Well at least this mom thinks it is a waste of money. But hey, the boys earned the money to go.
My van was loaded with kids, 13 to be exact, plus one college student, and we listened to High School Musical songs and "I Like to Move it". The kids loved it!
What was really nice about the excursion was that I got to catch up with another mom from church that has seven kids... the next largest family in our church.
And you know what we talked about? How we save money, spend wisely, and yet still manage to provide our kids the opportunity to go to a place like Boomers once in a while.
It was so nice to relate to someone who totally knew what I was talking about when I said.....
- Our family meat consumption is about 60% ground beef, 30% chicken breasts bought in bulk, and 10% other (meaning hot dogs, tuna, bacon, but not steak).
- Hot lunches? My kids consider those special days. They mainly pack.
- Goodie bags at parties? Why? It is not their birthday. I get a pack of four ring pops at Dollartree, open the pack, tie a nice ribbon with a tag labeled party favor, and hand those out. Sometimes I splurge and hand out two candy bars per kid when they are on sale for 3/1.00.
- Money from the tooth fairy? Phooey! My kids get a special something from Dollartree. Everything was cool until my daughter Julia decided to compare tooth fairy stories with the neighbor girl. Last year she asked me, "Mom, why does the tooth fairy bring her $5.00, but she only brings me lip gloss?"
- I stocked up on Fritos and two cases of Dennison chili when I was at Winco last week.
- My boys loved the used controller they got for Christmas for their old Xbox. It is so old, that they stopped making the controllers for the game, so you can only buy used. Used controller.....used video games.
Now I'm off to bed, and I hope all of you have sweet dreams.
7 comments:
That is a funny post. It sounds so much like our house.
Here's a funny story about frugality: J, my 7 year old who was 6 when this happened, went over to our good friend's house one day. The mom offered him a packaged Rice Krispie treat. He took it questioning what it was, opened it and then in a very straight deep voice told her, "This is a waste of money! My mom can make a whole lot more of those in one big pan for a whole lot less." Okay, so he's learning the value of a dollar. We just need to work on tact.
I can totally relate to eating just ground beef and chicken. Not long ago an adult at church said, "So and so says they've never had steak!" Duh. Who feeds a family of seven children steak?
We're such bad parents... We rarely remember to do anything for lost teeth, other than me snapping photos like a madwoman... But then, the kids don't believe in the tooth fairy. *lol*
Julie
I don't think mini golf and go carting would be a waste of money. Maybe it's just me.
Meat is so expensive! We do a lot of salmon b/c we can dip net for it in July. We eat lots of moose (when Dan is lucky enough to get one). I found that the boneless chuck roasts at Safeway go on sale for 2.49 quarterly (you just have to watch the adds) and I have them grind it and it makes nice, lean burger for a fraction of the price. The roasts are lovely too if you cook them frozen long and slow. The other thing I do is load up on whole fryers by Foster Farms at Safeway when they go on for .79 a lb. I only buy birds larger than 5 lbs. b/c a home economist told me that buying birds smaller than that means you are paying for mostly skin and bones. Just a few tips. Not sure if they will apply or even be impressive to you. I know we Alaskans pay more at the grocery most of the time b/c of tacked on freight charges.
Hi Christine:
I finally took some time to get caught up on your blog last night. It was fun. I can relate to so much of what you write, especially knowing your kids. Congrats on getting your fingerprint papers. It won't be long now until you have that little guy home with you all where he belongs.
Laurel
Hi Christine. Allen is MY son....and I am Martha's sister.
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