Entertaining the kiddos

This is something that I find myself spending ALL of my extra money on...entertaining my daughter! And I WANT to do it! But the reality is that I can't afford all of these memberships to every place in the world! So you have to learn to pick and choose. Depending on where you live, I think its a good idea to have ONE membership. The zoo, museum, play house, fun house...whichever. But one is definitly a good thing!! That way on those rainy days when going outside is not an option, you have something that is there to do that is already paid for.

BEWARE OF THE GIFT SHOPS THOUGH :)

I try to think of fun things for Ava and I to do that won't break my already broken bank. :) I have really spend some time here lately planning fun things for her that won't cost an arm and a leg, or better yet things that are free. Here are a few that I have found:

#1--playing outside! Let their imagination run wild!!! Play cops and robbers, play cowboys and indians, play hide and go seek. whatever!

#2- the library! I have talked about the library before...its SUCH a great place. Ours in particular rocks. Not only can kids get books and movies, but they have story time, they have halloween festivities, Christmas parties...all of which are FREE! And while you are there...there is a ton of adult stuff too. Pick up a book on how to budget, or how to make curtains or whatever your interests are. Rent movies. Better yet...pick up those collections on learning another language. The ones they sell in the airports for $500 bucks? Yep-you can rent those as well. That could be a WHOLE afternoon of fun!

#3- Crafts! Get out the markers, crayons, scissors and papers. Kids love that stuff! The other day Ava wanted to paint and I was out.. so I let her use my old nail polish. She thought that was the coolest thing ever! She had a blast, was proud of herself for making me a pretty picture, and I could talk to her while she painted with nail polish while I got to wash the dishes. TADA--that went well all around!

#4--Ava likes to work out! She thinks my dvds are fun so I put in a workout dvd and she and I go to town with it! I am working up a sweat, shes having a ball...again--win win! I like win-wins :)

#5-take a saturday afternoon and clean out your kids bedrooms. Go through the toy box, all the bins, the closet, etc. They will find toys they had lost and you are getting something done. (win-win). Ava gets sooo excited when we do that!! She will say "Thank you mommy!!" Because to HER its like Christmas morning all over again!!!

Just a few things that I like to do with my child that don't break the bank. What do you like to do?

The money pit!

The money pit would simply be this…WALMART! I see grown people in walmart act like a kid in a candy store. Why IS that? It’s like some people go in Walmart and completely lose all forms of self control. I just don’t get it…

I realize that making a list is NOT a sure fire way to not spend extra and honestly, there is no sure fire way–except to DO it. When you make out your grocery list add up what you THINK these things are going to cost. If its stuff you buy all the time than you pretty much know how much it will be, right? Now obviously if you are trying out a brand new recipe that calls for things that you have never purchased then you may need to stash a few extra bucks in just in case…but as a general rule we know that milk is gonna cost $3.50 on average. A bag of chips is $3.00. etc. SO, as you are making your list round UP(to be safe) what you think these things are going to cost. You take that much money with you to the store. If you added up $70.00 and you rounded UP on everything then you should have your taxes covered. BUT to be safe, add in $5.00 bucks. If you get to the counter and are watching it ring up which you SHOULD be doing (computers are NOT always right) and you realize you are getting close and you still have some stuff left, then you don’t get it. Now I have had people say thats the WORST part about shopping at the grocery store with cash. But folks–it works. And honestly, that won’t happen if you plan ahead. The only 1 time that plan DIDNT work out for me… I had a splurge at the end of the shopping trip on a magazine and a coke. Wow, $5.67 for some boring entertainment involving celebrity gossip and sugar loaded coke. What a fool I was. but it happens.

So…when you get to walmart, go with a PURPOSE, a PLAN, and a wad of cash. If you are going to buy deodarant and shampoo…LEAVE with deo and shampoo. It’s not that hard. I try every day to teach Ava self control yet we as adults have none.

Just try it…take cash, have a plan, and a PURPOSE for your visit to that store. IT will save you a bundle.