Friday, June 17, 2011

A Case of the Cheap & Tasties

In the time between cooking, cleaning, working-out, and playing with our dogs, I've spent a few (too many) hours on Facebook, watched my favorite shows (i.e. True Blood, The Walking Dead, Paranormal State, etc.) a few (too many) times, and devoted (okay, a Lot) hours to my Kindle. Another hobby of mine is finding and managing the kinds of coupons that will apply to what we normally purchase. i'm a big fan of saving money and yet I'm not as savvy as the folks featured on TLC's 'Extreme Couponing,' though my motivation is the same. My drive to save the money we don't have to spend on mandatory bills is very strong, especially since living overseas is a pretty stark cost-of-living comparison to that which we were used to on the Mainland.

My husband works full-time as an active-duty SSgt in the USAF, and has taken on a ton more responsibility in his field since we arrived on island. His time is pretty darn precious to say the least, and since I am working towards joining, I've chosen to stay at home and do whatever I can for my goals and assist him in his. This is what has handed me so much time, so please don't mistake me for neener-neenering about my free time. It's just how it is.

As someone with a bit too much time on her hands and a drive to save as much of our income as possible, I've become something akin to a detective; a resource detective. Much as I love to get out of the house every weekend, I feel better about the time I spend at home during the week now that I've found a way to contribute, not just in terms of keeping the house tidy, the dogs and myself exercised, and the food ready. My household contribution has evolved beyond the surface-level and has helped strip me of the roiling indignation of not being able to Bring Money In (yet), and replaced it with the bubbling contentment of rediscovering my creativity, building on my knowledge base and honing my universally derived, domestic skills. The later seems to override the former doesn't it? I finally (since arriving on Guam) feel as though the independent and self-sufficient femme I am, has welcomed my current obligatory domesticity.

In my research, I feel like whatever I find should be shared at the very least, so that you can make up your own mind about what to do with it. Implement it for yourself if you like but it doesn't hurt for the knowledge to be made available for those that might not have the same kind of time to research it themselves. These are the Tales of the Cheap & Tasties...

Pantry Staples
Make Your Own Necessities
Sharp Corners of Your Money
Simple Remedies and Common Sense

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