name correctly, saying "Carinia" instead of "Corina."

4. I have a strawberry tattooed on my wrist which strangers often ask "the meaning of." An actual explanation of the history and significance of this art would take a a lengthy explanation of my entire adolescence and beyond. Ultimately, body art must speak for itself.

5. Jack Kerouac is my favorite writer, and Darling and I love listening to On The Road while on long trips.

6. Darling and I are tabletop role-players, which means we play Dungeons and Dragons sorts of games (though I've never actually played Dungeons and Dragons). We are currently play-testing a game system friends have created, and spend Wednesday playing Mage, The Awakening. I consider the free entertainment we get from these games to be a vital aspect of our frugality.

I'd like to pass this award on to Vegan Ruthie, who's blog is packed with creative, frugal, and green ideas.

Mrs. Hoppes grows and cans her own food, preps her own biodiesel, and home schools her kids. I can't wait to be sustainable enough to follow in her footsteps!

And N. and J. At Bad Human are great inspiration. They garden without a back yard, raise worms inside, and are building an archery bow. Which is just cool.

2 New Skills

Yesterday I picked the three eggplants over-ripening on the vine, broiled them, and blended them with yogurt, garlic, olive oil and (local) lemon juice to produce baba ganoujh. It is yummy and a great way to use up that vegetable I can't make myself eat any other way. Now I'm actually looking forward to the next harvest :)

I went out for late night knitting with my friend/instructor, who gave me some lovely gray and brown wool and taught me how to purl. Now I'm working on my second scarf. I can't wait to go to the Hill Country Weavers and pick out my own supplies, but we can't budget that quite yet.

We didn't earn as much as I hoped to last weekend, but wrote a check to my Sister-in-Law J and bought some staples from Wheatsville. I haven't fallen off the local-delivery bandwagon yet, but did need to pick up some staples (olive oil and toiletries) that we can't get from Greenling. I ended up purchasing more than intended, though, so we've canceled this weeks order and look forward to getting another local box Thursday after next.

Two Incidents

I was waiting for the bus, knitting, and a young man sat next to me on the bench.

He asked what I was doing, and I replied. He wrinkled his nose and said, not exactly rudely, "I thought knitting was something 80-year-old women did when they had nothing better to do.

I didn't know how to respond to that statement, so I shrugged and went about my business, which seemed slightly more productive than his business of staring blankly into space while waiting for the bus.

A few days later, in class, my teacher asked us if we would still draft if we won the lottery. The majority of students, excluding myself, responded negatively. Apparently I was one of few people who are studying a craft for the joy of it, not simply as a means to a higher income.

The two incidents, separated by a week, share a strange parallel. In the first, it seemed to a stranger that my very enjoyable craft project was an old-fashioned time-killer. In the second, fellow students dedicating money and time to a very important endeavor revealed that they actually resent spending that time and money and would do otherwise given the opportunity!

Which is the bigger waste of time? Which is the least excusable luxury? Developing a fun, frugal, and productive skill that will enable me to rely less on a sweat-shop driven industry, or attending a class I hate for skills that bore me?

I aced my first exam and finished a scarf.

As producers, we must consume. As creators, we appreciate. I choose to be the latter.

More on Local Farming

Hats off to N and J for celebrating Thanksgiving with an heirloom turkey!

One common complaint about both maintaining good health and a green lifestyle is the price. In some situations one will pay a little more money in order to do what is truly The Right Thing. In the case of heirloom meat, one will pay a LOT more money! But the rewards are priceless. Farmers work so hard to provide quality products, and are taking a huge risk in doing so. Just like it might be easier for you or me to live off the dollar menu at McDonalds, it might be easier for that farmer to operate a factory farm. I remember a factory farm "pitch" from my childhood when I was a member of the 4H club: we viewed a slide-show of chickens in tight cages and listened to a lecture on how much profit could be made per sq. ft. of space. Farmers who raise livestock responsibly are going against the corporate grain, and should be rewarded for their stewardship of our resources.

Of course, my husband has been a vegetarian for ten years and we have chosen to maintain that lifestyle choice. So we're supporting the produce side of local farms :) Unsure of whether our Greenling order will last the week, we're making a conscious effort to cook every day and use the veg before it goes bad. This has taken a little imagination, but has been delicious. I made savory onion pie today, served with green salad (chopped the last of the radish into it). I then made key lime "pudding," with a clear jelling agent and sugar. It was too rich for my blood, and I decided to bake whole wheat sugar cookies tomorrow and create jammy dodgers with the leftovers. Sadly we're about out of butter and oil, so I'm not sure how we'll go about those cookies.

I've also been inspired to attack our garden once more. I gave the soil a good turning, ripping grass roots out by the handful. A neighbor drove me to a nearby curb where I've watched three large trash bags of cut grass sit for weeks (so I know the seed is dead). We packed those bags into our trunk, and now one sits next to our compost bin. The other was laid over our garden, where I tucked spinach seeds into the freshly churned dirt and gave the area a good watering.
In five days, I hope to see their little green heads pop up and know we'll have greens through the winter.

Guess Who Offers Student Discounts?

Our immigration lawyer gives student discounts! Our $1500 fee was knocked down to $1200 when I mentioned Darling's course work. Still quite expensive for us, but not unbearable. We sent Darling's paperwork two days ago and should expect a response/work permit within thee months. Considering that, due to debt, our expenses have increased about 25%, this is a good thing.

Yesterday we got our weekly grocery order from Greenlings.com, and I LOVE it. We received 14 different types of produce, ranging from arugula to key limes, all from local farmers, as well as locally produced bread, cookies, and spinach-feta spread. I can't wait to experiment with new recipes to use up the yellow and red onions we now have, and the many fresh salads we have to look forward to. It also inspired ideas about how we can make No-Spend Month a permanent lifestyle via automatic deposits.

Our first (and only) successful No Spend Month was due to the grocery gift cards we purchased the month before. Even when we left the house to go shopping, we carried neither debit card nor cash, there was no way we could make a purchase.

If we shop online, we can arrange for a month's worth of supplies that will arrive on Thursdays, debit our account on Monday, and never require our thought or attention. Groceries were our last expenditure that required cash or card. We can have rent, bills, and loan payments all automatically transferred from our account on a regularly scheduled basis.

I've decided to make the majority of our transfers occur every Monday, in order to maintain simplicity and control. Every Monday I will have $50 sent to each of our human creditors (my brother and lawyer, who should be paid back in five months and six months respectively), $50 sent to Greenlings, $15 to the phone company, and $200 sent to Ing (from whence it will be sent to my landlord's account once a month). If I earn more than $365 in a week, Darling and I can discuss where we would like that to go (savings would be nice), if we earn less we can decide which payment to put a hold on.

The ultimate benefit? Darling and I may forget what it means to handle money altogether! We won't carry it with us when we leave the house, we won't have to question whether that several hundred dollars in our bank account will become rent or not by the end of the month. If we fall behind, we'll need to catch up, but probably won't find ourselves with only 5 days before rent is due and a zero bank balance. Hopefully this process will take some of the anxiety out of earning a fluctuating income.

Local Organic Grocery Delivery

Darling and I dislike shopping. Grocery stores make us anxious and distracted. Even with a list in hand, we find it difficult to agree on necessities and resist temptation. And we've never been able to afford everything on our list, which seems to grow ever longer as the budget tightens and we see more products we'd like to enjoy.

Even if we could afford everything, getting it home without a car is a completely different kettle of fish. We can easily carry a weeks worth of food, more if we're buying bulk grains, but Heaven help us if we purchase a watermelon! Until we moved to our current home, where Blue Bell ice cream cost $3 for two pints at the convenience store next door, I hadn't eaten ice cream for two years because we couldn't get it home from the store before it melted.

That's why I've been so intrigued by Greenling.com, an organic/local grocery delivery service in Austin. I finally signed up for this weekly service today, and can expect my first order Thursday afternoon. I couldn't be more excited. Not only will my food arrive at my door, cutting out any need to brave the stores and lug my stuff home, but the variety is amazing! My order is simple: a $35 "Local Box" of local and sustainably harvested produce, and a $15 "Farmstead and Aritisanal Box" made up of cheeses, breads, eggs, sweets, and beverages, and 20 "smoothie" bananas at 29 cents each. For $60 I get to experience the best of Austin's farmland, support our local agriculture, experience foods and recipes I wouldn't otherwise try, and cut every bit of effort out of my least-favorite chore! The order automatically repeats every week if I don't go online to adjust it, so we theoretically never have to think about shopping again!

Instead I'll spend that time and energy learning to preserve foods, such as the bananas I obviously over-ordered this time. This weekend I will be freezing home-made banana bread and drying banana chips with my food dehydrator. Next week I will experiment with drying jalapenos, which can then be powdered and enjoyed come winter.

A Loan And Net Worth

This was an odder month than usual for the ole Net Worth. First we had Darling's lovely sister inform us that the rest of our debt to her is forgiven. That decreased our debt by $800 and left us with only one lender to deal with. Then we received notice that if we didn't come up with $1500 within a week, we could be looking for a new home overseas. And rent was due. I called my lovely brother and his wife, and they lent us $1,000. I'll admit that we didn't need to borrow that full amount, but paying bills and eating was also on the agenda for the month, so we took what was offered. Now that money is still in our bank account, minus what was needed for rent and some preliminary fees and $20 worth of groceries.

The good news is that I never did figure out how to get our money out of ING, and thanks to the loan, didn't really need to. So we still have $600 in savings.

We have $1,680.69 in assets, which is actually a heck of a lot better than last month when we had that huge overdraft.

We're $14,554.54 in debt, which is $19 more than last month. I think that may be the first time our debt has increased since starting this blog.

This brings our Net Worth to -$12,873.85, a $971.72 increase from last month and the highest it's ever been! Which actually cheers me up a little.

My goals for this month include paying back my brother and sister-in-law in full, with a little interest, and knock a few hundred dollars off our big, final, debt.

And learn how to sew curtains.

The Most Stressful Week

The past week has been a flurry of lawyer visits, paperwork gathering, and overtime. The lawyer has advised us to basically refile EVERYTHING all over again, because that is the only way to prevent a deportation trial. If things go so far as a trial there is a very good chance we could lose and be forced to file for voluntary leave. And we seriously considered moving to England without a penny to our name just to avoid this hassle! But Darling desperately wants to complete his renewable energy degree, so we're fighting tooth and nail to stay.

Re-filing costs about $1500 (excluding lawyer bills). So we had seven days to earn that, seven days before a trial might be scheduled. I was in practical agony yesterday when it came to deciding who to call on for help. On the one hand, family loans are sketchy; it's so easy to burn bridges and hurt relationships. On the other hand, I consider myself an anti-credit industry activist. Wandering down to the Money Box and asking for a PayDay Loan felt like inforgivable hypocracy. I tried to cash out my ING investment account, but couldn't for the life of me figure out HOW. Finally, I called my brother and sister-in-law, who happily delivered $1000 cash (which they insist was sitting in their bank account) to my doorstep this morning. They should be paid back by the 15th. I can't express how grateful I am to them, especially since will also most likely co-sponsor Darling for me.

Immigrants require sponsors to come to the country in any situation (as far as I'm aware). The sponsor is responsible for making sure that immigrant doesn't become dependent on the state for support once offered residency. Since I don't have proof of a yearly income of over $17,000 the government considers me incapable of supporting my husband. Despite the fact that we've survived just fine for the first four years...

So in the past week I've worked 40 hours, spent quite a bit of time collecting sheets of paper, having passport photos taken, and basically flipping out. Hopefully by this time next week this will be sorted ONCE AND FOR ALL. And in three months my precious husband will be legally permited to enter the workforce (on a part-time basis) and we will have some emergency funds put aside!

INS Rears Its Ugly Head...

Television and movies make immigration look laughably easy. So many of my friends and coworkers, whenever I mention my expensive battles with Homeland Security, are surprised that even temporary residency is such an ordeal. "You're married," they point out, "Isn't that the beginning and end of it?"

Ah, no. No it is not. Smuggling gay figure skaters into the country via Vegas weddings is slightly more challenging than episodes of Friends would have you think. Legally living with the love of your life is far more challenging than I ever imagined. I'm beginning to think of INS as a layabout, distant cousin who calls every once in a while requiring another few hundred dollars "just one last time." This bureaucratic machine has lost and double charged us for paperwork while being slow, unresponsive, deceptive, and confusing. Not only has it cost us thousands of dollars in lawyer bills and fees, but it has pointlessly barred my husband from working for more than two of the past four years of our marriage.

And that was before we slipped up this February and filed the wrong paperwork!

Since no one informed us of our mistake, we missed the deadline to file the correct paperwork, and now we need a lawyer to sort the mess out. I talked with a promising candidate on the phone yesterday, and Darling is going in for a free consultation today. I really hope she will be understanding of our situation and know how to solve our problem quickly, and be okay with the fact that we just don't have any extra cash this month...

On Learning New Skills

I've been shuffling my life around a bit trying to find more time to relax, organize, and enjoy my home. A friend has taught me to knit, and I've received more than a few strange looks on the bus and during work breaks as I practice my first scarf. It may be 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but drought or no drought it's practically fall and time to start thinking about holiday gifts...

I've decided to try and learn one skill a month (until I know how to do everything ever). This month I learned to drive a standard vehicle and knit, and both experiences were extremely empowering. Granted, I haven't mastered either yet, but learning new skills won't preclude developing old ones.

The best part? Learning can be free. Crafting friends enjoy sharing their knowledge and tools - my knitting buddy is ecstatic to have someone to sit, chat, and work with. A friend on the verge of getting his Aikido teaching certification has offered free lessons to Darling and myself so he can practice leading a small class. Last week our neighbor discovered her young son is learning Flash in art class. She discussed with his teacher her desire to learn this tool in order to improve her resume, and was offered free one-on-one lessons! FLASH courses at the local college cost over $200 for only four classes of instruction! (She could also learn Flash, and other web developing tools, on this amazing website). Some skills can be learned at the library - that's how I picked up most of my budgeting, gardening, and cooking knowledge.

Many volunteer jobs offer great learning opportunities: The Yellow Bike Project offers volunteers the tools and knowlege to build and maintain their own bicycles, and an East Austin group called Blackland seeks sustainable builders (awesome experience for my NABCEP husband).

In some instances it's possible to get paid to learn. My first job at an exotic bird aviary taught me everything I could want to know about caring for, breeding, and training feathered friends. Working as a Barista taught me to trully appreciate, select, and prepare quality coffee drinks. Darling's job in a Virginia game store taught him more than he ever wanted to know about E-Bay and the American postal system.

And if we wanted to spend a little cash for a good grounding in a more obscure area of study? Most college offer "inforal" courses in topics ranging from Private Pilot Airplane ($76 at University of Texas) to Basic Blacksmithing ($100 at Austin Community College).

The only real financial drawback when it comes to developing new skills is the inevitable collecting of new tools. I hinted at my desire to knit for years, just waiting for someone to offer me dusty needles from their grandmother's storage unit, or to uncover a kit at a Goodwill. Didn't happen, and I'll be investing in needles and yarn early next month. And it's not likely I'll find a cheesemaking kit on the way to work, or a sewing machine on Craigslist free advertisements. However, if my lessons are primarily productive in nature, it's possible they'll pay for themselves in the long run.

4-Day Vacation

After realizing I'd worked over 20 days in a row, I took a few days off. Well, four to be exact! I had a lot of errands to run and people to catch up with, not to mention a house to knock back into shape. I'm trying to get back into flylady, so the fast couple of days I've worked on developing a morning routine which includes checking all of my e-mail and phone messages (I habitually go weeks without checking my phone messages) and meditating, basically making myself shape the day instead of chasing panicked thought after sudden desire from morning till midnight and never getting anything done.

This morning I planted chard and, tomorrow I plant a lettuce mix and we will officially have 50 sq. feet of salad growing in our back yard. I can't wait to have fresh veg for our green smoothies, which I've been making every morning since a friend gifted me with her old blender last week. Who knew something so green and sludgy could taste just like raspberry orange juice?

Financially we are no longer in a hole, but sort of barely scraping by. It will be something of a relief to get back to work tomorrow and bring home some rent money. But these days of catching up with my non-work life have been a huge relief!

Hurricane Ike

My news from Hurricane Ike comes from my Mom, noontime phone calls placed two hours from the disaster zone. Entire towns have lost electricity, she tells me, though fortunately not hers. The town I grew up in has totally shut down: no schools or grocery stores, and no banks. Very few people have jobs to go to, even fewer can get to whatever money they have. The many, many families living paycheck to paycheck are tentatively evacuating the area in search of short-term employment. The streets of Austin are crowded and has almost a festive atmosphere...Here, the weather is cool and breezy, sunny and and perfect.

Great Debt News!

This morning Darling's sister called and said our debt is forgiven. Even though we still owe her $800 (out of the original $2,500), she feels we have repaid enough. Considering that money paid for our wedding (mostly Darling's plane ticket to the states and my mom's ticket to Virginia), we will never actually be able to really repay her. But she no longer wants any checks.

Which means we only have my student loans left to pay back! When we married, we owed $1800 in immigration lawyer bills, owed Darling's family $2500, and owed my college $2300. None of these creditors charged us interest, but we paid as much as we could without neglecting my student loan debt (originally $15,520). Now we only have $13,500.28 in debt and we can start hitting that hard! Since we started paying back debt in August of 2006, we have paid close to $10,000. That's about a quarter of our net earnings for that time period! And now, for the first time, I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

Diary Of A Gig

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted about my personal "chef" ad on craigslist. Although my potential client did not fit my target audience, he and I agreed that I'd cook for him as long as we both felt good about the situation. Basically, I wanted to cook lots of food for lots of money, and he neither wanted to cook for himself at all or go hungry. We acknowledged from he beginning that our priorities were a little asymmetrical, as he didn't want to devote much money to the deal

I went out of my way and worked on the cheap for J because I liked him, his energy, and his kitchen. But his price range was too little to replace my waitress income. I had to juggle both jobs, totally neglecting my non-work life in the meantime. By Thursday I was torn, tired, and mad with guilt. Taking the counsel of my friend R, I e-mailed him a letter to resign, but offered to come in one last time Friday.

Without R and Darling's encouragement, I never would have offered to do that. I felt guilty and shamed: like a failure. Loved ones insisted on proffessionalism, but I didn't see anything proffessional about the situation. I felt like a dumb kid who bit off more than she could chew and wanted out. I was convinced there was no way I'd actually go in for my last day after quiting, but somehow I did. I did the job like I had all week, with special care and consideration and yes - extreme enjoyment - because I really liked the gig.

And J took it really well, listened to my honest expalanation and seemed to totally understand and appreciate my position. He then mentioned that his bed and breakfast - located in New Zealand - is lacking the "breakfast" bit and he would love to have me and Darling help rectify that, if we should ever want to spend time there.

So in the act of admitting my limits and honestly acknowledging my needs, I may have landed a great job in a beautiful foreign country. I told J to keep in touch, my husband and I might be planning an extended trip upon graduation. In the meantime, I should work on further developing my domestic skills.

Opportunity missed, Priority Shift

Yuck! I was so excited about that gym interview tomorrow - and I got a message today informing me that the position is already filled :(

Cooking for someone else all for the past few days, however, as well as reading 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, has me thinking about my real priorities. My plan was to work both jobs, possibly full time, in order to maximize my earning potential. Now I'm wondering what's keeping me from cooking good meals everyday for my Darling and focusing on doing really well at one job and schoolwork. The things I really love to do - gardening, hanging out with friends, blogging, visiting with family - have taken less and less precedence in my life. I'd like to take steps to amend that, and maybe seeking more income via longer hours is not the way to go.

Sleepy, soon to be insured

Yikes, it's been a mad couple of days. Up at 6:30-7:00 in the morning, back to bed well after midnight. I miss spending time with my Darling!!! I am, however, becoming quite skillful with my friend's standard vehicle, though I still stall at red lights sometimes. Only when there's someone behind me making me nervous, of course. I need bumper stickers that say, "back off, this is my 3rd/4th/5th day driving stick."

Today I got my employee insurance paperwork, which is very exciting. I'll be reading that information to help me sleep tonight. Health, dental, and life, oh my! It's a good thing I'm looking to increase our earnings. I'm not opting out of anything. Now if only HR would just schedule that 401(k) meeting I'll be all set...

3rd Party Charges

My cooking gig starts tomorrow and I have still have yet to receive confirmation on transportation nor pay rate! Watch me purse my lips and determine that everything will work out...

For Christmas last year I took charge of my Mom's telephone situation. My mother had little difficulty in this area until she helped my little sister get a cell phone. My little sister never paid a single bill, and is now pursued around the world by collectors at the devil-may-care age of 18. When Mom couldn't cover my sister's excess, her own phone line was deactivated. When Mom tried getting a new connection, she was told her credit was too appalling and would have to pay hundreds of dollars in deposits. While this wouldn't likely happen in many parts of the United States, certain companies still do hold monopolies in rural areas with high levels of poverty.

So I stepped in, had a new line set up in my own name, and take full responsibility in billing to protect my own credit. Mom pays about half of this bill, so it's not that big a deal most of the time.

This month was frustrating because the bill practically doubled for no reason. We discovered fraudulent 3rd Party Charges, and have had to call these sham companies to demand credit to our phone account. The most annoying part is that it is totally free to "block" third party charges. The only downside is that Mom won't be able to accept collect calls. Still, you'd think the company would have mentioned that when setting up an account. Imagine opening an account with a bank, and finding out a year later that it has neither password nor verification process. "You mean you didn't want just anyone to come in and take money from you? You wanted a lock on your assets?" the bank gasps when you demand to know why they let total strangers wander into your vault. Then the bank suggests you find those thieves and demand your money back - and to please pay this overdraft fee!