I have resisted the idea of the Mayan calendar predicting the end of days ever since I first heard of it. I think that the Mayan culture is shrouded in mystery (why did they disappear? Not because aliens abducted them, that much I’m sure of). Its because of this mysterious disappearance that many say the calendar is accurate. This logic makes no sense to me.There maybe more reasonable explanations for the supposed accuracy, I just haven’t heard any. If you know, bring it on.

So the movie comes out and we go to see it. And? It was like watching one HUGE special effects orgy, nothing that hasn’t already been done in other films, such as The Day After Tomorrow. Like this movie, the genius scientist in 2012 didn’t predict the right date of the meltdown, he was like two years to late, so panic ensues.

The only thing missing was aliens. And even that was half covered by the early insinuation that space ships had been built for a select 400,000 of the  worlds population. I had to ask, “But where are they going? Are they going to wander the universe like in Wall-E? Do they know something I don’t know?” If only.

It was really funny seeing the Queen of England arrive at the ships with her dogs, though. Yes, the rich brought their lapdogs along for the ride. The workers at the docks were all ethnic and had no clue they were going to be left behind. Most of them were African American. Thats right. Notice this when and if you see the film.  They don’t realize that they have been duped until near the very end. Hows that for the modern age of tolerance?

Yeah, so the planets align and the earths core begins to heat up so that the crust begins to melt and California disintegrates into the ocean, volcanoes erupt, huge earthquakes everywhere,  the poles shift and we have tsunamis. So much water that the entire earth is covered with it, all the way to the very top of Mt. Everest. China is the last to succumb.

The plot was about a hero saving his family and there were underlying messages of love. Of self, of estranged spouses, of family and of humanity. There was also greed and power.Nothing they did to the plot could save this film for me though. It just went on and on and on. I was contemplating the idea of waiting it out in the lobby. I knew how it would end, the way they always end…..heart warming sunshine and smiling faces. Nobody is shell shocked. Hell no!

I say  wait until its on television if you must see it. Some of the special effects were good, but many were just cliches. The acting? Mediocre and irrelevant. The message? You had better save 8 billion Euros if you want to get on one of those ships with your family.Oh, and learn to pilot a plane or know somebody who does.

We actually went to the mall yesterday to buy a birthday gift and we found that the place was abandoned for the most part. We also found that the stores were all well stocked. Thats right, they didn’t run out of anything that we noticed at all.We found that all sales were intact. We met up with a girl we have known since the children were together in 1st grade. She reported that she has been working like a madwoman since Black Friday at 4 am and that the first day was horrific! She had to struggle past the crowds to get into work. But where were all the people by Sunday?

Today on the radio, it was announced that on Cyber Monday, 96.5 million Americans will be shopping online. I had to wonder what our population actually was. According to this site, in January of 2009, its 305,529,237 and counting.

That is roughly 1/3rd of our population expected to continue shopping today (if my math is right). I don’t know how well retailers actually did over the weekend, how many Americans went out shopping, how much they spent,  but that is a lot of Americans expected to cyber shop today.

It makes me think that happy days are here again…….is that what we are supposed to think?

Lets see how many actually cyber shop. The number was just a projection after all.

My daughter and another girl were invited over to a new friends house for the girls birthday on Friday. I had heard of the new friend in conjunction with fashion stories. She doesn’t read 17 magazine, just Nylon. She doesn’t buy cheap jeans, only expensive ones and if she doesn’t like them when she gets them home, she doesn’t return them. She lets them sit on her closet floor until she decides to give them away.  She thinks clothes from Forever 21 are quaint. Her little brothers have a nanny, etc. etc.

We drop off the girl in front of a brownstone. I am not joking. And then the friend comes to the door with a white lap dog wearing a tutu. Again, I’m not joking. She waves at us and we drive off making fun of the dog.

The girl comes home later all revved up. The mother thought it would be nice to take the girls to get pedicures, then Christmas shopping (in boutiques) where she buys free trade  teddy bears hand made in El Salvador of alpaca (the mom says, “Not that I give a shit”) and for the birthday cake, she takes them to Starbucks and loads up the table with all manner of goodies.

The house was impressive. Perfectly clean. The nanny is gorgeous. Eastern European. They have a gym. On and on and on  it goes.

We were rich once too. But we never flaunted it. Some might say we are rich now but we are not. I warned the girl that I had better not hear about the way we live now that she sees the better half of life! She says she doesn’t feel bad about our way.

And yet, first thing I hear from her the next day as she does the dishes is how cluttered our galley kitchen is. Its always been so. I complain endlessly about it myself. She always disagreed.  Then later she says that her room is a mess because we live in an apartment. If she had a larger room she’d have places to put things. And btw mom, pedicures are pretty cheap. Plus, can we do something about her black heads? Her skin, she says,  is a mess all of sudden.

I take a close look because I absolutely hate bad skin. Its the old rich girl, beauty industry ghost of my past that I can’t seem to shake. While her skin looks good, it isn’t as spectacular as usual. Yet the change is so subtle that I’m surprised she noticed before I noticed. What I think she feels is inadequate and she is nitpicking. She is after all, just  a kid. I think too that since I have always been the keeper of her skin, she just wants me to spoil her, just a little, just one more time.

I don’t blame her. We went from fairly well off  to whatever we are now in a matter of no time.

I didn’t realize that the kids might be feeling an emotional impact due to the economy. I assumed that if I was holding up, they would be too. Apparently not. Must make an effort to treat them to something fun soon. Not much else I can do.

And so it begins……….another gang war brewing, not on the South or west sides of Chicago, but right outside my door. I have talked to parents as late as a 3 months ago, parents whose children go to school locally. Mine do not so hard to gauge things. These parents said gang activity was on the increase, they had gone to CAPS (organized neighborhood/cop  meetings) several times to bring up their concerns and yet the activity seemed to continue increasing steadily. What kind of activity? Graffiti.

Not a big deal you say? This isn’t tagging just for fun or just a little naughtiness. I have seen countries that tolerate that type of graffiti as street art. We are not talking art. We are talking gang signs. I didn’t see it at the time myself, but essentially, gangs use these signs to mark territory or for intimidation and for all I know, they mark prey that way as well. For example:

About a month ago, a neighbor had a skirmish with a couple of hoods. It was verbal. The next day, his garage door was tagged. But the graffiti isn’t local. It belongs to a gang whose border ends about 5 blocks east of here. I know very little about them, only that they started out as a white only gang and I know they are “folks” which means that they are allied with other “folks” which are not exclusively white.

The term “folks” has its nemesis-”people”. What these names connote is alliances, sometimes forged on the streets and sometimes in prison. To form an alliance affords the members of each sector more protection in prison and on the streets, it can mean co-operation. You take the drug ring in this area, I’ll take it over here but I’m also taking the hookers. That sort of thing. (which might not be accurate but an example to set the atmosphere).

Several years ago, I was able to determine whose territory I lived in-”people”.  An old gang, started in a largely Hispanic area a very long time ago, I want to say the 60’s. At some point in my time here in Chicago, this gang got really quiet. The elders didn’t want trouble and they were trying to go legit. Like the mafia. The story goes though that some of the leaders were running the gang from a jail cell and eventually the foot soldiers decided that being quiet wasn’t their style. That they were mostly not incarcerated yet gave them the freedom to raise havoc on the streets and produce a hostile corporate takeover. I’m not sure when this gang expanded its territory to my neighborhood but it has been so for a long time. I am not sure who runs this gang today, from the streets, a McMansion or a jail cell. Its irrelevant to me. Except for one thing.

My building was tagged last week by the “folks” and I know my building is “people”. What does this mean? Either somebody offended the gang or they are on a rampage staking their claims. Or they bargained at the table and my “people” sold us to the “folks”.  I wouldn’t know. It sure is quiet around here.

I began to notice that garbage cans are tagged in the alleys but am unable to decipher who is responsible. I once had a hand book put out by  the Chicago Commission on Crime that showed all the possible tags each gang could use. I lost it a while ago, sorry to say. What is odd is that I find myself in better neighborhoods and am noticing that everything that doesn’t walk is being tagged.

Awhile ago, Mother Earth News had posed a question to their readers regarding the future in collapse. Roving gangs with guns was mentioned as one potential pitfall.  At the time, I didn’t own a farm. I wanted one but was still considering which would be safer, staying in the city or leaving to an isolated area. If the roving organized gangs with guns are smart (and they are), then they would head out to the fields of grain no? I didn’t think they would arrive in an army to confiscate food. I think its more likely that they have people already positioned in key areas and they are more likely to use a network in which they stand to gain much from a black market. The way they always do. And if those roving gangs with guns just means ordinary but desperate citizens, they will have to deal with “folks” and “people” who have territorial claims. I live with roving gangs with guns. I don’t fear them. I try to understand them. They won’t take the citizen fools lightly. It will be a slaughter and people like us just need to be aware.

It gets hard though when you suddenly see graffiti that is foreign to what you already know especially because the news isn’t mentioning a spike in our areas street crime, drive by shootings with real gang member victims or gang activity. They are still focusing on how rotten our public schools are  and the occasional suspected  murder/suicide. Gun control too is sometimes brought out of the wood work. Sending unarmed parents out to patrol violent neighborhoods is touted as a great solution. Let the parents go down too. Sick and twisted shit.

And what about the parents who go to CAPS meetings? They are told that the police are aware of the rising problem and they say they will send squad cars out more to patrol. Thats it. I saw a squad car drive by the graffiti on my building yesterday. The first time in about a month that I actually noticed a cop around and you all know I take notice right?

Cease Fire used to meet at a local school. They are an org that is full of ex gang members who hit the streets to help keep the peace. They help kids leave gangs, find them jobs when necessary (always necessary) and intervene when kids are being recruited against their will. I have had interaction with Cease Fire, offered to help them place a few kids in the construction industry because they were helping me locate a runaway idiot girl for a neighbor. I spoke to an ex gang member who traded stock information with me. He helped us navigate our way to the idiot runaway child and he connected  a family whose son was being heavily recruited by rival gangs to a street unit. I’m not talking an org that sits and mouths off in other words. I’m talking about proactive community service. This is what it meant to be a parent advocate in this city and no wonder I got out.

They suddenly disappeared from our area. Why? They had received 100,000 in funding to help this neighborhoods youth  and then after getting the money, our former governor asked for it back. I tried to find out why. Nobody new, least of all our then State Representative who had gotten the funding for them. And yes, I asked him personally.

There is no point to this post other than the fact that I had promised myself to report the rise or fall of civilization in all its aspects as I see it, if I see it, when I see it on this blog. I have seen it. Now what? Sit back and observe. Walk on eggshells until I get answers.

I don’t fear gangs because I can cope with them. I have met members through my children (as early as 7th grade) and I have gotten to know some of the younger ones. It is not incidental that I moved my family from an area that was full of white people in full denial of what is real to an ethnic one that offers many income brackets.  I felt that the way to learn to cope is to immerse. I didn’t get foolish though. We are not blind. Why do you think I send my kids to a school outside of the neighborhood? They too can cope but why force them too constantly? They now have more street smarts and survival instinct than they would have had we stayed in Lala land. Never sugar coat life for you kids. Its  not doing them any favors. Really.

I observe and I report. I don’t have answers.

I am very proud of myself. I nearly resisted the entire Thanksgiving feast food shopping hysteria this year. For one thing, we didn’t have turkey. The family didn’t want one (they never do). They also didn’t want vegetarian so I shopped the freezer and pulled out a roast beef. (we are transitioning to mostly vegetarian now but we will eat meat now and again).

We then went to the garden and got some turnips, carrots and brussel sprouts. That just left three items from the store that we couldn’t live without, mushroom, puff pastry and mushroom pate. I made a Beef Wellington the same thing we always make to replace turky.

We had the wine. We had the butter. We had it all at home. And we made it work.

A recipe for pear upside down cake (taken by my daughter from Martha Stewart) came out dry. As I read the recipe I noticed that who ever wrote it for Martha noted that one has to transfer the batter to the pan using a angled spatula. You can’t just use a wooden spoon, oh no, that would be crude. You have to go buy something. I wonder if Martha happens to have angled spatulas for sale by chance. Of course she does.

On the news, reporters were urging those of us who shop Black Friday online to wake up as early as we would if we were going to the stores. Thats right. They actually said, “4 am is the best time to start, even online.”!!!!!! Because……because…retailers might run out of the things you want  by 5 a.m if you don’t hurry to be first to  part ways with your money.I am sure many went to bed in a panic as a result and had nightmares too. What a load of crap.

Anyhow, I am staying put today, unless I run off to the yarn store………………..usually a very peaceful place to go.

Since the kids are getting into more heavy metal these days and since many bands are either reforming or else never went away, I’m rediscovering the genre. Here is what I have so far (and it isn’t bad since I resisted for so long).

Metallica. In S.F. I actually used to see the members everywhere. In fact, one year, me and Garry drove all the way to Yosemite without a car radio only to find that the gorgeous park was  on fire and we were not allowed in most places. We were allowed to go to a swimming hole though. When we got there, just on the other side of the pond was a group of head bangers. This was 1989 and we called them that and I think they called themselves that too.  Since they had a view of us, we also took liberties to stare back at them. It was rather boring, even after I realized that it was guitarist Kirk Hammett and his entourage. Later that year I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe with a friend, watching a traffic jam and once again, found myself staring back at the same man on a motorcycle! Goodness. Was he stalking me?!!!

Today. The boys orchestra has a Christmas recital next week. They all wanted to do Master of the Puppets but the teacher nixed that idea. Why? Because of royalties and also because nobody had composed that song for an orchestra as of yet and the teacher was not about to take that one on. So we get to sit through 3 hours of Tchaikovsky and stuff. Again. I hear Master of the Puppets (orchestra version)  in my head all the time now. It would be perfect! Too bad about the royalties though.

And then we have Iron Maiden. I confess that I was never into them except for one or two songs. I was a musical snob and there is no real reason other than the fact that no punk rocker, former punk rocker or post punk rocker would ever admit to liking them much less knowing who they were, though we all did of course.

The original lineup reformed and of course have made it into the childrens playlist. But more than that. They have  a documentary making the rounds on cable television. I didn’t catch its title and only caught parts of it, much to my regret. The documentary follows the band into Mexico, Columbia and Costa Rica (among other places). In either Columbia or Costa Rica, a fan was interviewed while camping outside for a week without food and water.  He said he thought he would cry when they played. I’m not talking about a love struck teen mind you. An adult. An otherwise manly adult to boot.

When the band hits the stage, sure enough, the camera finds this poor soul and he is balling his eyes out right there in the middle of the audience, trying to stop himself and not able to. It was not funny.  Bruce Dickensen wearing a sombrero in Mexico was a classic too. And there is a preacher somewhere in the hills of Brazil who uses their lyrics for his sermons and is covered in related tattoos. The documentary was really well done and while I can’t see loving the band’s work (you never know though) I want to see this again, from start to finish. It wasn’t one of those ego trip things for the band and they did a pretty good job of taking it to the streets. I would never have thought that but then I know so little of them.

I’m not sure who else they like yet…..Motorhead of course is big and again, I gave them a pass back then myself. Not into AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. Only recently admitting to thinking David Bowie was “hot”. Both of them. They seem to steer clear of most music that they identify as moms or dads for as long as they can resist. In fact until we took an interest in the music they liked they wouldn’t listen to anything at all if they suspected we ever did. Now I follow them. And they reciprocate, slowly…….

Its funny how I mispelled Music in my categories too. I think I’ll leave it at that.

I have  a few pet peeves regarding some online sources for “back to simplicity, back to the land, homesteading” sites. I’ve blah blahed about it enough, that is for sure. My main thing is that the information gets repetitive and that in reality, there is no true dialog going on at most sites. I stopped wasting my time on many places and only actually visit a very select handful of blogs/sites in general these days. You know who you are.

I also vowed when I started to get wise  that I wouldn’t recommend sites anymore until I got well acquainted with the “culture” being dispensed. I set very strict criteria. If I am going to learn something new, then I want the blog to go beyond the basics. Most of us are no longer newbies. That was the first criteria. The second was the importance of the blog giving either new information or taking old information and putting a spin on it (by adding a deeper level of knowledge) or by challenging the premise of the old knowledge and further, welcoming those who also are challenging that very premise. In other words, folks that think outside and beyond the well worn box. This can be a very subtle issue  to detect in reality  and its important that these things exist consistently,  so it takes a few visits before determining whether in fact this is happening or not. Other criteria was more personal (politics and religion plus whether or not the writers deal with reality head on or not).

I wasn’t looking for El Dorado by any means, but it started to feel like it to me  until a couple of days ago that is. I was on Causobans Book site and happened to see that Sharon Astyk also writes for a magazine called the  Hen and Harvest Pub.

In fact, the only problem I have with this site is that it isn’t updated. Other than that, they offer real information for people who are real serious about sustainability, growing your own food and some DIY. The site is clean and well organized, all links work, advertising is discreet and its all presented in a semi blog style. Some of the writers do have blogs of their own so they  do seem to sometimes cross post. Check out their Barnyard which is a forum (or don’t since its out of date anyway).

I had to laugh at their About page, where they promise to answer all those questions one might have and yet so few are willing to answer online.

Hen and Harvest has answers. Our editors are right there with you, trying new things, experimenting, finding solutions, reviewing tools and giving you the straight truth about energy, environment and sustainable living. We are passionate and hopeful that we can make a real transition to a lower energy world – and we’re not so sincere we make you want to throw up, either. We think getting the most out of our resources is fun – and can be funny.

Read their Frugal Gardening Ideas article for starters. The author happened to read an article on Tree Hugger and while finding it decent, felt that it hadn’t gone far enough and also didn’t necessarily agree with some of it so he reviews it honestly and respectfully, using his own experience on the matter. I personally hate it when people recommend articles and I go read them only to find them to be so basic that I could of done without.

Or how about a possible solution to the question I keep asking about Victory Gardens (lack of rather) in this day and age? Read “A Great Big Food Garden Tax Break”, but don’t get excited! Its just a very enthusiastic idea.

Its really too bad that the site isn’t updated. I don’t know why it isn’t but that is the fact of the matter. Still, there is enough there that it will keep you busy for a few days at least. Overall, this is the type of site that I am looking for and when I find it, I”ll be extremely loyal. The fact that it isn’t updated just  means the search will continue on my end. I now have a model in which to base things on. That is something in itself.

We are going to the garden in an hour or so  to harvest our Thanksgiving side dishes. All of them will come from there. That amazes me. I can’t believe we did this ourselves and the idea didn’t even dawn on us until around September!

I’m wrapping up my Hats Off to Gaza Knitting so now have time to knit gifts. Our gift list is pretty short, at least I thought it was. It turns out that the kids and all their friends are exchanging gifts this year. My daughter has been nagging me to make her a Hello Kitty hat and the boy wants an aviator type hat. Of course his girlfriend is also into Hello Kitty and so are all the Sad Girls.

I sat down to try to work out an adult sized pattern for this elusive Hello Kitty Hat. There are patterns out there. But to me (Hello Kitty Fan since 1976) I feel obligated to make my own one up instead. Most of the patterns out there are free, but most are for children. Nobody but Sanrio can sell you a Hello Kitty Pattern so beware!

I have the body finished and am working on the ears. I tried to design it in one piece  rather than finishing a hat and then knitting seperate ears to be sewn on. I am not sure I got it down just yet. If I did, I have to make 6 of them!

And then the boys. I have to make a good looking one for each boy. While the girls will all feel like they belong to a secret club, the boys want to look cooler than everybody else.  However, I’ll have knocked off 10 or so gifts by knitting. Why not just buy a hat? Because they all know I knit and they all want something home made.

I’ll show my Hello Kitty when its done. I can’t share the pattern because so far, I have written out on three pages and it makes sense to me but it won’t to anybody else. I guarantee it. It is not easy to write patterns it turns out.

A basic hat takes all of a few hours to make and doesn’t need lots of yarn. Novelty hats can use cheap novelty yarn. I am not a yarn snob, I’ll knit and crochet with anything!

Yesstyle.com is one of those websites that should scare this frugal parent out of my wits but instead, I spent something like two hours checking it out yesterday with the girl. What got me was when the princess said, “Look, you can get this set for 28 dollars here.” A set? Like a sweater set? Nope. Like an outfit.

We decided to pick a mom outfit and a daughter outfit to show here because unless you all see you won’t understand the magical spell I was under.

This is my choice. The skirt and the top for 28 dollars…..lots of choices in color as well. So you are not forced into one idea per outfit. Check it out here. I picked this because I’m from the school of “buy separates that work well with your other separates” which is about as interested in fashion for myself that I can muster right now.

And the girls choice.

She might be thinking straighter than me. This comes with the tshirt, leggings and sweatshirt for 42 dollars. For a girl whose idea of fashion is that it must take up entire walls in  her room, this is a perfect choice. Check it out here.

The wonders didn’t stop there. Price ranges on sets can get much higher depending on the designer, however, each item can be purchased on its own so you can actually see if you are getting a deal or not.

To put the girls choice in perspective, I was in Kmart buying household supplies and came across a pair of ribbed leggings that I thought she and I should have a pair of. Unfortunately, the price tag (should of cost less than 10 bucks a pop) was 24 dollars, definately not worth it.  I saw knit dresses for less! Kmart in the U.S. is not a fashion store and most people are embarrassed to admit they bought things there to actually wear. So leggings are hot items in the U.S. and even Kmart is out to exploit this.

Back to the site. The 25 dollar and under category was something I thought I would find hats, scarves and purses in, all marked at 24.99 with an occasional 15.99 thrown in just to keep us hopeful, all crammed in to two pages at most.  Not here. 75 pages of wonderful deals await you. Like this.

Get a canvas belt similar  this at Hot Topic for 30 bucks. Its on sale, regularly 15, but with 33% off, is now 9.00. By Graffico.

Or this.

Zip Jacket for 12.50 by Puffy.

And the higher end offerings?

Are you Raw Like Sushi? I am. And the girl too. This tshirt, for 22 bucks. by Zoo.

I haven’t checked out the childrens and babies section yet, but they have one. And the mens section had some nice cool things but not really competitively priced which is what I’m after.

Shipping. We have ordered from them before and they do have their shit together. We got the package in no time. If you spend 150 you get free international shipping. Its easy to get that much in one order. What we hope to do is order all the girls presents from there (minus iPod) and anything else we see that might come in handy as well but I suspect the girl will take up 150 alone.

Yes Style seems to be a clearinghouse for companies exclusively in Asia but they do have categories for U.S., U.K. and Australia as well. The problem is that only Australia has actual products in it. The rest are empty. And the Australia prices are about average. No sets for example.

Sizes. The company goes well out of its way to place size comparison charts on every product page, even shoes. You will  need to know your measurements so have a measuring tape handy.

As my girl and I spent time perusing this site, she said, “F&*(& Kmart!” (she knows about the leggings). Ordinarily, I would wash her mouth out with environmentally friendly, locally produced, cruelty free, locally grown  soap but this time, I repeated the statement myself.

We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving in the U.S. which means the kickoff to the Mad Materialism Frenzy that sweeps the nation year in and year out. As the kids have gotten older, our Christmas lists have gotten smaller but at the same time, more expensive. They traded in Legos and Barbie for iPods, guitars and high fashion. We have a request for a guitar from the boy (acoustic) and a Japanese magazine subscription for the girl (will cost half of the guitar). Those are definitely going to happen.

Their iPods both crashed this year after enduring the washing machine and dryer countless times over the last 4 years. Thats right, both endured and recovered from this abuse. It takes the little mites 3 days on a sunny window to rev up again-on average. We found this out after realizing we didn’t ensure them, out of desperation more or less.

At the same time, me and Garry just went over our spending since July. I’m ashamed to say we went over the top. I haven’t been paying attention at all and Garry sees the farm as a new toy. Most of it went to the well (16,000) and some of it went to the usual life issues. The kids school and back to school shopping took a nice chunk. Still, something funny going on there. We spent way way way too much. And we have nothing much to show for it. Good thing it isn’t on credit.

I’m making a New Years Resolution starting now. To cut our spending drastically and I’m basing it on our July through November spending because if I don’t then nobody  learns their lesson. What we have is 3000 a month on fixed expenditures (according to Garry). That means rent, transport, food, utilities, car insurance, cable and internet and cell phones. I feel we could do a lot better and that some of these are not necessarily fixed.

We are going to start with a Christmas envelope. That is a system that many use now and it works by putting money in labeled envelopes that are meant to last a given time. X amount for food for a week. X amount for transportation. X amount for fun, etc. Christmas is a month long process. So we will allot the children a certain amount each. The idea is that once the money is gone, its gone. Too bad. So plan well. While I’m at it, I’m putting the receipts back into the envelope so that later on, I can see what we actually do with our money.We currently just shred the receipts after looking them over for accuracy.

I’m doing another one for food, one for gas, one for utilities, childrens spending money, Garry’s spending money and my own.

My goal is to take that 3000 dollars a month-minus Christmas of course- and try to scale it down by 1/3rd for starters. My real dream goal is to scale it down by half but 1/3rd sounds more realistic to me. I don’t know. I’ve really lost touch with all of this since July, when Garry took over doing the job.

I do have one confession. We already bought the boy his acoustic guitar. We got it for half the cost at Sky Auction. He saw it and approved of it.  He found a site that was selling it for much much more than our top bid. We told him somebody outbid us. Its sitting in the girls closet. He would never dare enter that space because she would kill him. One down, quite a lot to go.

I’m going to get typical in the next month and write about this budget of ours and how we cope during the worst time of year. I challenge anybody who is waiting to make a budget until New Years to try it now instead. No reason to wait. And you might find that Christmas is a little less stressful if you plan things today instead of going with the flow. Also, any budget tips would be greatly appreciated.