Re-Sleep, Night 5 and Recession Tips

Last night went pretty well. When I got home from knitting with the gang Sabine was so tired she fell asleep within 10 minutes of lights out, and slept through Arabella's story time in Arabella's room. Amazing. Of course, she was up about every 2 hours, and we are now down to ONE pacifier from a high of 7 less than a month ago, but we managed with one paci all night, and I am resolved to tidy and hunt paci's today to avoid going out in the freezing cold.

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Don't you love the magazine articles that say they can save you $100 a month, and then you look at it and its all stuff like giving up spa treatments for home facials and such? Or suggest you shop clearance racks instead of the aisle racks at Macy's. I read those and think, well, I don't do that stuff anyway. So I decided to come up with my own version of the money saving tips. These are some of our own methods for saving money.

1. Don't get professional haircuts. No one in this house has had a professional hair cut in over 6 months. That's right. Michael hasn't paid for a haircut since 1996, and I get one or two haircuts a year, usually at Wal-Mart. I cut Arabella's hair in the bob you see in current pictures, and I have always trimmed bangs myself. Annual savings, about $300.
2. Invest in good shoes and wear them until they fall off your feet. My favorite boots are Carolina Engineer's boots, and they last as much as 5 years. Annual savings, about $50.
3. Shop at Thrift Stores, Resale shops and end of season clearance racks (at Target and Wal-Mart, not at Macy's) for clothing. Although you can be open about unusual or unplanned finds, go in with a realistic plan of what you need. Annual savings, couldn't say, I've been shopping this way so long.
4. Live or work in a neighborhood where you can walk to shops and services. It helps. Annual savings, about $50, plus gym membership.
5. Use the library instead of always buying books. We are huge book readers, and although we still buy some books (for the girls and knitting books, mostly), we borrow nearly everything we read now. And the library has more than books -- DVD movies, music, etc. The biggest savings has been on knitting books -- I borrow books before making the decision to buy, which has saved me from buying books that looked good but had nothing much to offer me. Annual savings, about $250, maybe more.
6. Use cloth dishtowels instead of paper towels, cloth napkins instead of paper, reusable plastic containers instead of throwaways, plastic shopping bags for diapers instead of Diaper Genie type contraptions. Annual savings, probably $100.
7. Plant a garden. I don't know that this aves us any money but it sure does make me feel good to eat produce out of the garden.
8. Remake clothing. It's fun, it's cheap and it's very chic right now. Old t-shirts can become stuffed animals, or rugs, quilts, or even children's' super hero capes. I use holey socks (clean of course) as stuffing in door socks, and have plans for several old pair of jeans to become tote bags and child size skirts. Wool sweaters can be felted and cut up to make purses, hats, mittens and other garments. Annual savings, who knows.

I'm sure there is more. We have friends and neighbors who go much farther than we do -- no cable TV, sharing DVD rentals with other families before returning them, no eating out. We're not ready for that, but every little bit helps.