{MM} 10.7.13 Reader's Comments + My Fave Links

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Happy Monday!

This weekend was an especially lovely one. It began with a Friday night date with Mr. Dreamy (ie. Joseph). We went to an outdoor movie at the San Antonio Botanical gardens & watched Gigi–have you seen it? It’s one of those old classics that surprises & delights you with how things “used to be.” It was free AND we got 2 coupons for free burritos at Chipotle. Score.

We spent a good chunk of the weekend watching LDS General Conference. For Mormons, this is like, a super-big deal. It’s kind of like a big pep rally (minus the cheerleaders + MoTab). I’m very much on a spiritual high after listening to so many inspiring messages. (I especially loved this one.)

Yesterday, we had some friends over to watch conference, Joseph made his tortillas & I made some of these–grain-free, refined sugar-free chocolate chip cookies. Thin, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside with a caramel undertones. This recipe will be included in my desserts ebook, coming in November.

♥ This past week, there were lots of great comments on several posts. Since you most likely didn’t catch them, here are a few great ones.

Ellie, left a comment on an old post, curves, & writes:

While I feel like no woman should be pressured to have a body type that she simply *doesn’t*, this post left a sour taste in my mouth.
By saying something like,
“they have to go to extreme measures to melt away any sign of hips or a butt (ie. any sign of being a woman). One model is quoted as saying: “It’s not exactly a woman’s shape, but it is high fashion.””
You imply that having hips and butt “prove” that you are a woman… I’m naturally a size 0 or 00 (at 5’6) and although I do run a lot, I also eat a lot. I get teased and bothered a lot about my “bony” or “too small” frame and am told I’d be more attractive if I had boobs, hips, etc. No amount of peanut butter in the world will do it.
When you say that society’s glorification of one type of body is “wrong” and having curves is “right” for a woman, you put down all women who are naturally thin or bony, and say they aren’t womanly enough or shouldn’t be acceptable or healthy body types.
I did admire that you talked about how wrong it is, however, to go to any extremes to meet any type of standard… Just like no one should starve themselves to fit a size 0, I by no means should eat 3,000 calories a day to gain 10-15 pounds.

My reply:

Ellie, thanks for your perspective. I wouldn’t take any teasing personal, as I can guarantee most people are envious of the fact that you don’t have to worry about your weight. Hips & boobs, butts, & thighs–these do not “make” a woman. That’s not the intention or point of my post. But rather, these things exist, and for most women, we *do* have curves. This a natural part of our body shape and to try and erase this, or get rid of it by whatever means possible (including over-exercising, eating disorders) in order to succumb to the societal ideal (which is, currently, YOUR body shape, I might point out), is not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

I firmly believe there is no “wrong” or “right” body type. The ideal to strive for is an appreciation for what you have and a healthy approach to feeding and caring for the marvelous body that is yours, whatever shape or size it may be.

I apologize if in any way you were offended, but as I said before, my intention is not to set up a curvy woman as the ideal (just as I’m opposed to saying a thin, bony woman is the ideal), but rather to point out, that the great majority of women are pear shaped, apple shaped, whatever shaped, and this is not a bad thing.

And I agree with you, you shouldn’t overeat to try to gain weight. That would be silly

On last week’s frugal tuesdays post (lots of great comments, btw!), Melissa writes:

I concur about the Hulu (for $8 a month) instead of cable and DVR — we were spending almost $100 a month for those services.
And although one car is workable, if the car is paid off, the value to having it (our second car costs roughly $200 a year for minimal coverage insurance) outweighs the expense to having your only other car break down and you have nothing. Plus all the extra driving (dropping off and picking up)… sometimes there is a value to your time not to spend it in a car.
And $200 a month for groceries is unbelievable. Like I cannot fathom. Even shopping with coupons, my goal is $500 a month. If I can do $10 a meal (for dinner), I’m happy, and that alone would be $300-$310 a month. (I’m not saying its not possible — just that to me it is unfathomable.)
Lastly, there is no mention on the list of cell phones, internet, or other “incidentals” (toilet paper, laundry detergent, shampoo, etc.). You should also factor in car maintenance, since an oil change (per car) is every three months, and (at best) it costs $30 a vehicle, or $20 per month.
And yeah, that seems like a lot for rent. I lived for 5 years in a tiny one-bedroom (600 sq ft) in a crappy apt building in a good part of Seattle because it cost us $625 ($745 by the time we moved out in 2010), and husband was a 15-minute-express-bus-ride away from UW. Price and location were the priorities; comfort was not.

My reply:

Lots of great points & insights.

Yes, cable is a ton of money! I wonder how it’ll survive in the future when everyone catches on, like we have that you can get similar programming at a fraction of the cost? I know you can’t get ALL of the programming that cable offers, but I wonder how much most people actually have time to watch very many programs to justify the expense?

About the one car situation. I think it very much is one of those situations where you have to weigh all the costs associated. If both of you are working at the same time each day in two totally different directions of where you live, then maybe it’s not even feasible. We currently have two cars because are old 245K mile van is not dead yet and the resale value is about $200, so we’re holding on, and it’s actually a really nice convenience because, though I don’t drive much during the day while Joseph is at work, it’s nice to know I can run to the store or post office, or visit a friend if needed. So yes, great point about the car.

About the grocery money, $200 is very low, I admit, but not impossible. Though, now that I’m thinking of it, you do live in WA state, where groceries are at least 20-25% higher than what I saw in Utah & in Texas, so I can see why you might think that. But I think when trying to get out of debt, it’s important to cut back to bare bones for awhile–rice (a 50 lb. bag which would easily last a couple two months is $24 at Costco, see: http://queenbeecoupons.com/costco-price-list/ ), beans (you can get a 25 lb. bag for around $20) , oatmeal (like $.05-.10 a serving), only produce that’s on sale, very little frills. It can be done. We try to keep our budget under $500 for our family of 6–but I make our own bread, soy milk, and buy in bulk, on sale, etc. She’s vegetarian so this makes it even easier, because meat is, even on sale much more expensive than say beans & rice. When nursing or preganant, I think it’s important to spend a bit more on fresh stuff, but this girl is neither, & a diet of mostly rice, beans, & produce, while monotonous & somewhat boring, can save a lot of money & meets your basic nutritional needs (just ask Joseph, whose diet was basically that for the first 18 years of his life!).

Great point about all the other incidentals. They cost money, too.

If we didn’t have kids to factor in the housing picture, I’d be fine living in a crappy apartment for awhile too. These folks don’t have children, so I think, as you point out, living in an a less than ideal apartment is absolutely do-able like you guys did (& $745 in Seattle is *proof* that these folks can do it in a small college town in Oregon, where I’m sure rent is far below what it is in metro Seattle).

Regarding my grain-free pumpkin spice cookies, Melanie writes:

I guess you don’t consider quinoa a grain? Maybe I’ll try using almond flour in place of the quinoa flour!

My response:

It’s your lucky day! Quinoa is not a grain, it’s a seed. Though it does cook & “look” like a grain

Here’s some more info on it:
http://www.grainfreeliving.com/blog/118-is-quinoa-a-seed-or-a-grain

And…lots of great feedback in response the baby & pregnancy essentials post on both facebook & in the post’s comments–turns out, many of you love your jogging strollers & boppies!

♥ So many great autumn stuff popping up everywhere. Check out my latest autumn pins, here.