On thrift/frugality/tightwaddery

Paul and I used to make a lot of money. In fact, there were two years that we pushed the $100K annual income as a couple.
We lived extravagantly; we bought groceries at Whole Foods, ate out several times weekly, went to the movies, smoked expensive cigarettes, bought lots of expensive wine and beer and other intoxicants, bought fancy gifts, and in general, bought whatever we wanted. That was fun! And easy. Although, no debts were being actively paid down during that time. We only had a loose budget system, to make sure there was enough money in the checking account to pay bills. There was no control over spending, really. We made ourselves a little more accountable when we were expecting our baby and we knew that I wouldn't return to full-time work after the birth...we quit smoking and cut out intoxicants, and ate healthy foods at home, mostly. But still, lots of money flying out the window!

Looking back at this time, I want to smack myself in the forehead! Since then, Paul has been laid off, I went to part-time work after Henry was born, and now, with just Paul working (by our choice), our income is less than half what it used to be. We're actively trying to pay down debts, with a goal of being debt-free (aside from mortgage) in about 3-4 years. We've transitioned to living in this new town, and are buying another "starter" home while we rent out "starter" home in Ypsi out to another young family. Sadly, we bought a car just before Paul was laid off last year...at least it was used, but still was financed, so we have a monthly car payment. With most other things, we buy used. Clothes, household goods, etc are all purchased used or repaired to re-use as much as we can. We walk and bike (even more now that we live in a small town) and try to group our travel to save on gas. We conserve water and energy to keep the bills down, although that's hard at Grandma's for various reasons...mostly because she keeps the thermostat set around 78 and we keep a fan and window open in our bedroom so we don't suffocate at night. Also, there's no clothesline, so we're using a dryer a lot more than we would at home. Electric dryers are SUPER expensive. Yikes.
To top it off, with the move and Paul not being paid until he'd worked for a month, as well as expenses related to renting out Lamay house, we ran through our savings. All. Of. It. So, now, the debt repayment has to slow down in order for us to start saving for our emergency fund again. Argh.

The main thing that we are not being super frugal with is food. I've been reading the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczn, and she states that her food budget for a family of 5 is around $200 a month!! They eat a lot of crappy food, in my opinion. Seems like a lot of factory farmed meat and eggs, dried milk (??) and packaged foods bought in bulk, like cereal.
We spend around $500...she'd probably choke!
Don't get me wrong, we are being frugal with food while still eating clean, nutritious, healthy food that is as local as possible. Options for local food are limited here in the UP, especially as far as beans, grains, etc. We buy bulk grains, flour, legumes, honey, peanut butter, maple syrup, oil and raisins at the coop. I cook a lot of dried beans, and pantry meals. However, we bought grass-fed beef in bulk last fall; this wasn't cheap, per se, but in our view, buying cheap meat wasn't the best use of our food dollar. Same with dairy. We also eat a lot of fresh produce, organic when possible, and hopefully, as the season changes, local. We do buy some luxury foods, like nice coffee and chocolate, but that's minor in the grand scheme of things.
We're going to invest in a CSA this year for vegetables, beef, pork and eggs. Next year, we hope to make a "for real" garden at our house and ditch the veggie CSA share, preserving our own vegetable to enjoy over the winter, rather than buying at the store. I'm planning to buy canning tomatoes and storage vegetables at the end of summer this year, and make a cold storage area in our basement. There's a lot to learn about storage, and canning, but I'm eager to do it and to make our food budget smaller overall, as well as make our food intake healthier and more self-sustaining. We're definitely buying bulk beef, and perhaps pork. I haven't identified a local source of pastured poultry yet, but that's on the docket. I don't know how we'll get away from feeling the need for fresh fruit in the house. Paul is a maniac for apples and grapefruit, especially in the winter. We'll see...

Speaking of canning, here's a Grandma nugget. She has a great canning book, hardly even opened, from the 1970s. I was reading it today and asked her if I could borrow it for my kitchen when we move out. She looked over her glasses at me and asked "Where did you get that book anyway?" I replied that I'd spied it on her kitchen shelf, with her cookbooks. She sort of tsk-ed and told me "I supposeyou can borrow it." Okay, if you know me, you know I am kind of sharp. My initial reaction was going to be "Oh, are you going to be canning this summer?" knowing full well she hasn't canned in at least 25 years. Thankfully, I have been developing the ability to hold my tongue and evaluate my thoughts before I let them fly (I think this is called "a filter"). So, I just said thanks, and kept reading it, uttering a heavy sigh mentally.