Portion control

In the last six months we have started practicing portion control- not just for our food, but for our homes and lives, too. This year I really don't want to buy more than we *need.*

I had four kids in four years and believe me - it was a CRISIS if I ever ran out of anything. Now if I run out of something we can usually do without it until grocery day - or go to the store and buy it. For example - we were out of pepper for a week. That is a LONG time for us to be out of pepper, but we managed. There were no lasting side effects... probably... I wouldn't go a day without soap or toilet paper, though. Let's be reasonable!

The first month we started measuring our food it was tough- REALLY tough. We all felt really pathetic taking a half a cup of pasta or 1/4 cup of rice noodles. But now it is habit and we don't want or need more. No one is starving or even losing weight- except Luc and I and obviously we had some to lose.

It is the same with any kind of consuming, I think. When you cut back it *feels* painful at first, but you come to realize that you aren't going to starve. You aren't merely going to survive, either- you are going to thrive.

I have this sickness where I will buy anything for a dollar. I really will! It is a magic number. If I am at a garage sale I can buy pretty much anything for a dollar. I really can because sometimes the person holding the sale will sell me things for a dollar just to get rid of me... :-D It is a gift, really, but I have, at times, broken the first rule of super heroes... Only use your gift for good and never evil...

Sometimes, six months later I look around and think- what the HECK was I THINKING? Anything? Nothing? Probably closer to nothing... :-/

Our shopping has dropped a lot in the last 6-12 months and there are very few things that we miss. Brown Bear DOES miss take out pizza and gazes wistfully out the window when we drive past, but we get him a couple small pieces of nice cheese and make our own and he's pretty happy with that. You wouldn't think that $6 of deli cheese would be equal to Pizza 73, but apparently it can be.