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Monday, July 18, 2011

A Couple Goals

We have been riding bikes a fair amount lately and now we have a superb trailer to carry things with us, so we haven't got any good reason to not ride places. I once read in a Trek booklet that we ought to ride our bikes to anywhere within five miles of our homes. It is in this radius that we create the most emissions from driving, therefore, biking or walking should be considered as an alternative.

Here is my goal for us as a family; to ride our bikes in every situation, with the exception of church (13 miles, one way) and dance (nearly 10 miles, one way) and any other trips that are fairly far, including, but not limited to, Berry Patch Farms. I think this is perfectly reasonable. Katherine is getting bigger and she has a great bike, plus, she still fits the tag-a-long that attaches to a parent bike to make a tandem.

Another goal I have is to not buy anything new, unless it is jars or lids with rings for canning, until Kat's birthday. For this upcoming paycheck, for which we are waiting and is on a strange cycle this month, therefore unpredictable, I am hoping to not eat out AT ALL, aside from the promised Chipotle for Katherine following her next 2 dance camps, since she dances for 3 hours straight.

All of this may seem fairly simple to many of you out there, but when we are so busy, the convenience begins to take precedence over anything else. In summary, the overall goal is to increase our pocketbook and give ourselves a bit of a workout, getting use out of our very nice cycles.

Well, that's that! Talk to you all soon! I hope to remember to let you know how it all goes!

4 comments:

Mountain Mama said...

Hey! I think your goals sound great! I wish that we could ride bikes up here, but the reality is that is is very bike UNfriendly up here. There is no room on the shoulders, no sidewalks (at all) and no bike paths (at all). This is one of the reasons I like Boulder so much - you can get around the whole city easily on bike or by foot. Sounds like Auroa is moving that way too ;o)

We buy everything used too. Except underware and most school books. The reason on the school books is the 6 kiddos - if I buy used, they never make it through all of them before I have to buy it again. In this case, I save money buying new. Unless I find them really cheap and in perfect condition, i dont even bother with used anymore. However, free used books I am OK with ;o)

Xen Xen said...

Yeah, we rarely buy anything new, but when we are out and about, it is easy to say yes to a little something here and there with an only. So, probably, I should have said that I want to cut back on purchases outside the major necessities :o)

Aurora is getting pretty good about the biking, but it could be a little better and maintenance of the trail could be a little more priority. Other than that, it is pretty good.

Martha said...

While reading a "Fancy Nancy" book (love her whimsical style, doing what she likes) last year, it said "Less than a mile, bike in style." It's practical for kids. My girls will go 2 miles, but more than that is too tiring (esp for Olivia who is 8)...thankfully we live in an urban place and can walk to the library, karate class, thrift store, if needed. Our church is 3 miles, if it weren't so hot and humid, I would try it with the girls...
We're not getting enough out of our garden, yet, to live off it...wish we were!!!
And I'm sure you meant you're still going to buy groceries...but if you let people know you're happy to take hand-me-downs, you'll get a lot of stuff...thrift stores AND yard sales are great, too. But budget and get only what you need, or are going to use...hard to NOT get something, if you really like it, but my thing for the past couple of years is to check and see where it's made...if it says "made in the USA," and we want or need it and the price is right, we get it. If "made in China"....definite no.

Xen Xen said...

How nice for you that everything is so close you can walk! It would be great if we had that same luxury here. Alas, we are in the suburban sprawl where things are off the bike path (thankfully), but are not particularly close.

Oh yes, we are still buying groceries, but even then I will sort through all $1 bags of things that are close to their date and need to be eaten, before getting the other things. That is how I canned about 32 oz. of plum jam for only $3.50 in plums! We do get hand-me-downs from a few people, particularly Fr. Michael's youngest daughter who is 2 years (exactly, to the day) older than Katherine, so that is nice.

One of the things I try to keep in mind when getting something is whether it is plastic. I dislike plastic for many reasons, but our health is one of my biggest reasons. In this respect, it is related to hormonal balancing, mostly. We love our thrift stores and my dad recently sent Katherine some spending money for the yard sales we tend to frequent. She is always wanting a little something, but spends her money nearly as quickly as she gets it!