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Back to work...less time

August 27th, 2006 at 03:37 am

I have less time for blogging these days! Or perhaps just less energy. I'm not sure.

We're chugging away. I've been reading on the site more than participating lately. I'm trying to figure out this whole coupon thing. I like to just shop at Aldi's and forget the hassle, but my Walgreens experience has intrigued me.

I'm also considering gardening for the spring. Our land is absolutely horrible and it's hard to get grass to grow! The builders stipped our entire neighborhood of top soil. I'm thinking this Fall we'd like to till a square of it and cover it with leaves so that by Spring we'll have a nice piece of dirt to work with. Then we can plant and see what grows! I really like the idea of free groceries in my back yard.

I'm stressing about money again. It's the beginning of the school year which always comes with pop up expenses. I've held money back from paying off the debt so that these expenses don't bust the budget. My hope is to not use it all and have a large sum I can send all at once at the end of September. I'm not very good at waiting though. I like to have a little to send here and there. I just $100 to one card, but that's not near as much fun as a couple hundred more.

I'm also stressing about the time factor involved in saving money. It's so much easier to save money when one person is home! It's so easy to be too tired to make lunch or dinner and then dining out becomes a so very tempting. I try to have safe guards in place for these events, but we're not perfect. Sometimes we don't feel like eating my "just in case we feel like eating out quick meals."

I also start to get overwhelmed when I think of upcoming expenses for our boys. They are so young right now, but it won't be long before we will need to purchase musical instruments and pay for lessons in addition to sports activities and whatever else. We limit sports activities right now. They choose one per year and they aren't doing the things at the same time which cuts down running around time for us. But since music is so important to us, eventually they will be doing both music AND sports at the same time! I want to give them that opportunity, but goodness it is expensive! I know that as a flute teacher I charge $15/half hour lesson. That's around $120 per month for both boys for one instrument! $240 if I want them to do piano in addition to a second instrument, which I do! Add to that the cost of sports activities, and, well, how do parents do it? And by then they will be eating more too! LOL! EEK! No more small plate dinners keeping our grocery budget in line. Let's not even talk about college yet. Phew!

Alright, I'm done worrying. It's on paper and out of me head now. Wink

5 Responses to “Back to work...less time”

  1. Bookie Says:
    1156652578

    Guppies eat their young. Smile

    Hey, you've come a long, long way in a very short time on this site. Keep in mind that we're all in this for the long haul. Don't start stressing over what you will need to worry about in one, three, five years. Right here, right now, you're OK.

    Have a little faith and a little patience. Answers will come as they are needed. I have confidence that you can surmount any obstacle if you just take it one day at a time. Debts will be paid, obligations will be satisfied, needs will be met, everything will work out.

    You'll see.

  2. LuckyRobin Says:
    1156670681

    Don't try to do too much with the kids, you will burn them and/or yourself out. I was an overscheduled child. I learned how to play piano, organ, flute, violin, and viola by the time I was 13. I played soccer, volleyball and softball. My choice was volleyball and viola. Everything else was not my choice. Well, by the time I hit high school I rebelled completely, quit all sports and walked away from all music except playing viola in orchestra at school and joining concert choir. My choices. Make sure that it is your kids who want to learn music and not you making them because you want it for them.

    Believe me, music is hugely important in my life today, but I have been quite casual about it with the kids. They can mess around on the piano whenever they want. My daughter has a guitar that she begged for. My son likes to fool about with a recorder and they both will goof on the viola a bit (under supervision, that baby is mine). I have made it available to them and have told them if the time comes that they want lessons I will arrange them.

    There are some excellent dvd music lessons available now that you might want to look for that will cost less than lessons in the long run and you can use them for all your kids and then resell them on half.com.

  3. spendless Says:
    1156678637

    Take a deep breath.....documenting your journey/plan is a great step.
    Planning for the future is admiral, but don't try to forcast too far in advance. By that i mean don't worry about all the "what ifs" that are totally unpredictable and out of your control.

    Enjoy those boys one day at a time.....and one day sooner than you can realize....your young men will be on their own. You'll never be able to explain how you did it......but the finances will come....you'll be amazed.



  4. Kris10leigh Says:
    1156686106

    All good advice, thank you. I do try not to overschedule the boys. That's why we make them choose one sport right now and only one child at a time. I don't particularly enjoy running from one event to another, and I'm sure they wouldn't either. Music is just such a big part of our life that DH and I are sure it will be with them too, though it's fine if it isn't. I just worry that they will also want to do sports, which I personally never did. It was all music for me. The only thing I see pushing is piano because DH and I both wish now that our parents had pushed that for us. If music is a part of your life at all, I think piano is vital.

    I think the best advice is that I am think too far in advance. Wink I'm having a hard time wtih the fact that I paid off $900 in ten days and now nothing. I went on a couple "no-spend" sprees, and now my money is flying our of my wallet! LOL!

  5. homebody Says:
    1156695505

    My older daughters both had piano lessons for years. Guess what, as soon as I let them quit, they never played again. I was sick....

    YD played every sport there was in junior high and high school. She did three sports at one... track, softball and class 1 soccer.

    Guess what? An ankle deformity was found after we thought she "sprained" it and had major surgery 2 weeks after she graduated from high school and had been recruited to play soccer in college. She took a year off from soccer to recover and then got married on July 4th. She turned 19 on August 24, was going to go ahead and play soccer at our local college and turns out she has MONO!! So who knows now what will happen since she is moving to North Carolina in December (where her DH is stationed).

    My point is.... my kids did not follow my plan for them!!! However, I am not sorry they were so busy it definitely kept them out of trouble.

    I think you are on the right track, and coming here.... you didn't get in this mess overnight and you can't get out overnight!! Me either. I need to remember my own advice. Ha Ha!

    By the way, this mornings Walgreen ad had one thing for free with a rebate I am getting... feminine hygiene products!

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