I got a notice in the mail yesterday the local beauty school will do haircuts and shampoos for $5. I think I am going to give it a try. What is the worse that could happen?
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I got a notice in the mail yesterday the local beauty school will do haircuts and shampoos for $5. I think I am going to give it a try. What is the worse that could happen?
We did our Love Bug thing yesterday and in addition to hitting the girls' best friend's house we dropped a few annonymous Valentine treats into the mailboxes of a few other neighbors. I know at least some of them don't know it was us. It was good FFF.
Another neighbor brought over Valentine's Day cookies yesterday and stayed for a while to chat. That was nice. More FFF.
Our dinner last night was very fun and the people who put it on sent Zach and me home with the extra food. We have pasta, bread, salad and cake for dinner tonight. I might have to have something lower carb than that, but everyone else can have the leftover food from last night.
Today Cheyenne is sick so we are not having school. Poor kid got maybe three hours of sleep. I'd imagine there will be a lot of napping going on today.
flowerseverywhere, I've gone to a local, well-known beauty school for hair cuts. They do an excellent job there and an instructor is required to sign off on each step of the process. So it takes a lot longer, but I get excellent cuts there - something that doesn't happen for me most other places because of the difficulty of curly hair.
Stella, hope the sickness leaves your home soon! My daughter is sick today, too.
Dried beans were on sale 25% off this week at the local supermarket. I stocked up - about 20 pounds! We eat a lot of lentils and beans.
Otherwise, just the usual stuff - eating at home is our biggest frugal. We eat amazingly well for our food budget. Yesterday at DD's afterschool activity, which went until 5:30, I heard 2 other parents talking. "Do you know what you're having for dinner?" one asked. Neither parent had made plans. One commented that she might order a pizza, though they'd had purchased sandwiches the night before. She had also commented to me earlier that she hated McDonald's toys. My plans were made and dinner was ready less than 15 minutes after we got home - leftover goulash from the night before, oat bread I had baked that morning, and steamed green beans and kale. I estimate that the batch of goulash cost $16 - made with grass-fed beef - and that made 7 servings, or about $2.30 per serving. So the meal was under $3/person - far less than any purchased "fast" meal, not to mention far healthier and tastier. And a better environmental option as well, compared to the vast amount of disposable wrappings that are used.
Well. my dh and my 'Valentine Treat' of take out Chinese food gave us 7 meals. At $35-that isn't too bad for an 'extravagance'!
Here is my big frugal. Esprit (I LOVE that store) is closing a shop at a mall here. And everything was like 80% off. And I didn't even walk into the store. Because I knew if I went in, I would walk out having spent a few hundred dollars. Which I do not want to do because:
1. I have enough clothes
2. I have gained about 10lbs since Xmas and refuse to buy clothes at this weight
3. I am part of the SLN
Thanks Rosemary! I hope your DD feels better too!
Mighty, I think your splurge sounds pretty reasonable. Good job on resisting temptation!
We are crafting with recycled materials today. It all started when we were looking at these kits as a possible birthday present for Cheyenne. We got the idea from the gallery of making tubes out of rolled up junk mail paper and building with it. Bella and I dismantled a magazine and decided to make a marble run. Meanwhile James got in on the action and started trouble. He loves pointing at pictures of stuff in books and telling people what it is, so we made him a "James' favourite things" collage with pictures of cars, puppies, kitties, a watch and a ball. He is wandering around excitedly barking and meowing at his collage. Then a glue stick ran out and Bella wrapped it in paper to make a "Larry the Cucumber" doll. She's going to paint it green and stick google eyes on it.
Feb15
--Groceries today that only came to $12.00...buy one get one free frozen veggies again already on sale for @2.47 a bag
--mostly still eating from freezer and pantry and only buying extras to fill out meals.
--making calls and filling out forms to see what may pension, Old Age Security and CPP will all work out to for when I turn 65 in 8mths. not great amounts but enough to get along with...good to know
--still thinking about and looking for a small part time job..
Just a quick hello. Not feeling too frugal this month as the money just keeps funneling out and out and out with the house. Moving Friday, so the big expenses will settle down. If we can stop spending on huge stuff for even a few months, we'll replenish pretty quickly.
We have been doing a pretty bully job of eating down our stores and we'll have a bit to move, but that's good. We won't have to restock right away, and since we're moving so close, there's really no point in starting over with food. I'd say that's our biggest one!
Oh we did put money toward a dining room table and 6 chairs off Craig's List for $200. It's a 1935 table and the chairs are original to the set. Some surface water damage, but can be repaired. For $200, you can't go wrong. Even if we find one we like better down the road, we can easily resell. It's rectangular, which I REALLY like, because we can easily butt a square card table or two up against the ends to expand if needed at holidays. And it will seat 8 even without that. So in the immediate future, it will meet our needs well.
Rosa, thinking good thoughts for you and DH. Congrats on the quitting and hope it's going well.
Stella, hope everyone is feeling better now. What's the story with the bread? Sorry if I missed it. Are you off carbs or just not sitting well? Sorry if too nosey but wondering if I have another GF associate here on the boards! "Associate!" Ha, that one just tripped off the fingertips!
G'night, all. Wish us good luck on tomorrow's marathon of finalizing packing and scrubbing our new bedroom. One final splurge for Friday: MOVERS!!! Yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Yayyy!!!!!! Fidgiegirl your house looks great and it was very right to do all that work before you moved in. Hope you plan something for you and your fella after you're completely moved in and before you collapse exhausted on the bed! ;)
Wow! Everything is looking sooo nice!
Kelli, the bread thing is because I have gestational diabetes. I really want to stay off of insulin, so I've gone really low carb for the most part. I feel so much better when I'm not eating a lot of bread and sugar that I might try to make this a more permanent change.
I posted this in another thread, but I got my eggrolls today and got a surprise gift from a friend of $20 to take the kids out for something fun this afternoon. I have the boys down for an early nap and we are getting things cleaned up, so we can have some guilt-free fun. Zach should be home in about an hour.
Rosa, I am sorry to hear about your husband but glad that it was caught early.
Got my first paycheck in about 21 years today! $62! lol And happily I make more than minimum wage! $7.75/hour. I really like what I am doing. Everyone has been nice too. I've been working 2 weeks and been shopping 3 times. :|( I have been marking down prices and know where all the 70% off deals are. lol But really, the shopping has been pretty planned. Dog food & groceries mostly. Oh, and cold meds. :( Today I bought 3 bags of snow melt on clearance. And 4 sets of 2 mittens for $.60 each. (Tyler wears them for running) Also got myself a pair of those cleats you hook to your shoes/boots so you don't slip on the ice. So we'll be set for next winter. Plus I got myself a shirt for $1.80.
One thing I'm not crazy about - getting up at 4:30 am to be at work by 6. I really like starting work that early. But 4:30 comes way, way too early.
Frugals: Found out we will save a ton of gas money & $15 in entrance fees because Tyler's indoor track team will not be travelling to Grand Valley to compete tomorrow. YEAH!
I have $.57 left in grocery money until payday on the 24th. I also have about $1 in bottle returns. I am going to give it my best shot to not go over it.
I forgot to thaw something for dinner yesterday. After much debating about what to do I remembered I had some frozen spaghetti sauce & some meatballs so decided to make meatball sandwiches. DH wanted them on sub sandwich bread so he went to the store & bought some. I'm not counting that as going over because he paid for it himself. ;)
Been taking lunch & snacks with me on the days I work.
Thanks, Azure. I'm glad you are enjoying your job; I was wondering about that. Now the trick will be to make sure that you make more money from Target than they make from you :)
So yesterday was a planned indulgence that I feel fine about because it was pre-medidated mindful spending. I took the day off for a vet visit in the AM, but had told DH that I wanted to take him out to lunch (from my allowance cash stash). So we went out for a nice lunch to celebrate the fact that he is doing so well and that we have been cigarette free for over a month. It seemed like we were due for a little bit of celebration. (We don't go out eat very often and hadn't taken ourselves out since early Nov when we were out of town for some concerts).
We also went to the Salvation Army store and dropped off three bags of stuff, and I bought a pair of pants for $2.50 to use for fabric to make draft blockers for the front and back doors. That will be a frugal as long as I actually make them! I also saw our good friend who works there and told him I am in the market for a salad spinner and a stovetop percolator. He says they get these items often and he'll be on the lookout for me. (I'm totally sold on the concept of second-hand shopping, but there are very few thrift stores near me).
I cleaned the fridge in the afternoon. Having extra time on a Fri was a good opportunity to do this since we buy groceries on the weekend, so fridge is the least full on Fri. Gave myself un-frugal dope slaps for all the stuff I threw away. We clearly have condiment issues because nobody needs seven different types of mustard going at once. We also buy designer jams and condiments from places like Stonewall Kitchen that are crazy expensive, and we never seem to use them up before the expiration date. I'm really vowing to improve in this area because this is truly a stupid waste of money. :|(
Rosa, jams can go bad only if they're moldy but certainly can go past their expiration date. Why not pour a little boiling water into the remaining jam to make sauce for ice cream or pancakes? That's an Amy D. kind of thing. Glad to hear about your smoke free month. Has food been tasting better? I've heard that from friends who stopped smoking. Be well!
Great news on the no smoking front, Rosa! DH did that about 15 years ago, and it was really rough on him -and me too, lol. And I second what Merski says - we use up lots of things well past the expiration date - it's not like the product can read the carton and say "well, yippee, today I get to start poisoning people":~) -KWIM? The dates are useful info, but no more than that for most foods. And you can always heat them up, if you're worried about bacteria. Frugally, I took lunch and dinner to work for a couple days last week when I stayed in town to attended a free evening lecture series/taping of a PBS show about generational dynamics with Chuck Underwood. FFF!! And since I was staying after work, I got a lot of filing, etc done. Worked on my own time, true, but it's DONE.
Was all hyped up to pay for, myself, training supplies a woman whose dog I'm training will need. She is well-off, I am not, so I'll figure we can do without unless she wants to buy them.
We have been volunteering at church for the Wednesday night church meal for a few months. The cooks are contractors - I may think the price for a family meal is a bit steep but we serve many families which makes me think that between work and other commitments, it makes sense for them - and they are great people to work with. They are very committed to using local, fresh, sustainable product. And from a frugal standpoint, anything that volunteers want to take home -beyond our dinner- we are welcome to. Sometimes, they just can't re-use so it's you guys take it or we toss it.
On Wednesday, we brought home 18 meatballs and more cake/cupcakes than I choose to admit. We both had meatballs through the week as dinners for one while one of us was out for meetings and tonight I threw that last 7 in a tomato sauce for spaghetti night. Delicious and cost effective!
But mostly what I get out of the experience is the interaction with families and the kitchen staff/volunteers!
Congratulations on your first paycheck Azure!
Last night we had card night with our friends. We hosted this time so we could put the baby boys to bed early. They were tired. The older kids, ours and theirs, watched movies while we played spades. It's always a good time.
The friends we played cards with are our neighbors and also go to our church. They went to the Saturday evening mass and told us that there isn't child care today. Their daughter offered to walk over this morning and take the little kids over to their house while we go to church. It doesn't save us money, but it does save us a huge amount of hassle. I love that girl. She is really good with the boys.
The friend I spend Friday nights with got the new baby some clothes. Her aunt gets a lot of Gymbucks from Gymboree (rewards dollars) and she gave them to my friend. Since my friend's kids have tons of clothes she used them to buy some cute little baby girl clothes for Charlotte.
Merski & Early: I think you are absolutely correct, but DH is a stickler for those dates. I think the really important lesson for me is to not buy all that stuff in the first place since we clearly don't eat it. I would be better off keeping my wallet closed!
Chrissie: Free food is an excellent bonus for your volunteering efforts!
Lark: I think you are right to leave the spending to the more affluent owner, unless she wants to reimburse you.
Stella: Your card night sounds like FFF indeed.
I helped Mom with some decluttering today, and she gave me a salad spinner that she hasn't used for years, so that was a frugal score. I also had a frugal repurposing recently. Our office is moving to electronic files, so we have all these file holders that people used to have on their desks but don't really need any more. I brought home a nice heavy metal one with my manager's permission, and I put it in the cupboard to hold baking dishes and pans, etc. in a nice neat fashion, since they previously were just in a jumbled pile. I think I might bring home another one.
DH made a yummy chicken stew today with enough left for two more meals, and groceries came in within budget.
Rosa, why not keep these jams & jellies all on the same shelf with a magic marker sell by date written on the lid and then you can use them up better. I do agree that not buying them in the first place is probably better. You could also look for those teeny tiny one serving jars that you'd get in a hotel with your toast. That might work...
Made noodle for the first time ever yesterday. I don't think I rolled the dough quite thin enough but DH really liked them. Served them under hamburger stroganoff.
For DH's birthday I searched for quite a bit before I found a recipe that he would like that I actually had all the ingredients for since my pantry is running a little thin. We had blueberry buckle for birthday cake. Had some leftover cool whip in the freezer to serve with it. No gifts though. When I ask what he wants he always says nothing. So that's what I got him. Not that I had any money for a gift any way lol
I put bean/kielbasa soup in the crockpot this morning then realized that it would be done cooking too late for dinner tonight. Instead I guess I'm going to make grilled ham & cheese and smoothies for dinner.
My friend that works at Salvation Army called to say he has a salad spinner and a stovetop coffee pot. I'll pass on the salad spinner unless it's better than the one Mom gave me or unless she would like hers back. I would like to try to learn to make coffee on the stove and stop buying overpriced crap from Farberware.
So I had never thought of this as a shopping strategy before, but I think it could be a winner. I mean how many people have their own personal shopper at the Salvation Army Store? :cool:
Rosa, that would awesome, having someone on the inside like that!
I made pancakes for a Mardi Gras breakfast today and for lunch we splurged a bit and had nutella banana sandwiches. Dinner will be the hoisin beef lettuce wraps I was supposed to make last night.
This afternoon we are decorating soup cans to make pencil cups. I think James' and mine are going to be robots. I have no idea what the girls are going to do. It appears to involve flowers and beads we got at the surplus art supply store the other day.
Yesterday was a thrift store sale day. I spent $23 and got a dressy jacket, a top for work, a set of grill tools for DH (his tongs broke last year) a Pottery Barn king-size linen duvet cover in the most awesome dark red, a lovely soft yellow throw/blanket, a quilted pillow sham, a brand new throw rug, several vintage sheep (of the Nativity variety from Italy, for my old sheep collection) a hand carved little wooden dog, a book on pattern fitting and sewing techniques, and a #1 Ladies Detective Agency book I didn't have. It was a really fun day, too. Went to IKEA afterwords for late lunch and had the meat-ball special for $2.99. Yum!
Stella: I recently bought Nutella for the first time and DH loved it. I'm not crazy about the taste of hazlenuts, so we found a chocolate almond spread at Trader Joe's that I think I'll like better.
Early: Sounds like you got a lot for your money!
I brought my lunch to work yesterday & today (including "spun" lettuce in both meals). DH got oil changes on both of our cars today, so it wasn't a no spend day, but it was certainly a day that didn't involve any frivolous spending.
Rosa!!! THANK YOu for sharing your file organizer/baking pan trick! We actually bought a pan holder designed for such nonsense and it is too big for the designated cupboard. However, we can pick up a nice heavy metal file holder at any thrift store, and it will last a lot longer and probably do a better job, since all we want to use it for is flat pans, and the other was made for shallow casseroles and such as well.
Thanks again!
Monday two friends came over so I could help them with sewing projects. One bought a big pan of chicken noodle soup and left the leftovers. So I had chicken noodle soup for dinner too and DH froze the rest in little containers for his lunch to bring to work. Yesterday I went to MIL to help her with some things she is too old to do and she made me a big pot of chicken noodle soup (it tasted almost exactly the same) which I had for lunch with her. She sent home a bag of baked goods which I froze in small packages. So I had a lot of food for no expense this week!
When I was helping MIL clean out her attic and she sent me home with boxes of stuff to donate - it helps at tax time and she just can't part with stuff. I have no problem parting with stuff, I love lack of clutter. Also, I keep telling her that my theory is there is probably enough stuff in the world, but the problem is distribution. I have too much of x, she has too much of y and someone else has too much of z. If we all donate it to charity that resells it it keeps tons of stuff out of the waste stream and we are all happy. I did find some valuable stuff that she didn't want so called my BIL who is out of work and trying very hard to get a job to check it out- he may be able to sell it on e-bay. They are really good people and need all the help they can get.
I already mentioned this once this morning, but we're selling our house right now so organizing and making things look nice is really important right now. That said, so is saving money. I've actually found a ton of different ways to spice up the rooms in my house with stuff I already have. I covered my ugly ottomans with a nice blanket and put them at the foot of my bed. I folded another blankets and put it over the tears in the couch, and it actually looks like I planned it haha. I've also been covering random boxes with adhesive paper from the dollar store and using them to decorate and hide random items. So far so good!
Try Justin's Organic spreads-- AMAZING STUFF! Our whole family is addicted to the chocolate hazelnut, and I'm planning to try the others next time we're back in the US.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
I bought 4 jars of the chocolate hazelnut spread to bring back to China. And when that's gone I will splurge and order it through iherb. It is that good....
lhamo
Kelli: I hope that works for you; it would make me feel good to know that was a useful tip.
Flowers: It sounds like you're doing the same type of work with your MIL as I'm doing with my Mom. Keep up the good work!
Rose: I love it when I can solve something creatively without spending any money.
Lhamo: Thanks for the tip on the Justin's. What other flavors do they have? I also was interested in the food expenditure graph you shared on the other thread; I would say we're on the low side as well.
I've been very virtuous about bringing my lunch every day, and I actually like my salads better than the ones from the salad bar at work. I think some of their ingredients have gone downhill in quality, probably in an effort to keep prices down. But we're taking Mom out for a belated birthday dinner Sat night, and that will more than offset my lunch savings by a huge margin. That is her gift though, we don't buy her a physical present. My sister & BIL will also be there. We aren't able to all get together often due to work schedules, so it will be nice.
Thanks for the tip Lhamo! I'll have to try that. I love chocolate and hazelnuts. I looked it up and they have it at a Target nearby. Cool!
Rose, good luck on your house sale!
Dad went on another spree of buying stuff made at Monasteries. I love when he does that. He ordered chocolate stuff for the kids at Easter. He's done this the last few years. We've agreed that it's better to get them a few high quality handmade chocolate items than go all out on large quantities of cheap candy. Zach and I will get them something else, but it does save us some money that Dad buys the candy.
He also ordered two kinds of apple butter, three kinds of preserves, three kinds of creamed honey and two kinds of mustard. We should be set on those for a while.
Other than that it's pretty much business as usual around here.
Hi everyone! I feel like I'm ready to come back and participate again after my little hiatus-I hope you'll have me! I wrote a post in the open forum detailing what I've discovered about myself so I won't bother with any details here.
To those of you who are facing health issues, I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. My thoughts are with you.
Fidgie girl. Congrats on getting the house done so quickly! I hope the move goes smoothly for you.
Stella-you continue to impress me with your kind and thoughtful actions towards others. Your positive attitude is inspiring. I'm really going to work on playing a much more positive roll in the lives of thoses around me.
Azure-does your son go to school in Alma or is that the name of the school? . Where exactly do you live if you don't mind my asking. Obviously, only if you feel comfortable sharing. Its taken me 10 years to admit what state I live in-lol!
I guess my frugal for the day is that I've been working too much to spend money! We fired an employee for stealing (no I didn't do her bodily harm although tempted-lol!) and I've been picking up extra shifts while training her replacement.
In the process of this we re-evaluated how we do things and decided by changing our schedules a bit I can work in the kitchen one day less a week and spend it waiting tables instead saving about $50 a week in payroll plus whatever I make in tips.
BKE great to see you back here.
I am making dresses for my new granddaughter. I have been determined the last several years to use up my fabric stash by making quilts and I probably have used up over half the fabric I had. I went to MIL's house and she had a stack of old smocked and embroidered dress patterns in a box that I have borrowed. I want to make smocked dresses and I can't find fabric I like that goes through the pleater so I am making dresses with a smocked insert using an old piece of batiste I have combined with cotton florals. They are really coming out cute and total expense is 0. I am even making piping for them using some old cording DH had in the basement (it was cotton so I shrunk it first) covered with fabric to match the dresses.
Flowers, my mother hand smocked some dresses for my DD when she was a baby. I still have them. They are so gorgeous. Your granddaugher will be the best dressed baby around :)
BKE, it's good to see you again. He will be going to Alma College in Alma, Michigan. We live just a few miles SW of Lansing. I had no idea you were in Michigan :) . My mother's family used to live in the Harrison area.
I am pleased with myself. I did go over the food budget but only by about $.32. We are out of all vegetables except 2 onions and some frozen spinach which I use for smoothies. 1 cup of milk left. I cup of flour. 1/2 cup of rice. Out of oatmeal. Nearly out of margarine. Only a few slices of lunch meat, etc etc.
There is a cup of milk left because I learned I can replace milk with 1/2 c of evaporated milk & 1/2 cup of water which is what I'm going to do for dinner tonight so Tyler can have the last of the real milk for his cereal. I am making a chicken & biscuit pie which is where I'm using the milk substitute. No chicken stock left so I cooked up some legs/thighs for the meat & stock. And went over by the $.32 to get the frozen peas & carrots to go in it. And using up the last of the jiffy mix for the biscuits.
My grocery budget is going to be really tight again tomorrow & I'm low on so many things right now that I am worried it may be too tight to get all I need.
Oh! I just found out I will be able to buy nice fresh brown eggs from Tyler's team mates mother. $2 dozen.
No spending for the last 2 days.
Ian just learned that he got the summer internship in Germany. PAID internship! I think it will be a good experience for him. I won't get nervous about it til the last few days before he actually takes off.
Wow its a small world isn't it Azure? I was curious about the school because you've mentioned the music department a couple of times and my ds is into band. He's only 12 so college is a few years off but was curious non-the-less.
Dh and I had our first child-free evening in almost 2 years last night. Dh wanted chinese food and then to go to the casino for a while. We were lucky to win just enough money to pay for the dinner we had including tip and the coffee we had later while waiting to pick up ds after his event. So it was basically a free evening out! I had fun. I dressed up and felt good about myself. It was nice to have alone time with dh.
We stopped at a new discount grocery last night to check it out. Very basic and kind of disappointing but it will be handy for things like milk and juice which were definitely cheaper than at other places.
Between the fact that I've been working too much to think about spending, and the fact that last night was a no-cost night out, there is still enough of last weeks budgeted money left that what I earn this weekend in tips will basically go straight to savings!
I had a little run in with a wierdo while playing scrabble on Facebook so I have deleted the info I posted here about where I live. I figured better safe than sorry.
Ugh, bke, hope your weirdo goes away for good. One reason I stay away from all on-line interactive stuff. I'm a coward at heart, lol. This was a pretty frugal week, with no extra spending. Knock wood, nothing broke, no one became ill - not even a cat!! - or needed a rescue that tapped our resources. My cousin gave me a 5# bag of cornmeal, so I refilled my cornmeal canister and put the rest in baggies in our new freezer. I was able to wait for a sale on the freezer, thanks to a friend who allowed us to stash about 300#s of beef in his family's freezers. I'm going to go haul it all home this afternoon and take him some fresh eggs. We saved about 10% on the freezer price, wrangled free delivery even though we are a bit outside the free area, and they hauled off the old one. Most importantly, THEY lugged the old one up the steps and the new one down. It took a while to find one that fit the available space and wasn't frost-free. DH and DD still had to move the electric box because the cord was about 2" too short, but since it was surface mounted, not a big deal. Otherwise, I've been hanging laundry out AND in the house, eating odd pantry meals due to no freezer, and taking commando showers to save water and electric. Going to a free symposium Friday on local and public history, and wondering if I can justify another Master's... it's a fascinating program! But honestly, by the time I'm done I would be 60, I love the job I have, so I guess this would be a luxury degree. The information gained would be useful, but not something I truly need, and some of it I already access on my own, but. . . I love to learn new things in the company of others who are doing the same. Stop me, before I learn (for $$$) again! ;) Hmm, I wonder if I can get a grant...
BKE: A scrabble-playing stalker? Truth is stranger than fiction.
Early: Good deal with the freezer, and surely there are worse vices than an education addiction!
I had a no-spend day and brought lunch from home, featuring my favorite food - salad.
Dinner out for Mom's birthday Sat was less expensive than budgeted, and we all had a really nice time. Mom had called and given me this very sweet, convoluted bit of logic explaining why she should pick up the tab when we went out. I told her "nice try, but we're taking you out for your birthday, so you'll just have to sit on your hands when the check comes; you're not allowed to pay when people are taking you out for your birthday." She said she doesn't often get to do anything for us girls, and I said that it must have been my phantom adopted mother who went with us to all those MD appointments and sat at the hospital with me while DH was having surgery, and took me shopping several times and bought my Nicorette for me . . . I'm really lucky to have the best Mom ever, and I'm glad she stuck around long enough for me to be grown up enough to realize it and tell her so. I was quite a prize in my teenage years! :devil:
Ending up the month with lots of frugals and home made meals. We've been eating out of the freezer and cupboards. Hubbie experimented and made a porter soaked oatmeal bread that came out great. A good month overall.
bke I am so glad you are back! Thanks for your kind words!
We are heading into a really spendy time where we are doing some smaller remodel projects and outfitting the kids rooms to make things more functional when the new baby comes. I made a spreadsheet, did research into what everything we need is going to cost and worked up a really thorough budget. I wrote up a schedule of everything we need to do and a week-by-week timeline of what needs to be done when. Hopefully having a specific plan will help the projects go smoothly.
FIL comes next week. A big frugal savings for me is that Zach and his dad are both construction professionals. A weeks free labor from an electrician and carpenter/cabinet maker is going to save us some serious cash.
Another thing I am making a budget for is homeschool stuff. I am involving the children in this since I am letting them have the rest of the school year to work on their own projects. Cheyenne wants to take a carpentry class and a cake decorating class and Bella wants to do indoor rock climbing. Both girls want to do some sewing, cooking and knitting projects and they want to make a "Secret Knock Gumball Machine" project they found that releases gumballs only if you know the secret knock.
Both girls have saved their allowance for 6 months and now have over $100 each saved. Originally they wanted to go to Wisconsin Dells, but that just isn't a possibiliy time-wise right now. I have talked them into going to the Water Park of America instead and just go for the day. It's $30 a person versus $200 for the hotel in WI. We'd probably just have Zach take them. Waterparks are not as much fun when you are 30 weeks pregnant. :) That will leave them money for other things and will still have the Wow factor that I was hoping they would get from saving their money for so long.
Also, although it is a long way off, the kids have come up with a really cheap, fun idea for Halloween next year. They want to make coordinated costumes for all of the kids so they can be breakfast. Cheyenne will be an egg, Bella will be bacon, James will be a pancake, Travis will be orange juice and Charlotte will be a plate. The costumes will be made of felt and recyclables. I hope they still want to do that come Halloween because it sounds like fun!