Bracing for the storm

Today has been a total waste. Well, not total. But close. I didn't get to sleep until after 5 a.m. because Tom didn't get home until after 2:30 a.m. because some of his guys stayed to finish a job but in light of his accident, I was picturing him in a ditch, unconscious, unable to phone. Or worse. His reasoning was sound...he didn't want to call and wake me up...but under the current circumstance, not the best choice. Still, he was trying to do the right thing. I told him in the future, I'd rather be woken up than pacing the floor all night.

He was still shaken up when he got home last night. I've never seen him that pale or unable to focus before. He didn't stay up long..just ate his supper and went right to bed. At 4 a.m. he came downstairs to make himself a sandwich so I'm guessing he didn't sleep well either. I decided to make a big breakfast this morning as a meager compensation.

Aside from doing up the breakfast dishes, I've done nothing else. I need to walk to Kwik Trip to get some milk but with only a few hours' sleep I'm having a hard time pushing myself. I don't really need milk tonight; I can make powdered if I need to do any baking. If I get to bed early tonight, I can get up early and walk to the gas station to get the milk. And set the trash out.

It will be pointless to set it out tonight if we're going to get 8-10 inches of snow. The snow plow will create a barrier three feet high and the truck won't be able to get the can out to the street. Truthfully, I suspect they won't even make a garbage run tomorrow. They didn't last winter when the weather was this bad.

I've got all the curtains closed since there isn't any sun and the curtains help keep the drafts out of the house. We use compact fluorescent lights so it's not expensive to keep the lights on. I'm feeling particularly cozy as a result. In fact, I might crawl into bed and stay there. Except I still have to fix supper and do up the dishes.

We've got to be at the Fond du Lac campus by 9 a.m. on Saturday for Zach's last day of school (his make up class) and I'm not really good with mornings so I guess I need to start working on that, getting to bed early and getting up early. I don't mind mornings. I love the peace and solitude. But I have been a night owl since Zach was born, due to his sleep disorder and just haven't managed to shift. Now that he's mostly outgrown it, I should work at it since I do feel more productive when I get up early.

Some thoughts I had last night while I was busy not sleeping. I think the fundamental difference between mine and Tom's thinking is that he thinks we need to bring more money into the house and that me working at a fast food restaurant for minimum wage will solve that problem. He doesn't see that me working crappy hours in a crappy job won't bring home all the money I earn. I won't be home to do the frugal things I'm doing now, won't be cooking the frugal meals I'm cooking now. I'd use the dryer instead of hanging clothes out. Because I've done this for all of our marriage (or at least since I got out of the Navy) he's never seen just how much money we would be putting out if I used convenience items. He has said he would share in the cooking, but he doesn't cook from scratch, nor does he cook really balanced meals. Or frugal ones.

Not to mention the upkeep of two cars in really good condition would take up more than I would make. In 23 years of marriage we have never had two cars up and running consistently. If I had been working, I would have lost my job due to lack of transportation. Me being at home has enabled us to manage with one vehicle when we needed to. Granted, I was making huge sacrifices by driving Zach up to Fond du Lac, then coming back to drive Tom to Hartford, then back to FDL to get Zach, then back to Hartford to get Tom. Or staying home because I didn't have a car to drive. So it would take years to pay for the cost to either fix the vehicles we have or buy something newer and more reliable. Why do that when there is another way?

My thinking is that we take the money we've already got coming in and manage it frugally (even moreso than we've been doing) and in the long run, we'd end up with more money. There is always more I can do and now that my time is my own again, I will make a very concerted effort to do that. Already we're managing on a 15% pay cut and so far haven't had to dip into savings. We're squeaking by, mind you, but we're managing. I've had to up the heat a bit because neither Tom nor I can handle the 55 degree F temp another winter. I've got it sitting on 58 right now and it's a bit more comfortable. Come Thursday when the temps are at minus 10, it will definitely feel better and I might have to crank it up to 60. But no higher. As it is, we will have to dip into savings for winter utilities. Unless I can bring down the grocery bill, which I think I can...but not enough to cover all of it.

Part of me feels like I'm jumping onto a band wagon and I hate band wagons. I'm not into trends because they're so fleeting. But I've been living frugally since we got married and it seems with each year, I learn and apply more frugal attitudes to our way of life. For example, as a homemaker, I just don't shower daily. If I've been outside working or have gotten particularly dirty while scrubbing down the house, I'll shower but I don't think we need to shower every day just because. Showers are for when you're dirty, not for making yourself feel fresh. A sinkful of water can wash all the necessary bits (including your hair...you can then wash the rest of you in the rinse water) and the amount of water used is a tiny percentage of what is used in a shower. Do that daily and you'll be clean. And fresh. The skin doesn't need the assault of soap and water on it every day unless it's dirty. No wonder there is a huge market for body lotions out there. We've dried out skin out by abusing it with soap and water.

I've had people curl their lips in disgust when I tell them this, but I don't smell (well, don't come near me after I've mowed the lawn, but otherwise...), my hair is clean and even though I'm post-menopausal, I don't use body lotions much because my skin just isn't that dry. I might use some hand lotions because I do get my hands in water a lot: dishwashing, scrubbing and such. But my legs and arms aren't dry at all. And you'd be surprised how your water bill will go down if you just don't shower every day.

Tom, on the other hand, does shower daily during the work week because his job is pretty grimy. He's a foreman at a metal manufacturing plant. Just being there he absorbs a large amount of oils and dirt. That's what the shower is for.

But even a quick shower (unless it's a Navy shower where you get wet, turn the water off, soap up, turn it back on and rinse) will use significantly more water than a sinkful of water.

Think about it.

This is the way I was raised though. We didn't take frequent baths or showers. We washed ourselves daily and took a shower or bath once a week. I'm betting it was that way in most households.

Well, it's gotten all dark in the house so I think I'm going to go take a short nap because going to bed at 8:00 p.m. doesn't work all that well for me and I don't think I could stay up much longer than that tonight.

TTFN