Monday Medley: Frugal Weekends And School Supplies

As much as I hate to admit it, summer is coming to an end.  While it is my favorite season, my disappointment with the start of fall is minimal this year.  We have really made the most of these past few months and are motivated to keep making progress towards the awesome future that lies ahead of us.  The impending close of summer is encouraging us to squeeze in a little more fun outside and take advantage of every opportunity to pay off debt.

We have not paid for very many admission tickets this summer, instead taking advantage of parks, playgrounds, and other free entertainment.  The key is to pay attention to those activities that are not advertised on television.  This past weekend we attended a carnival put on by our town.  It wasn’t as extravagant as an amusement park, but there was food, games, face painting, and a bounce house.  It was free and the kids had so much fun.  We also maintained our yearly tradition of riding mini-trains.  Not too far away from our house, there is a group of mostly retired men who build working miniature trains.  They have commandeered a large farm and set up miles of track.  Once a year, they invite the public to come ride the trains.  It cost a total of $10 for all of us to go on unlimited rides.  Once again, these guys don’t do a lot of advertising and that’s what makes it so affordable.  There are plenty of ways to find out about events like these ones.  There is an events section on Craigslist, most local news stations publish lists of family activities on their websites, or you can join local Facebook groups.  As with so many other things, a little bit of effort into investigating different options can help you avoid mainstream expenses.

I’ve done my best adjusting to being back at work.  Blogging and side-hustles are a little trickier to fit in, but I’m trying to be proficient with my time and keep my priorities in check.  Mr. Smith is staying home with the kids until Goofball starts kindergarten, because paying for three kids in daycare just doesn’t make financial sense.  I have to admit that there are perks to having a stay-at-home spouse (Breadwinning Mama knows it too).  Mr. Smith is a really good with the kids and performs an impressive amount of housework while I’m away at work.

I have missed the older two, but really long for my baby.  I used to carry him inside of me everywhere.  Then, although separate, we spent the majority of our time in close proximity.  Now, I spend days that seem as long as an entire week without being able to snuggle him close to me when either of us needs it.  He rolled over for the first time within a couple of days of my return to work.  He gave Daddy a hard time about drinking from bottles, but seems to be adjusting.  However, the enthusiastic welcome home at the end of the day helps ease some of the heartache.  You just can’t beat those elated calls to “Mommy!” or the gurgles as your baby kisses/slobbers on your cheek.  For now, being away just makes our time together more precious, and reinforces the fact that my family is my purpose for working.

Goofball is preparing for kindergarten.  We received his teacher assignment and school supply list the other day.  We can’t send him to school without the supplies on the list, so I checked out prices at Walmart and plan to stop by the Dollar Store in order to get best deal on everything.  It does seem counterintuitive to purchase some of these things that we would never buy on our own.  One example is flushable wipes.  What frugal person in their right mind would buy flushable wipes?  Also, if I had known that he needed them, I would have been searching for coupons and watching out for sales, but we only just got his list.  One thing that we don’t plan on purchasing is a new backpack.  He has a Thomas The Train book bag that is in good condition.  It’s another one of those “normal” things that must be purchased.  A new year of school requires the purchase of a new book bag.  But Goofball doesn’t know about this “rule.”  He hasn’t asked for a new one.  We shouldn’t spend money just because we think that we’re supposed to, we should question everything.

The garden is continuing to produce a ton of vegetables.  It has taken some work, but with the help of the internet, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out the basics.  We have eaten most of our harvest, including multiple batches of yummy zucchini brownies.  The garden is starting to produce a lot of tomatoes.  I will probably be doing some canning this coming weekend so we won’t need to buy spaghetti sauce during the winter.  We have also frozen some broccoli.

Although we still have a significant amount of debt, I’m starting to feel really optimistic about achieving our goals.  We have changed our attitudes and set ourselves up for success.  We have cut down our expenses with things like switching cell phone carriers (with the new phones now paid off, we should really start to notice the savings).  We will be storing up food to eat during the winter and have decreased the interest rates on our credit cards by obtaining a consolidation loan.  Our progress inspires us to continue implementing changes that will expedite our journey to financial semi-independence.  This frugal life is good now, and our efforts will be rewarded with even better future.