03 April 2008

Adventures in Budgeting



I remember my mom and dad telling me stories growing up of when Dad was in med school and they were newlyweds and so poor that they had to take a clicker counter with them to the grocery store. Once they had clicked their quota of dollars, either stuff had to start going back on the shelves or they had to just stop shopping. It made an impression on me, and even though Bill and I have a more substantial budget than they did back in 1970, I felt the call of the clicker. I just felt like every time I went to Wal-Mart, I was playing Russian roulette at the checkout line...how much would it be? Would I hear the "click" of $57 or the "bang" of $190. And I've gotta tell you, when you get to choose between 2 clicks for Green Giant corn and 1 click for Great Value, it makes you really stop and think, "Hmmm...how many places can corn come from? Iowa or Iowa?"

Bill and I have read several personal finance books lately, and (a) it makes me want to write my own personal finance book and (b) it truly makes you stop and think about that can of corn. That 1 click in the IRA could be worth 100's in 30 years.

On a completely separate note, I give you...

Top 5 Reasons Why Rachel Ray Annoys the Snot out of Me:
5. That laugh...that laugh

4. The fact that her show is called "30 Minute Meals" and I have yet to see one recipe that I could prepare in less than an hour

3. The way that she squeezes lemons and tells you how to squeeze them. every. single. time.

2. The fact that she assumes that people have things like roasted red peppers, porcini mushrooms, and capers sitting around in their pantry

1. The number of times in any given episode that she refers to extra virgin olive oil as "EVOO" and the sheer number of recipes that she puts it in (i.e. everything)

And yet for some masochistic reason, I still watch her show occasionally. Well, I know the reason--her recipes aren't all horrible. Some are quite delish.


OH, and Lil' Pea update: It's a boy! And he's kicking up a storm. I felt it on the outside the other day. It was a like a scene from Star Trek.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS!! A baby boy, how wonderful!! :)

Unknown said...

I definitely think you need to quit watching rachel ray. ;)

Moldova Marriage Mission 2012 said...

A boy! Yeah! I am so excited for you. Somebody is in trouble though!!!!!!! I had to find out it was a boy from a blog that is rarely updated! :) That hubby of yours is in trouble for not calling. Wish we were closer to celebrate with you. Take care of yourself and enjoy preparing for Baby Boy Akins!
Jaime

Anonymous said...

¡felicidades! i so love how you snuck the news in to that totally random blog. i say napoleon akins sounds good.

and that was random,
jaimelo

Unknown said...

Jaime C--
Bill didn't call you guys?? Someone's getting a talking-to tonight. :) I'm so sorry...I was actually going to e-mail everybody with the most recent ultrasound pics and announce it then (the u/s pics don't leave much to the imagination).

Sarah & Jaimelo--
Thanks for the congrats!

Sara--
I know! What is wrong with me?? I wish her recipes weren't so tasty.

Sunny said...

That woman drives me completely bonkers!

and yea for boys!

Superchikk said...

Congrats on the boy!

I do the same thing in the grocery store, only I carry an actual calculator. Yeah, I'm a budget nerd.

I totally agree with you about Rachael Ray. I cannot stand her being on in my house. Or Gretta Van Susteren. But that's another story.

Erica said...

i really like that clicker idea. and i see from these comments that you're having a boy. congratulations!