Now that its costing a ton of money to fill up the van, we've been spending more time at home. At first that was a hard thing to deal with, but we're finding that with staying home, we're not as stressed out when we do take 3 kids out, eating at home more, and using our resources wisely. Its not to say that we won't venture out at all-or can't afford to-quite the contrary. I'm finding the additional benefits of staying close to home is about enjoying what we have instead of looking for a quick fix-whether its entertainment, snacks, or junk. I hope we continue to feel this way, as the boys get older and teach them to value experiences over material objects.
Yesterday we had two birthday parties-Hubby took M to his preschool friend's one at the local park, and I took the two younger ones to a baby's first birthday at someone's home. Both were the way birthday parties should be-a wading pool for the kids, a small bounce house, and hot dogs and hamburgers. Quite a switch from the mega birthday parties we've attended in the past-and just as enjoyable. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the cool a/c of our home-enough of the hot summer morning was spent outside.
Today we went grocery shopping at Costco. I have routinely budgeted $100 for our weekly Costco run and/or grocery shopping and am always pleasantly suprised when we average $75. Mind you, we're far from going hungry. I've just started to buy our produce at a local farm stand for .50 a pound, and the quality surpasses the discount supermarket (and has a lower price too!) We're also using up what we have first, unless I find a great deal to stockpile. We're far from doing without, and it feels great to know that we're making our dollars stretch.
I'm off to figure out our meal plan for the week.
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