Eve Penman: An Empowered Housewife in Rural America

Q: What’s the best way to save money when shopping at Costco? A: Buy items that are used every day! The more an item is used, the more that item is needed; therefore, if the most used items in a house are bought in bulk (at Costco or any warehouse club store), the more money it will save. I did a cost analysis on three food items that are used 5 to 7 days a week in my home and I was amazed at the findings when I compared the cost for the items in bulk to purchasing the items in smaller quantities; namely lunch cheese, coffee, and lunch meat. Please keep in mind that prices can vary by location and if there are weekly specials; the information I’m presenting is based on the prices listed on my receipts where I live, the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Lunch Cheese: In December of 2019 we started purchasing the 2.5lb block of Tillamook Pepper Jack Cheese at Costco for my husband’s lunches that he has five days a week, instead of the 7.5oz packages of sliced Sargento ...

Q: What's the best way to make a bed? A: Sing a cadence song in your head! Make the Bed Cadence Drill by Eve Penman Rise and shine and make the bed Fluff those pillows for your head! Throw the covers back and let the sheets air Spray disinfectant* everywhere! It looks good (it looks good) It feels great (it feels great) To make the bed (to make the bed) Every day (every day)! Wash the sheets (wash the sheets) Once a week (once a week) To keep the bed (to keep the bed) Hygienic (hygienic) [pronounced hy-gen-eek]! Make the bed look nice and neat For a touch of luxury! When it’s time to get some rest A bed that’s made is the best! Start the day (start the day) The right way (the right way) Make the bed (make the bed) Right away (right away)! Make it look (make it look)  Real good (real good) Damn good (damn good) Like it should (like it should)! A messy bed is not for me A tidy bed is what I need! Making the bed is nothing to hate Mak...

Q: Can an empowered woman be a housewife? A: Only if she wants to! I recently came across a post on Tumblr entitled ’10 Important Points for a Wife’ and it had some good information, albeit vague, but I didn’t agree with everything and found it to be a bit too submissive for my liking.   As an over-40 GenXer who has been programmed with empowering feminism my whole life, not to mention I have a work history that's as long as the lifespan of a young 20-something housewife, I refuse -- refuse! -- to act like an inexperienced and submissive wife who doesn’t think for herself. Yet, at the same time, I don’t want to be overbearing or overpowering to my husband because that is not being a good partner, which is my ultimate goal as his duly licensed wife; and it’s a challenge that other women may have too if they received the same programming and have become housewives after leaving the feministic workforce where they spent most of their lives. I Refuse: Goldie Hawn in Over...

Q: What’s more important than making a lot of money? A: Keeping track of the money you make and not spending more than you make -- especially if you don’t make a lot! Granted, ‘a lot’ is a relative term when it comes to money and income. For instance, people who make over $100k in a year may think that making $60k/year is not a lot, whereas people who make $15k in a year may think that making $30k/year is a lot; therefore, ‘a lot’ is relative based on what a person’s got. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services sets yearly guidelines on poverty levels so there isn’t a need for anyone to guess at what ‘a lot’ is or isn’t in the eyes of the federal government; ‘poverty’ is still a fairly relative term though based on where a person lives due to the varying costs of living in different geographical areas of America. Relative terms aside, for the year 2019, the HHS poverty guidelines for income in a household of two in the 48 contiguous states and the Dist...

My 10-star review on IMDb.com of ‘Smarty’ from 1934 , starring Joan Blondell, Warren William, Edward Everett Horton, Frank McHugh, and Claire Dodd:  Kinky Kicks, Disgraceful Dames, & Hollywood Hypocrisy! Marriage and divorce lawyers take a bigger beating in this movie than Joan Blondell does, and if a single slap on the face equates to domestic violence then people don't know what domestic violence really is! There is more violence against women in modern movies than there is in this film, yet people are now programmed to believe that it's acceptable for women to get beaten so long as it isn't by their husbands! Please, go sit through 'True Romance' and watch Patricia Arquette take a bloody beating from James Gandolfini if you think 'Smarty' is violence against women. Even 'Goodfellas' has more marital violence, yet both AMC & IFC can't stop showing it which tells me that reckless violence against women is the status quo per th...

Q: What is marriage? A: Marriage is like the U.S. Marines -- it's not a rose garden! If Harry & Sally had an awkward multi-year courtship on the way to the altar, I would say that my husband and I had a completely catastrophic 19-year courtship on the way to the courthouse.    As of this writing, it is now the 21 st anniversary of the beginning of our long and unconventional relationship, which started with a chance meeting on Valentine’s night in 1999; and our two-year marriage anniversary is still a couple months away which took place on a Friday the 13 th in 2018 -- unconventional is putting it mildly! In fact, I’ve now known my husband for over half of my life and it didn’t happen without overcoming a lot of issues that rip many couples apart -- the funny thing is that we dealt with most of those issues before we ever got married, LOL! Needless to say, I put my time and tears into our relationship, and I totally earned the title of Wife just l...

Q: How can I save money and get ahead financially when I don’t know where my money goes or how much is spent each month? A: I can’t! While many politicians are busy making income inequality a red herring selling point in their campaigns for the 2020 election season, they all miss the crux of the problem -- financial management! For all the hot air that politicians let out, what they aren’t talking about to the American people is the importance of understanding how personal finances work and how to make finances work to a person’s advantage starting with what they have right now, which I believe is the fundamental basics of home economics and something all dedicated housewives should be fully aware of. I was never taught by anyone how to manage my finances and I had to learn it for myself when I discovered that the spending in my household far exceeded the income level and left me wondering how we were even surviving. FYI, giving kids money and telling them not t...

Q: How can I make food taste better, become a better cook, save money, and spend less time cleaning? A: Don't own a microwave! Here are five reasons not to have a microwave, based on what I’ve learned through experience from having a microwave-free kitchen since 2007 and from cleaning other people’s microwaves as a housekeeper; plus, five solutions for living without a microwave that I’ve learned along the way. Bonne lecture! 1. CLEANING: One less appliance to clean  Microwaves are disgusting when they’re dirty and a total nuisance to clean, whether they’re on the countertop and you have to bend over to clean inside, or they’re installed above the stove/oven/counter and you’re short and can barely reach inside, as I learned when I worked as a housekeeper (cleaning other people’s microwaves when I didn’t have one in my own home taught me a lot about why it’s good not to have a microwave) It’s easier for me to clean a messy stovetop than a messy microwave  I prefer...