The Ghost of Christmas Past
December 29, 2007
Ok, I know its only a few days past Christmas 2008. If you consider leap year, there are only 362 shopping days left until next Christmas Eve. The stress of Christmas Past is fresh in my mind. I think it’s the perfect time to start planning for next year. All I know is I am tired of the sinking feeling I have each year when there is neither enough time or money to go around. Somehow, the stress falls on me. While that works for my husband and the rest of my family, it wears on me. My therapist takes off most of the month of December and my next appointment is not until January 8. It will be five weeks since my last visit. Last time I drove to work afterwards and sat in my car and cried for 15 minutes before I could walk in. In fact at my last visit my counselor started crying. That shook me up a little. I think my pain and stress are so obvious when I can get to the point of honestly talking about what’s going on inside its scary.
Christmas has been very stressful, and I have fought with my depression practically every day. Its strange what depresses me. First its just the thought of decorating. My kids are probably the only reason it gets done. This year my husband and I took a long weekend trip to the beach for our anniversary. When we got home the kids were stringing lights and the tree was out of the attic and in the middle of the living room floor still in the box. That was a hint to get it in gear and spread some Yule tide cheer. Great. I managed to get the tree up (thank God for pre-lit trees) and decorated over the next few days. I put out a few decorations and left the rest in the box. I made the unpopular decision (at least around this house) to leave the stockings in whatever box they were in. (I still don’t know where they are and they are going back in the attic in a few days.) I then proceeded to announce that I refused to do Christmas cards this year. Our church has a post office which generally requires me to prepare over a hundred cards each year. Well, I refused. It doesn’t mean I will never do them again, just not this year.
I have to get my life under control. When I am under this much stress I can’t focus. Two years ago I was this stressed and decided to take a bottle of Tylenol. No it didn’t kill me but it got people’s attention. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be paying attention once again. The one difference is that I am in counseling. That seems to make everyone else happy. They don’t have to worry because I am in counseling. They probably have a good point. Depression is depressing for everyone. For the person dealing with it and for everyone around them. At least when you let them know what is going on inside. That’s a hard thing for me to do. I’ll share more as time goes by. Back to next Christmas.
This week I made my first purchase for next Christmas. I spent $11.00 on yarn. I am going to make our friends who are huge Tennessee fans an orange and white afghan. Over the past years I have made afghans for other friends and family and they love them. For next year I am going to make an afghans for friends in their collegiate colors. I think that will be fun and something easy to focus on. I think I can get at least three done during the winter months. They get really hot over the summer months to work on, so I want to get an early start. I think if I get an early start it will help. I am also on the lookout for some other fun things I can make. In years past I have framed photographs of places I know are special to my friends. That is always popular. My goal is to share love, not a price tag. The more time and effort I put into something the more love goes with the gift. Anyone can buy a present.
Time to go clip coupons and work on the grocery list for this week. There was a lady on “Oprah” the other day who says she can buy over $150.00 in groceries for under $5.00. I don’t know any stores in this area that offer those kinds of bargains. I will see what I can do with what I have. I am going to the store Monday and want to be prepared.
See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Post Christmas Blues
It’s early morning a couple days after Christmas and I am sitting by the tree enjoying the glow and reflecting on the previous week. I am thankful for time spent with family and friends. I received some nice gifts. I am especially thankful that I do not have to visit another store or mall for a while. I am not a shopper. I would rather have a root canal then spend time in the mall for hours on end.
I have a sneaky suspicion that my displeasure with shopping has more to do with my financial state then my distaste for shopping malls. There was a time long ago when I had disposable income and enjoyed a day haunting shops with my friends. With age and after struggling for years financially I have come to the conclusion that the stuff I buy brings me no happiness. Yes, I need clothes, shoes and underwear. So does my family. Nobody needs a closet stuffed full of bargain buys I never wear.
So, where do I go from here? I spent too much for Christmas, I always do. Unfortunately, I usually buy the majority of the gifts for my kids and family which doesn’t leave a lot to spend on my husband. He was very generous and bought me several things I really wanted. I know I am trying to simplify my life and lose the clutter. Overall, his gifts were very practical. My favorite is a pair of black Crocs. If you are not familiar with Crocs, they are really ugly shoes. They are made of some type of heavy plastic material and you can wear them with anything. You can throw them in the sink if they become soiled and scrub the dirt off and they come out looking like new. The great thing is I work in a pretty casual environment. Comfort is key. These shoes are like wearing nothing and they feel great. They are like big shock absorbers. I will be able to mix them with the shoes I have and stay out of the shoe store! My goal is to cut spending. If I receive a gift that helps me do so, that’s an awesome gift. My other favorite gift is an ipod shuffle. I haven’t figured out how to program it yet, but that’s why I have a teenager. I have used my husband’s before and I love it. Its great for walking the treadmill. I can’t wait to use it.
Ok, enough about my gifts. I want to start thinking about next year. I am beginning to realize that in order to simplify my life long term its going to require a lot of work short term. I am not saying I don’t want to work as I get older. I do want to be able to chose how I use my time. By learning to do things differently I believe it can happen maybe sooner then I think. It depends on how hard I work now. I am going to start today with next Christmas.
Why am I thinking about next Christmas just a few days after Christmas? Because I am depressed. This depression is linked to many things. Some of it is associated with the season. I will talk more about this struggle in other posts. Most of it is financial. In my struggle to buy the perfect gifts for my friends and family I spend money I really don’t have to spend. Then in January I struggle to make ends meet. I have decided to start doing what I did when I was a kid and didn’t have money to spend. I made gifts. Sure some of them were really tacky, but what I remember is the love I gave when I made the gifts. I also remember the love I received from the lucky recipients of my homemade efforts. Isn’t that what Christmas is about? Love for each other, love for mankind, God’s gift of love to us. I don’t think it was meant to be about the stress I feel right now.
Follow me over the next few days as I ponder how I want to feel differently in years to come. The stress I struggle with each year makes me dread next year. I can’t deal with it any more. I want to start enjoying the season again. Just like when I was a kid struggling to glue together me perfect gifts.
.
It’s early morning a couple days after Christmas and I am sitting by the tree enjoying the glow and reflecting on the previous week. I am thankful for time spent with family and friends. I received some nice gifts. I am especially thankful that I do not have to visit another store or mall for a while. I am not a shopper. I would rather have a root canal then spend time in the mall for hours on end.
I have a sneaky suspicion that my displeasure with shopping has more to do with my financial state then my distaste for shopping malls. There was a time long ago when I had disposable income and enjoyed a day haunting shops with my friends. With age and after struggling for years financially I have come to the conclusion that the stuff I buy brings me no happiness. Yes, I need clothes, shoes and underwear. So does my family. Nobody needs a closet stuffed full of bargain buys I never wear.
So, where do I go from here? I spent too much for Christmas, I always do. Unfortunately, I usually buy the majority of the gifts for my kids and family which doesn’t leave a lot to spend on my husband. He was very generous and bought me several things I really wanted. I know I am trying to simplify my life and lose the clutter. Overall, his gifts were very practical. My favorite is a pair of black Crocs. If you are not familiar with Crocs, they are really ugly shoes. They are made of some type of heavy plastic material and you can wear them with anything. You can throw them in the sink if they become soiled and scrub the dirt off and they come out looking like new. The great thing is I work in a pretty casual environment. Comfort is key. These shoes are like wearing nothing and they feel great. They are like big shock absorbers. I will be able to mix them with the shoes I have and stay out of the shoe store! My goal is to cut spending. If I receive a gift that helps me do so, that’s an awesome gift. My other favorite gift is an ipod shuffle. I haven’t figured out how to program it yet, but that’s why I have a teenager. I have used my husband’s before and I love it. Its great for walking the treadmill. I can’t wait to use it.
Ok, enough about my gifts. I want to start thinking about next year. I am beginning to realize that in order to simplify my life long term its going to require a lot of work short term. I am not saying I don’t want to work as I get older. I do want to be able to chose how I use my time. By learning to do things differently I believe it can happen maybe sooner then I think. It depends on how hard I work now. I am going to start today with next Christmas.
Why am I thinking about next Christmas just a few days after Christmas? Because I am depressed. This depression is linked to many things. Some of it is associated with the season. I will talk more about this struggle in other posts. Most of it is financial. In my struggle to buy the perfect gifts for my friends and family I spend money I really don’t have to spend. Then in January I struggle to make ends meet. I have decided to start doing what I did when I was a kid and didn’t have money to spend. I made gifts. Sure some of them were really tacky, but what I remember is the love I gave when I made the gifts. I also remember the love I received from the lucky recipients of my homemade efforts. Isn’t that what Christmas is about? Love for each other, love for mankind, God’s gift of love to us. I don’t think it was meant to be about the stress I feel right now.
Follow me over the next few days as I ponder how I want to feel differently in years to come. The stress I struggle with each year makes me dread next year. I can’t deal with it any more. I want to start enjoying the season again. Just like when I was a kid struggling to glue together me perfect gifts.
.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
$4,000.00 Groceries
I am sitting in my kitchen making my grocery list for this week, and once again stressing over money. I am making a mental note to myself to get my grocery budget under control in the coming year. I am a control freak, so why not channel my natural abilities in a way that will benefit my family? I have searched the web for ideas on how to be a tightwad grocery shopper. As much as I would like to spend less then fifty dollars a week I don’t think it will fit my lifestyle. So I looked at my income and my expenses and came up with something that works for my life. Other people who are able to spend just pennies on a meal, have a resource I don’t have. Time. So I started looking at my life and decided to set some goals that work for me. It will be a work in progress. I need to strive hard to reach my goals and change them if I realize its not working. If they work, I need to set the bar higher.
My Goals:
1. Spend only $4,000.00 in 2008 for groceries.
This is going to be harder then it looks. This works out to $75.47 a week. To my dismay I realized that there are actually 53 weeks in 2008 with leap year. (At least for my budget). I get paid bi-weekly. Recently I mentioned to our financial secretary that there are 27 payrolls next year. Which means because I am a salaried employee, my annual salary will be divided into 27 paychecks instead of 26. So much for my raise. I grumbled a little, then realized there was no way to change this fact. I decided I was very thankful for the raise I received, and very blessed to have the job I have. “Deal with it” I told myself, and decided to take control and move forward.
2. Decide what my grocery budget will include. I feed four people out of my grocery budget. I pack lunches for my son and husband every day, and for myself two or three days a week. This includes breakfast for the three of us as well. My daughter is a college student who lives at home and attends the local university. She typically eats lunch on her own. Either at work (she works at a daycare), or she picks up something after school. Dinner seems to be my downfall. Our schedules vary greatly and there are only a couple days a week where we all eat dinner together. I am painfully aware that we eat out too often. My husband generally pays for these meals out, which is usually his choice. Sometimes, I treat. Sometimes, when the check comes he will hand it to me and say “Your turn”. I really can’t afford to pay for meals out. Especially not for the whole family. If its just Chip and I, I don’t mind so much. His expenses are generally fixed each month. I pay the bills that tend to vary and know I cannot continue to pay for frequent meals out. I will address this part of my budget in a later post. For now, I am going to look for ways to make easy attractive meals at home that fit our budget. Chip likes to eat our, but I am sure that he will appreciate the increase in cash in his checkbook as well.
I have decided that my grocery budget will include breakfast, lunch and as many dinners as possible. If Chip decides to eat out and is willing to pay the check, that’s fine, that’s his decision. I have decided however, that I will do everything I can to bring our food budget under control. This decision means I will have to stretch my grocery dollars further in order to include more meals. I also need to remember to include paper products, clothes detergent, dog food, and cleaning supplies. At this point I am not sure this will work. I may decide to adjust my food budget and work on setting up a household budget which would include these items.
3. Coupons Over my 21 plus years of marriage and running my own household I have found that the coupons in the Sunday paper seem to vanish a little more every year. As I teen I used to help my mom clip and save. My dad gave her a set amount of cash each week and whatever was left was hers. She was a pro at stretching her food bucks. Sure coupons are still there, but I find that I use them less and less. Maybe its because store brands have improved so much that I generally don’t buy name brand. I still check the flyers each week for items I will use. Some weeks I use them, some I don’t. Next year I will try a little harder. Yes my time is valuable, and I might only save a couple bucks. I just try to take a few minutes each Sunday to pull the coupons and clip any I think I might use. I have a small drawer where I keep my coupons, and before heading out to the store, I browse through them for any I might use. I find that many require you to buy more then one of each item. Sometimes I find that a bargain, but usually not. Cereal is a great example. Many times the store has boxes of certain brands on sale for $2.00 or less, but I have to buy two with the $1.00 coupon. I think that two boxes of cereal for $3.00 or less is a pretty good deal. This usually provides my husband with breakfast for about a week and a half. You can’t buy a value meal at a fast food restaurant for less the $3.00. Actually you can’t even buy a cup of coffee at some retailers for $3.00. Obviously I haven’t mastered “thrifty” grocery shopping. I do however think I am a bargain hunter. Over the coming year I will share my small victories and mistakes here. My biggest goal with coupons is to clip enough each month pay for the daily newspaper. My husband can’t seem to live without it. It costs about $16.00 a month. I can reach that goal.
The grocery store I shop at locally offers a loyalty card with great offers each week. I faithfully read the insert in my Monday paper each week. Frequently the sale items coincide with coupons I clip from the paper so I can compound my savings. Each store has a kiosk where I can swipe my card and a page of coupons are printed out. Usually the coupons are for items I buy on a regular basis. Many times they are for store brands I use. I usually save between $.50 and $2.00 each week with these. I shop at a locally owned grocery store chain owned by a Christian family in my city. I could probably shop at some of the larger chains and save money on more items. I have decided its important to me to support a local business. They return a large amount of their profits into the community. Some of their programs allow the customer to determine which charities receive their donations. I might have to work harder to reach my goals, but find that my values come first. I know myself. Somehow, I spend more money at the larger chains. Maybe its because there are so many “cheap” items. My grocery store offers lots of good bargains, and I plan around them. It adds variety to my menu and makes me feel good to support a company with these values.
4. Look for more resources
What are my resources? Well, I will have to think about this one. Coupons are certainly one. The bank my husband and I bank at is owned by the grocery store we shop at. I receive $10.00 coupons from the bank on a regular basis good for any purchase in their stores. This certainly helps my weekly budget. Sometimes I will use these coupons to have a really lean grocery bill. Other times I use them to stock up on extra meat or staples. It depends on what my pantry looks like. I usually try to compound the savings with extra coupons. My goal this year is to work harder to find new ways to save. This includes using coupons if they are for items I will buy anyway.
Look for free food. No, I am not encouraging dumpster diving. When I think about it I can stretch my food dollar by graciously taking leftovers when we eat at my parent’s house. My mom always cooks too much food, and they don’t want the extras. I have more mouths to feed and it may just go bad in their fridge before they can eat it all.
Do you have co-workers who always bring in extra veggies each summer because they had no idea that plant would produce a thousand cucumbers and just can’t look at another one? Take them! This is a healthy and free way to stretch your food dollar through the summer months. You can chop up green peppers and store them in the freezer for later. They are great in spaghetti or meatloaf. Learn how to pickle. Your friend will feel better because their veggies are not rotting in the garden.
Use the internet to search for new recipes. I love to watch the Food Channel for ideas. Sure some of the recipes are out of my league and the ingredients would blow my budget. I just look for ways to use cheaper items to make these great recipes. Their website has a really good search feature where you can find almost anything you want. I will be sure to post any great discoveries here. I do find, however, that there are plenty of very practical meal ideas as well. Just look for things that work for you and your life. That’s the goal.
5. Spend less then $4,000.00 in 2008.
As I am writing this I am mentally trying to figure out how in the world am I going to only spend $4,000.00 a year on groceries, I am thinking I really need to spend less. I figure that I have to start with a number that I can work with. I am hoping that the longer I work at this the better I will become at becoming the frugal grocery shopper I want to be. I guess I will learn over time whether I can do this or not. My hope is that it will spill over into other areas of my life and spending habits.
Another reason I want to spend less is to allow for special occasions. My family takes a beach vacation every August. This requires extra grocery shopping and shopping at stores I am not familiar with. I tend to spend more when I am not familiar with a store. Maybe its something about being on vacation that makes me be a little more compulsive about my purchases. Either way, if I can save a few dollars a week during the first seven months of the year, I can afford to spend an extra $25.00-$50.00 during my vacation on groceries. To take it a step further, I may even be able to pay for a meal or two out. We do have a few restaurants at the beach we visit each year. I want to be able to pay for one or two of those meals. Our vacation is something we are not willing to give up. If it requires a few sacrifices during the year, I am willing to work hard to meet this goal.
The holidays. Another time of year I like to have a few extra bucks is the holidays. I like to do some extra baking. I give some away as gifts. I like to buy a spiral ham to enjoy over the holidays. During October and November I try to buy a couple of ingredients each week so I don’t have to spend a large lump sum in December. This adds extra stress to an already stressful time.
Join me this year as I look for ways to meet these goals. I will be sure to share my victories as well as my failures. I am sure I will have weeks where I spend too much and have to find a way to get back on track. Hopefully this will not happen often!
Watch for my results in the new year.
Ronnie
See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.
My Goals:
1. Spend only $4,000.00 in 2008 for groceries.
This is going to be harder then it looks. This works out to $75.47 a week. To my dismay I realized that there are actually 53 weeks in 2008 with leap year. (At least for my budget). I get paid bi-weekly. Recently I mentioned to our financial secretary that there are 27 payrolls next year. Which means because I am a salaried employee, my annual salary will be divided into 27 paychecks instead of 26. So much for my raise. I grumbled a little, then realized there was no way to change this fact. I decided I was very thankful for the raise I received, and very blessed to have the job I have. “Deal with it” I told myself, and decided to take control and move forward.
2. Decide what my grocery budget will include. I feed four people out of my grocery budget. I pack lunches for my son and husband every day, and for myself two or three days a week. This includes breakfast for the three of us as well. My daughter is a college student who lives at home and attends the local university. She typically eats lunch on her own. Either at work (she works at a daycare), or she picks up something after school. Dinner seems to be my downfall. Our schedules vary greatly and there are only a couple days a week where we all eat dinner together. I am painfully aware that we eat out too often. My husband generally pays for these meals out, which is usually his choice. Sometimes, I treat. Sometimes, when the check comes he will hand it to me and say “Your turn”. I really can’t afford to pay for meals out. Especially not for the whole family. If its just Chip and I, I don’t mind so much. His expenses are generally fixed each month. I pay the bills that tend to vary and know I cannot continue to pay for frequent meals out. I will address this part of my budget in a later post. For now, I am going to look for ways to make easy attractive meals at home that fit our budget. Chip likes to eat our, but I am sure that he will appreciate the increase in cash in his checkbook as well.
I have decided that my grocery budget will include breakfast, lunch and as many dinners as possible. If Chip decides to eat out and is willing to pay the check, that’s fine, that’s his decision. I have decided however, that I will do everything I can to bring our food budget under control. This decision means I will have to stretch my grocery dollars further in order to include more meals. I also need to remember to include paper products, clothes detergent, dog food, and cleaning supplies. At this point I am not sure this will work. I may decide to adjust my food budget and work on setting up a household budget which would include these items.
3. Coupons Over my 21 plus years of marriage and running my own household I have found that the coupons in the Sunday paper seem to vanish a little more every year. As I teen I used to help my mom clip and save. My dad gave her a set amount of cash each week and whatever was left was hers. She was a pro at stretching her food bucks. Sure coupons are still there, but I find that I use them less and less. Maybe its because store brands have improved so much that I generally don’t buy name brand. I still check the flyers each week for items I will use. Some weeks I use them, some I don’t. Next year I will try a little harder. Yes my time is valuable, and I might only save a couple bucks. I just try to take a few minutes each Sunday to pull the coupons and clip any I think I might use. I have a small drawer where I keep my coupons, and before heading out to the store, I browse through them for any I might use. I find that many require you to buy more then one of each item. Sometimes I find that a bargain, but usually not. Cereal is a great example. Many times the store has boxes of certain brands on sale for $2.00 or less, but I have to buy two with the $1.00 coupon. I think that two boxes of cereal for $3.00 or less is a pretty good deal. This usually provides my husband with breakfast for about a week and a half. You can’t buy a value meal at a fast food restaurant for less the $3.00. Actually you can’t even buy a cup of coffee at some retailers for $3.00. Obviously I haven’t mastered “thrifty” grocery shopping. I do however think I am a bargain hunter. Over the coming year I will share my small victories and mistakes here. My biggest goal with coupons is to clip enough each month pay for the daily newspaper. My husband can’t seem to live without it. It costs about $16.00 a month. I can reach that goal.
The grocery store I shop at locally offers a loyalty card with great offers each week. I faithfully read the insert in my Monday paper each week. Frequently the sale items coincide with coupons I clip from the paper so I can compound my savings. Each store has a kiosk where I can swipe my card and a page of coupons are printed out. Usually the coupons are for items I buy on a regular basis. Many times they are for store brands I use. I usually save between $.50 and $2.00 each week with these. I shop at a locally owned grocery store chain owned by a Christian family in my city. I could probably shop at some of the larger chains and save money on more items. I have decided its important to me to support a local business. They return a large amount of their profits into the community. Some of their programs allow the customer to determine which charities receive their donations. I might have to work harder to reach my goals, but find that my values come first. I know myself. Somehow, I spend more money at the larger chains. Maybe its because there are so many “cheap” items. My grocery store offers lots of good bargains, and I plan around them. It adds variety to my menu and makes me feel good to support a company with these values.
4. Look for more resources
What are my resources? Well, I will have to think about this one. Coupons are certainly one. The bank my husband and I bank at is owned by the grocery store we shop at. I receive $10.00 coupons from the bank on a regular basis good for any purchase in their stores. This certainly helps my weekly budget. Sometimes I will use these coupons to have a really lean grocery bill. Other times I use them to stock up on extra meat or staples. It depends on what my pantry looks like. I usually try to compound the savings with extra coupons. My goal this year is to work harder to find new ways to save. This includes using coupons if they are for items I will buy anyway.
Look for free food. No, I am not encouraging dumpster diving. When I think about it I can stretch my food dollar by graciously taking leftovers when we eat at my parent’s house. My mom always cooks too much food, and they don’t want the extras. I have more mouths to feed and it may just go bad in their fridge before they can eat it all.
Do you have co-workers who always bring in extra veggies each summer because they had no idea that plant would produce a thousand cucumbers and just can’t look at another one? Take them! This is a healthy and free way to stretch your food dollar through the summer months. You can chop up green peppers and store them in the freezer for later. They are great in spaghetti or meatloaf. Learn how to pickle. Your friend will feel better because their veggies are not rotting in the garden.
Use the internet to search for new recipes. I love to watch the Food Channel for ideas. Sure some of the recipes are out of my league and the ingredients would blow my budget. I just look for ways to use cheaper items to make these great recipes. Their website has a really good search feature where you can find almost anything you want. I will be sure to post any great discoveries here. I do find, however, that there are plenty of very practical meal ideas as well. Just look for things that work for you and your life. That’s the goal.
5. Spend less then $4,000.00 in 2008.
As I am writing this I am mentally trying to figure out how in the world am I going to only spend $4,000.00 a year on groceries, I am thinking I really need to spend less. I figure that I have to start with a number that I can work with. I am hoping that the longer I work at this the better I will become at becoming the frugal grocery shopper I want to be. I guess I will learn over time whether I can do this or not. My hope is that it will spill over into other areas of my life and spending habits.
Another reason I want to spend less is to allow for special occasions. My family takes a beach vacation every August. This requires extra grocery shopping and shopping at stores I am not familiar with. I tend to spend more when I am not familiar with a store. Maybe its something about being on vacation that makes me be a little more compulsive about my purchases. Either way, if I can save a few dollars a week during the first seven months of the year, I can afford to spend an extra $25.00-$50.00 during my vacation on groceries. To take it a step further, I may even be able to pay for a meal or two out. We do have a few restaurants at the beach we visit each year. I want to be able to pay for one or two of those meals. Our vacation is something we are not willing to give up. If it requires a few sacrifices during the year, I am willing to work hard to meet this goal.
The holidays. Another time of year I like to have a few extra bucks is the holidays. I like to do some extra baking. I give some away as gifts. I like to buy a spiral ham to enjoy over the holidays. During October and November I try to buy a couple of ingredients each week so I don’t have to spend a large lump sum in December. This adds extra stress to an already stressful time.
Join me this year as I look for ways to meet these goals. I will be sure to share my victories as well as my failures. I am sure I will have weeks where I spend too much and have to find a way to get back on track. Hopefully this will not happen often!
Watch for my results in the new year.
Ronnie
See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
