I’m happy to report our family is still functioning on one paycheck, temporarily sharing one vehicle.  Junior and the Wife have limited appointments  and playdates to the same day each week and so far, my job hasn’t required me to visit multiple locations on Tuesdays.  We will hold out as long as we can in this state as I slowly start fixing the Benz.  Most of it is maintenance; hopefully the upcoming holiday will let me squeeze in some time in the garage. I’m asking Santa to bring me some Auto Zone gift cards this year.

We did end up spending a little of our savings in order to buy tickets for the holidays.  Junior is still under two so the three of us are traveling for about $550.  It could have been worse.  Now that Junior has more of a personality than last year, he’ll visit all the relatives and create some memories.  We have decided to warn family that this is our last visit for a while.  Next year, they can come see us for a change.

Another mildly debated spend this month was Junior’s first birthday.  We arranged a small party of about 20 people (most were our friends who also have kids) and had burgers, fajitas, chips, veggies, cake, ice cream and of course beer.  Note to Self for next time:  No one will eat two fajitas AND two burgers like we allocated when we bought supplies.  Maybe it was frivolous to have a party, but some of those friends hadn’t seen Junior in months.  He got a lot of great books and toys and we as parents got to breathe a sigh of relief: we made it, he’s healthy and happy, and we haven’t checked into a loony bin just yet . . .

The bill wasn’t THAT bad; we spent two weeks worth of grocery budget in one week and have plenty of leftovers.  We will be eating burgers and cake until Thanksgiving, then when the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone, it is Ramen until Christmas.  The wife thinks I’m joking with the Ramen bit but I am not.  Not even close to joking.  Even if we weren’t trying to save money, I’d do it to offset the holiday weight gain and make Christmas dinner taste that much better.

Since the day I paid cash for my 1984 diesel Mercedes 300SD, I’ve thought that with proper care it would never die.  I’ve believed that at the very least I’d drive it well into my own middle age.  Today I find myself wondering if it makes financial sense to keep fixing it.

Some history:

After moving to Texas and securing jobs, my wife and I made a plan.  I’d keep driving the Benz and do most maintenance myself, while she’d get a new car.  I researched the hell out of mid-size vehicles, and finally we decided on a Toyota RAV4.  We chose it because of its resale value, fuel economy, room for car seats, and trips to Lowe’s.  We’ve been paying about $125 more than the minimum payment every single month, and as a result we’re on track to have the car paid for in exactly 19 more months.  When my wife became a stay work-at-home mom, we smiled at the realization that only one car would be driven daily, saving us money on gas and repairs.

Sure, my car was needing more and more repairs, but I loved the cushy seats and the tank-like exterior.  Sure, I was having to prioritize crawling on the garage floor over freelancing at $75 an hour, but I didn’t mind.  The car rarely required complex diagnostics, was easily repaired, and was still more than capable of cross-country treks.  I didn’t need a new car … most certainly not until my wife’s car was paid off.

Now, the Benz sits in our driveway unable to start.  There’s an elusive vacuum leak, which makes the breaks hard and engine idle after shutoff.  The clear coat is almost completely gone thanks to the scorching Texas sun.  There’s 530 dents form the March 2009 hailstorm.  Two window motors are shot, so is the telescopic antenna.  Since we still need two cars — one for work, one for baby appointments — we are faced with a decision:

1. Spend a week and around $1,500 replacing all rotors, brake pads, housings, vacuum tubing, window motors.

2. Reduce the Toyota payment back down to the minimum, then up my freelancing gigs and trim the budget to put together $400 for a used car payment.

3. Slowly start working on the Benz, and get creative on the days the family needs the car — wife and junior drive me to work, etc.

I’m torn between paying off the Toyota fast and having that extra $125.  Number three seems to be the cheapest, smartest way to go, even though 19 months of that will get pretty annoying.  Another wrench in this plan is the fact that my job often requires me to visit multiple locations in the same day, sometimes not on a predictable schedule.  Soooo . . . that could mean I have to tell my wife the night before to reschedule a doctor’s appointment they’ve had planned for 3 months.  Ulgh.

We’re about 3/4 of the way through our cheap, carbohydrate-laden, “eat what’s in the pantry” experiment.  I thought we were sure to gain tons of weight eating  bread, rice, tortillas, peanut butter, and oatmeal but I think I’ve figured out some reasons we seem to be just maintaining our weight.  We’ve been watching portion sizes; needing to stretch our food has made us re-think second helpings.  Almost more significantly, the actual desire to eat anything containing oatmeal, peanut butter, or  the combination of rice/chicken/diced tomatoes has been severely lessened over the past week.  We are now struggling to combine the same limited ingredients and feel like we’re eating something new – spices have made a small difference:

We’ve had Mexican casserole (chicken, rice, tomatoes taco seasoning and black beans), Italian casserole (chicken, rice, dried basil, fennel, and the last of the cheese), vegetarian chili (tomatoes, corn, beans, celery and onion with chili powder in the crockpot), and random canned veggie and SPAM casserole (don’t ask).  We’ve and bean and tomato quesadillas (more like tacos, since they didn’t stick together well without cheese) and also tried peanut butter and jelly quesadillas when the bread ran out.  One guilty pleasure this weekend was a crust-less pumpkin pie using canned pumpkin, eggs and evaporated milk.  We weren’t sure we had enough butter for an actual crust.   There was nonstick spray on the pan, then oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and applesauce adding some crunch to the bottom of this slightly unusual but delicious dessert.  It was gone in two days.

We are left with: oatmeal, a few eggs, some milk, the protein powder, some frozen veggies, two overripe bananas, a can of tomatoes, a can of baked beans, two hot dogs, pasta, tomato puree, peanut butter and jelly, condiments, baking supplies and spices.

Today I’ll make more bread and my wife will attempt peanut butter oatmeal cookies. We are trying to decide between using the bananas for banana bread or for peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  We may go with sandwiches so we can attempt a quiche or omelettes with the eggs and frozen veggies.  We know we’ll have meatless spaghetti with the pasta, tomatoes, tomato puree and Italian spices.  We can do smoothies with the protein powder, milk, ice cubes and peanut butter.  We just need to make it until Friday.

I’m lucky my wife is a morning person because she woke up and made coffee.  As I write she is making oatmeal with brown sugar and blueberries for us for breakfast.  She likes oatmeal more than I do but due to its incredibly low cost per serving and the simple fact we have some, I’ve gotten used to it.

Remember, we had ten dollars at the start of this adventure and we’re five days in.  When we bought our groceries, I thought meat was most important, she wanted fruit.

Here is what we wanted to buy:

Chicken breasts, 1 dozen eggs, 2 bunches of bananas, 1 gallon milk, one onion, one package of celery, corn tortillas, and some other kind of fruit.

Here is what we could afford:

Chicken – we couldn’t get the boneless skinless that we wanted but we did thighs, priced 5 lbs for 5 dollars, so we found a package a little over 2 lbs. – $2.19

Eggs – one dozen for $0.98

Hot Dogs – $0.99

Celery – $1.25

Milk – 1/2 gallon for $1.99

One onion – $0.56

20 corn tortillas – $0.96

2 lbs of banannas – $0.80

Here is most of what we already had:  Rice, oatmeal, pasta, canned beans, canned veggies and baking supplies.

Yeah, we are set in the carb department since we have rice, tortillas and basic baking supplies.  We’ve been eating homemade bread since day two of this experiment.  Here is what we have been eating:

Chicken and black bean enchiladas(only used one and a half thighs in the whole recipe), Franks and Beans, Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk, and oatmeal with blueberries or banana for breakfast.  I think the blueberries are almost gone.  My wife says she’s making a casserole tonight with some of the chicken and canned veggies.  I gotta say, this experiment is not as bad as I thought it would be.  I know there are families out there that have things a lot worse.  Maybe this will teach us that having 50 choices of what to eat, whether it is in a restaurant or in your own kitchen, isn’t the be all and end all of culinary happiness.

Shopping online can save you money, but so can shopping in your own freezer and/or pantry.

Our household is functioning on one income for the first time in almost a decade.  As a result, we’ve been bargain shopping, coupon clipping and dining in.  Last week we had a couple unplanned expenses and this week are left with not much in the fridge yet 10 days till payday.  Eleven dollars is the maximum we could spend for any more groceries.  We spent what little else we had on diapers and wipes for our son and gas to get to work for the rest of the week.

Its time to get creative.  Gone are the days of buying convenience foods and as many fruits and veggies as we please; its time to micromanage our food choices.  We will dig around in a pretty empty freezer and check the expiration dates on cans from the the pantry. If we buy anything, we will plan what to buy based on how it will compliment the food we already have.

What we are starting with:

Refrigerator holds: bunch of green grapes, about 1 lb of shredded cheese, half a stick of butter, assorted condiments.  I’m not going to list all the condiments, but here are the items that both SEEM valuable and have containers at least half full: strawberry jam, applesauce,  BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise.

Freezer holds: Tons of breastmilk (great for our son, not helpful to my wife and I :), half a bag of spinach, half a bag of peas, half a bag of blueberries, one box (two servings) of stir fry veggies.

Pantry: 1 can of SPAM (I will eat everything else before I will eat the SPAM, but that’s a story for another post), three cans of baked beans, three cans of black beans, small jar of peanut butter, four cans of diced tomatoes, one can tomato puree, two cans of corn, one can of peas and carrots, one can of pumpkin, one can of evaporated milk, half a box of whole wheat pasta and about four cups of rice.  Oh, and about 4 scoops of protein powder left over from the days we had the money for the luxury of a post-workout smoothie.

We also have assorted basics like flour, sugar, brown sugar, oatmeal, olive oil and spices.  Yes, I know the state of our food stores isn’t THAT bad.  We are just used to living with more freedom and monetary wiggle room when it comes to our food choices.  Yes, we could simply eat beans and rice for a week but the goal here is as nutritionally balanced as possible with some variety.

The good news is, I already see a recipe opportunity.   I do see a need for protein sources and for fruits.   Tonight we will make a spicy casserole consisting of:

1 cup rice (expanding to 2.5-3 cups after cooking), 1 can black beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can corn, various seasonings and about 4 oz cheese melted on top.  We will finish off the grapes and drink water with dinner.

Goal for tomorrow: continue evaluating and make a (very short) grocery list.