Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Toddling along

Or rather, moving at lightning speed! The boys had their last day of school (as comparison, first day of school on top)



As you can see, they have both grown & are now nicely tanned. All of that California sunshine. ;-)

The end of the school year was crazy with activities and events, and we are now settling into the summer camp routine. I'm working too much, and trying to make time to continue my running & working out. We continue to look for ways to save money & reduce spending. We eat meals at home, minimize waste, and trim our spending when possible. We are by no means perfect, but are continuing our efforts to keep our spending in check, even during the crazy phases.

Last weekend was M's birthday & Father's Day, so I missed my regular post. We did, however, have an absolutely fabulous date night. And, we've watched A LOT of soccer with the boys. They are very into the World Cup.

I hope you are all doing well. I'd love to hear your best money saving tip when you're in a hurry. How do you save yourself time & money?

6 comments:

  1. Love the pics of your boys! They grew so much.

    Money saving tip...always buy fruit that is on sale. That means it is in season and will taste the best. (I'm sure you already know this).

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    1. Thanks - my older son grew so much over the year - it's crazy! His feet are now the same size as mine. No idea where all of the time goes.

      We are super lucky, because the growing season is very long in California, and lots of great produce is available year round. As a result, we can definitely minimize out of season produce, or things that are traveling long distances. It was much harder in Washington for sure.

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  2. Aww, how cute. They look great, and they grow so fast! In just one year. Tip to save myself money: set a spending limit on the go. If I end up on an unplanned trip anywhere, I set some arbitrary money amount of spending (ie, $15 at the mall). If I cant find anything under it, then I wont get anything, and can justify it because of the "goal"of not spending more than I had agreed. I've also found that carrying big bills of cash ($50) or brand new bills makes them last longer because I dont want to break them to get a $2 slice of pizza...

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    1. I love your idea - and admit that I could use the spending limit if I do end up shopping. I mostly just try to avoid it altogether. ;-) I have so much already, and tend to do a few filler trips per year to get everything that I need. If I go more often, I can always convince myself that I need lots of things.

      And, I've started carrying cash more often, and agree on the hesitation to spend on small things. I'm lucky that I don't have to have any cash at work (all food/drinks are covered), which means that I rarely get my wallet out during the work week.

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  3. When I don't have time my frugal efforts seem to fail, as does my blogging effort of late. The biggest thing is trying to eat at home versus out which is both better for us health wise and financially. Cheers!

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    1. I'm with you - I get so overwhelmed when I'm busy that I actually make to do lists that say things like, "make dinner, pack lunches, do laundry", because I know that's all I'll have time for, & still need the mental kick to actually complete the tasks.

      We eat out maybe 2 meals per month - usually one date and one Subway like meal on the run when we're out. It's definitely healthier & we've been able to cut our eating out bill down quite a bit since moving. Mostly because we don't have nearly as much free time. ;-)

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