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Friday, December 19, 2003: Cutting Back
We have this new plan where we take all the grocery money for the month out of the bank on the 1st, and I keep it in a special grocery money wallet. It's now the 19th, and there is $20 left in the grocery money wallet. I'm not feeling like much of a home economist today. Fortunately we're only pretend budgeting, practicing for when my pogey stops rolling in in April. But we're going to have to try harder next month. The first thing I'm going to do is cut back on the bottled baby food. Those little jars cost sixty cents each, which adds up pretty quickly. Today I cooked up five apples and made a ice cube tray and a half of little applesauce cubes. I think the problem I had with making baby food before was that the batches were too small, so I ran out too quickly and it seemed like too much work. I'm going to pick one fruit or vegetable at a time and make huge batches. I also mashed up the chicken and carrots and things from the chicken broth I made yesterday and froze them for Delphine, once she starts eating meat. Anyone who notices that this is what Beth feeds her dogs can just keep their noticing to themselves. I'm not sure how else to economise; I haven't had to economise for years. ("I've never had to afford anything before, and it's making me bitter.") I read Toronto Life Magazine's Where to Get Good Stuff Cheap guide today, and a lot of places to get good stuff cheap are out in the suburbs, or even simply far enough out that taking transit there would be very hard, with a baby. Buying a car isn't economical. I'm sort of scared that we're going to end up house-poor, living in a great condo in a great neighbourhood, and eating mac and cheese the last week of every month and buying second hand clothes for our baby.
My in-laws are driving down to Florida for the winter tomorrow morning, so they came by tonight to say good-bye. They came over after Delphine had her supper, just as she was starting to get cranky. My father-in-law came over to visit yesterday, so he was fresh in her memory, but she made strange with my mother-in-law, and fussed and wanted to come to me. I felt really bad for my mother-in-law, because she's not going to see Delphine until I go down to Florida in February; it would have been nice to have a better send-off. But I guess you get what you get with babies.
This weekend is full. Tomorrow morning we're going to the Art Deco show at the ROM. In the afternoon or evening more likely, I'm going to make mince tarts with the mincemeat my mother sent, and maybe shortbread too. Sunday morning is open but in the afternoon I'm meeting my friend Kathryn and we're going to the Sing-Along Messiah. I'm not sure if they're doing the whole thing; if they are it will be long. And then, kaboom! It's Monday again. The agenda for next week is mainly shopping for Christmas dinner groceries, and general household cleanup in preparation for the big feast. |