Well, we are off to a good start. The amount saved from the week of May 24th breaks down as follows:
$24.93 -- amount left over from grocery budget
$18.98 -- rebates
$00.87 -- change in my wallet
Total: $44.78
The way I figure it, we will need to save somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 a week in order to reach our goal. So far, so good.
Now for the rest of the story.
I caught my husband reading one of the travel books the other morning at breakfast. That was huge. That tells me one thing.
He is interested!
I really knew I had him hooked when he interjected a factoid from his reading into a conversation.
That can mean only one thing.
He's really interested!
So when I say, "He Ain't Buying it!" I mean something totally different.
There are two somethings actually, the first of which has to do with my husband's lack of desire to be my gondolier. He is sure that those gondolier dudes are not going to turn their long, flat bottomed, money-making boat over to an American. Unfortunately, I think he is right about that, but I'm going to keep bringing it up anyway because I think it's a fun thing to imagine. I expand on this visual image all the time and find amusement in his resistance.
The second problem is more of an annoyance than a real problem. You see, my husband is one of the most frugal men around (unless, of course, you are talking about his girls, and then in that case he absolutely loses his mind). He really does not spend money. He has no expensive hobbies, drives an old car, wears simple clothes, and lives a very simple life. He prefers to eat at home and lately seems to have a thing for tuna fish. The annoyance arises from the fact that he now has even more reason to be frugal. His new favorite thing to do is throw up his hands in protest and say “Italy!” anytime I mention an occasional dinner out....and I even have a coupon! “Italy” (picture his hands raised in protest) has become his favorite new way of getting out of doing stuff he never wanted to do in the first place. It also keeps me in the kitchen making food, something I really don't want to do much anymore now that the nest is empty. Something about this whole situation stinks......
and it's not just the tuna fish.
(picture me stomping my foot in protest and pouting like a 3 year old).
On the bright side, though, I am grateful for a husband like him. His frugal ways will help make it possible for us to reach this fun goal. I think his new love for tuna fish is probably him going into survival mode and finding a way to nourish himself. He's just hungry...and he likes my cooking. What's so bad about that? I should be flattered. Right?
Okay, I'm not. But I should be.
For now, I will just take comfort in the fact that when we go to Italy I will not have to cook
one
single
meal
for 2 weeks!
For now though, what in the world should I cook for dinner?
