Budgeting verses Increasing Costs of Living

So, have you heard the price of gas went up again? This is becoming the newest well worn phrase, replacing talk about the weather.

Would you rather talk about gas prices or weather? I'm not a fan of either topic. My go-to response is "How are you coping with [insert gas costs or current weather issue]?"

My strategy is (and always has been) struggling to ensure my expenses do not exceed my income. Either cut down spending or increase income. Is there anything to be sold? Is there a more economical way to manage what we have? Using power, water and heating frugally. What spending can be slashed? 

When gas prices started inching up, I played the game well. I utilized Air Miles incentives at their sponsored gas station. All I had to do was fill up three times within a month to receive 100 bonus Air Miles. Then one can redeem 95 of those Air Miles for $10.00 off any Air Miles purchase at their affiliated stores. I have cashed in $50.00 of those miles since January and I'm one gas fill up away from my next $10.00 bonanza.

My credit cards accumulate points which can either go towards payment of the credit card balance or a purchase at the store which is associated with the card. I have recently added a new card which has offered a savings of 25 cents per litre for the first 10 fill ups using the card. I have loyalty cards where I shop the most. 

It is a game and I play it (fairly) well. At the moment, I have about $100.00 worth of points I can utilize to subsidize the increasing costs of living.

Groceries have always been my go-to budget slashing item. I have gotten lazy over the course of time and have defaulted to buying whatever I please. I shop at the most economical store I know of to ensure overall, I'm paying as low a price as possible (not always true but it tends to work out to saving $5.00 to $6.00 per $50.00 spent). Granted, due to the knowledge I'm saving money, I have a tendency to over-spend at this very store so I'm still spending more than I should.

The benefit of online grocery shopping is you can play around with the items in your cart and ensure you don't exceed your budgeted amount. The ability to add, remove, change and alter your order without physically walking up and down the aisles with a calculator in hand is a huge benefit. Something I haven't utilized. Yet. But the day is coming (or already has come and gone and I missed the memo). It may take more time but this could save money each and every time I shop.

So far, the only grocery budgeting strategy I have managed to date is due to my "intentional eating" mandate. I have stopped allowing myself to grab a bag of chips and eat in front of the TV so I can stay awake longer. No eating while watching TV is my rule. I have not limited what I can eat or how much I can eat. I simply altered HOW I eat. I must eat without distraction. I am three weeks into this resetting of my mindset and I can tell you one thing. Eating chips without watching TV is the furthest thing from my mind. I am easily saving a three-bag-a-week chip habit. Plus, I have stopped drinking my favorite diet cola beverage in lieu of water (flavored water using drink crystals which we already have, but I'm trying). I used to drink a one litre bottle of pop every other day or so. So add my pop savings to my chip savings and it equals a weekly savings of $12.36 according to today's bargain store pricing. 

My take-out food habit has been reined in by driving out to my weekend oasis location. Recent take-out spending has amounted to less than $50 per month. When I spend weekends in the city it is almost guaranteed we will order take-out food at least once, easily doubling that amount. My old spending habits easily averaged $100.00 per month or more.

Current monthly spending habits equal cashing in on $10.00 worth of Air Miles by playing by the rules of current promotions + almost $50.00 in chips & pop + $50.00 take-out reduction = $110.00 per month. 

And this ... is how I justify the gas it costs to drive an extra 250 km per week to spend time at my weekend rejuvenation destination. Unfortunately the cost to fill my gas tank (compared to last year's prices) has increased by approximately $33.00 per fill up X 4 times per month = a cost increase of  $132.00 per month so I still need to find a way to slash $22.00 monthly spending. 

What can be slashed? Do we need Netflix ($18.30) AND Amazon Prime ($11.09)? No. Do I NEED the extra channel package on my cable TV ($8.88)? Not without the ability to stay awake without eating chips, I don't. I just "found" another $20.00 I could save. 

I have slashed "going out for coffee with a friend" from my expenses. Holidays? I have one possible destination in mind but I have been saving $100 per month for just such an occasion so IF I make a decision, it has already been factored in. Thanks to previous COVID restrictions, I have lost my desire to go to see a movie, attend live theatre, a weekend day trip to meet up with someone halfway between our homes or any of my previous ideas of a fun outing. I'm saving all kinds of money by holding onto those restrictions on an ongoing basis.

The question is: Am I still living a memorable life while slashing "all of the above"? 

My answer is: Thanks to my little home away from home on the weekends, I have added value to my weekends where I am restored by spending time in my little oasis where my recreational vices are spending time/walking with my sister; cooking/cleaning/puttering around our little home; and the joy of having a cousin move in six houses from my little weekend retreat. I have found a way to justify the cost of gas and it doesn't feel like I've sacrificed a thing. 

I stepped away from this post in progress to make myself a smoothie. With each and every cupboard, fridge and freezer door I opened I marveled at the privilege I have. A fully stocked kitchen with back up supplies. The ability to replenish what we have. The precarious notion of a guaranteed income. An income stream which could change in a New York Minute.

I am trying so very hard to be vigilant with spending as I know the fine line between life-as-I-know-it and how life-could-be should circumstances change.

What are your coping strategies? Have rising costs of living stilted your way of life or have you been fortunate enough to add value to your life by cutting corners in a way where you don't feel the burden of filling up your gas tank? Have you managed to find small ways to make a difference? Or has this added fuel to the fire of a budget already stretched beyond its limitations?

Enough said. Tomorrow, I'd like to write about rabbits again. Okay?

Could this be a sign that ever goes by the wayside?

After the Clock Strikes Twelve

After a Cinderella kind of day and an ideal weekend at "The Oasis" at my little home away from home, I hear the clock striking twelve. The spell is running out of magic. Soon I will have to race back home to resume life as I know it.

Friday was the culmination of two weeks of intentional living. Prior to those two weeks, I wrote down a list of what I missed about my daycaring days. Routine, being outdoors, a state of perpetual motion, a menu of relatively balanced meals, quiet time and looking at the world through the eyes of a child are just a few that pop to mind. Then there are the "heaven on earth" moments as I watched children contentedly playing amongst themselves with no awareness of my presence.

Taking in the wonders of the world around me still brings back a sense of awe within my regularly scheduled life. My newly developed habit of going for a morning walk has reawakened a part of myself I have missed. 

After walking with the rabbits first thing in the morning, coming upon an industrious little ant on my way out the door, spotting a family of geese on my way to my boss' home (they were still in the same spot when I drove home) and some yellow-headed blackbirds perched atop the cattails in the slough beside the geese I felt intoxicated with wonder and let myself feel the ahh-someness of each and every moment.

I arrived at my little oasis on the prairie which is surrounded by trees and birds that night. I was still in a Disney Princess mode when I woke up the next morning. I puttered through the morning under the spell that had been cast upon me when I noticed one of Mother Nature's creatures perched atop my car outside, peeking in the window watching ME:

 

There are a lot of mourning doves in the area and I wistfully hoped it was a mourning dove peeking in on me because it seemed there could be an other worldly significance to that idea. My son brought me down to earth with a crash when he asked if it may have been a prairie chicken which according to Google images is more likely.

What kind of bird it was doesn't really matter. The idea of Mother Nature's creatures watching me watch them held more significance. The rabbits I followed were well aware of my presence as they watched my every move. The Canada geese on the side of the rode froze in their tracks the moment I stopped the car to take a picture. 

I love waking up in this forested little oasis on the prairie. Robins are my alarm clock; Canada geese have joined in with the robins on occasion; mourning doves are the snooze button; followed up by the sounds of grackles if I stay in bed too long.

Yes, I feel like a Disney Princess. I feel like I'm living a scene right out of Cinderella.

The clock is striking twelve as I type and I feel these heaven-on-earth moments slipping through my fingertips as I type. Back to the real word of work and deadlines is looming. 

By holding onto the wonder filled moments as I walk back into life as I know it, maybe I can remain grounded as I face the workload of the days ahead. I'll hold onto the one remaining glass slipper to remind me the sense of "ahhh" is still within me. I just have to keep living with intention and remind myself to stop, look and listen to the world outside my doors. 

Welcome to Monday. The day when many of us must step back into our regular work schedule after a period of rejuvenation. May you seek for and find small moments of ahhh-someness within your day.

Amazed by Ants

I have been in awe of the work ethic of ants ever since I was camped out near an oil field with my oldest child with nothing to entertain us except whatever show Mother Nature was featuring at the time. 

It was the early 1980's, the decade when the Walkman was the newest of the new portable entertainment devices and we didn't have the privilege of such a luxury. It was me, my small child, a tent and whatever snacks I had brought along.

We came upon one of the most industrious insects I have ever known - the common ant. We watched these hard working little bugs for an untold amount of time. The show these little bugs put on for us had me spellbound.

Work, work, work. The amount they could carry astounded me. The teamwork. The organization. Every ant had a role to play. It was a system that worked.

Ever since that time, any time I spot an ant toting some humongous object, I stop and marvel all over again. 

The only exception to this fascination with ants is when they moved into our home and decided to stay. Ants inside a residence are a whole different breed of obsession.

Despite the invasion of ants inside our home, I still feel a sense of childlike wonder when I watch the Herculean feats of these ambitions little insects. 

As I raced out the door, already running behind schedule I noticed something moving on the driveway and stopped to record this little ant carrying a beetle:

The human race has only to look towards nature to find a "better way". What would happen if we followed the lead of the lessons nature has to share? Perhaps it is not all good - some animals are known to eat their young. As humankind continues to spiral in a fashion where innocent people are in danger for no other reason than being at the wrong place at the wrong time, I believe a little time soaking up the miracle of existence on this planet we call earth certainly can't hurt. Can it?

 “If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”

~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Down an (almost) Literal Rabbit Hole

My morning walk is not dictated by a set route. I simply follow where the road takes me. Come along with me this morning ...

I decided to "turn right" and walk down the cat walk beside our home. 

This is who I found at the end of the alley. It reminded me of the rabbits who led the way after Mom died (I wrote about it here: https://colleen-lifeasiknowit.blogspot.com/2017/09/dear-mom.html), when I wasn't ready to leave her home. I embraced the memory and followed where this rabbit led:

I guess we are turning left:

Brief pit stop while checking traffic conditions before crossing a busy street:

One quick crossing before the big one:

I tailed along assuming that was the last I saw of the rabbit, but I was wrong:

Here we go on a "rabbit chase", as I walked along as slowly and quietly as I could so I wouldn't spook my new long eared friend:

Look who they met. If you look verrrrry closely in the grass beside the post on the right, with an orange tip you will note a small blur of "rabbit":

Yes, my new rabbit friend found their friend. Notice how they are pointed in different directions so when they sense peril, they can each head off in a separate direction to keep one out of danger:

Sure enough, one darted in the yard it was facing and the other headed straight down the alley:

And ... there appeared (what I can only assume may be a third rabbit because it seemed to come from a different direction than rabbit headed when it hid out of sight):

This pair lost me soon after they found each other. I guess they had had enough of the game of keeping half a block ahead of a human. So I carried on, thinking I may have hit the end of my rabbit adventures.

As I started heading back toward the direction I came from, I saw a very small moving animal off in the distance. Sure enough, even when I came closer it was still a very small animal. I am pretty sure this little one was a baby - quite small and not a hint of lightness in its brand new coat of fur, with no remnants from a shedded white winter coat:

This little one appeared to be on its own and it was very cagey with me. It darted into a back yard and was heading toward the front yard when I last saw it:

I walked to the end of the street then back in front, hoping I may see it again. No luck. So I walked around the block, came up the same back alley (anyone watching me this morning may assume I was staking out the neighborhood for some unlawful reason). I felt badly that I got the dogs in their backyards all riled up (again) but walked quickly, deciding this would end my walk for the day when ...

... look who appeared at almost exactly the same spot as before. I am guessing it was the same baby rabbit I spotted earlier. This time it turned left instead of right, never to be seen again:

I wistfully hoped to discover a rabbit in my own back yard when I arrived home but no such luck. My morning was lost down an above-ground "rabbit hole". This sure beats losing myself down a "rabbit hole" when one internet search leads to the next, next, another and yet another one.

Let yourself find your own adventure as you wander down the road of life. You never know where it may take you.

Ahhh-some Moments

Reigniting the habit of writing has changed me. I'm seeing the world again. I live the day like I'm going to write a blog post about it. I'm spinning the tales I tell myself within my thoughts and it has changed my perspective in a positive way.

Living intentionally. Propelling myself into my days with a lightly formed agenda of that-which-I-want-to-do has put a new spin on an old life.

My days aren't long enough. Especially since I gave up mindless eating. The eating I did while staring at the TV, computer screen, my phone and most especially the eating I did simply to stay awake.

Mornings are precious to me so what I lose at night, I gain in the morning. Getting out of bed is so much easier than it had been. "How much can I squeeze into my pre-work hours?" has become my daily challenge.

When I work, I work better. More focus. More push. More drive. Then again, that could be because June brings a new set of deadlines to beat and I'm pretty good with deadlines.

The "woe is me" attitude is waning. It is becoming more of a "wow is me" mindset. Wow! I feel better when I do some morning stretches. Wow! It feels good to get out and walk. Wow! I have written a daily blog post ten days in a row. Wow! I am enjoying food so much more when I eat without distractions. Wow! Eating food without distractions is time consuming.

In the depth of winter and the despair I felt waking up to life as I know it, I woke up wishing the day away. I made my bed, longing for the moment I got to collapse back into it after a long, hard day. Work was hard. House and yard work were hard. Cooking was hard. Answering the phone was hard. Going through the paces of living my life felt so hard. My reprieve from the hard life was my escape to my little oasis on the prairie on weekends where life felt so much easier.

What I have discovered in my two week venture into leading an intentional life, is that I really don't have time to work. I'm ready for retirement now that I know how to spend my days intentionally.

Two weeks does not a habit make. But I have a very good feeling about this shift in perspective. It has added a sense of awe into the mundaneness of my Monday to Friday life. The "ahhhh" I write at the top of so many of my morning pages in my little oasis on the prairie is being supplemented by a little awe during the week. 

What are your "ahhh" moments? The moments when you sit still and simply feel awesome in the moment you are in? Revel in the "ahhh". Breathe it in. Hold it gently. See what you can do to add just a few more of those ahhh-some moments into your world. Small steps. Be quiet in those moments. Be still. Let your answers find you.

Oprah set the phrase "ah-ha moments" into action. I'm a little bit lazier than Oprah. I'll settle for the "ahhh-some moments". One moment at a time.

A few of my ahhh-some moments from my walk:

Foiled Again

This is my goal:

And this? Is Jet messing with me. Again.

 

Wordless Wednesday

I have been living life "intentionally" for just over a week now and I am exhausted.

In an effort to keep to my commitment of blogging daily, I thought posting a picture that brings me joy would suffice. 

This picture is my definition of bliss. Sitting at the table in my little oasis away from home, a cup of coffee, pen and paper and a picture perfect view. I look at this and I feel the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. The word that most often falls off the tip of my pen when I sit down to write at this little piece of serenity is "ahhhh".

This picture was taken October 24th. Seven months ago. I am not saying that is the last time I felt a blissful moment such as this. I feel it each and every time I sit in this spot as I write my morning pages and greet the day. But it made me realize I should stop and take a picture when I'm in a moment when I'm fully present and breathing in the day more often. 

Maybe that can be an easy way of reinforcing this "intentional life" - to not only stop and smell the roses, but to snap a picture to mark the moment so when I wake up to a wordless kind of day, I can sift through my pictures and find one that says it all.

Not such a wordless Wednesday, after all.