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"Rex and I are on a new kick to really help each other out. I, for one, need more fun time. I need people over! I need parties! I need more last minute dinners and laughs.  He&amp;#039;s been really in tune with this. He remembered to phone a friend who was about to have surgery &amp;quot;just because.&amp;quot; (How sweet!) He wished another buddy &amp;quot;Happy birthday.&amp;quot; He&amp;#039;s forming an impromptu ski party at the cabin. Just last night he piled us all into the car for some last minute burgers and fries at our favorite local haunt. All these are acts of love and nurturing that I really appreciated after a harried week. Such uncharacteristic showers of affection certainly motivated me to stay on budget with the food this week. (The money saving - that&amp;#039;s where he&amp;#039;s at these days. Shocking, I know!) Like I did the previous seven days, I created a meal list from Monday to Sunday. To avoid grumbles about boring lunches, I interrogated the kids about their favorite snacks and sandwiches. I did a pantry/fridge inventory to be sure I wouldn&amp;#039;t double up. (How many bottles of mustard do we need, anyway?)  Then, I did something I have only recently started: I took out my allotted grocery money in cash. With the bills right in front of me, it was easier to stay on track and see how much I had left over for the rest of the week. Can I just say that even with a massive amount of food bought I still had a good portion of change left over? I figure even if I have to spend half that money on food and toiletries later in the week, I can still save an additional $100 every month to put towards some credit cards.  Tonight, as I brought in bag after bag of food, Rex was in shock. &amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t believe it, Andrea! Look at all this food! For what you spent, this is amazing!&amp;quot; It really is. Can I just go on record by stating that budgeting for an artist is about as enticing as a hemp-made tunic might be for a banker about to make a Power Point Presentation? But the truth is, I&amp;#039;m not making TV show dollars now. I am not eating off a craft service truck every day. I have kids to feed, bills to pay, and responsibilities to adhere to. I have to grow up and get my act together. But it doesn&amp;#039;t mean that, once my grocery saving becomes second nature to me, I won&amp;#039;t start stock piling some extra Benjamins for some extra coffees out. And, during those coffees out, it doesn&amp;#039;t mean I can&amp;#039;t finally, FINALLY, finish that book I started this summer. And when it sells, it doesn&amp;#039;t mean I can&amp;#039;t one day option it as a show and make some real cash. On that grand day, you can betcha you&amp;#039;ll find me bellowing in front of the germaniums, &amp;quot;Sxxxxrew this housewife crap I&amp;#039;m getting an assistant pronto!&amp;quot; (Anyone out there type 90wpm and like Yuban?) Side note: The geraniums in said fantasy will have been bought on sale, and only if there was extra cash left over in the &amp;quot;non-essentials&amp;quot; slot of my Weekly Budget Folder. I am so determined to stick to a budget that if no cash exists for said flowers, then you can picture me doing the Moonwalk in front of the neighbor&amp;#039;s roses, instead. They make more money than us with kids in private school, so I&amp;#039;m quite sure their flowers will always be in bloom, be de-thorned, and look fabulous while a six one woman does an 8am booty shake in front of them. Are you getting the sense that I&amp;#039;m not a natural housewife? That I&amp;#039;m always finding that balance between being a grown up and being me?  Anyone else out there having success with that middle ground? And, when you find it, do you find the sex just rocks???? I do. * Sign from RetroPlanet. I seriously want all of them for the new kitchen I will buy by saving 100/month on groceries. Hey, do you think if I stop feeding the kids they will even notice? It&amp;#039;s not like I want them to grow as tall as I am anyway.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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