"We Got The Beat" Reference Goes Here

I moved home just in time to help the garden transition from winter to spring. As of right now we have snow peas, kale, lettuce, chard, cilantro, parsley, and cabbage available for the picking. Potatoes, garlic, and onion are taking their sweet time, as ever, while the larkspur, sunflowers, and poppies are growing at an amazing pace. We're growing strawberries, again, though I don't think we've ever managed to beat the critters to more than a half dozen of the precious little fruit. I missed the cauliflower and broccoli harvest by a week.

Yesterday I harvested the beets in order to make space for the upcoming corn, tomatoes, peppers, and okra. I love beets. A couple of years ago I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and resolved to only eat local food and bulk product entirely free of packaging. As I made this resolution in November, my diet was almost entirely comprised of dark leafy greens by the pound, grapefruit, key limes, and beets. For MONTHS. I grew tired of citrus long before I got over beets. In fact, I honestly can't imagine being tired of beets. I am in love with the sweet rubies!

How in love am I? In love enough that, broke as we were in Leander, I was still buying one or two organic bunches at the grocery store a week, paying more than four dollars for a clump of three or four little roots. And I'll admit that the greens don't impress me much, so I mostly put them in veggie stock, which is something of a waste by my book. Back home with my garden and chickens and household of eight adults to feed, I wanted to do better. So I pulled up the beets with the intention of pickling the roots, which I've never done before (and which feels kind of sacrilegious to me) and somehow preserving the greens.

Washing the beets took several hours. Careless by nature, I'm normally satisfied with a quick rinse, but I wanted to make sure these babies got eaten. So I filled both sides of the sink with water and balanced the cutting board over the two. Whole plants went into the left side, where I gave them a scrub, then I chopped off the tops to soak in the right side of the water and set the rinsed roots in a bowl to the left of the sink. Obviously nasty leaves were put straight into the compost. I had about three sink loads of beets, so whenever I cleared out the left side I used a pitcher to rescue as much dirty water as possible to feed back into the garden, then sorted through the greens on the left side, more meticulously picking out the bug-eaten leaves, rinsing entirely, and putting in a large bowl to the right.

In the end I maybe had enough beets for three good sized jars of pickles. Now, if you've ever canned food before you know that it can take an hour just to heat the water in the pot. Out at the Possibility Alliance people jarred food over the rocket stove in the outdoor kitchen, which made a lot of sense. Without a rocket stove or drive to build one just then, I was faced with boiling several quarts of water to get three jars of beets I didn't really want to pickle in the first place, or simply cooking and eating what I had...Which was about seven pounds of roots, and two massive stainless steel bowls of greens.

Into the big pot the roots went. I gave them another wash, peeled, chopped, and rinsed again before tossing into my dutch oven with a marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried sage, dill, and oregano, salt and pepper. I baked it at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half. The greens went into the wok with olive oil, onion, garlic, and salt. I went through a big bowl, periodically taking a handful out to the chickens, who loved the greens and kindly never attacked the plants at all when they were in the garden.

So last night's dinner was baked beets on a bed of sauteed beet greens, so delicious, and with plenty of leftovers. I went through the first bowl of greens before determining that preserving the other bowl might be a practice in futility. The garden is full of fresh greens, and kale is a better candidate for preservation in delicious "chip" form. The chickens would appreciate the veg more than anyone else, adding valuable calcium and protein to their diet which would be given back in the form of eggs. Which is a win-win.

Today: amending the soil in the garden, maybe dealing with the kale, maybe going down to the workshop if it warms up a little, or visiting my older brother.

Home again, home again

Since moving home I have:

* Unpacked and hung up my clothes for the first time since August 2012.

* Planted tomatoes, potatoes, quinoa, and mint, and clover in the garden.

* Harvested and cooked the beets (baked the roots, sautéed the greens).

* Baked three loaves of sunflower-oatmeal bread and a batch of whole wheat orange and almond scones.

* Prepared two soups and one waffle breakfast.

* Caught one nasty head cold.

* Crossed off the final item from my priority list. I'm practically ahead on rent!

* Collected about a dozen eggs from my beloved chickens.

Back Where We Started

Last week was pretty volatile. Darling and I were meant to move into the co-op on the 14th, which would have been the first day we could have paid rent. The house contacted us on the 13th, though, and warned us to hold off for a few more days because a killer flu bug had everyone completely beat. We complied, but it meant moving the same weekend I'd promised to help my baby sister move.

We changed our plans to move on the 21st. On the 19th, Darling was told that he was getting laid off "soon." Which almost put us in the awkward position of contacting the co-op and saying, "er, look, we might want to rethink this because paying rent is about to get interesting." Which would have been unbearably painful, if only because we've been planning this move off and on for years now. One more off and...well, it's staying off. Plus, with Darling unemployed we need the benefits of the co-op more than ever.

So we moved and settled in this weekend and it feels fantastic to be home again. I unpacked our clothes for the first time since August of 2012! I took my bike on the train to my boxing class, caught a bus back, and have to say the commute wasn't bad at all. Then, yesterday at work, Darling was told that today would be his last.

So as of tomorrow Darling will be unemployed and I am a barely-part-time waitress. The "good news" is that I paid our taxes right away so that's not hanging over our heads, we owe less than a hundred dollars to debt, and our new living situation provides a pretty great lifestyle for a expense. There's a good chance that Darling's next check will cover March rent, giving us a couple of weeks to work out April's rent. The not-so-great news is that I'm unsure how we'll go about paying April's rent. I mean, the obvious thing will be for me to pick up more shifts at the diner.

The debt is almost gone. That's what I keep telling myself. The debt is almost gone and we're home. We haven't moved backwards, we haven't failed terribly. What bothers me most, actually, is the feeling that Darling has worked his butt off for six months and we don't seem to have a great deal to show for it. All of our money went to gas and groceries and, yes, let's never forget debt. $300-500 a month, a good chunk of our income, and we've just about rid ourselves of the nuisance. I've supported both of us waiting tables before, I've done so for years, so there's nothing really for me to worry about. Except for the feeling that we were finally moving forward, digging ourselves out of this long-standing rut, and now I'm back to that basic question: will there be enough?

2013 Taxes Filed

I just did my taxes, and thanks to Darling being a contract employee we owed money for the first time ever. Ironically, we owed exactly as much as I put in savings on Friday from Darling's first paycheck. I always get mini-lectures about letting The Government earn interest off my cash throughout the year in order to get that big refund at the start of every year. So...yeah, I guess I can pretend that I did this on purpose. Take that, Government, I got to earn my own interest this time around!

Got to say, the satisfaction of doing the smart thing doesn't really make up for the lack of windfall this year.

Darling is going to talk to his boss about going permanent so we can go back to having the government borrow interest-free cash from every paycheck and send it back to us next February. A little raise wouldn't go amiss, either, all things considered.

Another note about doing taxes: I used to be all about TurboTax. For two years now, however, I've gone through the entire process only to find myself facing a bill. Last year I assumed I pushed the button for the paid option and started over from the beginning only to find that bill waiting for me again at the end. Which makes me very angry. I get that TurboTax is a business and all, and they offer a fantastic service...but Americans are entitled to that service, and there's no reason whatsoever we should find ourselves strong-armed into paying for it. Especially since a number of other companies offer the same exact service without the hassle. So I switched to FreeTax USA and have been very happy with the decision. I get the exact same service and don't find myself charged just for them remembering my address year after year.  

I'm a little bummed. I wasn't expecting a big refund, but a bill was kind of a kick in the teeth. This is typically the time of year that Darling and I buy new clothes and that sort of thing, a particularly good refund would have meant new tires for the truck or a needed savings infusion. Instead, my savings is back to zero and the priority list expands into the horizon. Darling needs boots, I need jeans, we both need haircuts, we still don't own a bloody bed, and did I mention the truck needs new tires?

I'm fortunate to have a job and to be supported by an employed husband, fortunate to be moving back into the co-op, and fortunate to be able to dedicate time to my craft. With less than $200 in debt, I'm pretty sure Darling and I will hold onto our positive net worth, too. And this year...this is the year of the savings account. We'll create our own windfall this year.

Beauty 101

In a few months I turn 29, which makes me feel officially and irrevocably like a grown-up. Aging gracefully is extremely important to me. The only drawback is that I never particularly felt good at being a young woman.

Before marrying Darling nine years ago, I was very butch. I wore my hair short, spiky, and red. I shopped in the men's area of the store. I'm bi and went to a woman's college, so that's how that happened to play out. In high school I would have dressed like a Renaissance princess had I been able to afford it.  These days - and for a long while - my uniform is composed of a short-sleeved black shirt and blue jeans. Anything else feels like dressing up, which I don't typically have an interest in. The workshop is hard on my wardrobe.

So, with regards to aging gracefully, I have some catching up to do. I've started making shy inquiries to my girlfriends regarding...well, anything they might happen to know about health and beauty care. Being me, I'm not super-interested in any regime at all, especially a pricey one. But I've been pleasantly surprised by the advice:

First, and least frugal, is makeup. To go the green and non-cancerous route is expensive no matter what. I'm not going to worry about foundations or blushes ever, I don't think, so eye makeup is my only concern. My eyes are a yellow-green sort of hazel color, and any emphasis at all in that area attracts a lot of attention. So I took my sister's advice and went with a bottle of mascara with two brushes and a primer. So I put this white stuff on my eyes, then the black. I also read the instructions on the back of a box of eye shadow and put it on accordingly. Did you know that when you get a case of eyes shadow with three-four colors, you're supposed to use all of them? Because I did not. This is the level of knowledge I'm working with.

Secondly, and super-exciting and fairly frugal, is my new facial cleanser. I've been using hot water and nothing else to wash my face since I was thirteen. Whether my great skin is a cause or effect of this practice aside, the last time I changed the oil in the truck it occurred to me that sometimes cleaner might be better. So I talked to my friend Shh, and she suggested something completely insane: honey.

I've been washing my face with honey ever since. A very small amount, maybe a teaspoon, with a little hot water easily does the job. And I could immediately feel it. No stickiness, no residue, just clean.

Shh also insisted that I needed a facial moisturizer. Had she not just suggested I put honey on my face, I would have blown her off. I was basically fine splashing water on my face and moving on with life. What's the point of a cleanser if it must immediately be followed up with a cream to ensure against a break out? But we just happened to be touring the new Whole Foods in North Austin (which is the only time I've been in a Whole Foods in years, btw), and she pointed out a bottle of jojoba oil for about $8.

I was not into the idea of rubbing oil into my skin, but was sold on the fact that it would remove the makeup I now occasionally put on my face and could help with my hair. Sure enough, one or two drops a night after a honey wash makes my skin feel fantastically soft as well as clean. So I'm sold. The bottle will probably last a very long time, too, if I don't spill it again.

My final discovery is sort of semi-frugal, but perhaps absurd. I'm not sure which. I bought a bottle of nail polish from a 9th Ward Dollar Store a couple of weeks ago. It was my one souvenir from New Orleans. So of course I felt like an idiot when it chipped like crazy. My current housemate pointed out that a layer of good quality clear or sparkly lacquer will put an end to chipping, so those gaudy cheap polishes will become basically acceptable. Whether I should bother with my nails at all is a good question, considering how I spend my time: playing guitar requires short nails, the workshop is harder on my nails than on my clothes, and boxing pretty much finishes the job. But, for now, having sparkly purple nails amuses me. No doubt I should research environmentally friendly polishes if I intend to indulge the temptation, though.

I enjoy the process and ritual involved in these little acts of self care. Painting my nails forces me to sit down for a while, putting on makeup reminds me to look in the mirror before leaving the house, and washing my face is a calming way to prepare for bed. It occurs to me now that these little inquiries, begun with a casual query to my sister - "what do you do with that stuff, anyway?", opened me up to thinking about myself in a different way. Something besides a machine designed to earn money and cook meals and care for the family. Two weeks later I decided to take a break from coffee. Then I started rowing. A month later, going to the boxing classes I've wanted forever. One thing slowly leads to another. Which is probably how aging gracefully works all around.

Year of Forgiveness

So far my word for 2014 has been "forgiveness." I mentioned this at least briefly towards the end of 2013, I think. There are definitely days that I bounce out of bed, make Darling's breakfast, drink a green smoothie, and kick my running to-do list's butt. I've ridden my bike to the gym for boxing class, I've used the rowing machine at the house, I've cooked dinner from scratch night after night, I've cleaned and folded the laundry night after night. I've had many no-spend days, I've gone more than two weeks without alcohol, coffee, or any sweet beverage whatsoever (besides my home-made green smoothie).

There are also days that I roll listlessly out of bed, make Darling's breakfast, then roll directly back into bed. Yesterday I dressed, packed the bike, and wheeled out onto the driveway only to turn around and roll right back into the garage, totally incapable of forcing myself to a morning class at the gym (I did go last night, though). I have spent entire days reading, or skimming the Internet, or doing anything whatsoever besides the first chore. Not every day is a winner. But then, why define these off days as losses?

Forgiveness, see?

Taking Self-Discipline Home

I made very few resolutions this year, but nonetheless I find myself in a self-discipline stage of life. My coffee-all-day habit has been traded in for a morning smoothie with kale, strawberry, and yogurt. My eating-out-just-a-little-too-often has been exchanged with a beloved boxing class and time on the rowing machine. My overnight shifts at the diner have been supplanted with babysitting my little sister's newborn and waking up early every morning to make Darling's breakfast and pack his lunch. It's a little cold to get down to the workshop most days, so my time is spent simmering vegetable stock, baking bread, sweeping and mopping the floor, scrubbing the bathroom, folding laundry, washing dishes, and practicing music. 

Homemade Lentil Patty On Homemade Bread With Spinach

In one week we will move away from the suburbs and back downtown. Back to the chickens I raised who live in the coop I built, back to the beautiful organic garden in which I intend to plant and nurture a year's worth of beets as soon as possible, back to my fantastic array of pots and pans and utensils and gadgets. Back to the river, the parks, the libraries, the revolutionary bookstore, the awesome video rental store, the amazing food trailers, and the meditation center. Back to sharing a home and chores and groceries and responsibilities with eight other individuals. I'm excited.

Back to only being really responsible for rent, which could theoretically cover all of my needs, and back with an answer to the question I worriedly posed to myself over and over again when I lived there before: could Darling and I live on less?

Nature's BOGOF

The answer, technically, is yes. Darling and I could, and have, lived on less. Unfortunately, we did not live better on less. I felt healthiest and most secure while travelling and living out of the dumpsters of the Midwest. That is an absurd fact of my life. I could not bring that lifestyle home with me, though, and it wasn't a sustainable one anyway. Here in Austin we need to develop careers, learn skills and invest in tools, see to our medical needs, and care for our family. It was cheaper not to do those things while on the road, but not beneficial. So, having sought a different, but equally frugal lifestyle outside the co-op in or near Austin for the past year, I feel confident saying that the co-op was the most affordable way to purchase a most outstanding lifestyle. Took me long enough...

Goodbye, Savings

Last November I bought a share certificate. It was my first attempt at any sort of investing besides the ING Direct 401(k) I had for several years and closed when Citibank took over and I decided to work primarily with credit unions. The share certificate actually had about the same amount of money as the 401(k), which says...something, though I'm not sure what.

Note the past tense. Today I went in and closed the share certificate three months early. Not a great loss financially, as it was earning me only forty-nine cents a month. We didn't pay any penalties, and even got to keep the three cents interest earned in the first few days of this month. But the move wasn't great for morale. After all, I made the difficult decision to buy that certificate rather than pay off the last of my student debt. Since then, it's been the buoy that keeps my net worth positive even as the winter weather has suppressed my household earning potential.

The problem? Well, I needed the money. The days are short and often icy, limiting Darling's ability to ply his roof-top trade. We were able to keep up with rent, our expenses dipped dramatically last month, and we spent significantly less on gas. Unfortunately, Darling had to go to the doctor, and this all corresponds with the fact that we have to move in two weeks, which means having deposit and rents sorted it out. Basically, this month our rent is "doubled"

Friends offered to lend us money, but that would hit our net worth and we couldn't bring ourselves to borrow enough to pay the rents and live on. We can file for taxes as soon as we get our paperwork and see a refund check in two weeks, but without that paperwork I don't know how much to expect and the check wouldn't come in time regardless. I seriously considered running an overdraft with the credit union, but that was the most dangerously expensive route of all. I could pick up more shifts at the diner, but not enough, and the money just hasn't been flowing down there lately. Besides, more shifts at the diner means less time at home and working on the guitars. More time at the dinner means buying bread instead of baking it, staying up all night and maybe taking up the expensive coffee habit back up, and putting gas in the truck.

To my way of thinking, we had the money in savings for emergencies, and accessing that money made more sense than taking on more debt or spending our small reserves to make a little more. Frustrating as it is to raid the savings, we didn't actually do anything wrong. We set aside some surplus when we had it, and now we've hit some literally rainy days and we're drawing on that surplus to see through a decision that will save us a great deal of money in the long run. In fact, there's a really good chance that our March Net Worth will be the highest yet, regardless of our loss of savings.

Darling suggests a no-spend month for March, which is very possible. We now have quite a bit of savings to catch up on, so maybe that would be a good way to make headway in that direction.

February 2014 Net Worth

At one point I gave up on the notion on my net worth increasing every single month. Whenever I balanced savings and debt payments, I'd eventually have to plunder the savings. And, every once in a while, an emergency pressed me to accept a family loan. So my net worth was often a two-steps-forward-one-step-back ordeal.

Since reaching my first ever positive net worth in December, however, I live in fear of my net worth decreasing again. A big part of that has to do with my regret over saving rather than paying off the debt. Until that last lingering $400 evaporates, I'll continue living in this hole. The positive net worth is just a window I can open and get a whiff of the fresh air of freedom.

My February Net Worth increased, but barely, ever so barely, to $739.14.

Plans for February:

I got one W-2 so far, waiting for one more and to find out whether or not Darling's company is sending something out (some places don't bother at all filling out tax information for contract workers, even though this is technically illegal). As usual, I'm super impatient to work this out, especially so this year because we will owe a certain amount for Darling's employment. The payment usually only take a couple of weeks for deposit, and much less time to spend. Depending on the size, it might just take a few clicks of the mouse to apply it to debt and move on with life.

We're moving back into town in a couple of weeks and into the co-op. That will save us a couple of hundred dollars a month on groceries and hopefully encourage other good habits as well. I've made a number of commitments recently, most notably giving up alcohol, caffeine, milk, juices, soda, and all bottled drinks. I've struggled with all of these items, but have done well because at least the french press Darling uses in the morning doesn't leave a lingering scent behind. The co-op smells of coffee constantly. I didn't decide to give it up forever, however, but until I reach some basic fitness goals (I'd like to be able to fit into my pants comfortably again). So maybe a daily reminder of what I'd like to be able to enjoy again will inspire me to abstain from the other sweets and fats that make up my daily diet.

I made another commitment that should help me fit into my jeans (and maybe start drinking coffee) again: I joined a boxing club. The classes are entirely focused on the weight-loss and strength-building aspect of the sport, no sparring whatsoever, so there's no risk of hurting on myself on someone else's fists. That was a serious objection concern of Darling's. I feel guilty about the financial effect, but all the gear was included in the sign-up price, which was less than $70. And I pay a monthly fee of $63.87, but even if I only go once a week that's a really reasonable price/class. And I'm really, really excited. My goal is to go three times a week, knocking the overall price to about $5. Which is beyond reasonable, assuming I survive it. I also intend to try and pay two or three months at a time, so I don't have to see it on my priority list every month :)