I am cutting edge!

Seriously if you ask any school teacher how much money they have in their checking account the last week in January, none will give you an answer higher than double digits I'm almost positive. We get paid in mid December before Christmas Break and don't get paid again till the end of January. So, around here we're scraping the bottom of the freezer.

I was reading recently where being frugal is now "chic". Of course there have always been people who choose to live their lives simply and with the least amount of monetary expenditures possible. But now, according to many, frugality is COOL. Wow. School teachers are cutting edge.

According to NPR this morning, poker night is in, weekend trips to Vegas are out. Debit cards are in, while credit cards are out. Eating out is now shunned while eating at home is trendy. Wow. Who woulda thunk it? Not that I don't enjoy eating out- I really do like it. But it's gotten very expensive with two children who eat like birds but are often charged full price. When we built our house, we built it with entertaining in mind. We wanted a large open floor plan where the kitchen and the living room were open. We also wanted bathrooms in all the bedrooms to better accommodate overnight company. While we did spend extra money to have these things, we made a trade off by entertaining company with a nice bottle of wine and much cheaper home prepared fare. We have company quite often for the weekends and we enjoy being together and having a good time.

Now apparently it's cool to advertise how much money you've saved rather than how much money you've spent! So, here are some of the ways we've tried to pinch pennies.

*We went on a passport necessary trip last summer and this summer we're probably going to stick with Hilton Head or Cocoa Beach.

*My pantry looks like a Wal Mart shelf since I buy mostly Great Value brand canned goods. I've found almost ALL of them to be of equal quality to name brands. I also LOVE the Great Value Mandarin Orange laundry detergent. I still use my trusty Gain on heavily soiled clothes, but for everyday wear, I love this laundry detergent!

* We are making tea more often and drinking less coke.

*We are trying to be mindful of the food we waste. We're taking more leftovers to lunch these days.

*We are mindful of the gas we use as well as the heat. We have been utilizing the fireplace since I love it and the wood is free. We keep our thermostat on 67 or 68 and with a fire, it is very comfortable.

*I have NOT skimped on my children's clothes- not out of vanity but out of concern for quality. I am a huge Gymboree fan and I have found that their clothes are superior in quality to almost any other. Christmas before last, when Gymboree had a big sale, I bought Addie 10 pairs of jeans. They were a little big, but I cinched them up and she is still wearing them today. They look great and I'll sell them to kid2kid in a few weeks since she'll be outgrowing them soon. I don't mind kids outgrowing clothes, but it drives me nuts for clothes not to last! I bought Ali Grace several Old Navy tops at the beginning of the school year and they were utterly destroyed by Christmas. The hem has come out of the bottom of the shirts, and the color has really faded even though I almost always wash in cold. They were definitely not worth the difference I saved. Some things are worth the extra money and I've found that kids clothes are worth it. Same with shoes. Ali Grace wanted Hannah Montana shoes and I relented and bought them at Target. They looked terrible within 2 weeks. I bought her New Balance shoes in September and they still look fine. She will outgrow them before they wear out.

So I guess the bottom line is when times are tough, it can be frugal to spend more as well as less. I'm just hoping I have enough laundry detergent to last till payday~