Today was a good day. I did tons of laundry, cleaned the house, and met a friend who was ridding herself of a small box freezer. The money coming into this household has dipped. Part of my child support is finished as my son has turned 18. I was a bit panicked but oddly enough this all seems so cosmically timed...
It's as if $ is slowly decreasing just in time for my graduation and ability to earn more of a livable wage. But it is not without its fear. I have a friend who says to me "When you are worried count your cans - you will find you have more than enough." She is Polish and her family survived depressions (they were farmers) and in the old country they lived through wars untold. She's my bootstrap friend and we share bean recipes and marvel over the waste some folks live by. When she says she counts cans - she means it.
I look over what's on hand in the kitchen frequently and in my little prepper closet. I've become adept at cooking with very little and can butcher my whole purchased chickens like no ones business. I always save scraps of veggies etc to make homemade stocks and the like. It's almost a lost art if I talk to some people. I swear I once made the most delicious bean soup from a chunk of frozen pork, onion shreds that I had frozen, carrot & celery shreds sauteed in bacon fat (yes I save it) and a bag of mixed beans - we ate that for a week with homemade flour biscuits. So when the opportunity for a freezer free of charge popped up - I was on that like white on rice.
It's a little box and it works like a charm. I've already partially packed it because a full freezer is more economical in its running they say. I also threw in containers with frozen water which will act like batteries should we lose power with the spring storms I'm sure are coming.
So now when meat goes on sale I can put a bunch up. It just gives me peace of mind - food is like $ in the bank. We really are ok. I have bills, like everyone else, and it seems the second you pay one off another comes in to take it's place. Tonight I'm dreaming of a better tomorrow. I've learned to live on less and be ok. But honestly it's not really that much less; when I count cans we are always ahead.
There is abundance in a bag of beans.
Namaste
