January Frugals

[fidgiegirl]

Love, love, love, love, love the workshop idea. Think of how much we learn by doing! It's fantastic! I think all of you should make the workshops for your kids! Maybe there should be a kid workshop thread!! With pics!!!!! We are learning SO MUCH by working on our house. It's just tinkering on a much more expensive level

My parents always had junk around that we could use to build stuff - even art stuff, like one-sided castoff paper from work so it didn't matter if we blew through 500 sheets in a day. We also learned a LOT by participating in set construction hours in high school theater. That's where I learned to use power tools And we ruined SO MANY cans of paint there, because none of us knew to clean out the rims before closing them up. Geez . . .

I think those formative experiences are part of why I am brave enough as an adult to try things out. Well, that, and this board . . . hmmm, which brings me to a thread idea . . .

This author has written quite a bit about tinkering: http://blog.genyes.org/index.php/tag/tinkering/
Twin Citians, if you wanted some cool finds to stock the workshop (tho all the supplies for such a workshop area could easily be obtained for free . . . ): http://www.artstart.org/artscraps-reuse-store/

Ok, hopefully you can bear with my enthusiasm for this . . .

(P.S. If you are really hardcore about education reading, check out my new favorite blog. You may not agree, but you will be challenged.)

[early morning]

Hung a load of laundry in the house Sunday. Been feeding the cats a tad of dogfood on their breakfast crunchies - donated by Dsis' dog. Generally they get a dollop of canned cat food, but hey, free is good and they don't seem to mind the difference! Yesterday I bought a fitted chair cover for my non-reclining recliner for $1.75, in a color that goes with my living room. It will look much nicer than the bedspread I'm currently using as a cover. And it won't shed, either. I love thrift shops!

[fidgiegirl]

Love the pvc pipe...hmm..now what can they cut it with that will not sever a finger??

Could go with cardboard tubes instead.

And, I don't think safety goggles is helicopter-y. We are using them frequently in our "real" project. It's a life skill. DH and I have a co-worker who lost an eye in an accident. Wouldn't have wanted it to be me.

[Azure]

We had some FFF this morning with a big container of soapy water set on the table with towels underneath. We started with soap flakes and played with it at different stages. Powder, slime and soapy water. It's a preschool type activity for James, but it's fun for everyone.

I'm making a commitment to messy projects at least once a week. Finger or pudding painting, water play, a big tub of rice with pouring tools, planting stuff in dirt and stuff like that. Toddlers, and even elementary schoolers need to get messy sometimes. It's good brain development and it's not really expensive. Ironically today's messy project gave me plenty of kid-free time to clean the kitchen.

I'm also thinking of creating a kids' tool space in the garage. I think it could be fun to do this as cheaply as possible. We could build or trash pick a table they can work at. For this purpose roughed up is just fine. We can get tools from thrift shops and yard sales and just put the word out with friends and family if anyone is getting rid of stuff. We'll have buckets underneath with scrap wood, scrap wire, pvc pipes and other scrap stuff. It would be fun to see what we could come up with. I think it would be a hit with the bigger kids.

We used to do a lot of that messy stuff when the kids were small. You HAVE to do the water & cornstarch thing. It's sooo awesome. 1 cup cornstarch & 1/2 cup of water. Stir. They loved it that it was so hard you couldn't poke it but if you pick it up in your hands it runs through.

[Merski]

Azure, we call that ooblek after the doctor seuss book, it's great for exploring scientific properties of solid/liquid.

[Stella]

Oooh, thanks for all of the great tips and links guys! Azure I am going to put the cornstarch experiment on my list. I had done that years ago when I worked at a preschool but I had totally forgotten about it. That is a cool experiment. Thanks!

Kelli I have been reading your links and really enjoying them. I'd love to see a thread on this. I think stuff like this is fascinating. I definitely think experiences are the best teacher anyone can have and I am really seeking to provide my kids with those experiences, from travel to tinkering. I had kind of a lightbulb moment with James a week or so ago when we were looking at a book with animals in it. He started doing impressions of the animals, like most two year olds do, but many of them were very realistic impressions and he'd do the impressions even of some kinds of animals most little kids skip, like fish. Then I realized that the difference is that he is remembering having seen and in some cases interacted with the real live animals he saw on our trip as opposed to remembering me telling him, "A sheep says Baaa" and repeating it.

Mighty I think safety goggles are a totally reasonable addition to the workspace. I hope your kids have as much fun with it as I think my kids will.

We had a not-so-frugal day. Zach apparently needs another textbook. I hate textbooks. They are so expensive. I tried to talk him into renting one, but he wasn't having it.

I also let him go to AxMan, a local surplus store, with the intent of getting some LEDs for an electrical project he wants to do with the kids. $65 later... The manager there is really cool, though and was very much into his vision for the project so she threw in a bunch of LEDs for free. She picked out some girly coloured LEDs too. She loves that the girls are into things like wiring, building, engineering and anatomy (Cheyenne was oggling the surgical tools) but not afraid to love horses and mermaids and pink and purple. I got a pulley I will use for some future experiment for $.95.

On the plus side, it's Minnesota cold out as of tonight, so I think tomorrow we'll have a stay-at-home day. I'm thinking it might be good tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich weather. That's a nice, frugal meal.

[rosarugosa]

We had to unexpectedly replace our water heater a week ago. My manager had to replace hers on xmas eve and said it cost $1700, although she knew she probably had paid a premium for xmas eve. We just got the invoice from our plumber, and ours cost $1020, which is so much cheaper that we are quite relieved. If one doesn't have the DIY skills for this sort of thing, at least knowing the right people to call can definitely save some major dollars!
I also got new heels on my favorite pair of black work/dress boots for the second time. Kind of expensive at $25, but way cheaper than new boots (I think these cost about $120 - $150 five years ago). There aren't many cobblers around here anymore, so I consider myself lucky to have a good one right near my office. This also saves me from using time & energy to search for another pair of boots, and I love this pair, so repairing was definitely the best way to go.

[Rosemary]

Today will be a no-drive, no-spend day. It's -10F right now with a -30F windchill. Seems like a perfect day for hibernating!
Yesterday was also no-drive, no-spend. It was soup & craft day and we had a lovely lunch time gathering with a big pot of steaming black bean soup and assorted sides that people brought with them.

[Stella]

Rosemary your soup and craft day sounds nice!

Rosa that is an excellent savings! Wow!

[Chickadee]

We woke up to -18 degrees this morning so today's frugal fun will be staying home and feeding wood into the stove. It helps to keep the furnace that burns fuel oil from running constantly, anyway. And since the wood is free off our property, well, every little bit helps. It really is quite cold out there, especially with a wind chill of -30 to -40. Brr....

I am scouting the freezer for meal fixings for supper. It is definitely a soup day and I need to work on cleaning it out anyway in preparation for this next gardening season. We try to use up each year what we have frozen/canned so that we can start fresh the next year. Especially the blanched and frozen items. As of right now I am leaning toward Corn Chowder from last year's garden corn. Soo good! I also have some frozen homemade dinner rolls to pull out to go along with it. Mmm.

Other than that, I will be cleaning the basement, which is an annual wintertime project. Free, and rewarding, too. I love not having to go anywhere on cold days!