Why is the newsletter early this month?
Because PBS' BizKid$ Episode #303, More Bang for Your Buck, featuring the Cooke Family, will be airing nationwide on or around May 29. Click on their we bsite and input your zip code to find it in your local listing.
Irony: We can't get it in the San Francisco Bay Area!
June Nostalgia
Permit me to look back a bit... it was about this time three years ago.... (cue dream sequence) . . .
This story has been told in a few places now: Once upon a time, I glanced at the front page of my local paper and read about a Congresswoman who was raising a big fuss about our collective callous disregard for the poor, in that Food Stamps only paid $21 a week, and no one could possibly eat healthfully for that. Several other Members of Congress climbed on the band wagon, and all reported similar tales of woe.
I had just the previous year collected all my grocery receipts for six whole months and calculated how much our family of five was spending per month. It worked out to around $240, or $11.20 per person, per week. For over a decade, I'd been carefully researching and trying different ways to eat very healthfully and inexpensively, and it was paying off. We ate lots of whole grains, fresh produce, and protein, yet our food bill was about half of the USDA estimated a family of four would spend on a Thrifty Meal Plan.
Still, I didn't think what we were doing was all that unusual. The real sadness for me came from the very few rebuttals from real people who have to live on a real budget every day.
Hubby wanted me to do something about this, but a year later, I hadn't moved. Then another front page article finally got my attention: A woman had just had her book published. It was a picture book of "smiles" she'd observed: a crease in a paper bag, headlights and a grille, bruises on fruit... Well, I decided that maybe I did have something to offer the world after all.
Thus, Simpleton Solutions was born.
How the Books Got Started
In the summer of 2008, I sat down and constructed three outlines. The working title of what was supposed to be the first was called, "How to Stay in the Middle Class." I tried to work on it, but just couldn't get traction. Since the food thing was what got my attention in the first place, and I had the summer to test all my flexible recipes, Strategic Eating, The Econovore's Essential Guide ended up being the first book Simpleton Solutions produced.
Out of excuses, I returned once again to Book #1, and wandered around aimlessly for several months before I finally figured out what the problem was. Tightwads really don't give a flying leap about joining or staying in any particular socio-economic strata. They're after independent wealth, pure and simple. Once I started asking the right questons, those personality traits specific to those who can thrive happily below their means and salt away the rest became obvious and easy to explain. This book became The Miserly Mind, 121/2 Secrets of the Freakishly Frugal.
The Miserly Mind is Published!
It's finally out!!
The Miserly Mind, 121/2 Secrets of the Freakishly Frugal is now the third book of the Simpleton Solutions series.
Amazon.com is already accepting orders for the full list price of $19.95, but you can get a signed copy for $9.95, and free shipping. That's half off! Just use Promo Code MMM10 when ordering. This offer disappears at the end of the month!
I ask one favor: If you do take advantage of this special offer, then review The Miserly Mind somewhere, like Amazon. I'd really appreciate it!
But Wait, There's More!
Strategic Eating, The Econovore's Essential Guide, The Grocery Garden, and The Miserly Mind, 121/2 Secrets of the Freakishly Frugal were all envisioned and outlined way back in 2008 as a series. So, now the three-book collection is finally complete!!
If you buy a 3-book set, use Promo Code ATB610 and pay only $24.99, shipping included. That's about $23 off of the regular price!
What's Cheap in June?
Keep watching those stone fruits, particularly in California. Lots of "chill hours" and rain in all the right places this spring has resulted in bumper crops all over.
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Stone fruits (peaches, plums, cherries etc.)
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Corn
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Berries (black, boysen, blue, straw - you name it!)
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Grapes (early varieties)
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Tomatoes (ditto)
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Green beans
Recently, one of my kids came home from school with a recipe for "Spanish Meatballs" that he needed to make by the next day. This could have resulted in a panicked run to the grocery store for fresh ingredients, but instead it was so gratifying to be able to calmly pull hamburger out of the freezer to thaw, while harvesting the parsley, cilantro, onion, garlic and eggs out of the garden. All it needed after that was salt, pepper and bread crumbs; I had all that, too. Mixing it all together took all of 20 minutes. Frugal living: cheap and easy. Extra credit in Spanish class: !Inestimable!
Have a great start of the summer!
--Elise Cooke, SimpletonSolutions.com
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