Be A Good Mom

Apparently there is this video game phenomenon called “Guitar Hero?”  I am just learning about it, but apparently its big.  And once you get good at Guitar Hero, the next logical step is to form your own “Rock Band,” which is another video game.  Last weekend, Uncle Ray brought his gear out and we played it at Mamaw’s.

Aunt Shel on vocals, BAGD on bass, Uncle Ray on guitar and Ian on drums.  The game shows the colors (notes) you are supposed to play on each instrument and you are judged on accuracy.

They did allright.  I was most impressed with Ian.  He rocks out.  He scored great every time.  Aunt Shel resorted to a few “lalala la la la lalala la” moments.  Uncle Ray actually plays the guitar, so we expected him to do well, which he did.  BAGD, by the way, is the quintessential bass player.  He just stands there, slightly rocking back and forth, eyes straight ahead, concentrating on his groove.

Due to the experience of this game, and Geetle and Pookie’s burning desire to play Ian’s drums….we are close to buying a Wii.  We’ll see which happens first…us deciding we are willing to spend the money, or us actually being able to find one.

I do.

You can clean with it.

You can do laundry with it.

You can do anything with it!

Succumb to the power of vinegar.  It is powerful and you cannot hide forever.

At story time, we let the big kids pick out a little book for Giggles.  She sits with us and we read a book for each kid.  I was getting tired of all our board books.  We have had most of them for 4 1/2 years and still read them.  Pookie especially likes board books because the words are simple and he can “read” some of the easy ones himself.  (more memorization and recognition of common sight words really)

I was trying to win a lot of board books on eBay.  I even bid on 25 pounds of board books, without knowing the titles.  I lost every time; I am too cheap for eBay.  I was getting discouraged.  Then, the other day, Geetle and I went to drop off a bunch of things at Goodwill.  We went inside and looked around a bit.  For some reason, it had never occurred to me that I could get board books at Goodwill.  We buy books there all the time, but I never remembered seeing little board books.   Well, Geetle and I made an effort to shufle through the shelves, looking for books for Giggles.  We found 15 good ones…Sandra Boynton, Goodnight Gorilla, Big Red Barn, Eric Carle, etc.  I think it helped that we were there right when the store opened.

The books were $.59 a piece and in good used condition.  So, now I am happy.  I have some new books to read.

What’s Expensive
What’s Not

• Kids Pajamas
• A pack of white t-shirts and a pack of boxer shorts

• Books at Border’s
• Books at the Library or Good Will

• Individual snack sized bags of crackers
• A box of crackers and a box of ziploc bags

• Lunchables
• Small cookie cutters to make cool shaped cheese and meat, which is what they want anyway.

• Art Supplies Oct-May
• Art Supplies June-September (It’s back to school season, stock up!)

• Cool, colored socks that get lost in the wash
• White, gender-neutral athletic socks that are more functional anyway.

• Anything sold in the Baby Aisle
• Any of the same product, NOT sold in the baby aisle (think children’s step stools, sun shades for the car, hair brushes, fragrance/dye free laundry detergent, classical music CDs, etc. Always a cheaper version in the regular aisles, but watch for safety issues.

• Toddler bed blankets
• 2 yards of polar fleece.  Enough to cover the bed, no need to hem, but you can fray the edges for a decorative effect.

• Coloring books
• print outs from www.pbs.org or www.sesamestreet.org.

I have said before that I am cheap, but lazy. I know that disposable diapers are more expensive than cloth ones and that juice boxes are more expensive per ounce than a bottle of juice. But sometimes, I make a lifestyle decision. I find somethings to be worth the extra money; everyone draws their line in a different place. I think that’s fine. Sometimes being the smartest consumer just means being the most aware. Sometimes I am aware that I am being reamed on the price, but I am OK with that. But sometimes, just knowing the cheaper alternative helps you know where to draw your line.

I am cheap.  But I think I already mentioned that.  I don’t mind spending money on good stuff.  But it bugs me to spend money on things that I know I can get cheaper.   I am also lazy.  I refuse to spend hours clipping coupons and running from sale to sale.  I like to find long term ways of saving money.  Here are a few of my tricks for cutting your cleaning budget.

1.  Flour Sack Towels instead of Paper Towels.   The flour sack towels are reusable and very durable.  They cost about $5 for a 5 pack at Walmart and I know I have had some of mine for at least 2 years.

2.  Vinegar and Water as a Floor Cleaner.  We have Pergo wood floors.  Well, not technically Pergo, but whatever Menard’s calls their brand.  Alot of store-bought cleaners leave a hazy film on the surface; you can feel it with your feet.   n the specialty wood floor cleaners are expensive.  On the advice of Great Grandma Bluegrass, (BAGD’s grandma) I started cleaning my floors with a mixture of vinegar and water (3 parts water, 1 part vinegar).  I mix it in a spray bottle, squirt and rub with a flour sack towel.  Works great!  And very cheap.  A gallon of vinegar is about $2 and will last months.  This also works as a window cleaner.

3.  Baking Soda to clean your kitchen sink.  We have a stainless steel sink.  Its very durable, I am sure.  But in our old house we had a porcelain one, so I got in the habit of scrubbing it with baking soda, rather than anything abrasive.   So, I still clean our stainless steel sink the same way.  Just sprinkle some baking soda in the sink, add enough water to make a paste, scrub and rinse.    Very safe and very cheap.  Baking soda is usually under $.50 for a box, which would last at least 6 cleanings.

4.  Boiling water to clear out your drains.  A plumber told us this trick.  Every once in a while, boil a couple giant pots of water, then pour them down your drain/garbage disposal. This will help melt any fats and greases which are clogging your drain.  This is preventative maintenance; it will not help with an already blocked drain.  On a related note, to get rid of garbage disposal smells, send a few citrus peels down there and grind ‘em up.

5.  Hydrogen Peroxide as a carpet spot remover.  This is also a trick from Great grandma Bluegrass.  I have not used it much, because my kids don’t tend to make “spots.”  When we have accidents they are doozies.  Plus we have a lot of hardwood in the house.  But,  she says that if you blot the spot with a white rag (to prevent color bleed) dipped in hydrogen peroxide, it will come right up.  I saw her do it at her Christmas party when one of the great grandkids dripped cherry pie filling on the carpet.  It worked.

I have made other homemade cleaners using recipes from like this.   They work and are non-toxic.  I usually stay away from using ammonia, just because it scares me.  And, of course…NEVER mix ammonia and bleach; the fumes are toxic.   I did find that ammonia was one of the few things that would soak baked-on crud off the stove burners, but I still don’t like keeping it in the house.   I do use a combination of baking soda and borax to scrub my shower and toilets and a liquid “all-purpose cleaner” made from water, lemon juice, borax and dish soap for the counter tops.  BAGD is a good sport about these things, he is 100% on board with the flour sack towels, “all purpose cleaner” spray and vinegar water.  He is not comfortable scrubbing the toilets with borax.  He does a good share of the cleaning around here, so I do keep a few store-bought things on hand, to make it easier for him.

I hope you find these tips useful.  Being cheap is not so bad.

I got a dress for Aunt Shel’s wedding!  Kel and I found it in the first maternity store we went to.   I tried on about 12 dresses, most were not formal enough.  But this one is wine colored and made from a dressy fabric.  Wrap it up!

I was prepared to spend whatever I needed in order to get a nice dress.   BAGD, Pookie and Geetle will be looking good, and I wanted to as well!   Plus, I am pregnant and its hard enough to feel like you are smokin’ when you know your ankles are swollen and your belly button is poking thru your clothes.  We were going to Mimi Maternity, home of the $68 tank top, first, so this could get pricey.

I had a number in my head…but I dared not say it out loud.  I knew BAGD would not complain, he would tell me to spend whatever I wanted to.  But saying the number out-loud would probably scare me so much that I would be unable to actually go and try the dresses on.  Well, now that I have a dress, I can say the number.  I was prepared to spend…..$300.  gulp.

After I had fallen in love with the dress, I realized that I never checked the price tag.   I remember that one dress I picked off the rack was $189, but was this the one?  There I was, all zipped up, twirling in front of the mirror, not knowing how much it cost.  Of course, the tag was dangling down the middle of my back and I could not reach it, so I had to ask Kel to help.   She looks at it, pauses and says “you’re not going to believe this.”   Kel knows I am cheap, so I had a momentary panic attack, thinking it must be several hundred dollars.  In a fraction of a second, I decided that if it was too expensive, maybe I could get cheaper shoes or borrow those ones that my friend Dina said I could use.   Shel’s only getting married once and I was not going to cheap out on her.

Turns out, the dress was on sale…marked down from $39 to $29.   What!  $29!?  Apparently there is a corner of Mimi Maternity which sells more reasonable priced items and that is where we found this dress.   Crazy!  So, even when I am not trying to be cheap, things work out like that.   It must be my destiny, good thing I don’t fight it.  Then Kel and I went looking for shoes…that’s another story….

We needed a pair of strappy sandal-type formal shoes, that would accommodate the swelling feet of a  7 month pregnant woman.  Little or no heel, since my center of gravity is lopsided at the moment.   Tall order.   We found a pair of Life Stride sandals at a local shoe store.  They are wide enough for my feet and the heel is very stable.  Wrap ‘em up!  But wait, they did not have my size in black.  We went home and I found them on Amazon.com for $10 cheaper than the shoe store, plus free shipping.

So, shopping for a formal maternity dress was not has hard or expensive as I thought it would be.  I am very happy!  And now I think I saved enough money that I can buy the mineral makeup I have been wanting.   I think we are going to make a very cute family at this wedding,  BAGD and I will post some pictures at the end of the month.