$7 a day - Take that, Rachel Ray!

The past few weeks, I've been missing things. Missing the time to write. Missing news stories, missing important dates, missing the news that last week was The United Way of King County's Hunger Action Week. Granted, I don't live in King County any more, but it's still one of those things I feel I should have known about.
The idea is, try to feed yourself for only $7 a day - also known as the maximum food stamp benefit available in Washington State. Also known as what I have done every day since September.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the idea. I think it's great. I think everyone should be aware of how difficult it is to eat good, healthy food on food assistance. What I really appreciate is that bloggers like The Gluten-Free Girl - who is, as her name implies, gluten free - are participating and blogging about the experience. It's much more difficult to live off of $7 a day when you can't buy a 99cent loaf of bread.
I am completely inspired by The Gluten-Free Girl's entry about her experience this past week, and I am making my own plans. Plans that include baking my own bread, roasting a chicken, and using my awesome new crock pot. Plans that include a real, honest-to-goodness budget for my food.
Because, you see, for the first time since September, I used up all my food stamp benefits before the month was over.
To be fair, I bought five different kinds of gluten-free flours to make a bread that I took a class to learn how to make. And Xanthan Gum, which is pretty much the most expensive white powder that you can buy legally. Now that I made the initial investment, I can make my own gluten-free sourdough bread, and make sandwiches and eat toast... very exciting.
However, this month I also did things like buy lunch at the Co-Op deli counter several times, as well as buy frozen meals to take to school. When you are living off of $7 a day for food, a $5 sandwich is not a good idea.
Planning meals is a big step in the right direction for food budgeting, and buying in bulk is another good way to stretch your food dollars. That's why I was excited to hear that Costco is now accepting food stamps (I am lucky enough to have a membership, I'm tacked on as a "domestic partner" to a family member). While I was searching the internet to confirm the rumor, I stumbled across this article/blog entry, by Aaron Crow, a "freelance journalist," with a lot of opinions. To give you a general idea of this particular opinion, it's titled "Costco accepting food stamps: not exactly a great idea." Some choice quotes:

"There are no 15 items or less lines at Costco to speed things up because no one buys less than 15 items at a time. I've been a Costco member for about six years, and I don't think I've ever walked out of there without dropping at least $100."

"I don't know how someone on food stamps who is shopping there maybe once a month can justify paying $50 for the privilege of shopping there for a year, but the enticing free food samples might make a meal in themselves during a visit and make the membership fee seem cheap."

And the kicker:  (Note: SNAP is the Federal name for Food Benefits)

"I'm all for increasing the purchasing power of shoppers, but SNAP users may have to be protected from themselves. The federal program prevents some items such as liquor and cigarettes from being bought with SNAP benefits. Maybe it should add Costco to the list of banned purchases."

I have to say, even after reading this article several times, I'm still struck speechless by the ridiculousness of that last statement. And of the article as a whole. Basically, Aaron believes that Food Stamp recipients are simply too dumb, or at least lack the self-control, to spend their benefits wisely. Since he himself can't go into Costco without buying a 25 gallon jar of olives, it obviously means that poor people won't be able to do so, either.
I could go on for pages, dissecting this mans logic, but I don't need to. Because he is wrong. I know this because I am on food stamps, and I plan on using them to purchase Quinoa, frozen vegetables, and possibly coffee. I will not buy "four pounds of red king crab for $99.99," because I am not an idiot.

Unfortunately, this attitude towards Food Stamp users is quite prevalent. There is a strange assumption amongst the general population that people who use food stamps are lazy, fat, and stupid. The New York Times had an interesting "debate" about this in December.  - I use quotations because everyone seems to agree. The second paragraph of the introduction sums it up nicely:

If people buy fresh vegetables or other relatively expensive though nutritious foods, they are considered to be living high on the hog at the taxpayers’ expense. But if they buy cheap foods like hot dogs they are criticized for poor health habits.

 Imagine you are feeding a family of four - you jumped through all the hoops to get food stamps, you now have $22 a day to spend to feed your family. You also work two jobs, can't read English at all, get around on the bus or by walking, and are unfamiliar with most of the food you see in the grocery store. How do you feed your family? You find the cheapest, most filling foods you can find, that take the least amount of time to prepare, or that your kids can prepare on their own while you are at work. So: hot dogs, canned soup, microwavable meals if your third grader can read the directions.

We need to teach people how to get the best nutrition for their dollars. We need to teach people how to cook with the food available to them - whether you came from Mexico, Thailand, or India, the food on the grocery store shelves is not going to look friendly to you. We need people to understand that sugary breakfast cereals and soda are not foods that will help them get through their day, no matter what they see in the advertisements.

The PTA at my school is starting a schoolyard garden, something I think all schools need, especially low-income schools. Students and their parents being involved and educated about gardening is how we start a food revolution - and that's what we all need, whether we are on public assistance or not.


**Edited to add:
I just found this article about the United Way Challenge at the Seattle Times website. I almost feel like the people who are "taking the challenge" aren't taking it seriously. They are worried about entertaining? First of all - it's totally possible. My best friend came over for breakfast this morning. Also, why do you think potlucks were invented? Second of all - when you are living off of an income that qualifies you for food stamps, you're probably not worried about hosting the neighborhood cocktail party.

It's beginning to look a lot like... the Pacific Northwest.

It's that time of year. And, as excited as I am for snow and lights and (gluten-free) cookies, I'm not talking about Christmas.
I'm talking about the bad time.
The time of year where AmeriCorps members begin to realize they will have no money to buy Christmas presents for friends and family. When many members just spent their first Thanksgiving away from home. Also, the time of year, in this part of the world, where we get up in the dark and get home in the dark. We haven't seen the sun in what seems like years, and it's starting to get cold.
How do we get through this time of year? With good friends and family. We try to shrug off the fact that we will not be buying gifts for everyone we want to buy gifts for. My friends and family are getting homemade gifts - hats, scarves, gloves, and pickles that I made this summer. The good thing about the current economy is that everyone is cutting back, so I don't feel so bad, but it's still frustrating.

We had our first snow of the season on Sunday. Today school started 2 hours late because of icy roads. I still nearly died getting my car out of my driveway. You would think that, this far north, this city would have better plans for bad weather. At least they have snowplows now - three years ago the city all but shut down for a week due to snow, because, yeah - the city didn't own any snowplows. Now the snow is melting, they are calling this horrible stuff falling from the sky "freezing rain." I parked my car at the top of the hill and walked down to my house, and I felt like I was on Deadliest Catch - the frozen water pelting my face, trying desperately not to fall on my butt (at least I didn't have to worry about the frozen ocean...)
One of my team members is from Florida and had literally never seen snow before. Sorry, Kristine, winter is not all that pretty here. It's mostly wet and grey. As someone who grew up here, I am used to it, but it still gets me down a little. I am trying to focus on the good things - I like my co-workers, I have great friends, I have a fun little Christmas tree and holiday music to listen to. Seeing my students, even the ones who can be frustrating, always brightens my day.
So, although I may not be able to literally walk on the sunny side of the street, I'll be busy finding the metaphoric sunshine these next few weeks. Or months.

Thanks.

I don't usually post blogs from school, but I wanted to share this. Today, the director of the Heritage Flight Museum forwarded me an email that she got from one of the soldiers we sent letters to in October.

"I got the letters in the mail and they were fantastic. Especially now that Afghanistan is the big topic, its great to know that people back home are still thinking about deployed soldiers. I took some down to our CP and everyone thought they were great. I'm glad though that this time there wasn't glitter available, like there was last time. Please send everyone involved my thanks for their time, effort, and thoughts for everyone over here."

It's great to know that something so simple is such a big deal to them. (Also - even soldiers know that glitter is the herpes of crafting.)
Again, this isn't about supporting or opposing a war, it's about remembering that there are people, young people, in a dangerous place far from home.
We will be making Christmas/Holiday cards to send over at the open house later this month. I'm thinking of also finding a small gift for the kids to make and send. Something to send a little cheer.

....and I'm back!

Sometimes, a person just needs a little break.
I have seven blog entries saved that started as great ideas, and fell flat on their faces about two paragraphs in. Things just weren't clicking. So I stopped trying.
But, the break's over now. And here I am, back in the blogosphere.

I am incredibly lucky to have a family friend who is a life coach. A few weeks ago, I posted something on my Facebook about "Trying to figure out what to do with my life." She sent me a message offering to help.
So, last week, I had a session with a life coach.
It was fantastic. I had no idea what to expect, as the only place I had ever heard of a life coach was on the FX show Nip/Tuck. As is to be expected with that show, serious drama revolved around the character. Thankfully, Page is nothing like that.
She had me chart out how I felt about different aspects of my life, and then we discussed what I can do to raise up the ones that I marked as being low. I feel good about my friends and family, as well as my health - now that I've figured out I have a wheat allergy, I don't think I've ever felt healthier... but, the remainder of my life needs a little work.
Instead of saying "you need to do this and this and this to improve your life," we had a discussion about why I don't feel positive about those certain aspects of my life, and what I can do to improve them.
For example: Self-Growth. I am a person who loves to learn things. Right now, I feel like I am learning a lot about bureaucracy and passive-aggressiveness in the workplace. That is not the kind of thing I want to learn about. So, we decided that I set aside some time in my week to learn things. To read a book about a subject I find interesting, or to attend a class, or even to talk to my friends about what they are learning in school. I am also going to set aside some time to create art - crochet, paint, collage, whatever. I bought a book the other day called "The Big Ass Book Of Crafts," and it's awesome. If you know me, you will probably end up with a gift or two from this book.
Then we discussed career. As much as I love what I am doing, as much as I love working with these kids and watching them learn and grow, I sometimes feel like my career is stagnant. I am working the exact same job, for the exact same (tiny!) living stipend as I did when I graduated from college, three years ago. I do not know what I want to be when I "grow up." I thought I knew, and I have some ideas, but nothing definite. I am pretty sure I want to go to grad school... but no idea what I want to study.
The reality check here, was: It's ok. I'm twenty-five years old. It's ok to not have it figured out yet. Even the people who look like they have it figured out at twenty-five probably don't. So, I got another assignment. Leave my house and research things. Jobs that interest me. Graduate programs that interest me. Other opportunities. I have to leave my house, which is good because I am much too easily distracted, especially when I'm surrounded by things that "must" get done.
I was also assigned the "job" of taking at least a 30 minute walk every day. I've found some good places to walk even when it is dark (which happens at about 4pm!), and have had the added bonus of getting to see everyone's holiday lights go up.
So, yeah. I'm lucky. Not only do I have family who are willing to help me out, I have friends - from all walks of life - who are willing to do the same. That's the most important thing, right?

National Service (in which I might get a bit political)

Veteran's Day honors the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. Many of those veterans went to war for our country, but many of them served in times of peace. My dad is a veteran. Several of my friends are veterans. I even have several friends who are currently serving in the military.
No matter what you think about this "war" that our country is currently involved in, there are still thousands of men and women who are a long way from home, in some pretty scary places, in the name of the USA, and in the name of the freedoms that we enjoy every day — even (especially!) the freedom to disagree with what our government is doing.
Last Wednesday, on Veteran's Day, the Heritage Flight Museum where I volunteer had free admission, activities, and fly-bys by several of the historic war planes that the museum owns. For a few hours in the morning, a local radio station had a live broadcast from the museum, inviting listeners to call in and share stories of service. My part of the event was inviting kids to make cards for a local soldier who is currently serving his third tour in Iraq. This is a program that the previous education director started, and something that I feel is worth continuing.

(Picture by Daniel Johnson, The Bellingham Herald)

In asking people to volunteer at the museum with me, I have gotten a (to me) suprising amount of negative response. People have told me "I just want to distance myself from anything that has to do with the war."
This response confuses the heck out of me. I don't care what you feel about the war, we are writing letters to a young man (my age) who is a long, long way from home. The letters from the kids say things like "I hope you are safe," and "you must miss your mom a lot." If you want to connect these statements - which are written by seven year olds - to a view on the war, to me they seem more anti-war than pro-war. I see nothing pro-war about wanting someone's son to get home safe.

The museum tries to be very clear that it is not a political entity. It is not a military museum. It does not support or oppose the war - it is a nonprofit museum dedicated to the history of American aviation. The thing about American aviation, though, is that a lot of it was developed by the military. Thus, we have a lot of warbirds. Plus, they are pretty awesome:

The way I see it, I am serving my country, for the second year. I am in National Service. I am doing it to help others, to work for what I believe in (education), and, honestly, because the government is giving me a (very) little money to use towards furthering my education. People who join the armed services - another form of National Service - do it to help others, to get an education, to work for what they believe in (such as democracy, human rights, and freedom), and so the government will help them pay for their education. We're really not so different.
But there are differences. I have a family who knows I am safe. They might not get to communicate with their families for weeks at a time. No one shoots guns at me or plants bombs where my car might be driving. So when I can help children make cards to send to someone my own age, who is thousands of miles from home, I jump at the opportunity.

Surviving on a Serving budget

One of the best workshops I took at the SERVES conference was on living well on an AmeriCorps Budget, presented by Washington State University Extension. As an AmeriCorps State member, I make $1050 a month before taxes. Not a lot. Any little bit of money I can save is worth it.

I am always worried that budget workshop teachers are going to tell me to give up having any sort of fun, ever, so I was pleasantly surprised when the first thing the presenter had us do was write down our top ten things we love to do. We marked the ones that cost $5 or more at a time, whether we do them with others or alone, and when we did the activity last. My top 10 things were this:

1. Go to the Movies
2. Go out to dinner
3. Go out for drinks
4. Go out for coffee
5. Watch TV
6. Hike
7. See live music
8. Read
9. Cook
10. Make things/crafts

We then looked over our lists and evaluated them. I like to go out. I like to spend time with my friends and do social things. I also like my alone time (reading). Half of my things often cost $5 or more at a time.

She then had us look at our lists and think about any changes we could make. If I cooked more and went out to dinner less, I would probably save money, especially since I get $200 in food stamps a month. I could invite friends over and have just as much fun. Same goes for getting coffee. I can at least get tea or an Americano instead of a latte.

Going out for drinks and seeing live music go hand-in-hand, as most shows I want to see are at the local bars. I’m not willing to give up on live music, but I can definitely budget myself and even not drink (shocking a concept as that seems).

I really liked that we were not told to give up the things we like doing, and instead we brainstormed how to still do them and afford to live.

We next talked about our expenses: fixed expenses are rent, bills, and car payment – things you absolutely have to pay. Flexible expenses are things that can change: gas and power bills (use CFL bulbs!), food and drink, putting gas in your car, and entertainment. There are also periodic expenses, like holiday gifts, birthdays, and vacations. She suggested figuring out how much you need to save, dividing it by 12, and making that amount a fixed expense. That way when December rolls around, you have been saving for gifts all year. (The same goes for taxes!)

When you subtract your expenses from your net (after tax) income, if you’re like me and most other AmeriCorps members who were in the workshop, you come up with a negative amount. Unfortunately, we are people and not the federal government, so we can’t operate our lives with a negative income.

The solution?

Increase Income or Decrease Spending.

I already figured out some good ways to decrease my spending – cook at home, don’t spend $20 at the bar, etc. I could also give up my Netflix account or my internet, but neither of those ideas sound like worthwhile sacrifices.

Therefore, I’m working on ways to increase my income. I already baby-sit for one local family, I’m sure I could find more gigs. I am thinking about making canvas grocery bags and selling them online or at my school. I have thought about offering my services as a tutor or an editor for college students. I got good grades in Theatre History! And I still have all my notes. I’ve been crocheting a lot as well and thought about either selling my creations or teaching crochet classes.

Do you have any ways that you bring in extra money? What about tricks to decrease your spending? I have looked into some online jobs but most of them seem very sketchy.

**Edited to add: You know that internet I refuse to give up? It hasn't worked in two days, so I'm posting this while sitting at The Woods Coffee shop. Drinking a $3 Americano. At least it's got the prettiest view of any coffee shop around. I'm watching the rain fall over the bay.

Auto-addiction

Today's lesson in frugality is: Stick up for yourself.
This applies to every aspect of your life, but specifically to car repair.
The majority of Americans can't repair their own cars. When I drove Volkswagens from the 80s, me, my friends, or my dad could pretty much fix anything that was wrong with them. Unfortunately, with newer cars the most I can do is change the oil and the filters. 
So, when my Ford Focus wouldn't start on Friday night, I had it towed to the local Ford dealership - Diehl Ford in Bellingham, WA. 
To make a long, frustrating story short, the dealership quoted me a price for the car I couldn't afford on my AmeriCorps budget. When a tow truck (sent by my insurance company) came to take the car to another repair shop, Deihl wouldn't release the car to the tow truck driver because they said I owed $120 for "diagnostics." After several back and forth phone calls, John in the service department yelled at me, refused to let me speak to his manager, and actually called me a liar. 
After work, I showed up at the dealership and met with the General Manager, Mike Diehl. He was very polite, and definitely upset that his employee treated me in the manner he did. He apoligized and offered to do the repairs for $100 less than what they originally quoted me. This is still more than the second shop, and I refused. Mike went back to get my keys from them, and the the service people had a brief pow-wow with him and agreed to do the repairs for the price the second shop quoted me. I made sure to get it in writing from Mike Diehl.
I picked my car up today and paid the price that I was promised. I am happy that my car is fixed, but still amazed that someone in customer service would speak to an employee like that.
The lesson? Don't back down, and stick up for yourself. If I had given in, I would have paid them $120 for doing nothing. I will never do business with them again, given the way their service department treated me. I have worked many retail and customer service jobs, and I can't fathom what would make a person in a service job feel that they can talk to a customer that way. He actually called me a liar! I am still in shock. 

So, when getting repairs done on a car (or anything) - here are my "frugal" rules:1) Shop around. Find the best price. Tell the repairmen/women what the best price you found was.
2) Stick up for yourself.
3) Do your research. Google is your friend - find out how much the parts needed are, figure out what the repair should cost.
4) Stick up for yourself. (Have I mentioned that already?)
5) Get all promises in writing. Otherwise there is no way to prove what they said to you.
6) If you aren't getting what you need, there is always someone higher up you can talk to. 
7) It's okay to cry. I did. But then take a breath, channel that emotion into rightous anger and, yes: stick up for yourself.



I apologize for this entry being about such a frustrating personal experience, but I feel like it is a good lesson for all of us who drive. I personally am rethinking my whole reliance on my car after this. It only rains 80% of the year here, who needs a car?