the absolute joy of frugality, experienced!

vegan golden lentil soup. SOOOOO good!

i can't believe how often it is that i discover new things about myself.

for example, the fact that i'm pretty sure i want to start my own business of sorts (more of this as it develops!), and get out of the full-time working world, hopefully for good!

and the fact that living frugally has lately given me some real "high" points -- I mean, literally a proud thrill....do any of you frugalistas out there ever feel the same way?

tonight i actually braved the - gasp! - "real" grocery store, not the "whole paycheck" chain i love so much (but not for the prices...)

and for just THIRTY-FOUR dollars - $34! - i was able to score nearly two weeks' worth of groceries! compare: to me spending at least $50/week previously. So dude I just saved at least $70! Seventy bucks!! i was giddy with my purchases for at least an hour after returning home. not to mention that in the same plaza, i was able to buy a large cheese pizza from little caesar's for just $5! (been craving a bit of animal protein here and there lately. i'm not totally veganized yet. hey, i'm honest.) oh and the $34 would have been about $27 if I hadn't needed cat food and if there hadn't been a large bag of perfectly good organic gala apples on sale for $1.99. And my budget wants to be $15/week! I am SO proud of myself!

the store isn't that bad, though it does take a bit more navigating (and settling) than the frou frou places i love so dearly. for my money's worth, i got several cans of organic beans and tomatoes, a large bag of enriched white rice (which i hardly ever eat, but have been craving qdoba-style "naked burritos" lately), two organic pears, four yellow onions, two avocados, four roma tomatoes, two containers of organic veggie broth, the cat food, a large bag of edamame, the apples, and a container of tahini.

dinner yesterday, quinoa-spinach-pecan-sesame seed salad with homemade dressing (sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, tahini, agave, tamari)

tonight's dinner was wonderful after some chopping and reheating in the oven on a pizza stone:

wonderful can be simple.

this week i plan on making my staple vegan cheddar pasta bake, a pot of golden lentil soup (this recipe is an amazing easy godsend, recipe soon if you desire), naked burritos (rice, black or pinto beans, guacamole, shredded chard, and baked sweet potato chunks) ... easy, simple, but very healthy and filling. and .... FRUGAL!

hey i think i'm getting the hang of this here! i'm so happy i decided to go for my grocery bill. i'm working on saving $20-30/month on the cell phone bill, too. i considered getting rid of it altogether in favor of a land line, but i hear they are just as expensive if not more so than some bare-bones cell phone plans. so ... we'll see.

what a lovely sunday i've had. a nice brisk walk in the cold, near-empty park (my favorite time to go), and a couple of hours at a coffeeshop with a drink called red miele (red bush tea, honey, cinnamon and soy milk). knitting, grey's anatomy, blogging, and just lounging around in a constructive way.

cherokee park, this part of it is known as "dog hill"

quills coffeeshop. where i had the most delicious locally-produced vegan chocolate/almond bark

the rest of this week involves:

an interview of a new student
teaching a friend how to knit
a potluck
yoga class
stitch and bitch
a clothing swap
babysitting
hashing out potential summer plans with a like-minded friend, in advance of possibly starting my own ... business! i have no idea what i'm doing here and it will probably take me two years or more to get there. but ... i'm determined to be my own boss and to make my life easier by working less...while still doing fulfilling work and paying the bills. again ... more on this as it develops, which i hope it will!

i hope that all of you have a lovely week.

love and light,

k.