May Cheapchievements

Not much to crow about for May 2009. Frugal-wise, that is.

The Good: Three Paycheck month. The Bad: May is the month of endless birthdays. Also, many mini-emergencies that had a negative financial impact.

So it was kind of a balancing act.

Here are some specifics:

1. Used only half the eating-out budget. I budget $60.00 a week for this. This covers a decent meal in a decent restaurant for two, if my husband is in the mood for a big, juicy steak. I really can’t blame him for wanting one every week or so, because the rest of the time it’s chicken, turkey, TVP, tofu, or beans. But each Friday of this month (Friday is always date night), our restaurant totals somehow came to $30.00 or less. But I have to say this wasn’t due to conscious planning on my part. It just happened. But I’m still happy about it. Yay!

2. Found out that inexpensive Sprout’s TVP is not as fattening as I thought it was. So I will continue buying it.

3. Went through the whole month without once turning on the air conditioner. We’ve had a couple of 90 degree days, but the inside temperature never got above 80. I managed this by shutting the windows and the shades before the heat of the day set in. Then I open them back up again when the sun goes down and things begin to cool off. This works really well. I think it also helps that our house faces North. Our old house faced East, and it was hot early in the day, and when the sun was going down.

Also, using the ceiling fans while sitting on the sofa watching TV and while sleeping has kept us pretty comfortable.

I find 80 degrees to be a comfortable temperature, but to others it may seem unbearable. But I was raised without air conditioning, so maybe my early conditioning is paying off, now that I’m a grown-up tightwad. I notice that all my neighbors (I have three bordering my property) have had their air conditioning running night and day for the last two weeks.

4. On the cheap exercise front, I’ve managed to transition successfully to early morning walks. Now that it is getting hotter, I really need to go for my walk around 5:30 am. I could go at high noon and not be too bothered about it myself, but it’s not really fair to my poor pooch. She just can’t take the heat or the bright sun beating down on her. It was hard to wake up so early at first, but now I’m getting used to it again. It’s all about the routine.

5. My hubby and I actually pumped up the tires on our bikes and went for a bike ride after dinner. That was fun. I hope that this becomes a regular thing, because he works so hard it’s hard for him to have a consistent exercise routine. But maybe he’ll like doing this for a little after dinner every night, now that sun stays out late. Even 20 minutes on the bicycle seems to be a really good workout. Plus I have a totally awesome bicycle (named the Betty). There she is on the left. She has flames on her fenders, which give the illusion of crazy sick speed which is a total necessity because neither I nor the Betty were built for speed (she’s a three-speed cruiser and I’m a chubby housewife. Together we’re magic).

6. I was hoping that some veggies would be ready to harvest by the end of the month, but no such luck. And something is eating my lettuce and spinach. My husband thinks rabbits are the culprits, but I’m not so sure because I’ve never seen any rabbit tracks in the mud. I read that the White House kitchen garden has already provided 80 lettuces for the presidential table. This made me jealous, until I realized that my humble garden isn’t under the protection of the Secret Service. Of course those D.C. rabbits wouldn’t dare eat the President’s veggies.

But, hooray!, my blackberry bush is bursting forth with some little fruits. There it is on the left. So cute.