Day One of my Week in Words (you can read about it here) was my first official day of Unemployment. Conveniently, it was also the day that I intended to Be Frugal.
Everyone slept in till 8:30 am which is always cause for great happiness.
One boy stayed home from school with me. After dropping his younger brother off at daycare, we immediately drove to Starbucks for an iced coffee (no cream, no sweetener, thank you). So much for frugality there. I didn’t have the gumption to brew coffee earlier (and it’s not a proper excuse, but the family barista my husband is out of town) and it has been really hot in the Pacific Northwest. We don’t have air conditioning, and the little one woke up twice, and the eldest crawled into bed with me claiming a super bad dream at 3:30 am. This is unusual since they are (finally) good sleepers, but every time they wake up I can’t go back to sleep for at least an hour.
So on to a frugal day. I opened the pantry and began pulling out random cans and jars. I boiled a package of dried orzo and threw in jars of roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes and kalamata olives. Turned out pretty good, I think. A little salty but that’s not a bad thing for my palette. I love using stuff out of the pantry instead of going to the store. I also picked another gorgeous cucumber from the garden, sliced it thin and served it up when the boys were whining about how hungry they were before dinner. It disappeared before my eyes.
Frugality isn’t the easy choice. I took the dog for his annual exam + shots and spent $84. I picked up a few key items for an upcoming camping trip and spent $22.49 (awesome queen airbed on supersale) and purchased a bunch of other stuff including a cute red-and-white-checked tablecloth for a total of $54. And I might have stopped by our neighborhood consignment shop and scored a pair of Banana Republic jeans for $14. Awesome find? Well, maybe, but maybe not. I admit to being guilty of impulse buys from time to time, though they tend to be small. Spending a small fortune on daycare tuition for the past five years does not allow for tons of extra cash around the house. However, being conscious about Being Frugal did give me pause, and made me consider all of the ways in which I am rich.
On to Day Two.
Be Kind.
sunshineandsalad 