Marti Stanley’s Web Log

Living on a Budget

January 28, 2009 · Filed under saving green

As you may have read on here before, we are a family who, like many others, live on a budget. We have recently changed our budgeting ways mostly due to the fact that we wanted healthier food options on our menu. (We plan a weekly dinner menu.) Let’s just face it; it costs more to eat healthier food. That isn’t to say that the most expensive items or organic items are the healthiest, it just means that I can’t purchase healthy food for the same price as I can typical boxed dinners. So instead of allowing ourselves $400 a month to cover everything but gasoline and utilities, we now allow ourselves $700 a month to cover everything but utilities. That $700 covers gasoline, groceries, prescriptions, clothing, pet costs, household items, etc.

I know, $700 a month sounds like a lot, but when you start purchasing local fruits, veggies, honey and eggs. And then go to the store to purchase organic fair trade flour, sugar, corn meal, etc. your grocery expenses go up. To purchase a gallon of organic locally processed milk it’s $8. Four sticks of organic butter is $4. A 5-LB bag of fair trade flour is $4.59. And to purchase local pastured eggs its $4 per dozen. It just costs more. Making a loaf of bread from scratch or pizza from scratch can cost more than the ones you can easily purchase at the grocery store too. It just costs more to eat healthier. At the end of the month, usually the last week, depending on how “good” we’ve been, we might have to resort to purchasing regular milk at $2.50 a gallon and margarine at $.99, but that’s OK. At least we’re eating healthier most of the month and we’re sticking to the budget we’ve set for ourselves.

I want to add an insert here to say that this is a flexible budget for our family. This month for instance, we purchased our new digital converter boxes and had an unexpected vet visit with medication and still stayed within our budget. It’s flexible and if there’s extra money left over it can go into savings at the end of the month.

How did we come up with this budget plan? In planning our budget we first wrote down our monthly income in one column and all of our monthly expenses (utilities, student loan, car loan, car insurance, taxes, and cc/savings) in another column. *Since Travis is considered self-employed we pay self-employment taxes each month. And yes, we added a savings row so we could begin putting a little money into our savings account each month. Beside each utility I inserted what the average cost is for us. And beside the others I inserted the regular payment or (in the case of the cc/savings) what I want to put toward that each month. What we had left over was $700, which is enough to fund our “living expenses” for one month.

How we put this into practice: Before starting this we saved up the $700 estimated monthly living expense. At the beginning of the month we took out the $700 in cash that we had saved the month prior. Taking the money out and turning it into cash helps ensure that we don’t spend more than what we want to spend and are able to control the money inside our account better (so we don’t dive into the savings money). (It helps us ration the money if we get some larger bills like $50s, that way we are aware of when we have spent $50 at a time and don’t run out before the end of the month.) Then our paychecks are put in the bank to cover our utilities, loan payments, etc. and what is left over? $700 which would stay in the bank until the beginning of the next month and would be turned into cash to serve as our living expenses for the next month. (Hopefully that didn’t sound too confusing.) The amount left over at the end of the month will vary slightly as utilities vary from month to month, but it’s always something we CAN live off of.

For us this budget has helped ensure that we set aside money for what we really want to set aside money for. When we got into financial trouble last April we reacted quickly by putting our debt onto an interest free credit card and giving ourselves a very strict budget. It’s served us well, but was hard to keep. This is a more realistic goal for our family and it still allows us to pay off our debt before any interest begins to accrue. We will make our final payment in April on the cc and once it’s paid off we will add the money that we were putting toward that to our savings fund. (In case you weren’t a frequent reader last April when taxes were due, we were hit pretty hard. We assumed self-employment taxes were 7.1% (like employment tax), but it’s 15.35% and we had an unexpected out of network medical expense on top of that. We went from having no debt to being almost $9,000 in debt. So, as you can image, to be debt free again (other than Travis’ student loan and our car payment) is very exciting.)

*On a side note I would like to say that we turned all our insurance/hospital/doctor correspondence over to our insurance agent last week and we got three reimbursement checks from the company in the mail this week. Our health insurance company did over charge us for the miscarriage. (Of course, it still cost us a lot more than it should have (IMO). It was almost the cost of birthing a baby in network!)

Well, that’s our budget. It allows us freedom yet accomplishes it’s task. What works for your family?

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Eating Locally

January 27, 2009 · Filed under community, going green

If any of you are still out there, I’m back! And I have SO much to write about that I have decided to break it into various posts. Here’s the first, enjoy!

Over the Christmas break we took a lengthy car trip to visit family and decided to check out a book on cd to entertain us along the way. Our first selection (Hot, Flat, and Crowded) wasn’t available so our substitute pick was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It’s a very enlightening look at a family who decided they would, for one year, eat only what they grew or raised themselves, or what they could find locally that others had grown or raised. I tell you what, that family was impressive. After listening to their story I was almost motivated to move to farm house and start a garden and build a chicken coop in the backyard and milk a cow! Now I didn’t really do any of those things, but it was very inspiring to hear what is possible. The only thing they were able to do that I am afraid I could not do is slaughter turkeys. I would rather someone else kill it or just go without the meat.

Eating locally (aka a locavore) is something we really wanted to do as much as possible after listening to the reasoning explained in the book. For us, this means we hit our farmer’s market and make sure to buy from the certified “local” tent. (The Dallas Farmer’s Market is huge and sometimes vendors get their produce from other states.) So, we are purchasing local fruits, veggies, honey and eggs. [It has come to our attention that the nice brown cartons of FREE RANGE eggs at the grocery store are not all they are cracked up to be. In order to farmer's to mark their eggs FREE RANGE all they have to do is have one door in a large chicken house that is open during certain hours so the chickens have the opportunity to go outside. Research shows that chickens will try the door once and if it's not open they won't try it again. So they don't even try going out of the door during the few hours it's unlocked.] At our farmer’s market we have found a couple booths that sell pasture raise chickens. The chickens range freely on a pasture and the eggs are collected daily. They sell here for $4 a dozen. We also have six booths dedicated to pasteurized meat. These animals (cows, pigs, chickens, lambs, rabbits) are not treated with hormones or antibiotics and are fed grass, alfalfa, clover, etc. They eat what is on that land and are also given hay rations. The animals are not killed until they have lived out their life and have reproduced and so on…. These animals live a different life than most of the animals that now lay in your grocers’ freezer. *We haven’t’ ventured out into the world of meat yet. We are still vegetarian. The thought actually makes me a little queasy now. (It’s weird, I know!)

Another resource you might have in your area is the local co-op or CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In our local area, there is a 15 week CSA where you pay to the farmer a set amount of money up front (amount varies depending on the amount of food you need, i.e. individual or family). And for the next 15 weeks you receive fresh vegetables and breads from local farms and a local bakery. Directly from the farm to you. We haven’t tried this yet, but would love to give it a try.

Items we can’t find at our local farmer’s market we pick up at a local grocery store. If we had a true local grocery store then I would try shopping there, but we don’t (not that I know of at least), so I shop at our local neighborhood Kroger (plus, it’s in walking distance of the house). When purchasing dairy and produce items I now look at where the item came from. I now purchase milk based on which one was produced closest to our home. Hoping it is fresher and lacking extra preservatives, turns out that Borden’s is produced right here in Dallas.

We haven’t done this yet, but are considering making our own cheese. With a gallon of milk and two cheese making cultures we can make mozzarella in just 30 minutes. We weren’t able to find the cultures locally, but have found them online. There is a lady known as the Cheese Queen who has the 30 minute mozzarella recipe and sells the cultures along with other cheese making items. If we purchase this I will report back with our story, success or failure.

Some items we purchase are purchased simply because they are the only fair trade flour on the shelf or because they are the only organic option. When those options aren’t available and buying local isn’t an option, then best price usually wins. We’re still on a budget and counting every penny. But we have allowed ourselves more money for buying healthier food choices. We believe that eating healthier foods will serve our general health better and our attitudes better.

If you get the opportunity to read or listen to this book, it will make you think twice about what you are putting into your body and the effect it has on the world (especially the amount of American tax dollars spent to produce a cheaper product).

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Good Reads

November 7, 2008 · Filed under Politics

I have come across two blog posts that I consider to be good reads (time well spent) and wanted to pass them along. Two different angles with the same outcome.

Christine’s Blog Post

Bev’s Blog Post

Happy Reading!

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Health Insurance Overview

October 16, 2008 · Filed under Politics

A very short email conversation today is making me wonder if I understand the health care proposals of the presidential candidates properly. I am going to type out how I have understood the proposed health care plans and if I am incorrect, I would like for someone to help me understand them correctly. (Be patient with me and use small words! )

First off I would like to say that neither health care plan being offered is my first choice. If you’ve visited this site frequently then you’ve heard my rantings of true universal health care and how I long for thee. A time when everyone gets their choice of hospital and doctor, no bills come in the mail, no preexisting condition will limit you, preventative treatments are covered, health care personnel are treated well and compensated well, yet our pocket books will be padded a little since the whole country is one big pool. Ahh….those will be the days. Needless to say, that is not an option. But I will still dream of the day when health care will be a right to all and not a privilege. Until then I will try my best to stay focused on what is being offered. For obvious reasons this will just be a general overview of the options. I do not claim to know everything about both of the stances nor do I know all the answers. That’s the reason for this exercise, for me to have better clarity of the big picture. So again, if I’ve got it wrong, tell me!!!

Option 1: From the republican platform

A tax credit of $2,500 for an individual and $5,000 for a family will be provided each year. If you are receiving health coverage from your employer, your $2,500/$5,000 tax credit will go directly to your health care provider to cover your monthly premiums. Whatever is left over will be put in a health care savings account. You can pull money from that account to go toward deductibles, copays, and to offset the increase in taxes (since employer paid premiums will be taxed). If you have money leftover at the end of the year it can stay in that savings account (accruing a little interest) and whenever a medical expense arises it is there when you need it.

It has been suggested by “experts” that large corporate companies will keep providing the same health coverage they currently provide if McCain is elected into office. These same “experts” believe that many small businesses that do currently provide health coverage for their employees will drop their employee health coverages if McCain is elected into office. The tax credits the employees receive will allow them to purchase individual insurance on their own.

If an individual or couple is on Medicare or Medicaid they are not eligible to receive the tax credit. (Note that parents can still receive the tax credit if their children are on Medicaid as long as they (the parents) are not on Medicaid.) But if a pregnant woman is on Medicaid or if someone over 65 is on Medicare, they will not be eligible for the tax credit. (Due to the simple fact that those are government funded health care programs.)

McCain has said that he would deregulate the health care companies so that you can purchase policies across state lines. This will make the market more competitive and reduce the cost of monthly premiums. (I’m adding my two cents here, take it or leave it, I don’t care. If we deregulate health care the same way we deregulated Wall Street won’t this cause us more problems down the road? Don’t we need a checks and balance form of accountability?)

Since individual health care policies are hard for people to obtain since they have strict guidelines about preexisting conditions, McCain has said he would work with states to provide Guaranteed Access Plans (GAPs). These GAPs would be for those who have preexisting conditions and cannot get an individual coverage plan. It is also for those who get laid off from their jobs and need coverage. These insurance pools are considered to have much higher premiums compared to individual and group policies. Since these are considered “high risk pools” the GAPs are off set by government funding, which is estimated to cost as much as $100 billion per year.

Under this plan parents/guardians are not required to insure their children. Although each state will continue to have a Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHiPs) where low income families can afford to insure their children. This program will vary from state to state as it already does.

You do get to keep your current health insurance coverage (providing your employer continues to provide coverage). Remember not all small business’ will continue providing coverage if McCain is elected. It benefits the small companies best if their employees take the tax credit and purchase their own individual policy.

Employer paid premiums will be taxed. If you make $40,000 a year and your employer pays for your health insurance policy that is a $10,000 policy, then you will have to pay taxes on an income of $50,000 that year. For some people this might put them into a different tax bracket, making them pay higher taxes. And everyone high and low income people will pay the taxes on the full amount of their premiums, no discounts for those with a lower income.

Over time, the tax credit will not reflect the healthcare inflation, it is set to the Consumer Price Index. Health care inflation is generally more than the CPI. The “experts” mentioned above also worry that over time people who have opted for a cheaper individual policy might be in trouble later on down the road when insurance benefits decrease and the premiums increase, especially if they were to become sick. According to Consumer Reports, “The campaign would not estimate the price tag but says annual revenues would balance costs after 10 years. Others place the average annual cost in the first three years at $160 billion or more.”

Option 2: The democratic platform

For those who already have health care coverage, nothing will change except your monthly premium. Obama would help to lower that cost (although the amount or percentage of deduction is unknown). You would keep all your same doctors, hospitals, coverage policy, etc. Nothing but your monthly premiums being reduced financially would change.

For those without health coverage, he is offering a National Health Insurance Exchange policy, that is a federal health care pool like federal workers receive. This coverage would probably cost more than an individual policy (varies from person to person), but all policies have minimum standards that must be met, nobody will be declined, and your premium will not go up if you get sick. (Individual policy prices escalate with recurring illnesses. This policies premium would remain the same and so would the coverage when a major medical illness strikes.) This policy does include preexisting conditions at no added cost with no waiting period. It also includes preventative treatments, maternity and mental health care. Low income families would qualify for a subsidy or tax credit to help offset the cost. (This policy only gives subsidies to low income families so middle and high income families would not receive any financial assistance. Where McCain’s policy put high and low income families in the same bracket.) Those who are low income could have their children on a state CHiPs program and could receive subsidies for themselves. (i.e. Consumer Reports reported one low income family of four who’s children could be on CHiPs and the parents would pay $39/month each for their insurance premium after their subsidies.)

Obama does require all children to have insurance coverage. He is planning on expanding the eligibility guidelines on state CHiPs programs so they include a larger group of families. We don’t know how the government will enforce the mandatory insurance requirement.

Obama would like to cut coverage “loopholes” so people who get seriously ill can still seek treatment options such as chemo. He is implementing a minimum standard for all policies, not just the federal exchange policy.

There will be a subsidy or tax credit for small businesses that cannot afford to provide health care to their employees but would like to.

Big businesses that do not offer health benefits to their employees will be fined based on the number of employees they have. The money will go toward the National Health Insurance Exchange (NHIE) fund.

Over time, the NHIE policies will not rise due to major illness. According to Consumer Reports, “The campaign pegs the net taxpayer cost at $50 billion to $65 billion yearly; others think it could average $100 billion a year during the first three years.”

Both candidates

Both candidates would like to keep medical records online (electronic). This is so doctors can have easy and accurate access to each patients health records. Doctors will know allergies, past medical history, prescribed treatments, etc. quickly and accurately.

Both candidates want to lower costs of prescription drugs by encouraging more generic drugs be made available and at quicker rates. They will also make the market more competitive by allowing for medications to be purchased from other countries.

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Alright, that’s my perspective on the health care options. I don’t have a clue if I have everything right or not, but from the speeches, their online websites, and the November 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, this is what I’ve concluded. If you have corrections or additions please let me know.

*Two side notes: First one, I personally know three federal employees who do have the federal health insurance policy. All three did not have anything negative to say about the coverage. One mentioned the fact that due to being in good health, he probably pays for more coverage than he needs. One of my friends today mentioned her hubby’s uncle having federal insurance and not having a positive experience with it. Since this is a possible option for health coverage and you personally know someone with it, tell me their perspective. Personal experiences tell you more than reading guidelines and rules. They include items you might not think about or that aren’t mentioned in the basic overview writing.

**The second is a very sad side note: Millvina Dean, the last living Titanic survivor, who is currently 96, is having trouble paying for her medical expenses. Due to this financial struggle, she is selling the momentos from the day the Titanic sunk. The auction is in Devizes, England on Saturday. Guess there are other countries who need to improve their health care system too.

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Joe the Plumber

October 16, 2008 · Filed under Politics, Uncategorized

Matt Elliott shared this link on Facebook. It’s an article about everyone’s favorite plumber, who by the way is unlicensed…what? Enjoy!

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Meeting Christy

October 10, 2008 · Filed under birth

On Tuesday we met Christy Martin for the first time in person. She is at the moment our first choice of midwife for whenever we get prego. We got a tour of the birthing center and got to ask all the questions we could think of. (Which for me, was a lot!) And she in turn also got to ask us questions. After all, we were not only interviewing her, but she was interviewing us. She asked us why we were looking into a midwife and a homebirth. She wanted to know our expectations of future births and our experience of our previous birth. She was very good with Taylor and let her play and truly did not seem to be disturbed by her running around and singing or playing with a huge birthing ball or crawling onto a birthing chair, etc. She was very relaxed and stayed focused in on what my questions and concerns were. She listened, never checking her watch or looking around. She was great. She was younger than her picture portrayed, but I felt really comfortable with her and was amazed at how she answers the questions I had, especially in their simplicity, it all made perfect sense. It really made me realize how wonderfully perfect the design is of the human body.

After meeting with her, I have no worries if the cord is wrapped around the next babies neck. I know how often they listen to the heartbeat and how. I know how long they will let me go past my EDD. I have no doubt that the next birth will be worlds away from my first experience. I think I will be very informed of my options and educated prior to the birth on what to expect, how I will handle various situations, how she will handle situations, etc. I really feel comfortable with this.

As for the birthing center, it was really cute and I could see how it could feel like a family in a house. Even Taylor thought it was a house. When we left she said, “thank you for coming to my house”. (Yes, she said the wrong thing, it should have been “thank you for letting me come to your house,” but it was cute.) I thought it was good that they offer maternity yoga classes (very granola of them). I was happy and expected to see classes for breastfeeding and birthing classes so that wasn’t a surprise. They share their building with a chiropractic office. They have one side of the building and the chiropractic office has the other. That doesn’t bother me. And the fact that they encourage their mothers to go to a chiropractor during the pregnancy doesn’t bother me. I got adjustments into my third trimester with Taylor.

So, now we will just have to calculate how much everything will be since insurance companies view this center as “out-of-network”, that’s just our luck folks! But even if we pay the full amount ourselves without any help from the insurance company at least we know where our money is going. And it will still be cheaper than a hospital birth with our insurance coverage.

That was our first midwife/birth center experience. Now, it’s time for me to do some more research. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Burger King Commercial – Vote 2008

October 6, 2008 · Filed under Politics

During the premier episode of The Office I caught a commercial that stood out. It started out like a typical fast food commercial would. Especially a commercial coming from Burger King whose famous for it’s “have it your way” ads. It starts out showing people as they are ordering at a drive thru. Everyone has a specific request for the item they are ordering, “ketchup only, can you half the fries?, hold the onions, etc. (See how it sounds just like your typical “have it your way” Burger King commercial?) Then the screen reads “VOTE 2008″ just as the announcer says “Just as Burger King restaurant guests aren’t afraid to ask for what they want, so voters need to speak up for their choices.”

I have to say that ad caught me by surprise. It definitely got my attention and I have to say I don’t see this type of advertisement often. Usually companies who are spending big advertising bucks are spending it to advertise themselves, not advertise something else, and certainly not to advertise a human right. So the commercial has stayed with me and I have since discovered that Burger King has a website HaveItYourWay08.com which links to RockTheVote.com, a website where you can register to vote. (I’m very impressed). Then I stumbled upon this article which explains that Burger King also put out ads to vote during the 2004 election which featured well known celebrities encouraging everyone to vote. This year the burger chain doesn’t have celebrities but it does have voting polls on two major social websites, Facebook and MySpace, which could appeal to a variety of people.

The best quote and reason why is this one from Burger King Vice President of Marketing Impact, Brian Gies, “At its core, the Burger King brand promise is all about empowerment and choice, and there is no better time than a national election to reinforce the importance of exercising the ultimate choice—the right to vote.”

So what are you waiting on? Get out there and VOTE! And if you haven’t registered yet, it’s not too late in some states. In Texas, Monday will be the last day to register. Register, do your homework by researching the issues and the candidates, and then head out to the voting booth on November 4th.

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Cost Analysis

October 1, 2008 · Filed under menu

Here is the financial breakdown of our menu planning for October 1st through the 15th:

Breakfast: $13.10 total, 87 cents/day (for 3 people), 29 cents/meal

Lunch: $30.84 total, $2.06/day, 69 cents/meal

Dinner: $43.90 total, $2.93/day, 98 cents/meal

Snacks: $5.30 total, 35 cents/day

Grand Total: $93.14, $6.21/day, $2.07/person/day

So our grand total of $93.14 is within our budget. And I think it’s really good since we do have some pricey breakfast and lunch alternative meat items. The menu planning is working so far, we are excited dinner is already planned and excited to see the savings. Figuring out the cost insures that you make the effort to prepare meals at home. The difference is just crazy.

*I have to do a side note here since I am a beginner. Yes, $94 is good for half a months worth of food for 3 people. And even though that price includes oil, sweetener, butter, milk, eggs, etc., I know I still have a long way to go. Leah, who has four people to feed, managed to purchase all her October groceries (the whole month) for $133! Just giving credit where credit is due… And reminding myself (as well as others out there) that I am just beginning. I’ll get better with age. (That’s my goal at least!)

Have a good day everyone!

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Menu Planning

September 30, 2008 · Filed under menu

Alright. I am conforming. First Tracy had a menu by the week and now that Leah has a menu by the month and is proving to me how much money she’s saving and how stress-free it is to already have the meal selected, I have created a menu. (So this post might save you some green!) First I had to determine which method might work best for our family (planning by the week, by the month, etc.) I decided to try splitting the month in half. I have created a menu for the first half of October. If all goes as planned and we enjoy each of the meals, I will duplicate the menu for the second half of the month. We don’t mind eating the same meal twice in one month. And I will only have to menu plan once a month.

So I have created a menu for fifteen days and created my grocery shopping list. Tomorrow after story time at the library, I will purchase the needed groceries and see how our budget handles it. (I’ll update you on the cost.) So, here is the menu as it currently stands. (You will note two things. One is that breakfast and lunch items are purchased and each person gets to select what they want to eat each day. The second is that several of the meals are both easily made from scratch and come in convenient alternatives. I.e. pancakes from scratch or purchase the box mix; black eyed peas fresh, frozen, in the bag or in the can; pizza crust and sauce from scratch or box/can. I’m going with scratch on everything this month and see how it works out. I figured scratch is cheaper and better for you, but if it becomes stressful or time consuming we can easily switch.)

Here it is:

Breakfast options: oatmeal, eggs, cereal, fruit, toast, vausage (yes, we’re vegetarian, so we spell meat items funny)

Lunch sandwich options: pb&j, veggie burger, chickn sandwich, or prime burger All served with baked chips and a pickle. (Taylor likes chickn nuggets with mashed potatoes.)

Snacks: nuts, dried fruit, rice cakes, animal crackers

Dinner:

black-eyed peas & cornbread
burritos: tortillas, rice, black beans, corn and salsa
homemade pizza
rice, veggies, tofu
pasta stir-fry: pasta, veggies, tofu
green bean casserole
pancakes
red beans & rice
spaghetti
nachos: chips, salsa, re-fried beans, cheese
mashed potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob
taco soup
quesadillas
veggie Alfredo
grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup

That’s it. That’s our trial menu for October 1st through the 15th. I’ll keep you posted on how it works out and what we’ve found needs tweaking for us.

Happy Eating!

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