Wow...how many Fun Mondays have I missed? A lot...I'm sure! Sayre is this week's hostess, and she wanted to know what kind of personal changes we are making to deal with today's economic challenges! Well, believe it or not, most of the changes our family is making is due to Roger's influence. He is definitely the most frugal of us all.I noticed the first "change" the other day...in dishwasher detergent. For some reason, I've always been a fan of name brands. Even when I learned in business school that many "off brands" are made by the same company and are the same product without the fancy packaging, I still gravitate toward the colorful boxes with the names I know. When I saw the $1.00 box of no-name detergent under the sink, I was skeptical. But guess what? That detergent works JUST AS GOOD as the name brand stuff.
I'm not sure this qualifies, but we are slowly changing out the bulbs in our house to these twirly things. It's conserving energy, which is important to our future economic survival, right? These bulbs are uber-expensive, so they had better pay off.We have also eliminated some of our eating out, which we needed to do anyway. It's so much cheaper to prepare food at home, and we used to do it a lot more in the past. We are trying to revive that habit, now that cheer season has ended and our nights should be returning to normal.
Personally, I haven't gotten a massage since before Christmas. That's a big sacrifice, since I'm usually as tight as a drum. I still am, but the guilt about money spent on my tooth extraction has kept me from indulging.
I feel even more guilty that I haven't been able to come up with more "cost-cutting" ideas. Maybe it hasn't fully hit me that we are really in a recession. Or a depression. Or a free fall. I'm hoping the other participants have great ideas that I can borrow.Speaking of cheer season, this weekend was a 'milestone' of sorts. The Offspring has been cheering for the past seven years. She tried out for the high school cheer squad (she will be a sophomore next year), and MADE IT.
10 comments:
I changed all my light bulbs to those energy efficient ones too. The first bulbs I changed where the ones in my kitchen which stays on from about 7 A.M. until about 11 P.M. everyday. I put them in on April 15, 2007 and they are still working perfectly! That's a pretty major savings, even if they don't use less energy.
dont know how involved you are in the cheer team, coach, etc but you can always save the 'eating out' cash by packing leftovers or making sandwiches for the road trips, or eating off of the dollar menu in fast food places. it's not much, but it IS something. take the money you save and get a massage. personally, i've never had one, or a manicure, or any of that. just couldnt or wouldnt afford it, i guess.
I have a lot of those energy saving light bulbs. They do last a long time but the light is not as good. What do you think?
I too have energy saving lightbulbs but I was told recently that it actually costs more to switch them on and off than normal bulbs, so switching them on and off all the time doesn't actually save anything.....not sure how true that is but it makes sense to me.
The fluorescent bulbs will last longer than the other bulbs. I really like them.
Congratulations to the Offspring!
I am swapping out to the energy efficient lightbulbs ... good move
CONGRATS again to the Offspring...BIG CHEERS for her making the CHEERS
Congrats to Offspring!
We lived very lean, buying absolute necessities only, for 10 long years while I was home full-time with the boys, or only working part-time. Now that I'm finally working full-time again, we are able to breathe, and spend a little, like going out for supper once in a while. We're out of sync with everyone else, LOL.
More kudos to the Offspring! Way to go, kiddo.
Hubby and I still eat out, we just split an entree now. Sometimes it's just too difficult for me to cook, so we go to a family-friendly restaurant, and he and I split a meal. The daughter still likes to eat off the kids' menu, so that helps, too.
I have two prius in my driveway. My daughter just told me a few nights ago that she tried out for the cheerleading squad and made it and turned them down. Damn. I wish she had told me.
Jay - that's a long time! I hope mine last that long...I'm slowly replacing everything in the house!
jill - I SO need a massage. And that's a good idea about leftovers. I shouldn't be so finicky!
ChrisB - I haven't had that problem - in fact, they seem brighter to me. Maybe I'm buying a different type?
Aoj and the Hounds - now that is WEIRD. I'm certainly not going to leave them on all the time! I'm going to hedge my bets, and hope that it is just a vicious rumor.
hulagirlatheart - that's good news - and thanks for the congrats!
Bond - THANK YOU!:-) I'm one proud mom.
Kila - can I come live with you? And I need some of your lean tips...I'm SO NOT LEAN. I tend to impulse buy...
Desert Songbird - that's a GREAT idea - restaurants serve portions that are too large...WAY too large for one person. Thanks again!
Spellbound - wow...turned them down? There MUST be a story here! TELL! Oh, wait...maybe I should visit your blog?
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