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Mar 1, 2015    |       8 comments

Saving Money High (or Low)

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Raising kids is costly!

One of our largest expenses, which actually costs more than our rent, is our children’s preschool (and they only go part-time! Yikes! See full budget here). Beyond that there is the expense of feeding, diapering (ours are THIS.CLOSE to being potty trained, but still wear diapers overnight), and clothing them!

Thus far, we’ve been very lucky with the clothing part and have spent only a tiny amount of money on clothes for them. Early on we were gifted tons of clothes (at baby showers and such); we also received a lot of hand-me-downs from friends (particularly from other twin moms, as there seems to be a bond between us); lastly, our families have been very generous to gift us clothing for various occasions (particularly for their birthday and Christmas). All in all, we’ve been very fortunate.

But one area where their clothing has been decidedly lacking lately has been in pajamas. And therefore I’ve come up with a solution to stretch their old clothes longer….cut out the feet!!!

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My husband thinks I’m crazy. I call it thrifty! ; )

Seriously, though. Our girls are very small (in terms of weight) for their age. But they’re still a normal height. That means that the pajamas still fit perfectly fine (not too snug), but were becoming too small length-wise.

In the past I’ve tried to resale or donate our old clothing (particularly since we were generously given so many hand-me-downs I like to find twin moms who I can give our used clothes to as a pay-it-forward type thing). But since we’re running low on jammies I figured I’d rather just keep these going as long as possible, even if it means cutting out the feet and making it impossible to ever resale or donate. It stretches their use that much longer (these are size 18 months, and our girls are 2.5 years), and keeps us from having to spend money on PJs for that much longer, too.

So I think its a saving money high point. I’d call it a win (even if my hubs thinks I’ve lost my mind). ; )

What do you think?

What do you do to try to stretch your kids’ wardrobe and/or your clothing budget?

Feb 28, 2015    |       27 comments

Formal Event – eeekk!!!

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Houston, we have a problem!  A BIG problem!

Ok, maybe it’s not a problem, just a challenge, a big one!  My Sea Cadet’s division is throwing their annual awards ball.  Last year, his first year in, I let him go, but we didn’t really make a big deal out of it.  This year, he’s been in a year and has been selected to be part of the Honor Guard (a special unit that does a ceremony honoring the MIA/POW of each military branch is how he explained it to me.)  I want to support him, I am super proud of him BUT….

Two things really…social situations make me all sorts of uncomfortable.  I have NEVER been good with people, small talk, happy hour…none of that.  NEVER.  I get nervous and self conscious and in this situation where I understand pretty much nothing about military stuff, well, I’m WAY out of my depth and comfort zone and pretty much, know no one who would be there.

And second, dress up?! Me?!  I mean if it’s not jeans and a t-shirt, then you most likely will not see me in it.  Seriously, I even wear them to church…okay, I throw a scarf on to dress it up a bit.  But this is a FORMAL event.  I mean, I saw the pictures from last year, the parents were in FORMAL, like prom dresses.  Who does that?  Who likes that?  Ok, I know it’s part of the military culture, I see enough Facebook posts of friends whose husbands are in the military, but really…me?

So I asked him…”do you want me to go?”  Hey, I remember this age, it was a really big toss up on whether I loved or hated my parents at any given time.  And the bottom line is, he wants me there.  He wants someone to witness his achievements, to smile proudly at him and to belong too.  (Yes, I threw all those words in, he just stumbled around on the yes.)  So I’m going… and it’s in a week!

What in the world do I wear?  I can promise you that there is NOTHING in my closet that will pass muster, not even close.  And unfortunately, I am a big girl so it’s not like I can just go borrow something from someone’s closet (ooh, I miss those days!)  So help me!  What does a mom wear to a son’s formal even that won’t a) break the bank, b) not be a complete waste of money since I hate the thought of buying something never to be worn again and c) doesn’t make me look like I’m trying to relive my high school prom days???

Help, I’m DESPERATE!

Just for fun, this is my prom picture from my junior year...I love reliving memories from pictures, but do not want to go there in real life!
Just for fun, this is my prom picture from my junior year…I love reliving memories from pictures, but do not want to go there in real life!
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