Further Adventures in Frugality

I’ve now been unemployed since the middle of May and the things we do to save money are now routine. Being careful with leftovers and saving vegetable scraps and chicken carcasses to make soup no longer seem like heroic measures but more like standard procedure. I doubt I’ll make many changes in the way I shop and cook once I have an income again. I’ll certainly keep making homemade chicken and vegetable broth no matter what happens. They’ve become too much a part of my cooking. I use them in many dishes that I make and they have more flavor and probably more nutrition than what I used to buy at the grocery store.

We’re still trying to economize on transportation as well. At the end of last year we traded in both our cars on one newer one. One of our cars was a gas guzzler and was rarely driven. Because it was seldom used it seemed like every time we started the engine it needed a new repair. Our other vehicle was a reliable Toyota but its clutch was starting to fail. We took advantage of an end-of-the-year deal to get a good price on a newer Toyota, trading in unpredictable maintenance costs for a very predictable monthly payment. We can get by with only one vehicle because Jennifer commutes by public transportation. I would do the same if I worked in Boston.

One thing I haven’t been able to do this school year is walk Maura home from school in the afternoons. A few weeks after the school year began work started on a major intersection we have to pass through to get to school. The sidewalks are still torn up on all four corners of the intersection. For months it wasn’t even possible to detour through the adjacent parking lots. At least that is possible now. I may start walking again when the weather warms up whether they complete the job soon or not. I rather doubt that they will. After the end of the school year it will no longer matter. Maura will be moving to middle school next year. It’s closer to our house and in the opposite direction.

I have good news on the job front. The long siege may soon be over. At the same time I was starting classes to learn new job skills I got a lead on a job I can start right away. It’s a paid writing gig, the kind of work I’ve been looking for all along, until now without success. The details are still being worked out but I hope to be working by the end of the week. It will be a new adventure for me to be actually being paid for the job that heads my resume and graces my business cards.