Plastic cups, BPA, and kids

A couple years ago I decided to eliminate most of the plastic storage containers in my kitchen. I bought class bins for flour, sugar, dry beans, pasta, etc. With all the new information on BPA, this week I finally took all the plastic cups--especially for kids--out of the kitchen. I started using something else for the kids months ago. Thought you might be amused to hear what...

My kids drink out of glass jelly jars. Half-pints for the half-pints. :) They are just the right size for little hands, they don't break easily, and they are heavy enough to not tip over. Love them for everything but outdoors and car trips. I have a few plastic cups saved in the pantry for outdoor use (minimal) and today I bought a couple of BPA-free tippy cups. While my youngest two are getting older, I still like to have something for use in the car and in carpeted rooms.

My youngest also still needs cuddle/bottle time for attachment purposes, so I bought some glass bottles today. I think it's hilarious. Decades ago people got rid of glass bottles because they weren't safe, replacing them with plastic. Now we get rid of the plastic and replace them with glass. Too funny. I did have an option for BPA-free plastic bottles, but I like the durability of the glass, along with the fact that it washes so well in the dishwasher. Plus, who knows what they've next discover is wrong with the plastic???

Still can't figure out what to do about freezer containers. I read one article that said that the older the plastic, the less BPA leaching. The freezer boxes I use once belonged to my grandma and are old, old, old. Wonder if I have a better chance using those than trying something new? I do use some glass jars--quart and pint--for freezer storage, but I don't like to use them exclusively. They're heavy, hard to thaw from if I'm in a hurry, and can break in the freezer.

So what are you doing about food/beverage containers and BPA?

Teaching Kids About Money is HARD

I took LilDude (7) and GG (3, almost 4) to the store. They each carried $2 they'd earned, excited to spend it on something wonderful. I was equally excited to use some of my new "Love and Logic/allowance with kids" knowledge; basically I wanted to give them a chance to learn something about money.

The second we enter the store, GG spots the balloons. He talked about gum in the car, but we stop to check out the balloon options. I look at a couple but can't find a price tag and finally ask the floral attendant. $7.99. GG and I count his dollars. Not enough. The saleswoman leans over the counter and says, "I have one for $1.99." She brings out a snowman balloon with a lollypop anchor (to keep it from floating away.) He lights up. "Balloon!"

I also light up, thrilled for a teachable moment. "You have enough money for the balloon OR for gum. But you don't have enough money for both."

"Hmmm," he considers, "balloon! No, gum! No, balloon! No, GUM!" We thank the salesperson and head toward the gum.

We consider the gum for a long time, finally deciding to head across the parking lot to another store with more gum options. I buckle GG into his car seat. "Balloon!"

LilDude looks at him. "You want the balloon? You changed your mind?"

GG replies, "Um!" (His standard reply for "yes!")

"Are you sure?" I ask, starting to unbuckle him.

"Gum. Noooo....balloon!" We head back into the store.

The florist is surprised to see us. "Did he come back for the balloon?"

"I want balloon." She hands it to him. "Thank you!" he replies, clutching his treasure.

On the way to the checkout counter we stop so LilDude can pick out his gum. (You can see it coming, can't you?) LilDude picks up several options. GG says, "Gum! No, balloon. No, gum! No, balloon. Gum! Gum! Gum!" Both boys select their gum and we head back to the floral department to return the balloon.

"Did he change his mind?" She grins. "Enjoy your gum!"

Both boys proudly pay for their gum, take their bags and head toward the door. The florist comes running after us, the snowman balloon and another GIANT Santa balloon in hand. She hands one to each boy. "I'm going to mess up your money lesson." [Through the entire thing I'd been explaining to multiple clerks that we were on a "money learning mission."] "But I can't really sell these since it's past Christmas. And he was so polite when he tried to make his choice. And they're so cute." The boys thank her and head to the door, ladened with gum, change and huge balloons.

[Shaking my head, laughing.] So what exactly did we learn today? "Cute" can get you a long way in life???? :)


P.S. In reality, a bazillion more "Gum! Balloon? Gum? Balloon! Gum! Balloon? Gum? Balloon! Gum?" lines came out of GG's mouth. This story is the SHORT version.

Kids & Clothes Budgets

I recently posted the following on Facebook:

Question for parents of teen girls... What is a reasonable amount to budget for clothes shopping for one year?

Within a few hours, I'd received over 50 comments, by far the most I've ever received about anything. Apparently, teen girl clothes budgeting ranks highly on many radars.

I've been thinking about clothes budgets but also kids and jobs/allowance/family work responsibilities, etc. We've never been shy about assigning our kids "family jobs." This fall when my teen daughter took child development, she had to list both her parents' jobs and her jobs at home. The list she created (for both) was far longer than the lists of any other kids in the class. I'm not sure if she felt superior...or tortured.

Over the years I've created many different ways to assign household jobs. They've worked. But over time, we outgrow them and move onto something else. Lately, I've found it rather frustrating to assign jobs to my big kids because they are so rarely home. Mid-day (while they're at school) I'll discover the unfinished job and do it myself, knowing that it's more hassle to remind them when they get home (and it's dark!) than it is to just to it myself.

A month or so ago, I took back the "big jobs." Housecleaning became mine. If anyone would like to do a job instead of me, I pay well (more than minimum wage), but if no one offers, I do it myself. Meanwhile, they are still expected to do the basics: feed animals, load/unload dishwasher and wash dinner dishes.

Under the heavy influence of my current Love and Logic read, Millionaire Babies or Bankrupt Brats?, I'm reminded of the importance of establishing an allowance for children, the premise being that children can make little mistakes with little amounts of money to prevent adults making big mistakes with big amounts of money. Practice with money while you're young!

The topic of clothes shopping has come up a lot lately. I started asking myself, "What is a reasonable amount of $ to contribute to a teen's clothes budget? What if the teen has plenty of opportunity to help out around the house and make good wages, yet chooses not to? Should one affect the other?"

Then I asked the budget question on Facebook. While amounts varied, quite a few people mentioned $500-$1000 per year. I clarified that I meant BASIC. Not coats or swimsuits or perhaps even underwear...but rather the "back to school" and summer clothes stock of jeans, shirts, sweaters, shorts, etc. While there were some highs and lows, most numbers still came out around $500 or higher.

I asked my daughter to sit down and make a list of "basics" with a price tag attached to each so we could start a budget discussion. She first listed 10 shirts at $15 each, crossed out the 10, and then wrote 8 shirts at $15 each. I asked her to figure out how much money it would take to give each member of our family (7 people) 8 shirts at $15 each. She figured it out. Her eyes got very big. We went over the list together. We also talked about parental contributions to school lunches; we've always allowed our kids to eat one meal at school per week, otherwise they make their own lunch (we do have food available!) or they can choose to pay the difference.

I don't know that it's beneficial to post the amount that we actually came up with, but I will say that it's likely lower than what most teens around here are used to receiving. This "teen allowance" is designed to cover basic clothing, a few school lunches and minimal "entertainment." She can use the money any way she chooses, but we will not be paying for basic clothes or school lunches. Ample, AMPLE opportunities exist to add to her budget. (I'd love it if she wants to help me out!) But they are not mandatory.

Our middle school son's "allowance" is substantially smaller since he's not yet interested in managing a clothes budget. He does, however, get to decide on how often he eats school lunches and how much to spend on entertainment. The money is his; he chooses how to spend it.

For the first several months on this new system, I'm asking the kids to keep track of their spending so we're all aware of the budget strengths and weaknesses. I hope this gives us all a chance to try out our wings--the kids with money management and mine with letting go of parental control. ;)

So how do you handle kids, clothes budgets, allowance and household jobs?

Christmas Gift Ideas II...Wikki Stix

Thought of another one...

Last Lenton season my kids were introduced to "Wikki Stix" at church. During children's time each week the kids were given a single stick. The "sticks" are bendable, waxy, and sorta like a candlewick without the candle. We collected them until we had a baggie full. They have been playing with them ever since, bending them into people, words, shapes, names,...anything they can think of! I LOVE them for quiet times and use them every week at church, but they could also easily be entertainment in a car, on airplane trips, while sitting at a restaurant, etc. (I've heard that some restaurants hand them to kids to play with while waiting for food.)

Ours have now been played with for about 8 months and they're getting gummy. I bought a new set at Learning Palace (wish I hadn't because for the price you can get a lot more on-line.) Amazon has a wide selection including books and sets to go with them. The Wikki Stix Book of Wiggles, Squiggles & Curlicues has a five-star rating and includes 36 sticks. They are quite inexpensive and have a lot of play value. Made in the U.S.A. Ages 3 to adult. (Confession: we ALL play with them during church!)

Christmas Gift Ideas

At Ni Hao Y'all, they are compiling a list of good Christmas gifts. So now that I've ranted about what I won't buy, here are some of the best purchases we've made for our kids over the years. Our kids range in age from 3-19, so if it made the list, it's probably stood the test of time. And kids. ;)

The Chronicles of Narnia, Audiodrama on CD

When Anakin was about 8, we bought him this radio theatre CD set. We thought it was a good deal back then at about $30. Now I see you can get the 19-CD boxed set, 22 hours total, for less than $20. That's crazy cheap. And hours of entertainment for the entire family. Ages 6 (depending on how sensitive your child is...some content is scary) to adult.

I've mentioned the most played-with toy in our house before...the over door basketball hoop. This SERIOUSLY gets played with EVERY DAY. All ages. My 3-year-old can shoot and make baskets and the bigger kids play some pretty serious ball with it. If you do a search for "basketball hoop door" you'll find a LOT of options. Ages 3 - 12. (Although my teens still play with it!)

SET is one of the best games out there. I recommend it when I lead teacher workshops and those who are familiar with it always sing it's praises. Basic concept? Lay out 12 cards and look for "sets"...a set comprises 3 cards in which all the characteristics are either completely the same or completely different. But there are many characteristics and therefore, many possible combinations. Some sets are very simple, others very complex. Kids as young as 6 can play...and sometimes beat!...adults. Any number of people can play. I've used it in homeschool co-ops before, spreading it out on a table so kids can look for sets as other kids are arriving. It's an awesome family game and is wonderful for developing mathematical skills (like looking for patterns). But it's so fun that no one notices that they're learning. Ages 6 to adult.


Fisher-Price Crazy Combo Horn Set...
While this is no longer made, you can still find it cheap on Ebay. I bought ours years ago at a garage sale. It has been played with a TON. A couple months ago I considered buying another one because the two youngest were constantly fighting over it. They use it in the way it was intended, to build and play their own unique instruments. But Anakin had a whole 'nother agenda. He'd pop pieces together to make his own toy gun. That toy has seen a LOT of use! Ages 3 (or younger...I don't think the parts are too small, but not sure?) to 7 years old.

Lego Mindstorms NXT...
Two of my kids spent 4 years in organized Lego Robotics. They used the LEGO Mindstorms NXT on an almost-daily basis. Our NXT was sponsored by a local company, thankfully, but we would have considered investing in one ourselves if we hadn't had that support. They grew tremendously through the Lego Robotics program. Highly recommend it. Our two younger kids will likely do the program as well. Ages 10 to adult.

Our favorite family game is probably Settlers of Catan. If you aren't familiar with Catan or haven't been bitten by this addictive game yet, it's well worth checking out. Over the years we've added the 5-6 player extension as well as Cities & Knights. Ages 10 to adult. (I think our kids played at younger ages with help.)

And, while we do not own this, it's what I'm coveting...a Quadrilla Marble Railway. I don't actually know anyone who owns one, nor have I touched one personally. I just think it looks very cool. ;) It's what *I* want for Christmas. :) LOL. Ages 3 - 12. (Although it's ME who really wants it!)







Other "most played with" toys in our household:

• Legos!!!!!! (age 3+)
• Playmobile (age 3+)
• Fisher Price Little People, vintage (I realize that they were taken off the market for safety--choking--reason, but if kids are supervised and/or older, they are a great toy. Lots available on Ebay. My kids did not tend to put toys in their mouths and enjoyed them from ages 3 to about 8 or 9.)
• Balls (all ages)
  
• Playdough (all ages, with supervision)
  
• Bubbles (all ages, with supervision)
• Wooden Puzzles (toddlers)
• Dolls (all...my big girls still have their collectible dolls)
  
• Art Supplies of all kinds (all, Lizzie especially loves Polymer Clay, ages 8 to adult)
  
• the OUTDOORS!
  

I'll post more if I think of them. What toys stand the test of time at your house?

Zhu Zhu Pets (...or You've GOT to Be KIDDING ME!)

If you don't want to listen to a rant, stop reading.

If you want to know how culturally out-of-it I am, keep reading.

For the last few days, I've been following CraigsList, looking for a couple of used toys. The name "Zhu Zhu" pets is posted after about every 5 or 10 entries. Curiousity got the best of me, and I made the mistake of googling it. Here's the commercial that I've been missing. Don't push the link unless you're ready to puke commit yourself. When I played the commercial, LilDude came running in to see what it was. He'd never seen it before either. (I think this must prove that we aren't watching much t.v.) We looked over the site, watched a YouTube video of the thing in action and looked at each other like, "You've got to be kidding me!" But, alas, a mere look online will tell you that:

1. Many parents in the U.S. are giving their kids a Zhu Zhu for Christmas.

2. Most of the remaining parents in the U.S. are desperately seeking Zhu Zhu pets and will give their child's college education to obtain one.

3. A significant number of people are making a FORTUNE off these inane toys. They bought 'em up, cornered the market, and are now charging insane amounts of money to the people in #2 above.

I seriously don't get it. The toy has little educational value. (Actually NONE, in my opinion, but no one asked me.) It's use is extremely limited. And it costs a small fortune. I read one YouTube comment that said, "America deserves the coming financial meltdown. Should've bought a real hamster. At least you could've eaten it when the food runs out."

Like Cabbage Patch Baby and Tickle Me Elmo of the past, I'm quite sure that this insanity will end, probably within hours of Zhu Zhu being opened. Zhu Zhu will be the Goodwill buy of the week. And parents will be reassured that Little Johnny is indeed the happiest child on earth.

Oh, and btw,...for exactly the price of one Zhu Zhu house and pet a child in GG's orphanage can be placed in foster care. For a month.

Just sayin'.

Alternative to Christmas Wrapping Paper

After Christmas morning, my living room is not littered with paper. It's littered with pillowcases and  ribbon.

For years, we've avoided purchasing wrapping paper. Although frugality usually tops my reasons for not buying something, this time it has little to do with it. I simply hate wasting that much paper. It literally turns my stomach to see all the garbage (and yes, even piles of recycling) that line our neighborhood street after Christmas. I hate the thought of discarding something that has seen such minimal use.

So every year we get the pillowcases out of the linen closet and dig through a bag of ribbon I found at a yard sale. If an item shows through the pillowcase, we double up the fabric or box it prior to wrapping. If an item is truly too large for a pillowcase (which rarely happens with a $25 limit per family member), we put it in a box or a large popcorn tin (also saved from previous years). For small gifts I reuse wrapping paper we get from packages outside the family. Or we use the old standby, newspaper comics.

It's just as fun to "open" a pillowcase as it is to open paper. Perhaps more fun. You can't hop around in torn wrapping paper after all the gifts are opened! :)

Grocery Spending Challenge

Anyone want to join me in Owlhaven's "Grocery Spending Challenge?" She has 10 kids (although I don't know if they're all still eating at home) and plans to budget $300 on groceries for the month of September.

When I was tracking our food budget, we averaged between $250-$385/month, feeding six people. This didn't include the meat we purchase annually (chicken, beef, pork) or eating out.

I'm going to try for $200/month of September, or $50/week for our family. We'll be weaning off the garden this month, but we have a LOT in the freezers/cupboards; hopefully, this will help me to look there first! ;)

Starting next week--with back-to-school--I want to post a weekly menu. Then you can see if I'm honest. :)

Junk Food is Expensive!

Like you didn't know!

Just calculated our food budget for December. Ouch. We buy "special" junk to eat during Christmas/New Years. You know...goodies, sparkling cider, chips, dips, meat/cheese/crackers. All the stuff that tastes good but is horrible horribly expensive for you.

Anyway, the budget wasn't so hot...

Groceries (just food...including JUNK that we normally don't buy):

$385
(this also included food for a couple Xmas parties, but let's face it...it was our taste buds walking down the supermarket aisles!!!)

add $43/month (we buy chicken/beef once a year, so adding a monthly amount)

Total for December food at home: $428

(this is in stark comparison's to November's budget of $295)

Eating out total, December: $41

At least we did better in the eating out department. With all the junk at home, we didn't need to go out and find more! ;)

Christmas Present Less is More

Yesterday I experienced momentary panic. 'LilDude, like most young kids, woke me first thing in the morning wanting to open presents. As you might recall, last year we started a new tradition of exchanging names with a $20 spending limit per person. Everyone from the grandparents down to the youngest ('LilDude) only receive $20 worth of gifts for Christmas. That's it. So, like many parents, I started out Christmas with worry... Will this be enough to make my child happy? Will he like his gifts? Will his Christmas be memorable?

We ate breakfast and waited for the rest of the extended family to arrive. As soon as everyone gathered, 'LilDude began. BigSis drew his name and did an amazing job. She filled a giant stocking with all kinds of goodies. Individually wrapped (!!!!) lollypops and packages of gum. She'd creatively "recycled" some items that her secret dorm sister had given her this fall: bubbles, bouncy ball kit. She'd passed on her quarter collection book that 'LilDude has been aching to have. And she'd made a couple of very careful purchases: a Lego kit and a dinosaur drawing set. Everything was individually wrapped, which made for a lot of unwrapping fun. Even then, it took 'LilDude less than 5 minutes to unwrap his presents. Then he had a fabulous time watching everyone else open their gifts; he was VERY excited to watch "his person," Anakin, open his gift. But the emphasis wasn't on kids. Nobody was given more importance than anyone else, present-wise. Everyone enjoyed watching the others open. When it was over, 'LilDude put his Lego set together and has played with it and his dinosaur drawing kit ever since.

When he was done unwrapping, I could see the relief on his face. Calm, happy satisfaction. It was ENOUGH. He didn't need dozens of presents. Expensive presents. More presents than anyone else. He was happy with a little. A little went a very, very long way.

During the day, the emphasis was on family...playing games, eating, walking and playing in the snow. The day was all about people rather than being all about stuff. Thinking of the baby in the manger, that seems appropriate.

At bedtime when I asked 'LilDude if he'd had a good day, he nodded an emphatic yes. "I loved my presents," was one comment. Less was definitely more.

I'll try to remember not to worry next year. ;)

Day 47, Another Free Online Photo Book! (93...Free!)

On Saturday, I mentioned that I made a free photo book through Snapfish. Today I found another offer. SimpleMom outlines an offer through Inkubook where you can design your own photo book online for free. You just pay postage. See the SimpleMom site for details and promotion code.

And if you're waiting for your toddler/older child to arrive home, consider making an Adoption Welcome Book.

Day 44, Frugal and Gluten Free??? (93...Free!)

Some of us were discussing food budgets on a family forum. One of the things that came up was the high cost of gluten free bread. When we learned that 'LilDude needed a gluten free diet, bread was high on my list of concerns. We've naturally cut waaaaaayyy back on bread...especially sandwiches. But we still need some sandwich bread as well as bread for toast (to go with eggs.)

Gluten free bread is about $5/loaf...a SMALL loaf. It's about the same for gf bread mix. So I bake. About once every 4-6 weeks, I make 4 loaves of gluten free bread using The Gluten-free Gourmet Bakes Bread. My favorite recipe is the "Basic Featherlight Rice Bread." To me, the taste and consistency is closest to that of wheat bread. It's a delicious bread...crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And it smells delicious when baking.



The bread does not bake up very high. (If it's supposed to, I've never figured it out!) But the size is perfect for 'LilDude. Two slices of this bread make what looks like half of a regular sandwich. If he's really hungry, I make him two sandwiches since they're small.



After the bread cools, I slice it and freeze in zippered bags. I put two piece of bread face-to-face and lay them that way in the bag so I can easily pull out enough for one sandwich at a time.

Cost of Food at Home

Someone on the Holt forum posted the "Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels, U.S. Average, August 2007." It's quite fascinating. According to that data, the monthly "low-cost plan" (the lowest amount) means we should be spending $899/month for our family to eat at home. (In August 2007, that is.) Ouch.

Day 36, Snacks at School (93...Free!)

We don't eat a lot of in-between meal snacks. It's just not a habit we've ever started. During our homeschooling years we ate breakfast, lunch, dinner. No snacks. Now, with two kids in public school, it's a little different. Especially in kindergarten.

Kindergarteners are expected to take a snack each day. Thankfully, they are not allowed to bring drinks and are instead encouraged to use the water fountain. If drinks were required, I would invest in a BPA free water bottle and send it with water each day.

As far as snacks go, we've been able to send a healthy, gf/cf variety and not break the budget with pre-packaged foods. This year I've sent sliced apples, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, bananas, dried fruit or nuts, pretzels, crackers, cereal, muffins, popcorn...none in snack packaging. Popcorn leftover from Sunday night snack time is one of the favorites. I usually put the snack in a small tupperware container (I have one with a turn lid) and it's always made it home.

What do you do for school snacks?

Day 35, Grocery Bill (93...Free!)

In an effort to eliminate unnecessary spending, we started recording all our expenditures last month. I've always thought that our food bill was low, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. Here it is...you can decide if it's low. :)

Groceries**, Oct. 2008
(currently feeding family of 5 at home, including one who is gf/cf)
$323
**includes food only--no household supplies

Meat (2008-09 year)
I'm a little unsure as to how to account for this except to take the total and divide it by 12 months. We buy locally grown, primarily grass fed/free range meat and freeze it. So far this year we've purchased chicken and beef that should last 12 months (or more.) We have a down payment on half a pig that is to be butchered in December, but I don't have totals for that yet.

Chicken (20 birds, 100 lbs)
$225

Beef
$290

225 + 290 = 515 / 12 = $43/month (might be less if meat lasts more than 12 months--the beef certainly may)

So, with the meat addition, our Oct food bill was $366. Or just under $12/day for our family to eat. Not bad.

I tracked "Eating Out" separately. Last month we spent $76 on eating out. This includes pizzas and Chinese food we brought in, and all other restaurant meals. Obviously there weren't many. :) I'm pleased with this number and it's already made a difference in our expenditures this month. On Sunday, family members expressed interest in going out for a sit-down meal. The group included our family plus my parents. I conservatively estimated our cost at more than $50 for the group. When I mentioned that this was 2/3rds of the total "eating out" budget from last month, we agreed to stay home.

I'm very curious to see if the food budget holds steady this month. I would anticipate it being slightly higher during the holidays, but we'll see... We're certainly beating the recent KFC challenge (see the commercial?) to spend $10 or less on a family of 4 for dinner...I thought that smelled a little fishy. Chickeny?

Day 31, Sock Exchange (93...Free!)

In the process of organizing photos (I'm only 3 years behind), I ran across a picture from a past Christmas. That year our extended family had a sock exchange. Each person brought one pair of socks to enter in a white elephant game. We had great fun with the variety:

* sock coin purse
* an old, ragged sock (in which someone hid $10)
* organic materials
* fuzzy socks
* socks with toes
* bright, decorated socks of all kinds
* woolen hiking socks

The game portion of the activity was hilarious, good for all ages (including my then 92-year-old Nana)...and everyone left with something that they were really going to use. Just one more idea to have fun with Christmas gifts!

Day 29, No More STUFF!!!! (93...Free!)

The other day, a good friend and I were talking about "stuff." You know, the unwanted items you receive...for birthdays, for shower party favors, for Christmas; everywhere we go, we are handed more stuff. It fills our cabinets, our kids' rooms, our garages, our junk drawers. Today I made a quick stop at a local store and was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that retailers are thrusting at us, begging us to buy in early November...with CHRISTMAS MUSIC in the background to put us in the mood for holiday buying.

In our family, we're trying to minimize "holiday gift stuff" by setting a $20 limit per person. That really helps. But even with a $20 limit, it's still sometimes hard to know what to give people who really have everything they need.

A few years ago, I turned to the idea of consumables. If I give/receive gifts that can be consumed, we end up with a lot less stuff...and with some pretty fun/creative gifts. Here are a few examples:

1. For one exchange I bought a sheet of cartoon stamps which ended up being one of the most popular items...it was "stolen" several times during the exchange game. Everyone can use stamps and there are a lot of fun ones out there.

2. Kid stocking stuffers

• character bandaids
• TicTacs
• gum
• TAPE (yes, scotch tape! My young kids LOVED tape and wanted to use it all the time. When they received their own, they could use it whenever they wanted.)
• art supplies-paper, pens, glitter glue
  

3. Other "big kid" gifts:

• Pringles potato chips
• Other special chips or treats--my husband got SunChips one year and everyone was jealous. I've also bought kids their own boxes of sugar cereal or packs of character "fruit" gummies.
  
• Sparkling Cider or other sparkling juices
• Starbucks bottled drinks (teen gift)
• scrapbooking supplies
• camera film
  
• stamps (Star Wars and other characters)
• special hot drink mix (my kids love Russian tea)
• decadent chocolate
• lotions
• bubble bath

As you might imagine, the items I listed are NOT purchased in our household any other time during the year; it wouldn't have nearly the same effect if these items were part of our daily life. But since my kids are "deprived" :) the rest of the year, this stuff is pretty interesting to them.

If you have other ideas, I'd love to add to my lists. :)

Day 18, Spices (93...Free!)

Today I refilled spice containers. I buy spices from bulk bins (Bob's Red Mill, Winco, various co-ops) and store them in the freezer to keep them fresh until needed. On the odd occasion that I can't find bulk spices and have to buy a new bottle, I'm always astounded to see the price difference.

Day 17, Use It or....??? SW Chicken Lasagna (93...Free!)

...throw it out???

How many times have you come home from the grocery store, bags filled to overflowing, just to have to turn around and toss items from the fridge that you didn't finish? It would seem that if we could use what we have first, we might end up saving money.

To that end, I've been looking for a website that can help me to use up ingredient odds and ends. Today I had the remains of a Costco sized jar of spaghetti sauce...about 2 cups worth, but not enough to make spaghetti. A jar of salsa needed emptying. Jalapenos from the garden were waiting for use. But I didn't want to use sour cream or any "cream of _____ soups." So I used this website, entering the ingredients I had on hand and dictating the foods I did not want to include. It gave me several recipes to choose from including one for Southwestern Chicken Lasagna, which uses corn tortillas. It was delicious! And a nice gluten free alternative to standard lasagnas.

Day 16, Delaying Purchases (93...Free!)

When my children were small, I was an avid garage saler. It didn't take long to figure out that just about anything I could ever need--or want--could be found at garage sales. I started to make garage sale lists...that's right, garage sale shopping lists. On the lists went things that I needed but didn't absolutely have to have immediately. When the kids were little, almost all their clothing and shoes were purchased at GS...and much of my own as well. (Just last week my neighbor stopped to admire my Birkenstocks...purchased about seven years ago at a GS for $2.) In the last few years, I haven't had as much time for GS, but I make similar lists for used store shopping...Goodwill and the like.

Which brings me to my latest story of saving money...

I regularly use paper lunch bags for probability lessons in the math classes I teach. While paper bags aren't that expensive, I don't like the "use once" concept even if it's something that can be recycled. It just seems like a waste of resources. But after a pair of kiddos has finished one probability game with a lunch sack, it's pretty much a goner. In the last class I taught, kids needed to replace sacks in the middle of the game because they worn thin so quickly that pieces were falling out the bottom.

So I decided that it'd be awesome to make little cloth bags that could be used repeatedly and washed in between groups of students. The more I thought about it, the more the idea grew...

"Oooooh, and they could be CUTE. I could use fabric with math print! That would be adorable."

Adorable...and EXPENSIVE.

As anyone who sews knows, material--especially CUTE printed material--can run upwards of $10/yard. I found several great options on the internet...all expensive.

So the material went on my wish list. And lo and behold, here's what I found for $1/yard at a benefit auction this last Saturday.



The slightly humorous part of the story is that this was an auction to raise money for a Christian humanitarian organization. I don't think there was a person in the crowd who would have known what to do with the game pieces fabric except for a crazy teacher wanting to make bags.

It just reinforces the idea of delaying purchases whenever feasible. And you know what's interesting? Sometimes I'm able to cross things off my "list" just by virtue of delaying a purchase long enough to realize that I didn't actually need the item in the first place.

Funny how that works. ;)