The Average Grocery Cost Debacle

Before I begin this post, can we talk about how much I love the hats my grandma makes me?  She just sent me this peach beanie in the mail - and it may edge out the competition as my favorite.  It's perfect for a sunny day that's too warm for jackets but too cool in the shade to walk around with a naked head.  My co-workers and I are offering a knitting/gossip circle group to the girls in our after-school program this semester, so maybe I can sit in and learn how to knit too. 

Hat: my Gramadear!
T-shirt: Delias
Undershirt: J. Crew
Jeans: Sevens from Buffalo Exchange
Shoes: sequined Chuck look-alikes by Gotta Flirt

Ok, back to my promised topic, food:

I know it's not proper etiquette to talk about money, but Lennon and I are having a disagreement, and I want to air it out in public and open up the debate.  The topic is average weekly grocery expenditure.

Last week, I spent about $80 total on groceries.  With this money, I made/acquired:

• Veggie chicken pot pie
• Veggie chicken tetrazzini
• Polenta with Italian eggs
• Tamale Pie
• Salsa from scratch
  
• Bagel, cucumber, cream cheese and tomato sandwiches
• Red wine
• Cereal
• Fruit for snacking
• Breakfast stuff
• Staples: milk, yogurt, etc.

Sunday evening, we spent $90 on ingredients and food for the week.  We got ingredients for meals and items that included:

• Corn and potato chowder
• Enchiladas Verde
• Butternut squash soup
• Veggie chicken pot pie (again)
  
• Pesto sauce from scratch
  
• Tomato sauce from scratch
• LOTS of fruit. (we both need to up our intake)
• Salad fixins
  
• Red wine
• Six pack craft beer
• Cereal
  
• Staples like OJ, milk, cooking spray, olive oil, more yogurt, etc.

We divided up the cost of everything, like we do, and after he paid, he about had a heart attack at the register.  This is from the boy who can feed himself for $20 a week on Ramen, mac n'cheese, and PBR.  In the past we have also been guilty of only cooking one to two times a week, as we tend to over indulge in eating out or unhealthy, quick choices (like the mac n'cheese, I won't touch Ramen).  So this whole cooking-everyday-thing is a recent development of the past few weeks.  (At least for him, as I used to cook with incredible regularity, and am much happier, healthier, and typically richer when I do, as eating out can cost upwards of $20 a meal).  

He argues that the amount of money we have spent on groceries in recent weeks is ridiculous, but for a "family of two," the national average says that we are well below par.    I offer up the following evidence from the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's average cost of grocery statistics:

For the age bracket of 19-50, with two people in a house, the "thrifty" average cost from November 2009 is about $80 a week, and the "low cost" average is $101.  At $70 and $90 the past two weeks, I'd say we know how to pinch pennies.  Lennon disagrees. 

Is it too un-kosher to ask for opinions on this matter, or worse, ask what y'all's average cost of groceries is?  Do you cook in or eat out?  Prefer making from scratch or from a box?  Clip coupons?  I don't do that like I should, but I tried it once and found myself buying things I wouldn't have otherwise just because I had a coupon. 

Our compromise is that Lennon and I will try and keep the monthly average on or under the $250 mark, which still seems very, very thrifty to me.  If I had my way and the money, I'd be at Whole Foods every week!  But considering our nick name for it: Whole Paycheck, that won't be happening anytime soon.  My co-worker Elizabeth has raved about Central Market and it's price variance in product offerings, so maybe I can sneak over there from the regular HEB occasionally. 

To conclude: I'd love to hear thoughts on the great grocery debate, and/or advice on belt tightening (in both senses, as eating out makes my middle expand). 

Butterfly Necklaces + Urban Decay Love Affairs

The butterfly necklaces I ordered finally came!  A few weeks ago I purchased this orange pendant along with a black and blue butterfly pendant from Butterfly Senses on Etsy.  They had taken a while to arrive, so I'd gotten nervous they were lost in the mail until I re-checked the seller's web site and noted that these pendants are made in Malaysia, so I should be probably be a little more patient.  The patience was worth it, because they got here yesterday and they are lovely - my new favorites. 

I've been trying very hard lately to not shop, but I have indulged a few purchases.  I'm finished with clothes buying, seeing as my Austin closet, compared to my wall-o-closet and then my walk-in-closet from my two Little Rock apartments, is paltry in comparison, so nothing new will fit inside.  But, there's always room for jewelry and makeup.

While in Killeen last week, I stopped by the new(ish) shopping center in Harker Heights to go by Ulta, a makeup store that is like Sephora, but with more drug store brands.  Can I also note, that when I lived in Harker Heights in 3rd grade, there was a Wal-Mart, a Win-Dixie, a local rodeo... and that's about it.  Now the Win-Dixie is gone, but it has Club Rodeo in the parking lot, so that sort of makes up for my loss, and with the cigarette burn scar I have on my elbow from the creepy guy who hit on my step-sister, that place is eternally "burned" in my memory... (ha, sorry).

Moving right along... I usually skip the drug store makeup since I can buy it at Walgreens, and head straight for the Urban Decay display.  I've lusted after the mica powder and glitter pressed into Urban Decay cosmetics since the only place I could find it was at Nordstroms in the Galleria when I was in Jr. High, (my love of sparkles is a long-standing affair).  Today, I love Urban Decay even more because it's vegan-friendly and cruelty free, which is to my detriment, because it further justifies my decisions to buy products with money I should be saving. 

This trip, I picked up the Ammo Shadow Box, because I couldn't decide on one color, and truth be told, the box itself was so damn cute that it influenced my indulgent decision.  Even though I rarely wear more than mascara to go about my day, I will take any excuse to wear rock-star glitter... even a trip to a cowboy bar like Club Rodeo.

My favorite item by Urban Decay is their Heavy Metal glitter eyeliner... a discovery made after I tragically used up my entire stick of glittery purple eyeliner pencil from Hot Topic after owning it and using it sparingly for three years.  If you see me wearing this stuff, rest assured I feel on my A-game.  And just so we're clear, I've never been paid by Urban Decay or given free samples - they have more of my money than I care to admit - so if they ever feel like sending me something in reward for being a loyal customer, I'll be camped out by the mailbox. 

Now, about being a saver not a spender...

nail biting

This morning I got my first offer on the house. With a listing price of $99,900, the buyers offered a price of $95,500 but asked for me to pay up to $3500 in closing costs, making the total net offer $92,000. After a counter, a counter-counter, and a counter-counter, my final price is $98,500 with the closing costs covered, making the total net for me $95,000. I bought the house for $73,500 and paid $1000 of the closing costs. I'm hoping my pre-tax check from the mortgage company will come in at $20,000. That would make me very happy. Right now I have to wait and try to get sleep not knowing whether or not they will accept my final offer. I won't go lower than $95,000 - it'll be too close to breaking even, and I have put WAY too much blood and sweat into this house to break even or (NOOO!) take a loss. The excellent news, though, is that this offer came in this morning, after my house had been on the market for ONE WEEK.

If I get this hypothetical $20,000 check, though... none of it is really mine because I probably owe that much on my credit card between my graduate school tuition, my furniture, re-wiring this house, plus all the other renovation materials and costs - oh, and some new clothes and a plane ticket. My plan is to pay down almost half of the debt and put the rest in my bank account. I'll transfer the rest of my debt to a new card with a year of 0% interest, and hopefully my next renovation will yield enough to pay off all debt and put me on top of where I would have been had I never dabbled in real estate. The goal is to get enough money to pursue some writing and travel. I want to be wreckless in my youth, I also want to be well and independently funded. My grandmother had to loan me money this month in order to keep my head above water. I could have done without it, but it would have cut very close to the danger zone. Neither borrowing nor having $100 dollars to my name feels very good. Come on, accept my counter-counter-counter offer!

I had been planning to go to a teacher workshop tomorrow called "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites" which is supposed to be amazing, but sadly I realized that it is 1.5 hours away in a rural elementary school cafeteria. This location for the workshop makes no sense to me, and I decided to bow out. I'll spend the day tidying up my yard in case the offer doesn't go through and more buyers need to come through. Friday's workshop, "Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites" is by the same lady, and is actually being held in a place I know - my own school! I'll go to that one. I need sixty professional development hours per year, and I'm on the cusp of throwing in the towel on finding another job. The towel is pretty much in the hamper. An extra year of teaching will probably be better for me in the long run - but I'm sad to say that I am not looking forward to it. I hate the commute, and as much as I like English literature and most of my students, (I adore quite a few), I hate repeating myself literally six times a day. My goal is to eventually have a job that neither makes my brain numb nor gives me cotton mouth. Again: come on, accept my final price! Patience is overrated.

The big accomplishment for today, though: I got my bike tuned up at Chainwheel and purchased (spending my profit again) a bike rack for my car. The bike is back, and I couldn't be more excited! This evening I went around part of the River Trail - I saw two skunks (a safe distance away) and birds sweeping the sky at sunset. Biking is surely the sport of dreamy nature lovers.

Back in Business

Ta-da! The budget-renovated kitchen.


Double ta-da! The living room.

My house is complete! I have now been living in my newly remodelled 1950's bungalow for almost a month. During that time I have taken on the usefulness of a slug - perhaps less. I'll consider the past weeks as a needed recovery from my first real year of teaching. Sadly, in that time I have committed the cardinal sin of home remodelling - I have fallen in love with the house, my incredibly private back yard, and my neighbors - especially the guy across the street who works for Budweiser and gives me free beer. Tough to beat.

While my mortage, at $600, is less than M's one bedroom apartment rent, ($645), I am still struggling to cover all of the bills in conjunction with paying off my renovation debt. This would not be an issue if I would simply sell it. I bought it for $73,500 and my realtor would like to list it for $99,900. My plan is to go ahead with this and see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

Now, after three weeks of sitting around my house and M's apartment pool on summer vacation, (with lots of amazing books), the travel bug has bitten me, and I am eager and anxious to plan a trip somewhere off the contintental US. Facebook is a bad instigator of this, as viewing all the amazing places my friends have gone makes me insanely jealous and antsy - something it would be to my benefit to learn to quell. Unfortunatley, travelling is far out of my means at the moment. If I had to make a conjecture right now, I would say that this is going to be my last year of teaching for several reasons. While I enjoy both my students and literature and make a very decent living, being a teacher feels like trying to zip myself up into a dress that doesn't fit; I can't move around and I can't breath. The summers off would be great if I had the money to go abroad. Perhaps when both of my houses are sold this will be the case. If I do not sell this one, then M is planning to move in on August 5th, so that will ease the monthly payments.

Money troubles aside - I had an amazing 4th of July. For the first time in years I got a front row seat to fireworks on M's parents boat on Lake Ouachita. Incredible. I nursed my sunburn by drinking frozen strawberry margaritas while stretched out on the back of the boat, counting stars. Clearly, I need to start saving up for a boat of my own in the future. I'll add it to the list.



Lake Ouachita and surrounding Ouachita Natinal Forest from Hickory Nut Ridge by day.

Sweating... in mulitple meanings

I just returned from my first (and last?) kickboxing class. This was not the kickboxing class I attended in high school. That one was led by an aerobics instructor, included lots of synchronized movement and was full of women who seemed too skinny to be working out that hard. It was a great work out - don't get me wrong - but I'm not an aerobics kind of girl. This class had about 5 women and the rest were big, burly men who wore real boxing shorts. I have not been this sweaty in a VERY long time. I want to believe I can commit to going at least twice a week, but when I signed up for Sunday yoga classes, I ran out of steam after the third week. I would REALLY like to build up the determination to go regularly, as I've been feeling uncomfortable with my body and dreading wearing a two piece. Perhaps this is bad, but I feel like buying a one piece is admitting defeat - it's saying I'm resolving that working out is no longer part of my life so I'm going to take measures to adapt.

In other sweating news, I'm supposed to close on my house on Thursday. There has been lots of issues with repairs of the foundation and the electrical work, so I simply reduced my offer, and haven't heard back yet. I also discovered, to my extreme chagrin, that my bank only accepts 3% of the closing costs from the seller's party, which is going to put me at least $1000 in the hole right off the top.

In double sweating news - I'm trying to work up the courage to compete in a poetry slam in May. I have no expectations to win, but I'd love to be active in the slam rather than simply an observer/supporter. I've brought two different slam poets into my classroom and my kids have loved them. I keep telling my kids to be courageous in both their writing and their sharing, so perhaps I could try taking my own advice.

Officially in Escrow

This week has been my spring break - which is one of the fabulous aspects of being a teacher. All the same vacations I enjoyed while still a student!

Despite the fact that I did not go anyplace out of city nor did I go shopping for clothes or shoes once this break, (I spent most of my week working on the historic home I'm co-renovating), it has been a very expensive vacation for me. It started when I viewed a two bedroom, one bath home close to the university in town, and decided I needed to buy it. The original list price was 82,000 but had been dropped to 79,9000. After several counter-offers, I secured it for 75,500 with closing costs to be paid by the seller, giving them a net total of 72,000 for the house. The house was built in 1950 and has been well maintained but needs some cosmetic fixes that will have to be low-price in order to not out-do the price range of the neighborhood. Most homes in that location go for $65,000-90,000 so I landed right in the middle with my final offer. I'll take possession of the house at the end of April, assuming nothing disastrous happens.

After this purchase occured, I began planning and mapping out the minor fixes I am going to do to this home. I will fund all of my work on this house using my AmEx card rather than taking out a bank loan, as I have 0% APR/interest until September, plus a nice, hefty credit limit, (potentially dangerous but thus far under used). I'm going to paint the "L" shaped living and dining area a lightlight chocolate brown and cream, and decorate with a chocolate and turquoise design scheme centered around my oatmeal colord couches. Luckily, I have a grandma who can sew curtains and pillows in any color I desire.

The kitchen has white cabinets I would like to reface, and I'd like to re-do the counters and floor with new laminates, as well as paint the walls a gun metal blue. I'd also like to find some used black appliances, and maybe purchase a butcher block island to put in the center, (the previous owners fit a set of table and chairs, so it's quite large).

The bathroom is going to be either cream or light celedon, and I bought a leaf covered shower curtain and candle from Pottery Barn that were both on sale, as well as an antiqued map wooden wall hanging that was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and will match the shower curtain beautifully.

To top off what I bought for the house I don't even technically own yet, I bought a beautiful vanity/mirror/stool set that I found at a high end furniture gallery for about 45% off. I go pick it up tomorrow. It's a bit feminine for staging a home, but it will go nicely with my wrought iron bed that has been sitting sadly in storage all year and the pistachio walls I intend to paint in one of the bedrooms.

The good news is that the backyard is big and fenced so I can have both my black lab and M.'s chow mix come live with me.

The interest rate on the house is good, too, coming in at 5.7%. Now is a good time to buy properties as prices are low due to lots of product on the market, and banks really want to seduce qualified buyers into making home purchases. NPR said that home sales are actually on the up-swing because of this. Hopefully it will last. I would like to put my home back on the market by July/August and seek a $95,000 initial price tag. Or it may be wiser to rent it to university students and just hold on to it for a few years and hope it appreciates.

Who knows. As a last ditch effort, M. can move in with me in August if the property is still unsold/unrented, and we can split the costs.

I hope buying this doesn't shackle me to my job teaching, because I am on the hunt for a new job that doesn't involve a commute or teenage children. If I could be guaranteed I'd make $8,000-$12,000 on this house I wouldn't need to renew my contract, but of course, in life there are no guarantees. But, there's also no reward without risk! And hopefully the house will be cute enough to be reward unto itself.

Snow & Closings

Today we got our first snow storm of the year. I don't teach in district, so I have a 45 minute commute to get to work - and my district did NOT cancel!! It was the only district in that county that decided to have school. I took a look outside at 7AM, saw the snow blanketing the hill I live on, and called in a sub while feigning illness.

It's amazing how fast a day off goes by. I never did make it on my new Tony Gazelle as I had planned, but I did work on an article I would like to submit to the English Journal concerning my stance on homework. Basic premise: I don't give it because it never gets done when I do. Am I worried about the future of America's work ethic? Yes. You should be too.

I did accomplish something significant, though: the loan has finally been approved for the house I am going to renovate with my new company. Our first bank appraised it way under value, thus ensuring we would NOT have enough money to actually complete the project. And they were such dolls they had the low appraisal done two days before we were supposed to close.

Bad appraisal + immediate closing date = FUCKED and $500 earnest money gone.

Neeless to say, we switched banks. Our loan is now for $200,000, and that includes the purchase price of the house - $70,000, plus the construction money. The new appraisal is $240,000 upon completion, so ideally we will be seeing a nice turn around in six months or so. Our real estate market is semi-sheltered from the disasters going on elsewhere in the country.

Here is our salmon colored historic 1886 beauty:
It is going to be a very busy spring break, summer, weekends...

Priceless: Saving Money

Today I had two realizations: both revelatory, one negative, one positive.

First, I learned that I actually did myself a disservice by cancelling the credit card I have had for four years, but who's reward service pales in comparison to the new card I received this year. I thought by cancelling the unused card I would be eliminating the potential for identity theft of the account, and reduce my potential debt on my credit score. Apparently, I did a bad thing.

Last night I read that by cancelling this card account I thus eliminated my credit history on that card. Not good. Now I only have a years worth of credit to my name as opposed to five. Is there really no way this card will stay on my record? Frustrating, as I literally just cancelled this card last week.

The second, and good, revelation is that I lowered my monthly car payment $200 by refinancing my loan from Toyota's 8% interest rate to a new, 5.4% interest rate with a different company. FABULOUS. I didn't realize you could refinance a car loan, and I also realized too late I was paying far too much per month on my auto loan. $200 banked is an excellent feeling. It will feel even better when I actually authorize a lower payment for the first time.

The third issue of the night is not revelatory at all but has gone on too long unchecked. My boyfriend and I practically live like we're married but he refuses to talk about marriage until next year. This is frustrating as I put all the effort in to coming to his place everyday, I moved to this city for him, and we talk about living together when his lease is up but members of my family would not think well of me if I did this, and living together was something I'd always looked forward to post-marriage. Can I even afford to live on my own without him splitting the bills with me?

I don't want to pressure him into marrying me, (that wouldn't work, anyway), but it upsets me that he won't talk about it sooner than "next year," and just assumes I'll keep coming over and helping keep house at his convenience.

Is this a common problem in relationships? Sometimes I tell myself to stop coming over, but that rarely works out.