(I just like the bison joke...)
It’s been a while since I wrote a Mindful Chicken.
Mindful Chickens are (for people who don’t know why I call them this) about TWO things.
___________
Mindful? Thinking about what we do around here to be responsible to the world and to ourselves.
Chicken? Cheep, Cheep, Cheap!
You may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while. There’s been a lot going on – including this pleasure. Len and I went to Chicago for several days to care for our granddaughter while our daughter and son-in-law went out of town.
My church has been working for months to organize their fund-raising auction that was supposed to be TONIGHT. But instead we are in the middle of the massive spring storm that is scrubbing the nation from Oklahoma to I don’t know where next. The wind is howling; rain is sleeting into snow over a glaze of ice.
Mindful Chickens? We are frugal so that our retirement savings will last as long as we do. At the same time we try to consume responsibly so that our choices have the least negative impact on our fellow humans and on our earth and its creatures. Cheep, Cheap!
…
I regularly read blogs about being frugal. I like them because they are about people taking as much control of the quality of their life as they can within the many different circumstances in which people live. I especially love the letters people write listing what they did in the past few days to be careful and thoughtful about what they spend and how they save.
Two things I have been thinking about lately. Both are related to retirement income and retirement adventure.
1. Last week Len and I went to our Social Security office to sign me up for Spousal Benefits. It took me several run-throughs to understand what “spousal benefits” are. Since then I have talked to several other people who were also unclear on the concept.
1. We did it! We called, explained what we thought we needed to do, made appts, were home for the appts, rec’d the estimates about - fixing the gutters and getting the house painted. I think one of the reasons we usually do it ourselves is because this process is so daunting and time consuming.
1. When we were sick in January (with flu and cold) Len used the CVS card that I had signed up for last year and then barely used. He bought several OTC medicines plus a cool-mist vaporizer using that card, which saved us 20%. That was helpful.
1. I donated blood Friday morning. This is a free mini-checkup every two months; they take your pulse, temperature, blood pressure, and check your hemoglobin levels (iron). They send your blood to be checked for various diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile, and Zika.
1. We bought a car!! We bought our (former) 2006 Mercury Milan and 2004 Ford Ranger around 2006-2007. Len is a very good vehicle dad – they lasted this long. The truck is still reliably chugging along; we sold it to a neighbor. However it became apparent a few weeks ago that the Milan could no longer take care of itself. Sigh.