Chocolate coffee and a flower….food for the soul

I wish I had a “healthy” habit to soothe my soul. I wish I could run with the wind in my hair and music pounding in my ears. I wish we had the sea at our door where I could rush in and swim until my emotions were back on an even keel. I wish I could dance the night away with no one watching.

But right now (11.30am) amazing chocolate, coffee and a simple purple flower will have to soothe the ache in my soul. I also have an amazing new nephew and every-time I look at him my heart melts.

The past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster for family and friends. There is hurt that has occurred that I have no power to fix or control; which is hard because I am a control-freak.

There has been heartache, anger, death and life and while I understand that these things are part of life I/we still have to live through it. I also understand there are people who are suffering greater tragedies in this country and this world and I am still deeply concerned and compassionate towards other people for their grief or loss.

Sometimes it all just gets too much and I need an emotional “reboot” so that I can be a better wife, daughter, sister and friend. It would appear that the next few days are the time for that.

So sleep, a relaxing weekend, reading, music, the gym, a swim, a movie (or two), cuddles with our cats and summer holidays with friends and family will help get me back on track.

What gets you back on track?

Provide Solutions

Lately, more and more people are struggling to make ends meet.

As a culture we could keep focusing on the problems or we could actually look to others to provide suggestions and solutions to help people get through the toughest times.

I am sure that there are people in this country who take advantage of the welfare system or live well outside their means and spend their money on “wants” vs. “needs”. I do not want to talk about those people. I want to talk about the people that are seriously doing the best that they can to make ends meet and they still struggle.

I do not want to hear about the price of milk anymore. Yes, it is expensive but everything has gone up in price. Last year people were focused on the price of cheese. We do not have children, but we still buy 2 x bottles of Dairy Dale milk for $6 from our local dairy. We keep one for home and I take one to work.

There are some amazing people out there that have made HUGE lifestyle changes to try and get ahead and lessen the struggle:

• Hannah and her family moved to a smaller city; they have a vegetable garden etc.
• Liz can feed her family of 5-6 on about $150 per week through good budgeting and a lot of home-cooked meals and baked goodies. Here is a link to her blog
• Jane takes out the exact amount of money in cash for her weekly groceries and does not spend more than that
• Make your own cleaning products (Wendyl’s Green Goddess website can be found here)
• Carla who pulled money out of her “ass” last week by looking around for things in her home to sell
• What about talking to your friends or neighbours and buying bulk vegetables i.e. 10kg of potatoes and splitting them up?

Somewhere along the line I think that some people have lost the skill of cooking and baking and even having a simple vegetable garden. A vegetable garden does not need to be expensive you could even grow things in a couple of old pots.

I absolutely love the philosophy of Sophie Grey (Destitute Gourmet) who makes amazing, nutritious meals on a budget. Her circumstances changed and as a family they had to make changes to their life.

Seriously, someone (I’m looking at you Close Up, Campbell Live, Breakfast) needs to get Sophie Grey on instead of continually talking about the problems.

So what are your ideas for saving money and getting through the tough times?