Are you kidding me?

I took my two year old to the store to get a Halloween costume a full 2 and a half weeks before the actual day and was surprised to find that the costumes were marked way down (yay for me, the selection was paltry (boo for me) and the reasoning behind this was to put out Christmas stuff. Can we please get through one holiday before getting the next one crammed down my throat?

How we are dealing with the economy

Well that title should really be how "I" am dealing with it since my hubby apparently knows of a never ending money tree that he has not decided to share with me. Last week after spending $200 at Wal-Mart (that included $40 worth of fall clothes for Em) we took out $20 from the ATM and gave each of us $10. Well lo and behold at the end of the week I still had $4, he had none and had spent $35 in two days by using the debit card. Now my husband didn't come from a family made of money so I don't quite know where he gets this idea that he can just spend on a whim and not think of the repurcussions (namely me when he gets home). I have created for him what I call my reality check budget that he is going to have to adhere to especially with a new baby on the way, me not working for 3 months, and increased daycare expense. When I told him that it is possible to go 5 days on ten dollars and have money left over he looked at me like he though I had lost my mind. So I'm writing this to show him how I did it.

Starting with:
Breakfast. Since I take Em to daycare everyday at 6:30 it leaves little time to eat breakfast so I've started taking instant flavored oatmeal to work with me.

Lunch:
I bring my lunch everyday. Most of the time I bring whatever leftovers we had for dinner the night before. That way I get to eat and I never really waste anything by losing it in the fridge. We also don't buy food storage containers. What we do is when we order chinese food (about once a month and that counts as dining out for us but it's amazing what $20 will get you at the Chinese place) we keep the containers that they send the food in. They're nice containers and can take a few rolls through the dishwasher.





Drinks:
I buy a one liter bottle of water every 2-3 weeks and just keep refilling it with either tap water or filtered water that came from the tap. I'm pregnant so not having coffee is really not a problem.

In my household all loose change is put into various piggy banks throughout the house and then put into a savings account once a month. It's not the world's best savings program but it works for us.

How are you pinching pennies?

Catch up time

We've had a busy last month and a half or so around Casa De Rydell. There was the 2nd annual Rydell/Louiselle bash in Vermont for Labor Day weekend, then the fun of welcoming in Fall which always includes a trip to the Apple Farm in Poughquag.











And my hubby and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Hard to believe it's been 3 years. We already have one child with another due shortly. Should be a great year for memories.



And of course there was the all important move from a crib to a big girl bed.





Here's hoping that there's some time to just sit back and enjoy the leaves falling before the onslaught of the holidays is upon us.