Hello. My name is_______

OK, so I’m the last person you’d expect to start a blog. I don’t even really know what a blog is, I just typed in ‘blog’ and it led me here. (Blog is a funny word, isn’t it?) I don’t have a Facebook page (I find it creepy), I don’t know what a twitter is and I still have no idea how my computer can take a photograph (where’s the lens cap?!) But I do have a lot of good ideas, ideas that I feel other people could benefit from. Many of you are struggling with the current state of the economy. Maybe you lost your job, maybe your paycheck is getting smaller and smaller, maybe you’re just downright scared. I’m no expert, I’m just human. And I simply won’t let the bigger picture stand in the way of a good life. I strongly believe you can create a great something from a sad, little nothing and I only hope I can help a little. I’m a wife, a mom and CEO of my family. It’s part of my job to give my boys the best. And I love my job. Call me old-fashioned but I love keeping a clean house, running errands and putting food on the table. I take pride in it. But let me get one thing straight- This is the life I have chosen, not what my husband or society has chosen for me.
My husband, (let’s call him G), and I have always appreciated great food and wine. We’ve worked for some of the best chefs in the country and that’s how we learned to bring fine cuisine into our kitchen. And we got pretty good at it. Then we had a baby and everything changed. I know what you’re thinking…”So you have no time to make those complicated meals, now its microwave time!” Nope. (But I have always loved the microwave) What changed is that we really had to cut down on our grocery bills in order to pay for all those baby things. (Diapers. Lots of diapers. My kid poops a lot.) After we were struggling for awhile to make ends meet, G (the guy with all the money, “G-Money”, if you will) presented me with a budget. (A what?!?!) I was only allowed $100 a week to spend on groceries, diapers, gas, etc. (not as a punishment, but because it was neccessary). You see, we vowed to stop using our credit cards all together and only use the money that we actually had. (Gasp!) We wanted to do away with our credit card debt and start saving for a house. The budget amount may seem like a long-shot, but it really hasn’t been difficult. My mother taught me to ‘never waste toast’ so I have a natural lean towards thriftyness. And I do love a challenge. So I began to clip coupons, do lots of research, pay attention to the weekly sales at my grocery store (Harris Teeter #268 – shout out!) and really plan ahead. I refuse to let my family’s lavish foodstyle go sour! And now, after keeping this up for the better part of a year, we are eating better meals, having more fun, and not stressing over money.
How did I do it? Follow me, my friends, and I will show you the way. My aim is to walk you through my weekly shopping routine and meal plan with tips and shortcuts that I believe anyone can use. And, because I never learned how to stop talking, I will also probably just write about being a mom and a wife and how deeply hard, frustrating and utterly rewarding it can be.