Consuming

OK, so in the last week I have spent my fair share at Hobby Lobby. It is absolutely ridiculous! I am so excited to get to using my stuff. I finally got me a scrapbook carrying case. Yeah, that is right, I bought something to carry around the things I buy. How sick is that? Anyhow, we are back in the swing of things and Fundi is working and that means I am working. School is back in session and we have M a couple days a week. She has been fun to have around and she is really good with the kids. Had a Sangria at the Olive Garden last night. Mmmm.
Last night at Hobby Lobby I felt like I was on supermarket sweep. I went there with an idea of the things I wanted to get (papers 50% off, stickers 50% off, coupon for 40% off any one item=scrapbooking case). We got there a little later that I had figured and then the store close an hour earlier than I thought it would, so there we were.... running and grabbing and buying. Little irritated that some of the things I wanted to get were gone because of the sale.
Fundi is cooking up what to do this weekend. There are a couple of close town festivals that we should go to to support the local economy. Still reading that book about not buying stuff. Very interesting. Makes me want to start a project like that of my own. Of course with the kids we wouldn't be able to do away with things like formula, but we could make up our own rules like Judith did. Thing is, the stuff that she talks about giving up we already do without: movies at the theater (save an occasional once a year outing), CDs and DVDs from the store, excessive cable TV (we have the bare minimum), concerts and plays, paper towels, buying shoes and clothes that we don't need (I sometimes fudge on this for the kids), and just being frugal in general. We do eat out. More than we would like. We have our pantry stocked now and would like to get back to doing more home cooking. I clip coupons like crazy. We don't drink excessive amounts of alcohol or wine (unless college friends are around or the occasional bachelorette party). Judith talks about going to a group where people are learning how to cut back. She talks about Voluntary Downshifting. Fundi and I have been doing this since before we were married. We didn't need a class to figure this out. When I stopped working outside of the home, we became more aware of doing without and the cutbacks that we had to endure to have the luxury to live in a one income household. We are not rich. The outings this past week to the Hobby Lobby come after many months of avoiding the store because of the bad things it does to our budget. I do keep track in detail of how much money we spend and how we spend it. It is so interesting how much money is going to state and local taxes before we even file our taxes in April. That is another thing we do ourselves. We use paper and a calculator (much to the amazement of the guy at H&R Block) and compute our long-form itemized taxes both state and federal all on our own. The guy from H&R Block offered me a job and told me that I probably know more about it than he does--he just punches the numbers in the computer and doesn't really deal with more than that. I considered it. That would be a great job for me. I love numbers and enjoy working with people. It would satisfy that nosy curiosity that I have about how much other people make and what they do with the money that they have. I know it is probably sick, but it is just so interesting. My own personal sociological study. Like I said, the book is good. I don't really know how much I am getting out of it though. We'll have to see. I guess now I have a name what Fundi and I already do: Voluntary Downshifting.