Here we go

I have been moaning and groaning about the economy like everyone else. Seems like every conversation these days contains the phrase "...in this economy" (thanks to my friend Emily for pointing that out. Now it's all I hear!) All management at Husband's job took pay cuts. There will be no bonuses this year, no pay raises. 401k matching is a thing of the past.

To save money I use coupons. I'm a decent couponer. I wish we had better couponing opportunities where I live, but I do the best I can with what we get. And when there is a deal I stockpile like a mad woman. Example: I haven't bought diapers or wipes since last summer! But I wish for more opportunities to save money.

It occurred to me yesterday that I pay a lot of money for certain products on a regular basis. Now, I'm pretty sure our HOA would frown on me getting a cow for my milk or chickens for my eggs. But bread breaks down pretty cheap when you make it yourself. Have you bought a loaf of bread lately? Holy Moly is it pricey! Especially if you want one with any kind of value, such as multi grain, wheat, no HFCS, etc. So today we will attempt the great bread experiment. This is a multi level experiment, broken up the following ways:

step 1: actually making the ingredients into a successful dough. Quite possibly the biggest hurdle

step 2: actually making/baking the dough into good tasting bread

step 3: actually getting my kids to eat it in place of the store bought stuff.

step 4: if steps 1-3 are successful, convincing myself to get up off my lazy rear end and make this bread on a regular basis.

I don't own a bread maker, so we'll be doing it the old fashioned way. But I cannot honestly and rightly complain about the economy sucking up all my money if I'm not even TRYING to find clever ways around it. So Curly and StinkyMan and I are about to give it a whirl. I'll let you know how it turns out.