beans & rice, rice & beanswe're living on cash in Portland, Oregon and paying down $70k by 12/31/2011MenuSkip to contentHomeabout uson being frugalLeave a replyA quick check-in over here, I am blogging in other places these days now that we have a kid. I was hoping it would be easy to keep to a budget with a baby (“they’re little and they don’t need much!”) but it is really, really difficult not to spend a lot on this little project…  and our house is now full of plastic and single-purpose baby specific furniture. Eeek!Just found this piece over at wisebread – on being frugal. I think it is solidly written.A Step-by-Step Guide for When Friends Ask for Help Being Frugal (Mikey Rox, Wisebread)This entry was posted in making good choices on November 20, 2012 by rachel.WE’RE DOING IT WRONGLeave a reply“We’re doing it wrong.”It’s our joke as a coupleThe thing we sayWhen what we really mean is“Debt has left us black-eyed and bleeding.”It’s not really keeping up with the Joneses.It isn’t about your vacations or your fancy houses – yes, plural?!Your new cars or your HDTVs.(Though we make our secret facesWhen we read about them in your Christmas letters.)When we lean together and whisper– oh, we can be so snarky –It comes out “We’re doing it wrong”But what we’re really saying is“We’re trying to do it right.”$90,000 to pay off, and we’re onlyTwo people working hard with four handsAnd eight (closed) credit cards andJust as many part-time jobsAnd only 24 hours in a day.So we crack our jokes, share our secret battle cry.We’re strong enough to be debt-free for good,And if “doing it wrong” looks an awful lotLike wearing dollar shirts and watching Redbox,Then I guess you can keep your Hollister.When debt’s gone – we’re still learning to drop the “if” -We both know it’s not the things we crave.It’s the freedom we envy.To do it wrong ourselves if we want.Or to do it right.“WE’RE DOING IT WRONG” by Joan OttosourceThis entry was posted in making good choices on October 10, 2012 by rachel.no spend month 2012Leave a replyIt’s been a year since we declared being debt free, and in that time we have had a baby, quadrupled our rented house footage, and have been able to stop scrutinizing and questioning every penny spent. Although we currently have a fully funded emergency fund, we find ourselves running short on cash after furnishing a larger place (our previous cottage was tiny and lovely and fully furnished with built-ins) and paying for all the baby stuff we never thought we would want to have around.Every year or so Ali and I find ourselves in a place of wanting to break bad habits and re-evaluate our life decisions by putting a freeze on spending activity. This is not difficult for Ali who is the typical dude who will question (for example) why he needs new clothes when the soles are falling off his old shoes. I’m the kind of gal who is like “oh, I’m bored? how abo