May Frugals

[Kat]

@Blackdog Lin--you have inspired me to really go through my freezer! I made two meals from the freezer yesterday :-)

Today I have a doctor's appointment and start a new class, so I will be keeping busy and won't have time to spend money. :-) I'll mail a couple of things near my doctor's office to save on gas. When I get home, I plan to make some chicken stock out of stuff from the freezer--chicken carcasses and veggies. I think I will get that started and then work in the kitchen while it simmers away. If I can get that done, I can make a homemade chicken pot pie for DH for supper.

Oh yeah--over the weekend, my sister and my dad both gave me some outfits for the baby. Two of my other sisters with baby girls also said they had a pile started for me. I don't think I will need to buy any clothes for this baby! People seem to love to buy and/or pass along aby clothes, and I am so grateful!

[Kat]

Forgot to mention that I have been using leftover drinking water (what my guests or DH don't finish) to water my houseplants. I figured I paid for it--why not use it? I think my plants get more water this way, too! haha

[Kat]

Okay, so I know I just posted that I won't need to buy any clothes for my kid, but I had to wait for an hour in between my appointment and lab today, so I ventured over to Goodwill. I found some cute jeans for her in bigger sizes (Children's Place and Baby Gap) and an adorable white blouse with pockets and kitchen stuff printed on it (tea pots and such) all for 1.19 each. Couldn't resist. I'll make up for it by doing laundry in cold water and hanging things to dry ;-)

[Stella]

Zach got a job! I am so insanely excited. The job pays really well too. More money than any job either of us has ever made, and our monthly bills are minuscule, so this provides quite a few opportunities. The job is through mid November, so Zach will have to finish school in spring semester, but this should set us up nicely for the last semester of school and beyond. It also ends in time to give us a month and a half to travel, first to Indiana for Thanksgiving and then to California for Christmas. We may make a trip to Arkansas too. Zach wants to. I think that may be a lot of road tripping for four kids seven and under.

Dad is lending us money for a little junker car to get Zach to and from work so I can have the van. We will be paying him back within two months. Dad doesn't charge interest.

I am trying not to go crazy with all of this. As you can imagine, with 18 months of part-time coffee shop income and four kids, there are some wants and needs to take care of. Zach and I gave ourselves permission to daydream out loud for a couple of days and then get down to the business of prioritizing. I want to save at least half of the money. I know for sure that I am going to get a new cord for my laptop, get my camera fixed, get a haircut and sign the girls up for a few classes. Piano, digital filmmaking, and possibly robotics or a clay class for the summer. In fall they want to take aerialist classes at a circus school. It sounds like a lot but the classes are tax deductible and all told it's not really that much money.

[bke]

We have managed to have 4 no drive/ no spend days in a row! That is a definite record for this family!! Ds and I are getting ready to go food shopping and run errands. By doing it during the day we will save $$ by not having a family meal out this evening.

The pool is definitely a frugal addition to our lives. We've spent the last two evenings in and around the pool which has helped to make it easy to stay home.

I'm drinking free coffee this morning.

[Kat]

@stella--that is terrific! It sounds like a wonderful fit for your family. I am so happy for you guys!

[Stella]

Thanks Kat! It does seem to be perfect for us. I hope it is as good as it seems.

I decided to plan my summer today and I don't think its going to be as expensive as I thought it would be. I made a list of the classes the kids might be interested, a list of free events the kids might be interested in, a list of field trips we want to take and a list of activities we want to do. OMG! There is no way we can get to all of that in the summer. I had 27 field trip ideas alone. There were 24 free or home related activities and I was just getting started. I think we will keep the classes to just the filmmaking class, vacation bible school, karate and the free book club until fall. That's $188 for the older kids plus about $150 more in museum memberships and the whole summer and most of the fall are pretty much booked with plenty of ideas to spill over into next year and beyond.

[Rosemary]

Stella, is the book club that you mentioned for children? If so, could you send me the info about it? Thanks!

Frugals - I made my own long list of summer activities - many of which are free or pretty low cost. Also stocked up some on-sale pantry items for summer to limit trips to the grocery store; between our garden and the farmers' market, I rarely need to go to the supermarket and try to avoid it.

[Stella]

Rosemary, yes the book club is for kids. Its through our county library. I will send you the link.