Objectives

We've arrived on our yearly family vacation to the seashore. With my toes in the water and ass in the sand there was not a worry in the world for me and my crew today.


All of this sun and sand has, however, given me opportunity to think through precisely what it is that I'm trying to accomplish.

Over the next nine months, while my husband wraps-up the fourth year of his Grad School program and our life is totally crazy, I want to...

1) Reduce our grocery spending by half
2) Increase our standard of living so that everyone's physical and emotional needs are being met
3) Make my return to finding pleasure in the simple things of life

Going back to my first post, the second two items hinge on the first. In our intense budget review, there seemed no room for spending reduction but in this one area. And reducing spending on food means that I get to see my husband more because he works less. When I see him more, I am a happier wife. The kids are more fulfilled. I enjoy cooking dinner again. We sit together at the table. And, 'voila', our standard of living has gone up.

And from there pleasure returns to the things that best own pleasure - a simple sunset, a hug from my baby, walking in the cool evening air, eating wholesome and delicious food crafted by my own hands, dancing wildly in my living room with folks I love, floating down a free river in a borrowed intertube, being together. This is what my next nine months are about.