goin' down to chinatown

today was a good day. it started off sucky cause I couldn't sleep last night and then I finally went to sleep and ended up oversleeping. then i started to get an eye infection so i had to take out my contact lens. but soon it was time for suejin and i to go grocery shopping. we are on a very tight budget (about $180.00/month) on food for 4-5 people so we were a little worried about the food situation and like an answer from the cosmos we stopped at a light at the intersection of price st and henry st and had a fateful conversation. i always wondered what was inside the brick building that had a sign that said "chinatown grocery" on it. why? because it's the ONLY sign in savannah that even says chinatown, there's not a single asian person in sight because we are in the g-h-e-t-t-o. surely, it wasn't really a chinese grocery store - that would be....wierd. but for some reason i wanted to go check it out.

so we go inside and sure enough, it looks like a typical convenience store in the ghetto. but then... i found something that caught my eye. something so exciting that i almost thought my eyes were decieving me. there, at the front of the store was a big table with opened boxes full of - asian pastries!!! like the kind you get at mozarts - custard filled breads and sesame balls with red bean paste and even a hot dog stuffed bun! i was thrilled. so was suejin. we immediatly picked out some pastries for breakfast and continued looking around. in the back there was a meat counter and a petite asian woman doing something with her back turned to us. it wasn't a very busy store so i wasn't sure if the food was fresh but then i read some signs on the wall that said, "family specials". they had a meat deal where you could get 3 lbs of ground beef, 3 lbs of turkey wings, 3 lbs of turkey necks, 3 lbs of fish, 3 lbs of pork chops, 3 lbs of chicken thighs, 3 lbs of chicken drumsticks for $31.95. that's a lot of meat! we were wondering what we could make out of turkey necks and wings when the butcher came up and offered to give us extra chicken instead of the turkey. DEAL.

then out of nowhere an asian man tells us, there's more the back. so we go back there and it was like god smiled down upon us. it was a mini asian farmers market!! there were freezers full of rice cakes, squids, a produce section with persimmons and chestnuts and fresh ginger, a few aisles of asian canned goods like noodles, coconut milk and curries. every time we turned around a corner one of us was squealing with delight. suejin even found a shelf of asian cookies and yelled out, "LOOK, they have choco-pies!!"

we happily paid for our pastries and the wonderful butcher brought the boxof meat to our car. we were so happy. we had a month's worth of meat for $32. right now our freezer is packed to the gills.

we love chinatown.

thinking about my resolution

i think its very important for me to think carefully about my life and my future and make some resolutions towards my goals. maybe it's quiet around me to help with clarity so i should take advantage of it, right? for this week, i have very little i can do other than think. and plan. so for the next few days leading up to new year's, i will be contemplating the following areas of interest:

my physical health
my career
my future husband
my potential children
my geographical location(s)
my preferred lifestyle
my financial health

i feel like its very selfish to think all about me but i know i owe it to myself. i owe it to my family as well. i always have plans and goals but this time i really have to make some monumental changes and decisions towards my goals. i really can't afford to become distracted anymore. so, hopefully this week i will have the mental clarity and the willpower to make my resolutions come true.

RIP stewie.

we had to kill one of our cockerels this weekend. he was not doing so well. his butt turned black and he wasn't as interested in eating as before. we knew he was sick so johnny got to kill his first chicken. i didn't feel that bad cause it was a mercy killing but still - it was a little sad.

as for the remaining 8, they are on borrowed time. those little *&^%# destroyed my garden by roosting in my squash and pecking everything else to death. that's ok, though. i'm learning.

and yet - no eggs.

but i am happier than normal because i have managed to take a big step in personal improvement and started an exercise regimen with B that we have stuck to pretty well. i live in a beautiful neighborhood with lots of hills, some of them pretty steep and for about 45 mins, B and I walk around the neighborhood. lately, it's been a bit tougher cause of the humid heat, but we still do it. it feels quite good afterwards, too. i'm a little proud of myself by exceeding my doc's recommendation of exercising for 30 mins. 5 times a week. we've been walking nearly everyday.

i am a little worried about this heat, though. our utilities are going to be really high at this rate. plus, we are still in a drought. and the price of gas is really hurting. time to up the ante and make myself healthier, stronger, more frugal, and more thankful.

on the economy

you cannot escape all the talk about recession anymore. it's in every newspaper, radio, website and conversation. what i don't understand is how exactly we got to this point, because from my perspective, things look really dismal. fed cutting rates + falling dollar value + high fuel costs + high unemployment + rising food costs = ?????? what does this all mean? is this the year we fall? in a way, i'm kind of hoping it is. i think we need a wake-up alarm call as americans. we need to know that our country is only as great as we make it and hold ourselves accountable to it's prosperity. i know the average person feels helpless to make any difference but how do you know if you don't even try? i think in order to taste sweetness you have to know what bitter is, and our generation knows nothing of bitterness. we spend like crazy, hurt each other, hurt ourselves and blame everyone else. we have to evolve into a more responsible society and i am hoping that if we do enter a depression (i already consider this a recession, despite what "experts" say), it will act as a catalyst for change.

countdown to meltdown...

it's only a matter of time before poop hits the fan. i'm not talking about me. i'm talking about our economy. i really think we are in for a serious recession, the likes of which my generation has never seen, much less suffered.

i'm hearing on npr that the fed is stretching itself thin and lowering the interest rates is not going to help fix the economy. i'm worried because as it is, johnny and i are trudging by with what we make. yes, we could be more frugal - mainly I could be more frugal - but i'm not all that extravagant to begin with so inflation will hit us pretty hard. geez, the price of gas is already hurting. i hate that i have to even buy gas, stupid MARTA. times are going to get tough here soon and my concern is, what are we going to do?

the scary thing is, as civilization "advances" the common person is less and less equipped to take care of themselves in the case of an emergency like this. the government has become our crutch and it seems like without it all will fall apart. the most basic of needs like food and water - who can afford to pay $3 for a tomato, or find potable water if the water plants fail? we have basically set ourselves up to wither away and die without the support of a strong economy. it just seems very senseless to me. but before i get too hypocritical, i admit that i am just as plugged in as the next person. i'm trying to find a way to become more self-sufficient but it seems just like everything else, self-suffiency has a price tag. i am so glad i didn't buy that damn furniture, that would be one more thing to worry about in a world where there are more important things going on. i was gripped in a consumerist frenzy for a brief moment and now that i snapped out of it, i feel better.

so, let's think about our near future worst case scenario. gas is $5 a gallon. our grocery bill raises by 20%, and we still make the same amount of money at work (if we don't get laid off, god forbid) what do we do? i guess hunker down and wait it out. save as much money as possible and eat from our garden. what happens to our goals, our dreams? how long will we have to wait it out? what will we do if the absolute worst thing happens? let's say i lose my job, or johnny loses his. inflation is sky high and we can't pay the mortgage and our bills. what then? we'd have to consider moving? i can't lose my house and there ain't no way we can sell it. i just don't know. i feel very bad for people who have already met this face to face and are now living in a trailer or shelter. that can't happen to us, we have dogs.

all i can do for now is hope that things will work themselves out and try to prepare for the worst.

updated: here's an article that says it all.

don't forget...

...about my supplemental blog pages. i made it because i am a neurotic list-maker and needed someplace to put this info. well, it turns out that there are some good ideas and resources there if you are a like-minded individual who likes saving money, being green, etc etc. the link should be to the right of this page (right above my virtual city - land of milk and honey - which you should also visit!) and for your convenience, you can also click here.

i always end up adding to my posts....

i just got an email from one of the advocacy groups i support about the retroactive immunity that the senate just passed for telecom companies. boo. anyways, i hate supporting giant corporate companies but don't know of any more conscientious companies that provide the same product/services that i need. i use verizon for my mobile phone and i HATE THEM. i don't care for sprint, at&t, or cingular either. well, there's this phone company called CREDO that supports causes like women's right, civil liberties, international peace, etc. their website is pretty informative and it's not a bad deal, they will even buy out your old contract. i'll have to give them a try!

camera woes

i know it's been a while since i posted any pictures or videos. the truth is, my home PC has been temporarily decomissioned while i have its dvd-rw drive replaced. it's been disconnected for a couple weeks cause i had ordered the wrong drive and had to wait twice as long. my next task looms ahead - i must figure out how to re-format my hard drive and do it all by myself. i bought an external hard drive and copied all of my files to it, so now i just have to reformat the pc. meanwhile, i am doing most of my computer stuff at work. the laptop is in the kitchen and also somewhat decomissioned due to a faulty battery. i sent it off to be "refilled" a couple weeks ago, so hopefully i will be getting it back soon. the laptop will also be reformatted - eventually.....

i am by no means a computer guru so i could just be potentially screwing up both of my computers. let's cross our fingers and hope not.

and now, on top of all this, my brand new camera is broken. it either got too cold or some snowflake got inside while i was using it during the snow "storm". now the lens won't retract and the screen just says "lens error". i'm not very happy at all.

but life is good. 2008 is going to be a great year, dammit. maybe i should get myself a really nice new camera. nope, can't do that. i keep forgetting about my financial crisis. the stock market's killin me! haha...like i know anything about the market... i just know i bent over backwards to buy myself a mutual fund. but it was a good move, and i don't regret it. in fact, i would put more money in if i had it.

we got bibi a new vet, who seems to be a really good one. he was very nice and more importantly, thorough. he explained the surgery she needs to have in great detail, with pictures, x-rays, and examples of previous surgeries. bibi seemed to like him too, so we are pretty happy. i think we will be going with him as our surgeon and hopefully as our family vet. she goes in this week for more xrays and possibly next week for the surgery. poor sweet little bunny....

so anywho, i have some pics and videos to upload from my camera before it crapped out. hopefully i will get a chance to upload them soon...but work is getting busier now and my mom wants me to be her project manger/assistant for her hotel. so yeah, it may take a little while....

weekend ramble

ugh. this financial challenge is not easy. i guess i am just stressing over it too much. we spent $93 this weekend at trader joe's, and then probably about another $60 at costco and kroger. ok, granted much of the stuff we got will last several weeks but i'm hoping that this isn't a weekly problem. maybe if the next three weeks grocery bill averages out to be $400 this month, i'll feel better.

...and then to top it off i totally forgot to bring my breakfast and lunch today. it's sitting on my kitchen counter. i made sure to pack myself a proper lunch and forgot it! grrr!!

plus, there are other things that we need or that i really really want that are not included in this new financial plan, and now i feel like a 3 year old at the grocery checkout line and my mom's telling me i can't have that candy. i don't know if i can stick it out!

for instance, an exercise machine. i spent a lot of time researching and thinking about this and finally found the perfect machine. remember, this is a part of my make 2008 a great year campaign. it's a combination rower/recumbent bike by stamina. i found someone selling it on craigslist for $300. i bought it. bad bad heather!

i also want this really cool beverage carbonating machine. johnny and i go through a crapload of ginger ale. if i wasn't around, johnny would drink nothing but soda. there is SO MUCH trash because of soda. bottles, cans, glass, etc. this machine would cut down on trash and we can control the amount of sugar in our soda. it's a win-win! but it costs $130!

i am also itching to get myself a new pair of really good mary janes and brown knee-high leather boots. i am not one of those girls that has a shoe fetish (like KIM) and i pretty much wear the same pair of shoes everyday but they are target shoes and will not last forever. i need some really good shoes. they will probably cost me from $60-$100. i also want to get myself some really good day and night cream. right now i don't really use anything, i tried oil of olay regenerist but it made me break out in hives. i recently got myself a really good facial cleanser by dermaE so i want to get the matching lotions. that's almost $40 right there. i placated myself by making some homemade skin oil out of grapeseed, jojoba, evening primrose and bergamot. my skin soaks it up pretty well but i can't go out in public with a greasy face!

the good news: we got a lot done this weekend. we hung out with some old friends we haven't seen or talked to in a while - basically got to socialize! imagine that! so saturday was all fun and games. i got my first official post ankle-break pedicure and now i want to wear open-toed shoes. not happenin' but oh well i still LOVE french pedicures. then sunday was all business. we cleaned a lot of stuff in the house, including steam cleaning the couch (which was nasty because of the dogs), cleaning the bedroom thoroughly, and cleaned out my car. plus, johnny bathed all three dogs and i finally caught up on laundry. i don't think our household has ever been this clean. i still have to clean and organize my office and guest room, though. i just didn't have enough time for that this past weekend. perhaps next weekend. it was a pretty good weekend and that's judged by having a good fun-productivity ratio.

it's been really warm all week but a cold front is coming in and now the 7 day forecast has temperatures below freezing. good grief!! can we at least get some snow?!?

have you ever heard of blackle? i didn't know anything about it until this weekend when some friends mentioned it to me at a dinner party. it's a goggle search engine but with a black background so it uses less power on your monitor. pretty neat, huh? also neat - this website. go play some trivia and spread the word!

and lastly, i found this nifty link to a pocket-sized seafood selector. it will help you when you are shopping for seafood to remember what's safe and what isn't. hmmmm....

oh i just have to add one last thing - i just found out about tesco.com, a carbon neutral retailer...? but damn, they seem to be in australia....and as of 2008 Dell is carbon neutral....wow.

financial challenge 2008

ok, so i'm spoiled. i get it now. i buy whatever the hell i want whenever the hell i want and it isn't right. i wonder where all my money goes and it's like HELLO!! you went shopping and dropped 3 bills at LB and went on a craft supply hoarding spree!!

my name is heather and i am a shopaholic. i have no savings. i live paycheck to paycheck.

whew. now that my confession is out of the way i can begin my road to financial recovery. i hope. i've had long talks about this with johnny so hopefully he's on board with some of the drastic but necessary financial decisions i have made.

first of all, we spend way way too much money eating at restaurants. partly out of convenience partly out of laziness. neither is acceptable. eating out should be a reward, not a daily exercise. i am still looking for that perfect online meal/grocery planning website and haven't found one yet so i have to come up with my own system - which i did based on previous experiences.

instead of trying to figure out every meal i need to prepare for each day i am going to use this method. the heather method. i will sort a specific number of recipes once a week into the following categories:

• 5 dinners
• 3 lunches
• 2 breakfasts
• 3 snacks
• 2 desserts
• 3 beverages

i won't have any specific meal planned for a specific night but i will only buy the items i need according to the recipes for the above meals per week. and to make this even tougher, i have placed a strict limit of $100.00 per week for groceries. oh shit i accidentally swallowed my gum....dammit. anyways i figure if i can plan out which meals to make every week then we can save some money and use the leftovers for eating out, maybe once a week. i am only planning to make 5 dinners because there will be a couple night per week where we need to eat leftovers or maybe i'm too tired to cook and i can just make some ramen noodles (the souped up korean style, not the top ramen crap).

the next financial step is to figure out how to invest in my roth IRA. i have no clue so i need to research and set up a system that automatically deposits a set amount every month.

i am also trying to cut down on the principle amount of my mortgage so starting february i am going to pay $200.00 above the mortgage amount every month to help cut down the principle. this will in turn cut down on my interest as well. it's a win-win but it's going to be tough.

all of this means NO shopping sprees. if i need a new pair of pants, it has to fall within the budget AFTER i've made the above mentioned payments. the good news is that I will have a couple of credit cards paid off soon so i'll hopefully have more cash.

i'll try to keep myself disciplined and post my failures here for all the world to see.

*update*

i have just taken care of item#2. the roth IRA. in a bold move, i transferred funds from my line of credit to my investment account at fidelity. i bought myself a mutual fund for $2500.00. holy sheet, man. my first real investment. it's got a very aggressive profile so hopefully it will grow fast. i am going to contribute $100 every month this year. maybe next year i can contribute more per month. anyways, i applied this contribution to the 2007 tax year so i can still contribute up to another $4,000 for 2008. now all i have to do is pay down my line of credit!!