What we are not cutting back on

While we are cutting back on expenses around our house, there are a few things we don't intend to cut back on.  Those are the ones that are most important to us:  eating healthy and making sure our non-human animal friends eat healthy. 

For us, eating healthy at home means plant-based, mostly whole foods, organic when possible.  We are not perfect of course!  We have a freezer in our garage that has some processed foods in it, and I admit to eating Boca Chik'n patties sometimes.  We are eating out that freezer slowly though, and not buying near the amount of processed foods we have in the past. When we go out to eat at vegetarian restaurants, often we get dessert and other less healthy foods, although always plant-based. We are trying even harder to eat healthy right now, as we are both trying to lose some weight.  

At least twice a week I shop for produce, which usually includes sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, broccoli, baby carrots, kale, bananas, and oranges. Sometimes we also get apples, grapefruit, cucumber, melon, spinach, celery, avocado, and herbs.  I wouldn't mind being one of those people that goes to the grocery once a week or even once every two weeks, but there's just no way with the amount of fresh produce we eat.  

I want to get back to making my own bread, but I'll be honest with you:  I hate running the oven when it's hot outside.  So for now I'm buying whole wheat bread at the grocery, which costs us nearly $3/loaf.  I know I have flour in the freezer so I really should start making that bread again.

The other item I mentioned that we won't compromise on is taking care of our four-legged friends.  Our dogs eat dog food that we have to order online, and it is not cheap.  But we feel it is the best for them so that will continue to happen.  I also buy them natural dog treats, such as dried sweet potato slices.  I plan to try making those myself, but again, I've got to run the oven for it.  

The cat we have added to the family (more on that in another post) gets food from the grocery store.  Right now she requires a special kind of food, and we supplement it with Newman's Own canned food.

We could put our grocery cash in an envelope and live that way, but so far I am just keeping up with what I spend by writing it on paper.  (I'm an old-fashion paper kind of girl, and not really into spreadsheets.) We don't have a budget yet for a grocery category, but we plan to within the next couple of paychecks.  Right now we're just getting a feel for what we spend.  

Anybody want to pipe in with what they will not compromise on in their budgets?  

Money Talk

(Note:  I have some family members who read this blog.  Don't think that we are going without, or that we are in dire financial straits.  Ya'll know we are fine.)  

So, now that our 20th anniversary road trip is over and paid for (partially out of savings, as we planned) it's time to get serious about saving more money.  Mr. GV makes a good living.  I certainly cannot complain about that.   

Although I don't want to get into specific numbers regarding salary, I do have a breakdown of what percentage of his check actually gets deposited into checking.  

This is what comes out before the money comes to us for our usage:

Taxes 19.2%

Retirement 19%

Savings/Medical FLEX account 8%

Insurances 3.6%

Total=49.8%, so let's call it 50%.  

So that leaves 50% of his income to pay the bills.  The only debt we have is our mortgage.  Our other debts (student and auto loans) have been paid off for several years.  We use credit cards but they are paid in full every month, and have been since we've been married except for two times:  the first few months of our marriage when I was fresh out of college, he was in college, and we had a wedding to pay for AND one month when we moved for his residency, he didn't get paid for 6 weeks, and I had yet to find a job in our new state.

Our standard bills are: mortgage, utilities, phone, trash, Internet, online photo storage, Hulu, Netflix.  

Then you have the variables:  groceries, household items, home repairs, pets, donations, bicycling costs, gifts, auto repairs, clothing, home improvements, post office, restaurants.  

We do just fine.  And then, like any other household, an unexpected expense comes along.  In the last couple of months we spent over $2,000 on car and truck repairs, and over $3,400 on a new heating and air unit.  And we have that money in either short-term savings or long-term (emergency fund.)  The a/c, for instance, came out of the emergency fund. 

Of course I am thrilled that we have saved the money to pay for those items. Thrilled!  But we are also facing the reality that there are several repairs/replacements that need doing around our house and that in the next few years we are probably going to need a new car.  So we would like to build up that savings as much as we can.

Which means going on a tighter budget.  Strike that, it means going on a budget at all, which is something at which we have never been good.  We tend to go on a budget, then fall off the ol' wagon within a couple months.  

So, expect some posts about our money-saving adventures in the near future. I would love to hear how others approach budgeting!

Goodwill and lapel pins

I don't like to buy a lot of souvenirs when I'm traveling, at least not for myself.  I'm not a big collector, although I use to collect a few things when growing up and then as a young adult. (Porcelain masks as a teen, snow globes, Anne Geddes items, snowmen and Santas are the ones I remember.)   I try to buy mostly consumables for others when I'm traveling, with the occasional T-shirt for those who like them (our moms) and kid-oriented things for my nephew.  I figure anything I buy for myself will eventually either have to go into a yard sale or be taken by one of my family members, and I don't want to burden them with things that have no meaning for them.  

But I do like to get a lapel pin from each state or significant museum/landmark that I visit.  And I do enjoy looking back on them after I have them pinned to a hat I keep in my bedroom. 

These are some of the ones I collected on our recent road trip:

Also, while we were in Kalispell, Montana, I had a chance to check out their Goodwill.  It was by far the cleanest, most organized thrift store I have ever seen.  I had a blast looking around.  I came home with these two shirts you see below.  The green one was a blue tag, which was half price that day, so was $3.  The other shirt was $5.99.  The green shirt is really comfortable and I like it a lot, but I LOVE the other one.  

My total at the store was $18.00:

Shirt--3.00

Shirt--5.99

Package of tags for future yard sale--.29

2 pair of decorative socks--1.98

Kids' shirt--3.99

Book--.69

Book--1.99

Donation--.07 (Round up to the nearest dollar.)  

Epic road trip, Days 16 and 17

Our last stop on our epic road trip was the Badlands!  I was feeling a little sick and run down this day, so you don't want to see any pictures of me, I promise.  In most of them I could barely muster a smile.    Ha.  

Mr. GV was enchanted by the Badlands, and I can't blame him.  

The prairie dog town was an adorable sight to see too. I even saw a ferret running around out there (looking for dinner of course.)  

We took this opportunity to unload all our recyclables.  We tried our best to be as eco-friendly as we could on this trip, and wound up carting around our recyclables for a long time.  

Mr. GV took this picture just for my benefit.  I promise you, I was not getting out of the car after that sign!  Not only were there rattlesnake warnings, there were also signs reminding you that prairie dogs carry bubonic plague!!

We stopped off at Whole Foods that evening and stocked up on some food to help us get home.  This was our first time with any of Upton's prepared foods, and wow were they good.  

And here we are.....Day 17 and the last picture from our Epic Road Trip.  We took this in our garage, right before we walked in to see our puppies after a couple weeks away.  We had a great time being together, and the best part of the trip was that we still like each other after that much time together!  Here's to (at least) another 20 years of marriage!  I love you, Mr. GV!!  

Epic road trip, Day 15

Day 15 of our road trip saw us visiting two monuments:  Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore.  

But first, we drove through Upton, Wyoming.  Nothing notable here except apparently if you are looking for the best place EVER, this town is really sure of itself.  

The road on the way to Crazy Horse is pretty much nonexistent in some places, and downright scary to be driving.

I'm going to be completely honest about the Crazy Horse monument:  It is underwhelming.  It is honorable that there is a family and other workers so dedicated to seeing this project through, but there's just not a lot to see in regards to the memorial.  Some day there will be though, and I look forward to visiting again.  

Next it was off to Mt. Rushmore.  We had a great visit there, and were glad to have the chance to visit such an historical landmark.  

We stopped off at Everest Cuisine in Rapid City, South Dakota that evening.  We got the authentic Indian food we had been wanting for a few days.  It was delicious!  The only thing to be careful of, fellow vegans, is getting a truly vegan meal.  The waiter understood we were vegan, and instructed the kitchen to make us vegan bread.  And then the same man brought out sauces to go with our samosas, and we thought we were in the clear.  Mr. GV asked if the green sauce was vegan and our waiter replied that well, there was just a little bit of yogurt in there.  "Just a little bit."  As if that made it OK. That is, of course, infuriating, because he clearly understood what being vegan meant and thought he would just slip it by us.   

I know, being this picky makes me sound like a cranky pants.  But when you have heard great reviews of a restaurant and are told they can accommodate you, it's so disappointing to find out the staff is trying to sneak something past you while you were trusting them.  

Epic road trip, day 14

Sadly, we had to leave Glacier the next morning and drive to Buffalo, Wyoming for our next stop.  But we had what was probably the very best experience of our trip on this day:  Montana Grizzly Encounter.  As a vegan, I am obviously not a fan of animals in captive situations.  However, these bears are rescued bears from bad situations, or ones that were found as orphaned cubs and would not survive in the wild, and being in this rescue situation is the only humane option for them.  They are obviously treated very well and are much loved by their human family, who dedicate their lives to the well being of these bears and  to educating the public about bear safety and what a gift these animals are to our world.  

This is Brutus.  He is the star of the place.  The other bear who comes out at the same time as Brutus, a female named Sheena, decided not to come out of her den that day.  It was raining, and Sheena is not a fan.  I don't mind telling you that I had tears in my eyes as I watched Brutus enjoying his life.     

On a completely different topic, this was a sign as we drove through Montana and Wyoming.  I found it very fitting that the "Gusty Crossing" sign is bent by, I am sure, gusty winds.  

Epic road trip, day 13

We spend a second day at Glacier, and Mr. GV had an awesome bike ride that morning.  Bikers were allowed to go quite a bit further than other traffic.  

While he was riding, I hung out at our favorite spot from the day before, just enjoying the scenery and reading.  

I could have sat there all day long on the moss-covered logs, looking at the water and the mountains.  

Eventually it was time for Mr. GV's bike ride to be over, so I met him and we had a picnic lunch.  While we were there, we were joined by a Stellar's Jay, a bird that we do not have at home.  

That afternoon we took a boat tour on Lake McDonald.  We saw land that had been decimated by fire several years ago.  It is coming back to life though, slowly.  

We both had a great time on the boat.  

This picture just cannot do the reality of Glacier any justice.  

Eventually we had to leave the park and head to dinner.  We chose to try out Hu Hot.  The food was good, and the fact that there was tofu and plenty of vegetables was so nice.  

Epic road trip, Day 12

Our first day at Glacier National Park!  Unfortunately there was still snow being cleared on the Going to the Sun road so we could only drive a few miles into the park.  But oh!  The scenery!  We fell in love with this place.  

Look!  A vegan out in the wild!  Luckily I was able to throw some tofu and granola over to the side to distract him!  (Or as I like to call this #perpetuatingveganstereotypes.) 

We found some vegan snacks in the camp store.  We tried the hazelnut cookies, and they were delicious.  

But I would have to be starving to spend $5.59 on a box of Wheat Thins!  

I just had to have my picture at the Continental Divide!  

Apparently they have hovercrafts near the Continental Divide?  This is what happens when a car goes by during your panoramic shot.  

We drove to the other side of the park, to Two Medicine.  It was chilly enough to have a fire going in the park store.  

Epic road trip, days 10 and 11

The following morning we started out on the next leg of our adventure.  We had a rainy day of driving, going through Idaho, and some chilly temperatures.  

We arrived at our room in Kalispell, Montana in the later evening and headed out to the local WalMart for a few provisions.  

I love okra if it's fried.  I've never seen it in this form before though, and not sure I would like it.

The next day we had to take care of the task of getting the oil changed in the car.  Afterward we went for lunch at A Fresh Start in Kalispell.  It was good, although the portions were small and we found out there was honey in the slaw.  

Mr. GV went for a bike ride that afternoon while I enjoyed some time at Goodwill.  When he came back to the room he told me he had lost his room key, driver's license, and credit card.  Oh I was upset and worried, because that is how I react to those kind of things sometimes.  The room key was no big deal, and the credit card could be cancelled and other than leaving us short one method of payment for the next week, would be OK.  The driver's license is what I was most worried about.  He was going to have to drive without one, and just hope he never got stopped, because I could not drive cross country by myself.  

We retraced his route, and what do you know?  On a way, way back mountain road outside of town, we found all three of them laying in the road!  We were both so relieved.  

We just hung out at the room for the rest of the evening, and enjoyed the fact that the sky still looked like this at 10:00.