Whew!
Well, I made it through the week and survived the Food Stamp Challenge. Interestingly, it was a very busy week and I don't know if that made it harder or easier - I was probably hungrier, but had actually had less time to think about food.
It was a little touch and go on Friday when I had an off-site staff meeting and afterwords everyone wanted to go Panera for lunch. I accompanied them and figured I would use my remaining $1.12 to buy a small soda. When I got to the front of the line during the lunch time rush and told the cashier that I only wanted a small soda, he looked at me quizzicially and just gave me a cup without charging me for it! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
I finished the week with a handful of spaghetti, some sauce, three eggs and a little bit of lettuce - not much to build on for the next week. The biggest lesson that became even clearer to me is the difficulty of eating well while trying to eat cheaply. It's easy to understand why someone would purchase something like "Sunny-D" to drink rather than real juice: it costs about half as much, but has little nutritional value.
The same is true for bread. You can spend $2.29 for whole wheat, or 99 cents for a larger loaf of white bread with less nutritional value. Fruits and vegetables are a story unto themsleves. Wow! You would be lucky to have one or two pieces of fresh fruit a day -- well below what is suggested to be healthy.
I found the experience to be very rewarding, and eye-opening. It was also a great educational tool for my daughters. I am blessed that I don't have to live this way every week, but right now -- and, unfortunately, even when the economy is good -- there are far too many for whom this is how they live. In a nation as prosperous as ours, we can and must do more make sure no one goes hungry.
On a lighter note, there was great concern at the soccer fields on Saturday that the whole family was undertaking the Food Stamp Challenge, and many of the parents of my daughters teammates were offering to take my girls home so they could have a good meal!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Food Stamp Challenge, Day 5
As we close in on the end of the seven day challenge, here's my menu from yesterday:
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a bit of turkey and gobs of lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- spaghetti with sauce, and a glass of milk.
As I mentioned yesterday, my supply of sliced turkey is running dangerously low, so my sandwiches have become thick with lettuce, thin on the meat.
Today I'm on the run, and . . . well, I didn't pack a lunch this morning, so I'm going to have to wing it. Perhaps the $1.12 I had left over from my grocery shopping can be put to use today. I'll let you know.
The final day of the Food Stamp Challenge is tomorrow. On Monday, I'll let you know what I ate, and give you some final thoughts on the challenge.
Have a good weekend.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a bit of turkey and gobs of lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- spaghetti with sauce, and a glass of milk.
As I mentioned yesterday, my supply of sliced turkey is running dangerously low, so my sandwiches have become thick with lettuce, thin on the meat.
Today I'm on the run, and . . . well, I didn't pack a lunch this morning, so I'm going to have to wing it. Perhaps the $1.12 I had left over from my grocery shopping can be put to use today. I'll let you know.
The final day of the Food Stamp Challenge is tomorrow. On Monday, I'll let you know what I ate, and give you some final thoughts on the challenge.
Have a good weekend.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Food Stamp Challenge, Day 4
Here's the menu for yesterday.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- scrambled eggs and toast, with a glass of orange juice.
Because of last night's Town Hall meeting, I once again didn't make it home for dinner until after 10:00 p.m. Rather than eat an egg sandwich, as I had planned, I decided instead to have scrambled eggs with toast. Same ingredients, different format, I suppose.
Anyway, here's what's left in my pantry for the remaining three days (that's today, tomorrow, and Saturday): I've got seven eggs left, 2/3 of a box of spaghetti, half a can of sauce, and half a loaf of bread. I made my first can of frozen juice last until yesterday, and opened the second (and last) can for dinner last night.
That's not too bad, I suppose -- but my milk is almost gone, my remaining bananas are going brown, and I've only got a bit of sliced turkey left, which means my lunch sandwiches for the rest of the week will be heavy on the lettuce, light on the meat.
We'll see how I do. Stay tuned.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- scrambled eggs and toast, with a glass of orange juice.
Because of last night's Town Hall meeting, I once again didn't make it home for dinner until after 10:00 p.m. Rather than eat an egg sandwich, as I had planned, I decided instead to have scrambled eggs with toast. Same ingredients, different format, I suppose.
Anyway, here's what's left in my pantry for the remaining three days (that's today, tomorrow, and Saturday): I've got seven eggs left, 2/3 of a box of spaghetti, half a can of sauce, and half a loaf of bread. I made my first can of frozen juice last until yesterday, and opened the second (and last) can for dinner last night.
That's not too bad, I suppose -- but my milk is almost gone, my remaining bananas are going brown, and I've only got a bit of sliced turkey left, which means my lunch sandwiches for the rest of the week will be heavy on the lettuce, light on the meat.
We'll see how I do. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Food Stamp Challenge, Day 3
Here's my menu from yesterday. And I hope you notice it looks quite a bit like my menu from the past two days.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and lettuce) and a banana. Water to drink.
Dinner -- A bowl of bean soup and a glass of milk
Once again, given my schedule, I didn't eat dinner until after 10:00 p.m. While breakfast and lunch have been the same, I'm trying to mix things up a bit for dinner, rotating between spaghetti, soup, and egg sandwiches. But my meals have become incredibly utilitarian -- they're all purpose, and no pleasure. As such, you don't necessarily look forward to dinner in the way you might anticipate a pot roast that's been cooking all day, or savor a steaming plate of Mexican food. It's simply A Meal, doing its job.
Oh, and thanks, I did manage to land a larger water cup.
For more stories, vist the Manna Food Stamp Challenge Blog here. There was also a story in the Gazette, which you can read by clicking here.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and lettuce) and a banana. Water to drink.
Dinner -- A bowl of bean soup and a glass of milk
Once again, given my schedule, I didn't eat dinner until after 10:00 p.m. While breakfast and lunch have been the same, I'm trying to mix things up a bit for dinner, rotating between spaghetti, soup, and egg sandwiches. But my meals have become incredibly utilitarian -- they're all purpose, and no pleasure. As such, you don't necessarily look forward to dinner in the way you might anticipate a pot roast that's been cooking all day, or savor a steaming plate of Mexican food. It's simply A Meal, doing its job.
Oh, and thanks, I did manage to land a larger water cup.
For more stories, vist the Manna Food Stamp Challenge Blog here. There was also a story in the Gazette, which you can read by clicking here.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Food Stamp Challenge, Day 2
As I noted yesterday, variety is not an option when you're living within a tight budget. My meals yesterday consisted of the following:
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and some lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- a fried egg sandwich on wheat bread, and a banana
The main question I'm getting is: are you hungry? And the answer is: Not yet. That's probably because I've been busy during the day, running from one meeting to another, and I had to work late enough last night that I didn't eat until I got home at 10 p.m. That sort of schedule tends to take your mind off food -- but only until I get home and settle down.
At that point, the mind tends to drift, and temptation starts to tap you on the shoulder. But when you're on a budget, there's really no such thing as leftovers. I can't afford to snack on what I've got left in the fridge, or I might run out before the end of the week, leaving me with an empty fridge and empty stomach by Saturday morning.
To the surprise of my staff, giving up my regular Mountain Dew habit hasn't been difficult. I'm drinking more and more water now, which is probably a good thing. My main quest now is for a bigger cup.
Breakfast -- a bowl of cereal with milk, and a glass of concentrated orange juice.
Lunch -- a turkey sandwich (2 slices of wheat bread with a few slices of turkey and some lettuce) and a banana.
Dinner -- a fried egg sandwich on wheat bread, and a banana
The main question I'm getting is: are you hungry? And the answer is: Not yet. That's probably because I've been busy during the day, running from one meeting to another, and I had to work late enough last night that I didn't eat until I got home at 10 p.m. That sort of schedule tends to take your mind off food -- but only until I get home and settle down.
At that point, the mind tends to drift, and temptation starts to tap you on the shoulder. But when you're on a budget, there's really no such thing as leftovers. I can't afford to snack on what I've got left in the fridge, or I might run out before the end of the week, leaving me with an empty fridge and empty stomach by Saturday morning.
To the surprise of my staff, giving up my regular Mountain Dew habit hasn't been difficult. I'm drinking more and more water now, which is probably a good thing. My main quest now is for a bigger cup.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Food Stamp Challenge, Day 1
After a much too long hiatus, I am back in the blogosphere. This week, I'm undertaking an activity that I hope will bring attention to an issue that we're all dealing with during this difficult economy: how to feed yourself and your family while food prices continue to rise and your income doesn't.
Manna Food Center is sponsoring the Food Stamp Challenge and asking people to see what it's like to live on food purchased for no more than $25 a week, which is roughly the equivalent of what an individual who is eligible for food stamps receives each week. I'll try to provide an update each day and let you know how I am doing -- although as you'll see, the menu won't vary much from day to day.
On Sunday morning, my two daughters and I went shopping to see if we could at least accomplish the first part of the challenge -- to get groceries for the week for less than $25. Here's our list:
16oz can of Hunt's Meat Spaghetti Sauce - $1.20
2 cans of Dole frozen orange/pineapple juice -$1.69 each
Malt O' Meal Raisin Bran - $2.50
1 loaf of wheat bread - $2.39
1 dozen eggs - $1.89
1/2 lb. smoked turkey breast - $3.17
1 head of iceberg lettuce - $1.79
1 gallon skim milk - $3.99
7 bananas at .58/lb. - $1.48
1 16oz box thin spaghetti - $1.00
1 can bean with bacon soup - $1.09
Total: $23.88
This leaves me $1.12 in case of an emergency as the week progresses.
Sunday's meals consisted of,
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs and 1 piece of toast and juice
Dinner - Spaghetti, two pieces of bread, a small salad of iceberg lettuce, and a glass of milk
By way of just a little background on Food Stamps and Manna Food Center.
Manna Food Center (and many other similar organizations) provide food for the hungry in Montgomery County. Each month Manna feeds 2,400 hungry families in our County and each week provides meals for 600 elementary school children. Manna's website is www.mannafood.org.
Food stamps are a supplemental food program for low-income persons and families. You can find information on the Manna Food Center website, but generally to be eligible an individual's gross monthly income cannot exceed $1,037 or $12,444 per year, and a family of four's gross monthly income cannot exceed $2,097 or $25,164. If you meet this criteria, then a single is eligible for $152 per month, and a family of four can receive $506 per month.
The first observations that I would make are that it is very time consuming to try and figure out what you can purchase for $25 that can provide enough for food for the week, but even harder is trying to do it in a way that is healthy. My youngest daughter is concerned about what happens if I run out of food mid-week, and has offered to sneak me some food if it becomes a desperate situation. It's good to have someone looking out for me - everyone should be so lucky.
Manna Food Center is sponsoring the Food Stamp Challenge and asking people to see what it's like to live on food purchased for no more than $25 a week, which is roughly the equivalent of what an individual who is eligible for food stamps receives each week. I'll try to provide an update each day and let you know how I am doing -- although as you'll see, the menu won't vary much from day to day.
On Sunday morning, my two daughters and I went shopping to see if we could at least accomplish the first part of the challenge -- to get groceries for the week for less than $25. Here's our list:
16oz can of Hunt's Meat Spaghetti Sauce - $1.20
2 cans of Dole frozen orange/pineapple juice -$1.69 each
Malt O' Meal Raisin Bran - $2.50
1 loaf of wheat bread - $2.39
1 dozen eggs - $1.89
1/2 lb. smoked turkey breast - $3.17
1 head of iceberg lettuce - $1.79
1 gallon skim milk - $3.99
7 bananas at .58/lb. - $1.48
1 16oz box thin spaghetti - $1.00
1 can bean with bacon soup - $1.09
Total: $23.88
This leaves me $1.12 in case of an emergency as the week progresses.
Sunday's meals consisted of,
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs and 1 piece of toast and juice
Dinner - Spaghetti, two pieces of bread, a small salad of iceberg lettuce, and a glass of milk
By way of just a little background on Food Stamps and Manna Food Center.
Manna Food Center (and many other similar organizations) provide food for the hungry in Montgomery County. Each month Manna feeds 2,400 hungry families in our County and each week provides meals for 600 elementary school children. Manna's website is www.mannafood.org.
Food stamps are a supplemental food program for low-income persons and families. You can find information on the Manna Food Center website, but generally to be eligible an individual's gross monthly income cannot exceed $1,037 or $12,444 per year, and a family of four's gross monthly income cannot exceed $2,097 or $25,164. If you meet this criteria, then a single is eligible for $152 per month, and a family of four can receive $506 per month.
The first observations that I would make are that it is very time consuming to try and figure out what you can purchase for $25 that can provide enough for food for the week, but even harder is trying to do it in a way that is healthy. My youngest daughter is concerned about what happens if I run out of food mid-week, and has offered to sneak me some food if it becomes a desperate situation. It's good to have someone looking out for me - everyone should be so lucky.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sausage
Apologies, I haven't had much of a chance to post anything lately as the Council worked to conclude its actions on the FY2009 budget. To make up for it, this will be a little longer than normal. But bear with me, I think you might find it of some interest. As you may have read in The Washington Post or the The Gazette, the County Council hit a few bumps in the road as we came down the homestretch -- so I thought I'd provide you with insights on what worked and what didn't as we worked to wrap things up.
As kind of a quick re-cap, the County Executive sends his budget recommendations to the council on the 15th of March. After that, the council holds public hearings and then starts committee work sessions on the individual departments and agencies in April. In May, we move to full council deliberation on the departments and agencies. This year, we were scheduled to take final action on the budget on May 22. As always, we scheduled a "straw" vote -- or tentative approval -- the week before the final vote, so that council staff can work with the County Executive's staff to make sure all of the numbers add up and that all of the details are correct.
It was during this straw vote process that things started to slowly erode.
As is often the case, individual councilmembers have specific issues that are important to them during the budget process. This year it became clear early on that because a number of our revenue sources had declined (the recordation and transfer taxes, and the income taxes), we would likely need to increase use of property taxes. That, in turn, would likely mean exceeding the Charter limit.
As a result, a number of councilmembers had indicated that they would like to scale back the cost of living allowances (COLAs) for our county employees and have some element of employee participation to balance the increase in property taxes. There were two other important elements that councilmembers identified: (1) reinstating some of our core services that the County Executive had proposed reducing (i.e. community policing, fire and rescue services to name a couple) and (2) reducing the property tax increase proposed by the County Executive.
Interestingly, as the council proceeded through April and May, everyone did a pretty good job of not adding too much back into the budget. And so, as the full council adopted the various elements of the budget there was general agreement . . . until the week of the straw vote.
The tussles began on Wednesday, May 14. On the table was a proposal to reduce employee COLA's by $40 million, which would have resulted in reducing COLAs by about 40-50%. That was voted down by a vote of 6 to 2, in a boisterous work-session with about 300 county employees in attendance. While there was no other motion made, there was a clear split in the council, with some councilmembers seeking some contribution to the budget from county employees, and others not wanting to break the negotiated contracts with our employees.
The next day -- Thursday, May 15 -- the council proceeded to the straw vote. Given the way the votes had fallen so far, there had been no huge disagreements. So, as Council President, I made a motion to approve the overall budget - usually a formality at that point - and it went down on a 4-4 tie.
Houston, we have a problem.
As I indicated a little earlier, this budget would exceed the Charter Limit -- and as such, it required an affirmative vote of seven councilmembers to pass. Remember, because of the passing of the Councilmember Praisner earlier this year, there are only eight councilmembers; therefore, I needed to have seven of eight councilmembers in agreement in order for Montgomery County to have a budget for the next fiscal year which begins on July 1. A 4-4 split is a long way from that endpoint.
So, at about the time we should have been celebrating a successful resolution to a difficult budget season, the council adjourned until 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, May 16, and all of the councilmembers retired to their respective offices with no clear way to achieve resolution. This was about 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Eventually, councilmembers began to knock on each other's office doors, making tentative inquiries about what each might need in order to approve a final budget. Before we had adjourned, Council Vice President Phil Andrews had proposed looking at including two furlough days (effectively two days when County government would close down) in the budget, for an estimated savings of about $20 million dollars. This became the starting point for conversation, but by 6:00 p.m., there was no real consensus on what such a proposal might look like.
One councilmember ordered pizza, and people started to emerge from their offices. With no clear end in sight, a few councilmembers went to other events. Soon it was 7:00 p.m., and no progress had yet been made -- but there was one factor out there -- the fact that we would be in session 14 hours later, at 9:00 a.m., to debate these issues in Council session. That likely wouldn't be pretty.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m., then, I started talking with one councilmember about trying to figure out different ways to reduce $20 million in spending that could get some votes. We looked at one furlough day -- to save about $10 million -- and another $10 million in reductions from the current reconciliation list. As we looked at some other variations on that theme, a third councilmember came in, and the three of us continued the brainstorming.
Things were starting to turn. Shortly thereafter, a fourth councilmember came in and said he and a few other councilmembers had reached roughly the same conclusion that we had: a proposal that would reduce property taxes by $20 million and require savings in MCPS and Montgomery County government in the area of employee costs, but would do so without breaking existing contracts with our employees.
All of a sudden we went from a 4-4 split to five members in agreement -- but that was still a long way from the seven we needed. The phone calls started, and by 9:00 p.m., we had general tentative agreement of seven councilmembers. Then we had to put it in writing.
I stayed until about midnight on Thursday, putting the final touches in place and calling the County Executive, members of the Board of Education, the MCPS Superintendent, and the representatives of our employee organizations to discuss our agreement. I was well aware that if anyone had a big problem with what was tentatively proposed, it would be very easy for two councilmembers to stop the budget. But after my round of calls and conversations, I felt certain we were on our way to an agreement.
I got to the office at about 8:00 on Friday morning, and things were still going pretty well -- but as councilmembers drifted in, there were still a number of questions about the specific language, the final numbers, and how the property tax reduction would be shown. As 9:00 a.m. approached -- the time we were to go back into session -- calls continued to come in, and more questions arose. Councilmembers kept talking and the clock kept ticking.
Finally, it appeared that everything was okay, and the council slid into session at 9:45 a.m. After a fair amount of deliberation and discussion, the council tentatively approved the FY09 operating budget for Montgomery County an hour later. We had our budget.
I'll go through the details of what is actually in the budget in my next blog, but I thought this story might be more interesting for starters.
My thanks to all for their hard work on the budget!
As kind of a quick re-cap, the County Executive sends his budget recommendations to the council on the 15th of March. After that, the council holds public hearings and then starts committee work sessions on the individual departments and agencies in April. In May, we move to full council deliberation on the departments and agencies. This year, we were scheduled to take final action on the budget on May 22. As always, we scheduled a "straw" vote -- or tentative approval -- the week before the final vote, so that council staff can work with the County Executive's staff to make sure all of the numbers add up and that all of the details are correct.
It was during this straw vote process that things started to slowly erode.
As is often the case, individual councilmembers have specific issues that are important to them during the budget process. This year it became clear early on that because a number of our revenue sources had declined (the recordation and transfer taxes, and the income taxes), we would likely need to increase use of property taxes. That, in turn, would likely mean exceeding the Charter limit.
As a result, a number of councilmembers had indicated that they would like to scale back the cost of living allowances (COLAs) for our county employees and have some element of employee participation to balance the increase in property taxes. There were two other important elements that councilmembers identified: (1) reinstating some of our core services that the County Executive had proposed reducing (i.e. community policing, fire and rescue services to name a couple) and (2) reducing the property tax increase proposed by the County Executive.
Interestingly, as the council proceeded through April and May, everyone did a pretty good job of not adding too much back into the budget. And so, as the full council adopted the various elements of the budget there was general agreement . . . until the week of the straw vote.
The tussles began on Wednesday, May 14. On the table was a proposal to reduce employee COLA's by $40 million, which would have resulted in reducing COLAs by about 40-50%. That was voted down by a vote of 6 to 2, in a boisterous work-session with about 300 county employees in attendance. While there was no other motion made, there was a clear split in the council, with some councilmembers seeking some contribution to the budget from county employees, and others not wanting to break the negotiated contracts with our employees.
The next day -- Thursday, May 15 -- the council proceeded to the straw vote. Given the way the votes had fallen so far, there had been no huge disagreements. So, as Council President, I made a motion to approve the overall budget - usually a formality at that point - and it went down on a 4-4 tie.
Houston, we have a problem.
As I indicated a little earlier, this budget would exceed the Charter Limit -- and as such, it required an affirmative vote of seven councilmembers to pass. Remember, because of the passing of the Councilmember Praisner earlier this year, there are only eight councilmembers; therefore, I needed to have seven of eight councilmembers in agreement in order for Montgomery County to have a budget for the next fiscal year which begins on July 1. A 4-4 split is a long way from that endpoint.
So, at about the time we should have been celebrating a successful resolution to a difficult budget season, the council adjourned until 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, May 16, and all of the councilmembers retired to their respective offices with no clear way to achieve resolution. This was about 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Eventually, councilmembers began to knock on each other's office doors, making tentative inquiries about what each might need in order to approve a final budget. Before we had adjourned, Council Vice President Phil Andrews had proposed looking at including two furlough days (effectively two days when County government would close down) in the budget, for an estimated savings of about $20 million dollars. This became the starting point for conversation, but by 6:00 p.m., there was no real consensus on what such a proposal might look like.
One councilmember ordered pizza, and people started to emerge from their offices. With no clear end in sight, a few councilmembers went to other events. Soon it was 7:00 p.m., and no progress had yet been made -- but there was one factor out there -- the fact that we would be in session 14 hours later, at 9:00 a.m., to debate these issues in Council session. That likely wouldn't be pretty.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m., then, I started talking with one councilmember about trying to figure out different ways to reduce $20 million in spending that could get some votes. We looked at one furlough day -- to save about $10 million -- and another $10 million in reductions from the current reconciliation list. As we looked at some other variations on that theme, a third councilmember came in, and the three of us continued the brainstorming.
Things were starting to turn. Shortly thereafter, a fourth councilmember came in and said he and a few other councilmembers had reached roughly the same conclusion that we had: a proposal that would reduce property taxes by $20 million and require savings in MCPS and Montgomery County government in the area of employee costs, but would do so without breaking existing contracts with our employees.
All of a sudden we went from a 4-4 split to five members in agreement -- but that was still a long way from the seven we needed. The phone calls started, and by 9:00 p.m., we had general tentative agreement of seven councilmembers. Then we had to put it in writing.
I stayed until about midnight on Thursday, putting the final touches in place and calling the County Executive, members of the Board of Education, the MCPS Superintendent, and the representatives of our employee organizations to discuss our agreement. I was well aware that if anyone had a big problem with what was tentatively proposed, it would be very easy for two councilmembers to stop the budget. But after my round of calls and conversations, I felt certain we were on our way to an agreement.
I got to the office at about 8:00 on Friday morning, and things were still going pretty well -- but as councilmembers drifted in, there were still a number of questions about the specific language, the final numbers, and how the property tax reduction would be shown. As 9:00 a.m. approached -- the time we were to go back into session -- calls continued to come in, and more questions arose. Councilmembers kept talking and the clock kept ticking.
Finally, it appeared that everything was okay, and the council slid into session at 9:45 a.m. After a fair amount of deliberation and discussion, the council tentatively approved the FY09 operating budget for Montgomery County an hour later. We had our budget.
I'll go through the details of what is actually in the budget in my next blog, but I thought this story might be more interesting for starters.
My thanks to all for their hard work on the budget!
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