by Hope
This past week I found a great deterrent for spending money…being snowed in! Let’s face it, when you are out and about as much as we are, and with 5 people with different interests and ideas of what is important, the temptation is always there to spend money. It may not be a lot, but with five people it adds up. Well, last week we were hit with the “blizzard of 2015.” Actually, it’s the worst snow we’ve had, or rather longest lasting snow/ice we’ve had since I moved here 11 years ago. We were home bound for 5 days. And by homebound, I mean that I did not once leave the house during those days. It was glorious.
And you know what else, I didn’t spend a single dime. Obviously, I had warning of the snow so our pantry was well stocked, so food was not an issue. But no gas, no on the go snack for anyone, no “mom, I’ve got to have this for XZY.” And while the public schools were out for the week, we continued on as always, and I would almost say with more intensity since there were no activities to distract us.
The kids loved sledding in the snow (we saved our sleds from our old house and they were conveniently available in our on site storage.) I enjoyed a LONG break from dog duties as the kids took care of it all week. And we all took more than our fair share of naps after play time, work time and the schedule in general just seemed to flow.
A nice nap to get warm and rested after several hours of sledding. And a glimpse into our sleeping arrangements in our tiny space.
We spent some of the school time following a art dvd that I’ve had stashed for a while. The teacher was wonderful but of course we all wanted to use our own colors and interpretation of the directions. None of our art looks like the project was supposed to turn out, but we had a BLAST and I think everyone was proud of at least one part of their finished piece.
Pastel Art – birds, flowers and backgrounds
All of this was done with supplies we’ve had forever in our craft bucket (a giant tupperware containers that helps keep us organized and clutter free in a tiny space.)
All in all, it was one of the best weeks I’ve had in a long time. Low key, no stress and we were all together. I could certainly become a hermit with little prompting so it’s a good thing I have the kids to keep me plugged into the world around me. And in the end, it was a completely cost free week, well, at least until I get the heat bill since we’ve had lower than normal temps for almost a month straight now.
For those of you who were affected by the latest snow storm, how did you handle the down time?
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
Well we’ve been averaging 3 snow storms a week with a few blizzards tossed in. I spend more time on my school work. Otherwise it’s just a normal day. Hubby has to get up extra early those days for work. Plus we spend the day doing extra shoveling. Hubby ends up doing lots of shoveling off roofs. The snow makes lots of extra work for us with extra long days. Hubby has to get up between 3 am -4 am so he can get all the shoveling at work done. I wish it was as relaxed as your week was.
Ugh, that sounds miserable to me. I certainly don’t take for granted all the people who get out in the weather to keep us safe…VDOT has done an exceptional job with the roads this year as I experienced first hand this past weekend while driving up to my son’s gymnastics meet. When my dad was in construction, it was his least favorite season as they were up all night running trucks, it just wore him out.
I guess I can be grateful that we are in the apartment this year as we are not having to do any shoveling as it is part of the amenities of the complex. Although my twins miss the extra money they earned shoveling driveways, sidewalks and walking dogs for people who didn’t want to get out in it.
It does wear you out. It is nice extra money though since he just does it as a side job. The rest is just part of his regular job and doing the stuff around our place. It’s our responsibility even though we rent. It does keep him busy though otherwise he gets bored.
It’s so nice to just be stuck at home sometimes, isn’t it? A few Christmas’s ago we had a major blizzard spin up, which prevented us from going anywhere that day. It was sad to not spend time with the full extended family, but it sure was nice just to be lazy around the house on Christmas for a change.
It sounds like you didn’t lose electricity in your storm, which is always a relief! Though sometimes when the electricity goes out, it brings on the board games, puzzles and a deck of cards.
It is nice, and something we rarely are…at home that is. Although predicting that we are going to get snowed in for a couple more days tonight. I went last night and replenished groceries to be safe.
We love board games, but we don’t wait for snow days. Every Thursday is family day around here and we always get at least one board/card game in as a family. Tomorrow we are setting up for a family game of Catan while being snowed in.
That’s my best savings strategy – don’t go to any stores! I used to go to Target for fun and every single time spent at least $50! And I have no idea what I spent it on…..so if I can avoid Target and other trigger stores I save a lot of money!
My other trick is to not carry cash. That way if I just want a pop while I’m running errands I won’t zip thru a drive thru and have to use my debit card for $1…..keeps all those little purchases at bay.
Den, Totally agree. I go in for 2 things and then $50 later…so it was a nice breather and it’s amazing how easy it is to get by without all those “needs” that seem to have me constantly running around. Really enjoyed the week!
Is that the TARDIS in one of the backgrounds???? Love it.
Snow here usually means a trip to the ski hill. If it’s really cold, it’s too cold to snow… and then we hunker down in front of the fire place with a book.
It is the TARDIS! My teens are HUGE Dr. Who fans, in fact their competitive robotics team has a whole Dr. Who theme. And they are going to States this weekend – waahoo!
Wish we lived closer to skiing. That’s definitely on my list of things to do once this debt load is taken care of…yearly skiing!
I live in Buffalo…that is all I have to say about this winter. Soooo ready for spring
Boston here. 100 inches in the last 6 weeks. Learned more than I ever wanted to know about ice dams.