We're Having a Cheap Independence Day

While we do feel a bit more confident about the economy and our personal financial situation than we did a year ago, my wife and I are still planning a low budget Independence Day celebration. With a budget of $50, we'll have dinner and some drinks for four people and watch some of the great national musical celebrations on our big screen TV.

To get all our food and drinks we're lucky enough to live right next door to a Gelson's Market, a small,independently owned Southern California grocery chain know for fresh, top quality products. We love their in-store bakery and kitchen where they cook up an assortment of fresh, hot foods.

So with our $50 budget, my wife and I will get a nice selection of items to eat and drink.The store makes great fried chicken so we will get two of their five piece packages of fresh, fried chicken. We also love their mac and cheese, so that will also be on the menu. The store has great fresh produce, so we will also get some watermelon and blueberries, to cover the red and blue of the American colors. My wife likes white wine, so with the red watermelon, the white wine and the blueberries, we will be ready for the July 4th holiday.

For dessert we will again cover at least the red and the white of the patriotic color trio by eating a Entenmann's Raspberry Danish Twist. The red raspberry and the white frosting stripes get us almost there, maybe we will throw on some blueberries to complete the picture. All this, including a cheap (I mean reasonably priced) bottle of white wine will fall within our $50 budget.

We are fortunate enough to also have our son and daughter living near us in Los Angeles and spending time together is perhaps the best part of this family Independence Day celebration.

With the advent of these wonderful flat screen HDTVs, one of which we now own, we will be able to bring the best national fireworks displays and musical celebrations right into our home. We will probably watch "A Capitol Fourth" on PBS live from Washington, D.C., featuring music, theater performances and of course fireworks.And since we cut our cable and use over-the-air HDTV, it's all free.

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