Food – Page 2 – Mr. Tako Escapes

Lockdown Week 4: Birthdays, Projects, and Frugal Food Failures

April 4, 2020April 5, 2020 Mr. Tako 26 Comments

Week 4 under lockdown is complete! Schools have been closed for only a month, but right now it feels like years. Can stay-at-home dads get PTSD?

If this pandemic has taught me anything (and it’s already taught me several things), it’s that I have the greatest respect in the world for teachers. People who willingly teach 20-30 rambunctious kids, day after day, year after year, without going insane are amazing people. They’re obviously saints or super-humans. Possibly both…

Food Investing Kids Uncategorized

Lockdown Week 3: Board Games And Investing In Bear Markets

March 28, 2020 Mr. Tako 14 Comments

Are you starting to get a case of “cabin fever” under the coronavirus lockdown? Maybe you’re not under a lockdown order yet. Some places around the world are just now starting to go into lockdown mode, but here in the Pacific Northwest we’ve already been at it for 3 weeks…

So, the cabin fever has really started to set in!

Just kidding. It’s quite the opposite in fact…

Food Recipes

Garlic Butter Yaki Udon

March 8, 2020March 8, 2020 Mr. Tako 8 Comments

When it comes to Japanese cuisine, most people are pretty familiar with what you can find in restaurants — Sushi, ramen, tempura, miso soup, and perhaps (if you’re really adventurous) sukiyaki.

It’s too bad, because many delicious Japanese dishes just aren’t very popular here in the States. Udon in particular gets very little love. Maybe it’s the wide chewy noodles that turn people off…

Dividends Food Investing Saving Uncategorized

February 2020 Expenses And Dividend Income

March 4, 2020March 8, 2020 Mr. Tako 17 Comments

February was a pretty wild ride. I started the month with a bad case of the flu, and ended the month with a bad case of a stock slump! What a month!!

Why did stocks slump? Most likely it’s due to the Coronavirus pandemic. People are freaking out.

We live right next door to the hot-bed of the virus infection in the USA too — Kirkland, Washington…

Food Saving Uncategorized

Don’t Miss Out On Life’s Incredible Abundance

February 15, 2020February 16, 2020 Mr. Tako 9 Comments

When I see personal finance blogs writing about abundance, they’re usually talking about abundance in the context of “There’s a huge abundance of money in the world!! Go out there and start a side hustle to capture some of that abundance!”

Which is completely preposterous when you think about it — money is simply a method of transferring value. Managing the money supply is one of the primary jobs of the Federal Reserve…

Dividends Food Investing Kids Saving Uncategorized

January 2020 Expenses And Dividend Income

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020 Mr. Tako 20 Comments

I wish I could say, “I like Winter.” But if we’re being totally honest with each other, I really don’t. Not even a little bit.

Our little corner of the Pacific Northwest had 28 days of precipitation in January (out of a possible 31). That’s 28 days of measurable rain and snow under a blanket of dark clouds. Woohoo!!

Dividends Food Investing Kids Uncategorized

December 2019 Expenses And Dividend Income

January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 Mr. Tako 16 Comments

Oh what a difference a month makes! Back in November the Tako family was blowing the doors off our regular monthly budget due to the purchase of a “new to me” car. Weak dividend income in November didn’t exactly help our cash-flow situation either.

December was a complete turn-around story however. It marked a return to normal spending and a chance for our cash to replenish itself with a very dividend heavy month.

How great was our December? Read on to find out!

Food Recipes Uncategorized

Izakaya Cucumbers

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019 Mr. Tako 16 Comments

If I had to pick my favorite kind of restaurant on this planet, I would probably pick an Izakaya. Not the smoky drinking-dens of yesteryear, but the newer and more vibrant version that serves delicious food at reasonable prices.

Izakaya’s are a form of Japanese restaurant that serve up small plates of delicious food to be shared. In addition to the food, they serve also alcohol and other drinks to patrons in need of refreshment…

Dividends Food Investing Saving Uncategorized

November 2019 Expenses And Dividend Income

December 7, 2019December 7, 2019 Mr. Tako 21 Comments

November was something of a rough month for the Tako family. We all caught a bad cold and were feeling “under the weather” for most of the month. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. The family went through literal truckloads of tissue.

I’ll spare you the disgusting details, but there were actually a couple of days when I didn’t even bother to get out of bed in November. I was that sick…