First Things

I don't have some strict, set-in-stone, philosophy when it comes to shopping, cooking and planning. More's the pity. But I do have some ingrained character traits that you should know about. In no particular order:

1. I hate paying full price for anything. I am not impressed by people who have the resources to do so. I am endlessly impressed by elegantly frugal people. You know, the ones who manage to live with abundance and frugality at the same time.
2. If any system or method of saving money takes more work than it saves, I won't keep up with it. I make a certain amount of money per hour, so I have a pretty good idea of what my time is worth. Even if you don't work for a paycheck, you know how much your time is worth. It makes no sense to spend hours to save pennies. With an 8-year old and a 2 year-old, I'd rather have the time.
3. I like to cook when I have a good idea for the meal, the ingredients on hand and the time to do so. When those things don't line up, I can still put dinner together to get everyone fed. But I wouldn't call it cooking.

There are probably still other things I could add to this list, but this is a good start. Do you have a similar list?