Magic and Identity

**Nobody is reading this because I never post. That's okay. I'm mostly writing this as a reminder to myself anyway.

Somehow in the daily list of must-be-dones I get lost. Maybe some folks don't, but I don't think I know any of them.
I've got to pay the bills, educate the boys, stop the boys from quarelling (long on stopping, short on educating today--they have colds), do the laundry, do the taxes, do the bookkeeping, do the dishes, and boy that floor needs mopped. Not to mentioned that box, and that box, and all those other boxes, and I've got to find something to wear and my shoes (also in a box) by Friday because of that dinner (husband's work related).
And the economy is going upside down, and I haven't had enough time for reading, and my Bible got misplaced in this last move and I meant to read every day during Lent but I've only gotten on web twice to do so, so far, and my brother-in-law is pulling the usual money related nonsense and thank God my other brother-in-law has discovered Dave Ramsey so my husband isn't standing alone on the financial end these days.
And so in all this I forget who I am. What I do, what I like. In just trying to do enough. Every now and again I read this website: http://www.sixredheads.com/ and today she posted something that after my brief exchange with Desert Cat really hit me. http://desertcat.blogspot.com/

I haven't touched my 'cello since before Christmas. I just haven't had time . . .

There's a . . . call it an idea, that's been dancing in the back of my head for years, now. It has a name, or nearly a name, something like Meditations on the Dawn of the Resurrection. (That's not quite it, but it's almost there.) I've had the opening line, the first few phrases, in my head and on the tips of my fingers for years. And it tells a story--you can find the story in any of the Gospels.
Today I pulled out the 'cello. I got her tuned up. Baby was napping, older three coughing in front of the TV. (Using the TV to 'drug' sick children into not quarreling.)
And I played those phrases. And it kept coming out. And I played that. And some more. And then I jumped up and dug for staff paper, which I found, and a pencil, which I didn't until I remembered I'm supposed to keep one in my case, where I found a handful. And I played it again and scribbled and played and scribbled. And then Next-Youngest bit Next-Eldest, and they all screamed, and Baby woke up and screamed too. It isn't anything like done. But it's started, and well started. And it's Something, not just pretty music, but Something Important.

It feels like magic in the good fantasy novels ought to feel. And the high, from the playing and the composing, I don't know how else to describe it. It's like performance high only stronger--comes with the munchies too. But if you don't perform, I don't know anything else that feels like this.

So why am I so busy being practical that I forget to do this?

What you absolutely have to pay--forget those rude people on the phone

Triage is basicly a medical term. It's used by military, by emergency responders, and so on. Basicly it's a way of allocating scarce resources to great needs. Picture yourself at a first aid station. You have people who are injured all around. Some of them will die, no matter what you do. Some of them can be shipped elsewhere, to be treated. Some of them will die unless you do something RIGHT NOW. That third catagory is the catagory you help. If you have extra morphene and some extra hands, you ease the pain of the first two catagories. But you concentrate your resources on the third catagory.
This is what you're going to do with your finances. Your bills: some of them have to die. Some of them might be able to be saved if/when things are better. Some of them you have to keep alive. Get a peice of paper and a pencil, put three columns on the page, labled 'item', 'amount due', and 'monthly due'.
Necessities are pretty simple, we all know them: water, food, shelter, clothing. Because of the society we live in, they have to take on certain forms. We have laws that make it difficult to cut to the real minimums of what we need.
Water: you can't just walk down to the river with a bucket, bring it back and sterilize it, and call it good. Social Service agencies won't allow that, even if it's safe. So you have to pay the water bill. In our town it's bundled with sewer and garbage, and we have to pay all three to get water. This is frustrating, because it'd be much cheaper to take the garbage to the dump ourselves, but in order to get water we're forced to pay for garbage service. On your page write 'water' under 'item', write the amount currently due if there is such under 'amount due' and write the normal monthly amount under 'monthly'.
Shelter: we've all got to live somewhere, and for today, where you are is where you are. We'll talk about ways to make it cheaper later. For now list it out on your page. If it is more than 25% of your net income, that is, the amount you get to keep to pay your bills with, it's probably hurting you.
Electricity: while not a necessity, it's become such, legally. You can loose your kids if you don't have electricity, but that doesn't mean you have to actually use much. So write it down. It may actually be a necessity in your case, if you rely on electricity for heat or to drive a fan for another heat source. While you're at it, walk through your house and unplug stuff from all the outlets and turn out the lights. By not leaving things plugged in while not in use, you can save money on the million clocks and lights that run on them. Even if you don't use any electricity, you'll pay the company for the priviledge of being connected.
Heat: if you're lucky, you don't need electricity for heat. Figure out what your cost per month is, and write it down. You may buy a load of wood each year, you should be setting aside 1/12 of the cost of that each month so it doesn't ruin your budget when it comes around.
Food: $100 per adult, $50 per child, or no more than 25% of your budget, whichever is less. We'll talk about how to attain food for this amount later.
Transportation: if you've got a job you've got to get there. I hope you don't have a car payment if you need a car. If you live reasonably close to where you work you can walk or bike. Or ski, if it's too snowy to walk or bike. If you live in an urban area, there's probably public transport. If you live out where we do, you've got to have a car or motorcycle. Try to drive a car over ten years old and keep it well maintained. Write down your gas and insurance costs. If you have a car payment pencil that in, we'll decide if you can keep it later.
Phone: you won't have a job if you don't have a phone, these days. That doesn't mean you need the phone you have now. Can you cut back? Smaller plan? Tell all the relatives they can't talk to you except at night? Ditch the cell and have just a local landline and get them to foot the long distance? Ditch the cell and the landline and get a pay-as-you-go cell? The pay-as-you-go is particularly nice if you have a lot of debts you can't pay as much on as the debt holders would like: they don't know the number and can't call constantly. Don't give the number out, either, except to those who actually need it.
Insurance: with any luck, your employer is helping to foot the bills. If you have kids, look into Medicaid or your state children's health insurance. Term insurance for life. Keep that auto insurance as long as you have the auto. Keep the homeowner's or renter's insurance. Keep whatever disability insurance you have, your chances of using that are greater, so I'm told, than using your life insurance. Insurance takes up more of our income than any other expense. If you don't have a pretax health account, make sure you budget your copays here.
Internet: it sure feels like a need, but it likely isn't. Is there someplace you can get free wi-fi? What about using the library's computers? Can you check your personal email and surf the web on your lunch break at work? A lot of jobs and potential employers can be located on the internet. If you need home internet for work--likely if you work in computers--then it's a need. A cost of having the job.
And that sums it up. You might have a few other bills around. Credit cards, old medical bills, cable, what have you. They aren't needs. They'd just like you to think they are. If these things are paid, you're going to be okay. Add up your totals in the monthly column. If it's less than or equal to your net pay, you're good. If it's more than, you need to cut some of these expenses. I'll talk about how to do that later.

Might help someone

We've lived on just one income for . . . well, pretty much ever since we were married, coming up on seven years. Sometimes I've brought in a little money here and there. Last year was our best year, financially, and we didn't break the $50k mark. This year I don't expect we'll break $40k. We're a family of six, I should mention.
So, it seems that with all the financial news being so dire out there, I might have learned a few tricks that would help other folks out. I'll be posting some of these.

An story and 3 questions

My oldest and his little public schooled friend, who is a month younger, were talking the other day. My son says: "2 plus 2 plus 1 equals 5." His friend says "No, it doesn't." The boys are kindergarten-age.

Question 1: What do kids learn in kindergarten? Obviously not math. My son's friend can't read, either. This is a serious question: I'm a second generation homeschooler.

Question 2: This little boy went to preschool last year. What do kids learn in preschool? Clearly not math or reading.

Question 3: If kids don't learn anything academic in preschool or kindergarten, why do their parents send them? What's different than daycare?

Food Storage, moving

Small children and food storage do not mix. The children's room is not a good place to store anything spillable. Like beans. Or wheat germ. Plus, curly hair and wheat germ is a really bad combination.

In other news, planting seeds in paperboard egg cartons leads to seedlings growing roots into the cartons, but the seedlings don't seem to mind.

I did something to my foot. I wish I knew what: I don't remember tripping over or stepping on anything. So I've been on line a lot the past week. Before that we were all sick. It's been a miserable last month.

Our landlord got a new job elsewhere. He's got to sell by June. Which means we have to live with the place being shown. The landlord's real estate agent has thus far not impressed me with her ability to get people to see the place.

My husband thinks this is a good time to move elsewhere. He's got job applications out. We're discussing matters: he'd like to get a credit card and go now. I'd like to see if he can get one of the jobs and save up and pay cash to move. We have varying willingness for risks. (I'm okay with moving before job, if none pans out, or borrowing to move if job is offered and we'll be able to pay it back quickly, but not both.) Actually, I think it's a reasonably good time to move, too. Better now than later into the economic downturn.

I'd really like to stay somewhere, you know? I'm not even that picky about where, just sick of moving constantly. I'd like to be sure that I can plant a garden and later harvest from it. I'd like to have a dozen chickens and some rabbits. I'd like to have a cow, but I'm not sure that'll happen anywhere, but it sure won't happen in a rental house.

I could've predicted this. We've moved when pregnant or immediately after having each of the kids. Better now, or in the second trimester, than waiting until I'm as big as a blimp again. So far this one has been the easiset. But it's still early days.

There's a lot to recommend the area we want to move to: like, we've lived very close to there before, it's warmer but not roasting hot, and more suitable for gardening. There's actually a growing season. Land's considerably cheaper: we could get a couple acres with a good sized house for half the price of a tiny house in town here. The fishing's great. It's further from my folks, so Mom's unhappy. It's closer to his, but his parents are all scared about the recession and think we shouldn't move now. (They watch too much tv, but I can't really blame them.) A most-likely more secure job there, versus a less secure job here. Some businesses can not function without a computer guy, being on top of the department is better than being on the bottom. Cost of living is much higher here. Pay would be about the same, maybe a little more there. (Depending on which job he gets.)

Guess we'll see what happens. We're not moving anywhere til he gets around to bringing home some boxes, anyway!

Surreal

My mother just sent me the Cornered Cat website. www.corneredcat.com Mom doesn't much like concealed carry. Especially not the idea of her baby doing it. That's what the police are for.

Really, really weird. I guess maybe it's an effect of just getting DSL instead of 28K dialup? That could cause some side effects, right?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all who wander my way.

I haven't had much to say between traveling, the ordinary sorts of illness, and the business taking over our lives, anything I might have posted lately would have been whiney, and there is too much of that in the world.

So let me just say I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year, travel safely if you're going somewhere, and I'll see you on the other side of the New Year.