I am poor. There is no secret about that. I mean who isn't when they have a husband going to school. I found out how poor I am when I did my taxes. When I saw our gross yearly income, I was shock. I thought, there is no way we could could have made it on so little. :)
But despite our poverty there are some things I HAVE to splurge on. I just can't settle for less. :) You will notice that it is mostly food that splurge on and can't settle for less, but the list below are the more expensive things I buy. It is a reason why I can't go grocery shopping with Sam, he is always shocked, mortified, angry, dismayed, and many other adjectives, with the prices I will pay on these items. There are some of you that will also be shocked at the prices I pay, but there are also some of you who will understand my purchases and will congratulate me for being strong and willing to stick and live by my views. I have given the prices to you can feel the same way Sam does, or let me know that these prices are not that bad considering. (I hope it wasn't weird of me to post the prices, please let me know if it was. I know sometimes I can be a little too open)
Yes you read the label right. It is raw milk. This cost $6.29 a gallon. I know some places where that is the price of regular milk, but here you can easily buy processed milk for as little as 99cents. Yes that was the sale price on Saturday at the grocery store. The only reason why I am, or should say can splurge, splurging is because Helaman is allergic to milk, Cariña is not a big milk drinker, as she used to be allergic, and Sam refuses to drink it because he says it is like drinking gold. :) The reason why I splurge on it for me is because I am a nursing mother who needs extra nutrients. The truth is though, Helaman's coconut milk is more expensive like $4 for a half of gallon, so I guess that means this is cheap right? :)
This bag is sucanaut. It is a less processed sugar, hopefully with all the good things that sugar has. That is the reason why the sugar is brown. It also is not as sweet. But at $1.85 lb it is a little spendy. Anyway it is a good excuse for us to not make so many sugary treats. :)
This is extra virgin olive oil, non filtered. It is a very good quality oil and it represents all my oils. I refuse to buy substandard oils, which is all oil except the oil I make or olive oil ($8, a fantastic good deal! This oil could be easily sold for $15-$20), coconut oil ($7 for a pint, on sale), and very occasionally a very good quality sunflower oil ($9) to make mayonnaise.
This balsamic vinegar is amazing and I can't settle for less. I make my salad dressing with it and my kids practically drink it and love salads because of the dressing. It is not me by any means but the vinegar. At $9 a bottle I have tried others so I could save the money, but they just can't compare and I can't. Luckily I found out it is considered a super food!
This is Sal Suds. It is a natural soap with real pine oil in it. It is meant for all-purpose cleaning and is the best soap I have ever used. I use it in all my homemade cleaners. It smells clean and works wonders. It cost about $30 a gallon, but this gallon has lasted me almost 3 years and since I don't buy any cleaners, but make my own, I figure it really isn't a splurge. :)
This is something I wish I DIDN'T splurge on. I got caught in the mall where they shine your nails and tell you that the lotion is infused with gold, well that is what they told me. Please don't laugh at me. :) I won't tell you how much I paid for it because I am too embarrassed. I liked the product but at first the price was too high. The sales lady then told me that she had a one ime discount where she could drop the price to . . . and that she would love to give me this discount. I was refusing stating that I needed to ask my husband, but she reminded me that she only had the ONE and she couldn't guarantee that she would still have it later. Since it was valentine's day and I was pregnant I deserved to splurge on myself right? So I happily handed over my card. As soon as she scanned my card I started have second thoughts, and as soon as I walked away with my purchase I regretted it and I knew that I had been tricked. It is a good thing I couldn't afford the first price because I would have been double tricked. It was even worse when I finally caught up with Sam he showed me his shiny nail but he would have gotten everything I got, (lotion, cuticle oil, nail file, and nail buffer) for $10-$15 cheaper. I still feel sick about this purchase. :)
Xenia chillin.
Cariña drew this this picture. It is from her newly acquired pastime, computer gaming. The character's names are Boowa kwala. You if you want to compare you can find the characters on uptoten.com Anyway it is quite close to how the characters look like. I am not sure if the picture is so good because it really is so good, or if it so good because I am the mother. I am not sure what to think. :)
Our new family picture. I need to remember to have everyone gather in front of me. This was the day when we blessed Xenia. I wish you could see the beautiful my mother made for the blessing. It has little pink flowers embroidered on the top. It is beautiful. Thank you mother, you are awsome!!!!
Now this is a hair do. I love it.
