CB or MMM

Cut Back or Make More Money.

That’s the philosophy espoused by Becky’s dad in the hilarious Mini-Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. And it needs to apply to our family as well.

We are well into 2012. It’s a fabulous new year, still so full of so much promise and hope. This is going to be the year when things transform. That includes our financial situation as well. We are reaching the end of the time when we can still save for the future in time to be prepared before it is upon us.

Making more money I am already on top of. I am working as much as I can within the limits of my other responsibilities and my somewhat-fractured attention span.

But I think the time has come to face the dreaded CUT BACK as well.

Our fixed bills are fixed. And they are pretty immovable. Of the range of variable expenses that we have each month, those are surprisingly consistent as well. I’ve gone over and over them and concluded that the ONLY place we can probably successfully cut back is in our food bill.

That’s right. Buy fewer groceries. Eat out less often. Simply eat LESS.

With a bit of attention and some hard choices, I think I can drop our grocery bills by half. And that’s the money we badly need to put into a college fund. ASAP.

We need to eat less anyway. At least my husband and I do. The last few years have not been kind to my figure in terms of caloric consumption. Between stress, laziness, workload and being around food all day long, I’ve gained 70 pounds more than I wish I weighed. So far I am still healthy and active. But it won’t hurt me one bit to cut my food in half.

In fact, food has been my go-to drug of the last few years, the only substance I can count on to safely regulate my mood and calm my anxiety without immediate side effects. Since I stay away from all illegal and legal drugs, and since the yoga studio I relied on closed down, food has been the only thing I had left for quick regulation. And it works beautifully for me.

But now, well, it’s 2012. Time to be healthy. Time to be leaner. Time to cut the food – and the costs – in half.