Making Progress

"April is the cruelest month" (T.S. Eliot) seems to apply to the food budget as well as life in general. The hopes of spring are dashed by hectic schedules, testing demands, and tax day among other maladies. Apparently, though, April was a tough month for eating at home. Over the course of 12 weeks between Jan. 9 and March 26 my family spent $149.70. However, over the span of only four weeks in April - one third of the previous amount of time - we managed to rack up $146.43 in eating out expenditures. This meant for the final week of April and the first week of May we were over our limit by several dollars. Luckily, we seem to be making progress this week, and we're back within our $20 budget. Our current total is $368.25 out of a budget of $380 for the 19 weeks we've been working this project.

We have been worried lately that the twenty bucks a week allocation would have to be drastically reduced due to possible pay cuts at our jobs. Our school district has proposed a list of "budget measures" including non-paid furlow days that will be implemented next year. However, there is a further, more extensive list waiting in the wings - which includes a five percent pay cut for all teachers (double whammy since Jeff and I work together) - if a sales tax increase does not pass Arizona voters today. We are breathing a sigh of relief this evening since it appears the proposition will get through. (At this time nine of 15 counties are reporting and the yea's have 64% so far.) This is good news not only for our fast food budget but our mortgage as well, so keep your fingers crossed.

But, I wonder what factors cause us to eat out more some weeks than others? Scheduling, of course, plays a big role, but we've seen over the last several days that we can manage to put together a decent meal in a short amount of time. I think stress is probably the primary answer. When I become stressed I feel tired and harried ultimately losing interest in cooking anything at all. When this happens, I'm usually happy scrounging around for some nachos, a PBJ, or left overs in the fridge. Unfortunately, the guys aren't as adept at this practice - particularly my son, who believes grazing doesn't really count as "eating." This could be because he is a 15-year-old bottomless pit, or it could be because he's been spoiled by a mom who not only cooks on a regular basis but indulges his cookie habit, too. Whatever the reason, he seems unable to "find" anything when I don't fix it. (Actually, this is a pretty recent phenomenon since he used to fix dinner when we worked late. Maybe high school has turned him into a helpless blob after all.) The upshoot of this problem is that we end up picking up something from Mickey D's or Quick Trip and handing the boy a bag of food when we get home. In the end, of course, we're equal opportunity diners, so we have fast food all around which adds to the cost.

With only a week and a half left before graduation, we're hoping to amend our ways. While we're considering a short jaunt to the beach (based on nixing those pay cuts), we've already decided to get a room with a kitchenette and "eat at home" there. Besides, a package of cheap hotdogs and marshmallows over a campfire on the beach at sunset is one of life's simple pleasures. Who knows, this year my son could take his guitar and we could sit around the glowing embers singing "Stairway to Heaven," "Crazy Train," and "Twenty-one Guns" since he doesn't know how to play "Kumbaya" or "Clementine." Of course, there's always time to learn. Until then, we're trying to face the end of the school year with resolve and plenty of frozen dinners.