Let's face it, everybody is out of money. Jobs are going, expenses are going up, and some people are still struggling to keep their houses during this mortgage mess. It's not a pretty picture.
While it's getting pretty bad, there's a part of me that is beginning to see this recession as a positive thing. Many people began to get expectations that were way to high, borrowing against houses for toys we once thought were for the very rich, getting their kids clothes and toys that cost a fortune to but and use. That can't really happen anymore. We are being forced to learn to live in a manner we can afford, and continue to afford. This is not a bad thing.
For example, not long ago, when people found out that I got the majority of my kids' clothes at thrift stores or garage sales, they wondered why I didn't just charge them or shop sales. I still get asked why I don't shop sales. The truth is that if I am careful, watch labels, and haggle, I can get good clothes at a fraction of the sale price. Exibit A, a pair of American Eagle jeans, with the $80 price tag, for $5. Not kidding. I do shop sales for groceries and other things I might not be able to find otherwise, but overall I stick to used.
Besides, for those who like to shop, thrift stores can be a lot of fun. My daughter and I routinely hit one of our local stores and usually find a few items worth bringing home, like and Eddie Bauer shirt dress or a pair of slacks with a matching vest. My daughter wears that to school on a regular basis and everyone tells her how cute it is.
I do buy some things new. For example, I get sneakers new a lot, since kids tend to beat them up pretty badly before they outgrow them in the sizes I need. I get my son's jeans or pants new....He's tall and weedy, and I don't see pants long enough and skinny enough for him to wear very often, I do buy them when I see them at thrift store or yard sales, but it's rare.
Certain things are just gross to buy used. Trust me on this.
Books are better used. I'd much rather pay 25 or 50 cents for a book than $12. (I do buy the odd book new though.)
Just imagine what we could save just with an open mind, and the money we'd have for things that we think are more important. There is a difference between needs and luxuries. (14 kids through in-vitro is a luxury. End of Story.) Getting your nails done in acrylics and their upkeep? Luxury. $80 jeans luxury, unless you find the deal I did.
Ironically, I bought my middle daughter a pair of jeans at a garage sale recently. They wanted $8 for them. I asked them to take five. The woman looked at me and said "I paid $75 for them in Phoenix." My response? "Okay" and walking away. I got the jeans at my price. Plus 2 books, a cute evening bag, and a tote bag for my other daughter. Total cost: $12 . Getting your kid the bag she wanted to get at Disneyland last year at a cost of $2? Priceless.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Girl Scout cookie
Cookies cookies cookies. I am sick to death of Girl Scout Cookies. I'm swimming in them, and I can't eat them. I want to continue to become the fit, thin , Mom I know is lurking inside. It's only 40 pounds away, but getting there is a journey filled with peril.
I try not to obsess about it, what it comes down to for me is making smart choices about what I eat and making sure I watch my portion sizes, but sometimes I worry that being careful is making everyone around me worry about what they are eating. All I'm trying to do is stay away from junk food.
On the GS cookie front, I'll be happy when they are all gone and the check's gone to council, the the girls and I can decide what to do with the money. They had a lot of good ideas, but they depend on how much money we made.
I try not to obsess about it, what it comes down to for me is making smart choices about what I eat and making sure I watch my portion sizes, but sometimes I worry that being careful is making everyone around me worry about what they are eating. All I'm trying to do is stay away from junk food.
On the GS cookie front, I'll be happy when they are all gone and the check's gone to council, the the girls and I can decide what to do with the money. They had a lot of good ideas, but they depend on how much money we made.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday
Went to lunch and a movie with DH today. Saw that Mall Cop movie. Overall, it's very cute, but the first half-hour or so is almost painful. It's worth waiting to get to where the action starts, and things wouldn't make sense if you miss the beginning.
For me it was funny in another way. I grew up in NJ, where the movie is set, and the neighborhood the Mall Cop lived in was so much like the one where I grew up it was a nice walk down memory lane, as it were.
The movie go me thinking about something though. One of the running gags is that Paul (Mall Cop) takes his job way too seriously. While it was funny in a lot of ways, it's sad that it was funny. Once upon a time it was a good thing to take pride in your work, no matter what it was. Now it seems like it's only important if the job seems important, and I thinks that's kind of sad. Maybe if more people took their jobs more seriously they'd be happier in their work. Certainly they would do a better job, and that might even help a flagging economy, or at least keep some people in business. Especially if they are in customer service.
Other than that, it's been a slow day around here. The most excitement we had was when my daughter's snake got loose. It was back in tank within 15 minutes, safe and sound. I'm just glad it wasn't the taratula.
For me it was funny in another way. I grew up in NJ, where the movie is set, and the neighborhood the Mall Cop lived in was so much like the one where I grew up it was a nice walk down memory lane, as it were.
The movie go me thinking about something though. One of the running gags is that Paul (Mall Cop) takes his job way too seriously. While it was funny in a lot of ways, it's sad that it was funny. Once upon a time it was a good thing to take pride in your work, no matter what it was. Now it seems like it's only important if the job seems important, and I thinks that's kind of sad. Maybe if more people took their jobs more seriously they'd be happier in their work. Certainly they would do a better job, and that might even help a flagging economy, or at least keep some people in business. Especially if they are in customer service.
Other than that, it's been a slow day around here. The most excitement we had was when my daughter's snake got loose. It was back in tank within 15 minutes, safe and sound. I'm just glad it wasn't the taratula.
Friday, February 20, 2009
How do idiots find each other?
Stupid people shouldn't breed. I see this every day. How do these nitwits find each other? Is there a handshake or does some dumb woman find a guy and say "gee, I'd like to have kids with this unemployed, drug-addicted looser." Then, they realize that this looser isn't good enough, and they go find another and have more kids.
My daughter came up to me a few days ago and said "Mom, you know, you and Dad are really weird." Since she's a teenager, I was ready for this, or so I thought.
"So, how are we weird?" I asked her.
" You and Dad are married, you had all of us together,not with other people, and you got married before you had any kids"
What kind of world do we live in where the natural order of things is weird?
Not that I am slamming single mothers OR blended families. Sometimes marriages or relationships don't work. What I have a problem with is a casual-sex mentality that has many of the women in my area having families where there are 3 or more dads, and Mom doesn't get any money or support from them, and keeps choosing the same kind of man. Things like this make me think my Dad's worn-out saying of "Why by the cow when you can get the milk for free" has some merit. It used to be that a guy had to show some character, have a good income, and be able to support a family to get married, and since you had to get married to have sex, you worked towards this. Now, since the sexual revolution, all you have to do is be somewhat compatible and you get laid. Most of the time there are no complications, but lots of times there are. When you put sex before the relationship, you have nothing to fall back on when these things happen, be they babies or STD's. What's really scary is the amount of pregnant middle and high school girls there are around here. The reason, so I'm told, is that there's nothing else to do.
Back to how they meet. Do their dealer's introduce them? Do they meet in court, or at the drug testing center? Do they share a parole officer? Or is there a place they all hang out that the rest of us don't know about? any ideas?
My daughter came up to me a few days ago and said "Mom, you know, you and Dad are really weird." Since she's a teenager, I was ready for this, or so I thought.
"So, how are we weird?" I asked her.
" You and Dad are married, you had all of us together,not with other people, and you got married before you had any kids"
What kind of world do we live in where the natural order of things is weird?
Not that I am slamming single mothers OR blended families. Sometimes marriages or relationships don't work. What I have a problem with is a casual-sex mentality that has many of the women in my area having families where there are 3 or more dads, and Mom doesn't get any money or support from them, and keeps choosing the same kind of man. Things like this make me think my Dad's worn-out saying of "Why by the cow when you can get the milk for free" has some merit. It used to be that a guy had to show some character, have a good income, and be able to support a family to get married, and since you had to get married to have sex, you worked towards this. Now, since the sexual revolution, all you have to do is be somewhat compatible and you get laid. Most of the time there are no complications, but lots of times there are. When you put sex before the relationship, you have nothing to fall back on when these things happen, be they babies or STD's. What's really scary is the amount of pregnant middle and high school girls there are around here. The reason, so I'm told, is that there's nothing else to do.
Back to how they meet. Do their dealer's introduce them? Do they meet in court, or at the drug testing center? Do they share a parole officer? Or is there a place they all hang out that the rest of us don't know about? any ideas?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Octomom
So she's in hiding. Good. She should be. I mean really, 6 kids, on food stamps, but children are so important to her that she has enough savings to have more. What about feeding the ones she has? California taxpayers will end up footing the bill for the babies hospital bills, for embryos that Nadia really couldn't afford to implant.
I realize that this is a medical procedure, and it probably can't be legislated the same as adoption is, but shouldn't you have to prove you have the means to raise that many kids before you are assisted in having them? I'm not talking about reproductive rights, I'm talking about how ethical it is to implant 6 embryos in an unemployed woman with 6 kids, even when she has the cash to pay the bill.
I find it very ironic that she could afford to have this done but can't afford to feed the kids she has without help from the state. Aren't those kids important to her?
Maybe I'm odd, but if I was unemployed, and on food stamps, I'd be hanging on to those savings for something important, like maybe keeping a roof over my head. The house Nadia lives in hasn't had a payment made on it since May 2008, and she and those kids are going to be homeless if they don't figure a solution soon. 14 kids will be out on the street, 8 of them infants, and no money.
But Mom had enough money to give the 6 kids she has 8 baby siblings.
I realize that this is a medical procedure, and it probably can't be legislated the same as adoption is, but shouldn't you have to prove you have the means to raise that many kids before you are assisted in having them? I'm not talking about reproductive rights, I'm talking about how ethical it is to implant 6 embryos in an unemployed woman with 6 kids, even when she has the cash to pay the bill.
I find it very ironic that she could afford to have this done but can't afford to feed the kids she has without help from the state. Aren't those kids important to her?
Maybe I'm odd, but if I was unemployed, and on food stamps, I'd be hanging on to those savings for something important, like maybe keeping a roof over my head. The house Nadia lives in hasn't had a payment made on it since May 2008, and she and those kids are going to be homeless if they don't figure a solution soon. 14 kids will be out on the street, 8 of them infants, and no money.
But Mom had enough money to give the 6 kids she has 8 baby siblings.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunday, Rain and Snow.
Or at least they keep telling us there will be snow. The last time they forecast snow we didn't get a single flake.
So, sitting around watching old movies in TCM, and reading or flipping through magazines. It's one of those days where you just want to stay home and sit by a nice warm fire.
A note on the red-light issue. I was sitting at a red light, at the front of the line, and when the light turned green I had to wait for no less than 6 cars to get out of the way. 6! and the light was already green for me!
Tomorrow I have to go about 30 miles from home for work, and there is a very real possibility that it will be snowing part way home. If it does I have a place to go and wait it out, I just don't like being on a freeway with big trucks, snow, and grades worse than the Grapevine.
I may stop at my favorite place after work though...the dented can store. They sell overstock and cosmetically damaged stuff from the big chain groceries. I can get a full cart of groceries for $40 or less. Right now, with the economy the way it is, I make it a point to save any way I can.-Wait. I already do that.
So, sitting around watching old movies in TCM, and reading or flipping through magazines. It's one of those days where you just want to stay home and sit by a nice warm fire.
A note on the red-light issue. I was sitting at a red light, at the front of the line, and when the light turned green I had to wait for no less than 6 cars to get out of the way. 6! and the light was already green for me!
Tomorrow I have to go about 30 miles from home for work, and there is a very real possibility that it will be snowing part way home. If it does I have a place to go and wait it out, I just don't like being on a freeway with big trucks, snow, and grades worse than the Grapevine.
I may stop at my favorite place after work though...the dented can store. They sell overstock and cosmetically damaged stuff from the big chain groceries. I can get a full cart of groceries for $40 or less. Right now, with the economy the way it is, I make it a point to save any way I can.-Wait. I already do that.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday Thughts
If I had a nickel for every time I had to wait for a red light runner before going into an intersection I'd be retired on a beach somewhere. Really, is it that hard to stop when the light is yellow and you have enough time to? Is it really going to take that much time out of your busy day to not risk death, dismemberment, and higher insurance rates? By the time the light is green for traffic the other way you have had ample time to stop. A light cycle takes what? 2 minutes? C'mon people. That's not going to throw you're whole day like an accident will.
Yes, I was waiting for a light and had to wait for the runners to finish before going. It just annoys me, first, I wait for the light, then I had to wait to go because they are all running the light. What about my busy day? Is it less busy because I stopped?
Okay, rant over. Time to move on.
It's Thursday, so tomorrow is Friday! Yay!! I am looking forward to the weekend. I worked 7 days straight last week with 1 day off before starting this week and I really need the time to recharge. I'm looking forward to sleeping late and not having to deal with work at all. I personally would love to go out dancing or something, must mention this to DH...make this weekend mini-vacay...fun only.
I'll be going nonstop until tomorrow night.
Yes, I was waiting for a light and had to wait for the runners to finish before going. It just annoys me, first, I wait for the light, then I had to wait to go because they are all running the light. What about my busy day? Is it less busy because I stopped?
Okay, rant over. Time to move on.
It's Thursday, so tomorrow is Friday! Yay!! I am looking forward to the weekend. I worked 7 days straight last week with 1 day off before starting this week and I really need the time to recharge. I'm looking forward to sleeping late and not having to deal with work at all. I personally would love to go out dancing or something, must mention this to DH...make this weekend mini-vacay...fun only.
I'll be going nonstop until tomorrow night.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Feb 3, 2009
Valentine's Day is coming! Are you ready? It's time to get the stuff your kids are going to pass around at school so that there are hundreds of kids in sugar shock, right as the last of the candy canes have been eaten!
Valentine's Day drives me nuts. I have no idea what to get for the man in my life. I hear that from friends too. One has a guy she's sort of dating, and she doesn't know what to do. I think if she does something to expensive it will look desperate rather than cool.
Here in the middle of nowhere, there isn't a whole lot to choose from. We have a mall, and a couple of chain stores, and that's pretty much it.
And, let's face it. We never get what we'd really like, jeweler's commercials notwithstanding. Most guys go for the big stuff birthdays and Christmas. Not that I blame them.
SO.....
What are you ding for V-Day?
Valentine's Day drives me nuts. I have no idea what to get for the man in my life. I hear that from friends too. One has a guy she's sort of dating, and she doesn't know what to do. I think if she does something to expensive it will look desperate rather than cool.
Here in the middle of nowhere, there isn't a whole lot to choose from. We have a mall, and a couple of chain stores, and that's pretty much it.
And, let's face it. We never get what we'd really like, jeweler's commercials notwithstanding. Most guys go for the big stuff birthdays and Christmas. Not that I blame them.
SO.....
What are you ding for V-Day?
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