Budget Month - Day 1 Revisted

It's the afternoon of Day 1 and I've managed to not spend a damn cent! Not bad considering how I've spent the day lounging in my own home, not even leaving for a second. Well, we can't have a social life AND a budget, can we? Ha, joke's on you! Like I've ever had a social life...

So, this is my fruit and veg box. I know, I know, I do remember what I said in my Nothing But An Apron about these boxes, but I'm going to have renig that. I was wrong. I suck. I fail. Turns out I joined at the worst time in the existence of food, so my first few boxes sucked. I'm better at it now. Included in my box this week was:

1 pineapple
3 lemons and 1 lime in a bag
1 lemon and 1 lime not in a bag (I have NO idea)
1 biodynamic bunch of parsley (damn hippies)
1 corn
1 head of lettuce
1 broccoli
2 avocados
1 orange the size of my damn head
3 mandarins
7 apples
5 bananas
2 sweet potatoes
1 giant ginger root
5 potatoes
11 roma tomatoes
5 finger eggplants
2 zucchini
1 capsicum
1 radish
4 mushrooms
1 bunch spinach

So... this is the fruit and veg I have to work with for the week. I always hated that I got a large variety but not many of each thing. I am definitely more of a 'use a lot of things to make a giant batch' kind of person that I am a 'oh yay I can use my two limes to make a gin and tonic' (ooooh gin and tonic... be right back).

Okay, I lied. I don't put limes in my gin and tonic - so they're safe. But now I have a gin and tonic (no really, I do). So my day gets better. I'm running out of gin. I did not budget liquor into my expenses. Curses.

So, first things first - let's start somewhere. How does the damn eggplant sound? What does a person do with 5 eggplants that vaguely resemble, well, I'm pretty sure I can't say 'a dick' on my blog. Oh darn. Too late now. Anyway - I've got 5 mini eggplants that probably don't even equal one big one and I need to use them.

Well, there's the obvious sauteed baby eggplants, but I think I want something more substantial. Especially since the recipe calls for six. I have five. No, I'm not a moron, I'm being funny. Oddly enough, I DO have mirin, of all things. Hello Lover, what is this recipe? A recipe that uses both the bag of split peas I've had in the cupboard for ages (yes, I really do have everything) as well as my eggplant, as well as some capers (yes, everything), tomatoes AND fresh lemon juice. So let me get this straight, in this recipe I get to use:

1 lemon
5 eggplants
6 roma tomatoes (in place of the two tomatoes)
AND my giant store of split peas

And for dessert, I've been eyeing off this lovely mini upside down pineapple cakes recipe. So that means I'm down one pineapple. I didn't use last week's either - so I still have a pineapple. DAMN.

Small problem: I don't have the onion for the split peas. Solution: use green onion. Nobody will notice. Shhh. Should I just got out and buy a damn onion?

Well, according to my budget I am allowed to spend $159.43 a day. Thus, I am going to say I am $159.43 ahead today. Ignore the fact rent is due tomorrow and let me be happy at my hundred fifty, okay?

I'm not buying the damn onion. I can do this.

Budget Month - Day 1

You've got to be kidding me, right? I write up that post last night and my lovely wonderful fiance comes home and announces to me, "Guess what I found!?" After guessing (why do I play this game?) I was confronted with a picture of a truck. Not just any truck. A vintage truck - the exact kind I described to him as my favourite type of vintage car. With the rounded frame and the fat nose.

"We are NOT getting a truck," I say.
"It's only five hundred dollars!" he pleads.
"Well you either have to buy it in the next 3 hours or next month."
"I was going to buy it next week."
"Can you wait, like, one month?" I am almost begging I think. I can feel my cookbook slipping out of my hands.
"If I don't buy it, my dad said he would," he said, sadly, almost regretfully.
"You've talked about it with your dad already!?" Why did I not see this coming?
"We could work on it together! It's the truck you've always wanted and it's cheap and it RUNS!"

Fuckety. Really? Really really? Couldn't give me a day, universe? Not one damn stinkin' motherfuckin' day? I don't want a truck (okay, I do), I want my damn cookbook!

So. I don't think we're actually buying it. Hopefully. He does this a lot, comes home and says, "Look what I found!" Once it was a tractor. Another time it was an excavator. A third time, it was two excavators - because, and I quote, "So you can have one too!" because we obviously don't live in the suburbs and if we had plenty of land would excavate..at the same time?

I have spent nothing as of this very moment. And currently I believe my husband is on the phone, trying to see if we can do a trade or a deal so I can stick to my budget and he can get his damn truck.

Curse you.

Edit: GAH! I just realized I promised a friend I'd take her out to lunch tomorrow and another friend I'd go with her to Sex and The City 2 Gold Class - which is $40 a ticket. Obviously my mentality was not in 'better budget' a week ago when I made these promises. Curses! By day two I'll have squandered some of my hard-saved money. Damn.

Budget Month - Tighten Them Purse Strings Ahoy!

My fiance and I have been working on a budget for a month now. We've been writing down everything we buy and inputting our income into our Handy Dandy (patent pending) iPhones with our Handy Dandy (patent pending) Budgeting Program, called HomeBudget.

I gave us a budget to begin with without a clue what our actual spending was. Well... we exceeded that by $1713.87. Seventeen hundred fricken dollars over this made-up budget I did. And after I went through every expense for the month you know what I discovered?

My estimates of my budget were fair.

I only went over about $100 per category on my budget. Problem is - there's lots of categories. Second problem is - I could've totally stayed in my budget for those things! So the budget hasn't changed at all - just my mentality has. It's the 31st of May in this country and the 1st of June starts tomorrow.

I have purchased one large soap order today as well as the last of my seeds for sowing for awhile and this is it for expenses for me that do not fall into my budget. And y'know what? I'm gonna fricken blog about it. Why not? I won't be terribly specific but I'm gonna need to be a little so I can STICK in my budget.

You know if I stick to my budget for ONE month I can be entirely free of debt? One month. 30 days. Debt free. But. I'm a moron. I love shoes and food and chickens.

So here's a few of the plans:

I get my fruit and veg deliveredon Tuesdays - Tuesday night I'm going to write a menu for the week using as many fruits and vegetables as possible from my delivery. That's right. Me. Going to write a menu. I've been checking out heaps of blogs for ideas and awesome recipes to use even though I have no idea what I'm getting. I can guess, since it's all seasonal, but I don't know for sure.

I will not buy any cookbooks this month. I will not even buy them on Kindle. I will not buy them with a pen, I will not buy them with a hen. I will not buy cookbooks with a chook, I will not buy cookbooks with another book. I will not buy them with a cow, I will not buy them ANYHOW.

I will scour Kindle for free books. Why not? I'm sure I'll find some oldie-but-goodie I'll love. I really used to love love love John Steinbeck as a kid, so I don't see why I can't download some of his goods for free (they're free, right?) and read those instead of spending ten bucks a week (we'll say a week, so we can pretend I don't spend all day reading books on my phone) on the Dresden Files. Which, by the way, I love and am only halfway through. NO DRESDEN UNTIL JULY. Also, I am downloading the series. Don't tell the government.

I have planted tomato, brussel sprout and salad seedlings. This should last me awhile. The tomatos are already fruiting little green babies, so this will save me some money.

If I have spent $499 in food and my budget is $500 and I have a week left - TOUGH COOKIES BITCH. I still have a dollar. Better spend it wisely!

So. Every week or so I will post my budget and how far along I am in it. Y'know, commit myself so you guys can laugh/yell at me if I fail. Or congratulate me if I don't. Or give me free food if I fail on day 4. Y'know, what friends do.

Budget for June:
Rent - $1440
Utilities - $800 (includes phone/internet/TV/elect*/gas)
Groceries - $500
Restaurant - $100
Pet Food (remember, we have 30 'pets') - $130
Clothing - $100
Personal (soap, girly things, etc) - $50
Toys - $20 (I'm married to a boy, what can I say?)
Books - $40
Kitchen - $50
Homewares - $50 (decorative, etc whereas above is supplies)
Gym - $89 (exactly the amount per month for both of us)
Dates - $300 (includes eating out together while restaurants includes eating out by ourselves)
Petrol - $100 (I overspent by $108 this month!)
Car Loan - $400 (we're trying to pay this off quickly, this is not our actual payment, lol)
Rego - $55
Parking - $20
Auto Insurance - $~~~ (I have $212 but I JUST got a HUGE cut and I don't know what the amount is yet, but should be $80ish)
Home Insurance - $60
Medical Insurance - $186
Gifts - $150 (yeah, I know - just cause it's there don't mean I'll use it**)

I also had advertising and plants listed as expenses with no budget. Advertising I spent about $30 this month on for Nothing But An Apron and Plants I managed to spend $249.00 on. And no, I didn't buy "plants" with that, I bought plants. I know I know, not as fun when it's only an apple tree....

*we're currently paying off a HUGE electric bill
**who am I kidding? I'll use it.

Also, while I'm aware my gift budget is higher than my own personal items budget - I went over THAT by $90 this month. EEEK! So cutting back, I am. A lot of those numbers are 'just in case' numbers. Like.. I've budgeted for it but it doesn't mean I'll use it.

If I stick to this budget I will save... *drumroll*

$1713.87 - I already said that, don't you pay attention?

Where will this $1713.87 go? INTO MY SAVINGS ACCOUNT YO. Well. No. $1000 will go to paying off my damn credit card to below the overlimit so I stop getting monthly "BAM $80 interest OOPS now you're over BAM $40 overlimit OOPS now we gotta charge you interest on that BAM $20" bull.

The other $700 will stay in my Savings.

And in July, Glynn gets a raise. And in July, I plan on sticking to my budget. Or better still... lowering it.

For all this I will... buy myself a cookbook. But not just ANY cookbook. If I STICK TO MY BUDGET AND ONLY IF IT STICK TO MY BUDGET I WILL BUY:

And yes, I am aware of the irony of not buying cookbooks for a month just to reward myself with a cookbook for the efforts. Don't judge me.

My Blog Personified

I think I have finally found the image that hysterically personifies my blog. An incredibly failed batch of soap I hand-made with my lovely suburban home as a backdrop.

I know, I know - it looks like a near-perfect bar of soap, but what can I say, I like things to be spot-on and the giant wooden spoon in the loaf of soap is just not at all condusive to washing oneself. Though I may try, by golly! It might be the latest greatest thing in 'don't drop your soap' prison efforts! Though I assume, should you drop your soap, you're in a newer world of hurt than if your soap didn't have a butt-maiming instrument of torture glued to it.

In all honesty, I think I might keep it. To serve as a reminder of what happens to soap around here that fails to meet my expectations maybe? Or perhaps to reach that sore spot on my back I can never get by myself. Or I may just sell it to the Museum of France and let them deal with it's glory. All in all, I think it's a perfect example of a young woman, now on her own, going from Gucci to Geese in her Little Farm in the Suburbs.

At least my Gozleme turned out. Filled with goats feta and roasted capsicum. Sided with salad, a hamburger (because that's totally a side) and homemad chips fried in rice bran oil.

Lazy Day

It's a rather overcast hazy lazy day, my favourite. I like the wind, the threat of rain, the way it just feels like a bit slower of a day. Can't drive fast, can't eat fast, want to sleep. So today I thought I'd make soap and I've set that aside to set overnight. Dinner is going to be Gozleme with baked chips and salad.

I've been cleaning up and as I was cleaning I was smiling. I couldn't quite figure it out, but for some reason putting away everything made me happy. I soon realized everything I put away was a memory I got to relive. It was quite theraputic. I put away the chocolate Glynn gave me the night before. I returned the knife from the homebaked bread we ate together. I rearranged the food in the fridge from being overstuffed last night. Little reminders all around the house about the day before. It was almost sweet.

I am excited about my new soaps. Two are pure castile, no other additives except scent and colour. Olive oil only. Should take a good year to harden nicely. I also made 75% coconut and 25% shea butter soap, which should turn in the most lathering creamy thing in the world. I also made some beeswax furniture polish for the wood bits in the house.

All in all, it was a lazy puttering sort of day. I plan on enjoying some peppermint tea with lemon in a moment as I wait for Glynn to return from the shops with the vinegar I need to make my pickled cabbage. Heavens, I sound like my grandmother.

I fed the chickens and started giving them antibiotics, which means I can't eat their eggs for two weeks, which is a bummer. Luckily I was on a bread making kick and finagled the purchase of three dozen and managed to not actually make enough bread to use more than one dozen, so I now have leftover eggs by the truckload.


This post needed a photo so I chose one of my overworked boy eating a caramlized apple tart I made a few weeks back.

BABEH CHICKUNS!

And I do mean baby! I've got five new arrivals on the farm. Two teenage Araucanas of an unknown gender and these three baby fluffballs, one Auracana, one Araucana cross and a Naked Neck. I know I know I already have two naked necks but check out this chick's eyes! Looks like Cleopatra!

The best part about raising baby chicks is you can raise them how you want. I've been giving them lots of hands-on time so they will be very tame. They already enjoy neck scratches and have personalities of their own. The black one is the shy sleepy-head who loves a gentle neck rub. The brown one is the leader and protector and proud chicken. The yellow one is hungry and likes butt rubs. :)

I don't normally update on a Saturday but I will today. Apparently today is my day to play with the babies! My life sucks.

No I don't WANNA post!

Frankly! But, thinking I had done nothing worth posting about, I found a pile of photos I realized I could share from this last week. So. Live with it.

Work has been slow and I have been making and baking and creating a lot lately. Last night alone was busy. I was supposed to go to a friend's nightclub but never ended up making it. *sigh* I'm a social fail, really. Anyway, I did end up making roasted capsicum for dinner. With feta and basil... delicious.

I also cleaned the kitchen, which made me very happy. Cleaned the whole damn thing with 2L of boiling water with lemon chucked into it. I have a feeling I'm going to ruin it today by making soap. Oh well, that's what bribing husbands with cakes is for.


One of my chickens has been laying twins! This is not nearly as effecient as laying two eggs at once, but almost. Two yolks of normal size in a smaller white. Perfect for mousses. As you can see these two are in a bowl with lemon zest. I also made lemon custard.
I've been doing my laundry with soap nuts lately. I'm impressed. They're incredibly cheap, organic, do a million washes, are soft on clothes and frankly, look kinda cool. Next to it is my organic "bleach". Environmentally concious. THIS is what I mean from Gucci to Geese. I'm a spoiled fricken snob - on a farm.

Lately I've been watching River Cottage on TV and it has got to be exactly what the doctor ordered for me. The chilly hillsides and sheep and cows are probably pretty much exactly what I'm looking for in a farm - with a prettier house. Don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous house, but not us. The copious amounts of home grown food, the chickens scattering around like morons, the cow - all of it I can see owning myself. I even found myself looking forward to my first sheep competition! Yee-haw!

Until then, I sit in suburbia, watching the petals on my lemon tree slowly open so they can give me their winter fruit. Blueberries have started growing now that they've fallen in love. Someday I'll have that little farm on the chilly hillside with the rooster crowing it's head off as I eat a fruit salad I picked from my own trees that morning. Until then, I'm somewhere in between Gucci...and Geese.