Growing Our Own Food

It has been my dream to live in a farm. Meanwhile, I tend to my vegetable garden in our backyard.

We have harvested spinach last season. I also planted a lemon tree last year and it has baby lemons already! This summer, we haven't had to buy tomatoes, zucchinis, bell peppers, and squash. Even if I had lots of money, I would not want to buy supermarket vegetables after tasting fresh-picked ones. My organic tomatoes may not be perfect and deep red but I promise you that it is juicy and delicious--the most natural freshness I have tasted. Fresh from the branch, I can eat them with salt and feel tingly.



I am preparing to plant for fall. Salad greens will thrive and I am planning an herb garden. I failed with basil twice but I am determined to try again, if only for home-made pesto.

By the way, check out our clothesline, behind the garden. We may be the only family here with a sampayan, but our electric bill is also probably the lowest at $30 (average bill is about $60 in non-summer months) because we don't use the dryer or central air/heat. (We got window-type AC units instead!--not bad for 8 people who live in this house.

Why Frugal Living?

In the land of plenty, many Americans are waking up to the murky future of insecurity. There will be taxes to pay, Social Security, pensions, and 401k funds might not add up. The retirement future has started to look bleak for Gen-X'ers and Gen-Y'ers.

I read in the newpaper today that these Gen-X and Y'ers have started to defy the trend of maxing out their 401K (retirement) fund and have started saving the old-fashioned way, as in putting money away, one dollar at a time. Normally, these same people would blow a whole paycheck on a brand-new plasma TV or on a flashy designer bag inspite of having pending student loans to pay. Today, they are buying 10-year old beat up cars (no more monthly payments!) and building their savings and investment accounts.

Not wanting to die making money before retiring, these 30-ish crowd wants to make their money without the long and tedious hours of a mundane job. Many have turned online, selling things in eBay, or nursing a small business in the weekends.

Dozens of these young adults have also grouped together to blog their stories, tips, and strategies on saving, investing and avoiding debt: Budgeting Babe, Frugal for Life , and CNN's Millionaires in the Making.

It is refreshing to know that the excessive consumer lifestyle has tipped the balance, making the people realize that it is, well, excessive--and cannot be good for a long time. Kung baga sa oil, hindi siya sustainable.

My paternal grandmother left me with the wisdom of "Simple Living," she would always remind me to live below my means and she frowned on frills and excess. My maternal grandmother taught me the value of saving money. She saved too much money that when she died, there were hundred-peso bills stuck under her mattress, in the pockets of her jackets, and in her many prayer books.

All in all, it is easy for me to be frugal because they have taught me that happiness is not in acquiring things, rather, happiness really comes from a security from within--the knowledge of your self-worth "as is, where is" my dad used to say. And no amount of money or no size of plasma TV can ever buy it for you. . .