I don’t know how many times I’ve tried googling an answer to how to make a good pot of coffee. Google usually doesn’t let me down in the cooking department, but I’ve yet to find a satisfactory answer to this simple question: How many scoops do you put in to make a full pot of coffee?

I didn’t enjoy coffee until I saw a demonstration by at a Bulletproof trade show very recently, so it’s a life skill I never learned. We’ve always had a coffee maker for when we’ve had coffee drinking guests, but after making a pot once, our friend kindly suggested he make another (I either made it too strong or too weak – can’t remember now). I now let friends brew their own or, since we live within walking distance of a Starbucks, our real coffee snob friends can just go buy their own. Problem solved.

Anyway, suddenly today I’m really in the mood for a cup of coffee. I just don’t know how to make it (nor do I want to pay $4 for a cup). Can someone help a girl out?

This time last year when we were setting our budget based off of Craig‘s new teaching position, we estimated $300/month for gasoline for two vehicles. This was more than enough and often we had $50 or more left over in that category (which quickly got absorbed into grocery money). When I got us caught up last week after taking a two-month break from balancing the checkbook, I noticed that we’d been spending $400/month on gasoline due to the increased prices.

I’ve never before considered rationing the amount of trips based on how much gas money we budgeted for the month, but it’s beginning to happen now. We cancelled a Florida vacation this summer simply because of the cost of driving there and back. When we filled up last week, our goal was to make it one whole week on those tanks – and we made it, but it was close. Even still, filling two cars up once a week every week is going to be more than $300/month – closer to the $400 a month we’ve been averaging lately.

Craig mentioned today that he heard a story that gasoline could reach $12 a gallon. Seriously? Do I just have my head in the sand here? Why in the world is gas predicted to reach that high? And if/when it does, what is our response?

For sure it means not driving as much anymore, but realistically what do we cut out? The girls won’t be going to the two-day school anymore, which will save four one hour drives each week (it took about 25 minutes to get there, 25 to get back, and I did this twice each time they went to school; if I was the lunch helper, I did it three times on that day). Craig is obligated to drive to work (that’s a non-negotiable), though we can maybe do better about trying to set up a carpool with nearby teachers.

I’m wondering if $12 gas (or let’s be honest, even $5 gas) will make things like the bus or Metrolink raise their prices, too. Yes, I considered parking the van in the garage and locking it in there for a while and taking the bus everywhere. My problem with that is that it would cost us 5 or 6 tickets every time which is almost as, if not more, cost-prohibitive than driving.

I can figure out that we need to say no to extras, but what about the things we consider non-extras? When do we say we can’t afford to drive to the grocery store, to the doctor, to church, to see friends? Will it come down to filling up the van one time each month and that’s it – when it’s out, it’s out?

I’m know I’m not the only one feeling this pinch. What are the rest of you considering regarding these projected (and real) increases at the pump?

I go through seasons when I’m more disciplined in certain areas than others. Sometimes I go through seasons when I’m disciplined in everything all at once (this is rare), and other times I go through seasons when I’m disciplined in nothing at all (this is sadly more common than I care to admit).

The past two months I haven’t exactly kept careful accounting of our finances. When life gets nuts, record keeping is the first thing to go, closely followed by all resolve not to eat my weight in chocolate-covered pretzels. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I don’t know.

Anyway, last week I balanced the checkbook. This was a bigger task than it sounds because I never got around to balancing it in April and here we are in the second half of May already. We had a larger-than-normal amount of unplanned for/unbudgeted expenses come up that were necessary (earnest money, anyone?). So when I’ve not been keeping careful records and I know of several extra expenses that have come up, it makes me tense because I’m not really sure where the bank is going to land when it’s all said and done.

Amazingly (or providentially, depending upon your worldview – I’ll take both, thank you), we also had a goofy amount of extra income (economic stimulus plan, anyone?). When I got the numbers up to date, we were exactly where we should be to enter into the second half of May after a full paycheck for Craig. I know – it was totally the Lord.

So, up to date and fully aware that it was a miracle that I didn’t bounce anything this month, I resolved to do a better job sticking to the grocery budget. This is where I get all smart like this and where you say, “It took her 11 years to figure this out? And why am I reading this goofy blog again?”

I’ve always been a stockpile shopper; that is, I find the good deals and buy a lot of them. And in doing so, I almost always go over our budget because the good deals I find aren’t always what we need right now, so what we need right now also gets purchased along with the stockpile of good deals.

This month I came up with a new plan: I took the allotted grocery money and divided it up into four weeks. I then found the one store with the best deals, located the appropriate coupons, and went to the store knowing I had only one-fourth of the month’s budget to spend. My goal was this: buy enough milk, cereal, fruit, lunch, and dinner items to last us seven days, then get as many good deals as possible with the leftovers of that fourth of the budget.

You want to know why this was so amazing? Because in the past when I stockpiled at the beginning of the month, I usually bought enough milk, cereal, lunch, and fruit to last only one week anyway, with the rest of the month’s budget getting swallowed up on other stuff. Now I know I can go to the store again on Thursday and replenish those things without overspending the budget. Also, I made it pretty clear to everyone that the milk I bought had to last one whole week and if we ran out of anything we needed before the next Thursday, we would just need to do without it until then.

Everyone got this. They understood the need to ration things, and knowing the stretch point was only seven days instead of thirty made it easy to do so. By George, I think I’ve finally got it.
Is it any coincidence that the clearing of my perspective and rationale is happening during our last week of school? I don’t think so.

I don’t think so.

First the good: I cleaned off my desk tonight.

Now the bad: Everything that was on my desk is now on the table.

In other news, we heard back from the bank today. This process is going to take a while as they aren’t playing fair. They had the price of X listed on the house. We offered a substantial amount below X. They countered with a substantial amount above X. I didn’t even know it ever worked that way. They are smoking something if they think we’re biting on that bait and switch. We can’t afford X, let alone 30K above X. Craig is optimistic, though, and he’s ready to fight. I’m more in a pit of despair which manifests itself by cleaning, thus the desk shot above. Me in despair might be good for our house for a few days, but not for me for very long.

I’m not even sure why I’m this disappointed. Two weeks ago we hadn’t even thought about moving. We’re in a great rental in a great neighborhood and if we end up staying here it’s totally fine. Someone remind me of that, please.

Now then, back to my desk. I don’t know why I can’t keep this area clear. I have a piling disease. Anyone make a pill for that?