My friends started an interesting experiment, dubbed "The Lenten Experiment" (you can follow LaVonn'es entries about it at Lively Dust blog). The general point is to try to live at poverty (ie food stamp) level for the 40 days of Lent. In Illinois, that comes to about $77/ week for a family of two adults.
My partner and I have been participating, and I have been largely in charge of buying the food we will eat, while trying to make the healthiest, most frugal choices possible. Last week we started out ahead, by getting a week's worth of groceries for $45. This week, I decided I wanted to buy a few healthy, organic items at Whole Foods. If I could've found these items (spelt bread and spelt pasta) at any other store, I would've bought them elsewhere. I bought one pound of spelt pasta, a 24 oz. loaf of spelt bread and a pound of fresh peanut butter. The total cost for these three items? "$15.00!!
Realizing that I had spent about 20% of our weekly allottment, I detoured over to Aldi to stop the bleeding. For $45, I bought several bags of food, including meat, fish, fresh vegetables, dried fruit, oatmeal and ice cream treats. Yes, I had to bag it myself, but that was a small price to pay for more food and reasonable prices.
When I was checking out at Whole Foods, I noticed a middle eastern man in front of me buying 2 gallons of organic milk for $5.99 a piece. I had to laugh when I spotted him 15 minutes later in the same aisle with me at Aldi. Maybe that's the winning strategy: buy a few healthier items at Whole Foods and the like, and supplement with Aldi staples for the rest. There is a way to do this and not spend a fortune. But we also have the choice to go one place or another, or spend a little more if we need to. Many don't. And while we're at it, who ARE these people who can afford to do all their shopping at Whole Foods??
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thank you, Bobby Jindal
Okay, this is almost too easy. Child's play. Speaking of child, I felt like a first grader being read to, listening to Jindal's speech last night. The man was downright creepy in his delivery and even more disturbing in the points he was trying to make. Once again, he marched out the tired and now irrelevant lines about government waste and corruption. He implied that the Gulf coast would be better off without government assitance, instead of accurately stating that it was one party's particular incompetence and insensitivity that led to the Katrina disaster. Thank God he's learned his lesson about all that government aid and is turning down the next dollars intended for his state's poor and needy.
This is the Republican smartboy. He's a Rhodes scholar. He's the future of the Republican party, by all accounts. Can't you just see it in 2012--Jindal/Palin, Palin/Jindal or as Paul Krugman referred in a related context: Beavis and Butthead.
This is the Republican smartboy. He's a Rhodes scholar. He's the future of the Republican party, by all accounts. Can't you just see it in 2012--Jindal/Palin, Palin/Jindal or as Paul Krugman referred in a related context: Beavis and Butthead.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Rick Santelli's Rant
Yesterday on CNBC, reporter Rick Santelli went off on a tyrade about the housing bailout plan. As he stood on the floor of the CBOE in Chicago, he managed to yell loud enough to attract the attention and vocal support of the people working around him. He had nothing positive to say about Obama's plan, and compared the US to Cuba on the cusp of the communist revolution. What was most interesting to me was his proclamation at the end that the poeple behind him represented "a statistical cross section of America".
Who works at the CBOE? Who were the people standing behind him hooting their support? You got it--white guys in their mid-30s. No person of color, no women, no person over 40. This is Rick's "cross section". These are people who are extremely well paid. They get benefits and perks that most of us can only imagine. The point is not whether they deserve what they get, but whether they have a clue as to what the rest of America's workers are up against. All they know is that they don't want someone else getting a hand from the government for signing on to a mortgage they now can't afford.
I've no doubt some people just plain overspent and some never had the funds or the discipline or experience to pay a monthly mortgage. Do I want to bail them out, when I have been very disciplined and played by the rules? Not exactly. But I didn't want to bail out the banks and wealthy CEOs either, and I did. We all did. We have come to a place in this country where we allow the expressions of contempt for the common man to stand without challenge. We talk about pay cuts for the auto workers, but say nothing about the pay for the average worker on Wall Street. Those who benefit from this mindset (the banks, traders, financial advisors, and yes, the CNBC reporters) cry "Communism!" "Socialism!" in an effort to scare us all from seeing the truth. "Pay no attention to that rich white guy behind the curtain. Let's kick the common man while he's down!" What is fair for one should be fair for all. I don't like bailouts at all, and wish none of them had happened. But now that we've taken this road, we can't use it to continue the Bush policies of benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor. The election was a referendum on that policy.
Who works at the CBOE? Who were the people standing behind him hooting their support? You got it--white guys in their mid-30s. No person of color, no women, no person over 40. This is Rick's "cross section". These are people who are extremely well paid. They get benefits and perks that most of us can only imagine. The point is not whether they deserve what they get, but whether they have a clue as to what the rest of America's workers are up against. All they know is that they don't want someone else getting a hand from the government for signing on to a mortgage they now can't afford.
I've no doubt some people just plain overspent and some never had the funds or the discipline or experience to pay a monthly mortgage. Do I want to bail them out, when I have been very disciplined and played by the rules? Not exactly. But I didn't want to bail out the banks and wealthy CEOs either, and I did. We all did. We have come to a place in this country where we allow the expressions of contempt for the common man to stand without challenge. We talk about pay cuts for the auto workers, but say nothing about the pay for the average worker on Wall Street. Those who benefit from this mindset (the banks, traders, financial advisors, and yes, the CNBC reporters) cry "Communism!" "Socialism!" in an effort to scare us all from seeing the truth. "Pay no attention to that rich white guy behind the curtain. Let's kick the common man while he's down!" What is fair for one should be fair for all. I don't like bailouts at all, and wish none of them had happened. But now that we've taken this road, we can't use it to continue the Bush policies of benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor. The election was a referendum on that policy.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Recession By The Numbers
The green line is the current recession. Perhaps the Limbaugh Republicans didn't get this memo. They have been too busy in the Senate chambers arguing that their way, the way they've managed the economy for the last 8 years, is the best way to proceed. Uh huh.
Who won the election on what issue?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Worst Start Ever??
On Morning Joe this morning, Joe Scarborough called on Peggy Noonan to confirm his conclusion that Obama's start as President is "the worst ever". Peggy paused, turned her head to the side to suggest she was deep in thought, and then pronounced that William Henry Harrison had a worse start--he died! She then added, "its pretty bad."
Did we all really think Democrats and Republicans were going to join hands and sing "Kumbaya" in the Oval Office? Did we really think President Obama could tame this self serving rabble in a matter of two weeks, much less two terms?
I don't think of this as a bad start, or the "worst start". I think of it as the Presidential version of the New Hampshire primary. President Obama is taking his lumps and taking notes at the same time. He was not damaged by losing New Hampshire, he got stronger and smarter. What makes him different is that he learns from his mistakes!! I'll take wisdom and growth any day over arrogance and contempt for knowledge.
Did we all really think Democrats and Republicans were going to join hands and sing "Kumbaya" in the Oval Office? Did we really think President Obama could tame this self serving rabble in a matter of two weeks, much less two terms?
I don't think of this as a bad start, or the "worst start". I think of it as the Presidential version of the New Hampshire primary. President Obama is taking his lumps and taking notes at the same time. He was not damaged by losing New Hampshire, he got stronger and smarter. What makes him different is that he learns from his mistakes!! I'll take wisdom and growth any day over arrogance and contempt for knowledge.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Blago's Pants On Fire!
"I haven't heard that tape," "I haven't seen that," "I can't comment on that." But when he's pressed for details, he recalls everything else about what he said or did to 'advocate for healthcare', 'save Wrigley Field', etc.
Lies, lies, lies. Its interesting that when pressed, he does not deny certain accusations. He's being a bit too clever here. Blago is quite simply a politician in the lowliest form of the word. He's a narcissist who loves to see himself, hear himself, hear others talk about him. He's so in love with himself that he wants all of the tapes played for the public simply because he's gushing over the idea of everyone listening to him--even if the tapes reveal what a slime he is!
Too bad the rest of the country only sees him in the context of the lies he tells now and the spin he puts on his record. And we're still paying this guy's salary!
Lies, lies, lies. Its interesting that when pressed, he does not deny certain accusations. He's being a bit too clever here. Blago is quite simply a politician in the lowliest form of the word. He's a narcissist who loves to see himself, hear himself, hear others talk about him. He's so in love with himself that he wants all of the tapes played for the public simply because he's gushing over the idea of everyone listening to him--even if the tapes reveal what a slime he is!
Too bad the rest of the country only sees him in the context of the lies he tells now and the spin he puts on his record. And we're still paying this guy's salary!
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