August Frugal chatter

[momof5boys]

I'm BACK!! Did you miss me??? Computer had to go out for repair. (And SC is blocked at work! I know, right? Sheesh, expecting me to work! LOL) There's a rant in here somewhere, but long story short...don't buy a computer from staples! Like EVER!

Managed to sock away a nice little bit of money over the summer (our daycare is cheaper over the summer as the kids only goes part time). Hubby decided to start trying to tackle our cold living room by starting with the garage ceiling. Everyone on our street (it's townhouses) has the exact same problem. Very long story short....the insulation was subpar and the work was of poor quality. Hubby ended up tearing down the ENTIRE ceiling and we had to have someone come in and spray foam the ceiling. Although I know this will make a HUGE difference in the winter, I had to kiss all my summer savings good bye!

And my preteen won't stop growing. I'm not even kidding. He's taller than me. He needed all new hockey equipment this year. Since we live in the middle of nowhere, it means we can't go to used sporting goods stores anymore. So not only did he need all new gear, but it had to be NEW gear. That was $400 I'll never see again, plus I still have to spend the nearly $600 to register him. Sigh....this month has been really, really expensive. And it's not even over yet. The girls still need dance clothes, my son still needs to get registered in squash. Bus passes need to be bought (for my son, my daughter goes to an after school program). And I need to register the girls in skating sometime next month. Man oh man, Aug and Sept are always so darn expensive. Every year I vow to plan better for next year, and every year I fall short. Kids are expensive!

I just want to say that a person can make it as expensive as they want when it comes to costs for kids Not judging anyone because each has their own budgets to contend with. Our boys were involved with some sporting activities (more relaxed) and it had to work with family times - so no hockey because we weren't prepared to sit in a hockey rink in the wee hours or late hours of the day. Generally they would just get their friends together (usually after church Sunday afternoons) to play street hockey and then I'd have a bunch over for dinner which was great. A couple of our boys play soccer one evening a week - also just with church friends. So they get their exercise and fun and really don't miss all the registered sports activities. That works well for us - hardly any driving and just a lot less stress. And my hubby gets his exercise too because he usually joins in on the fun.

[Caseythegoalie]

My three don't do much compared to many I'm sure. Soccer in the summer, swimming lessons in winter. We have tried dance two years and they didn't enjoy it enough for how costly it was. Our family can't afford it financially and because of our time restraints as shift workers we couldn't get enough out of it as we always miss practices etc. We do city rec programs when we can (indoor soccer etc) as they are a bit easier on the wallet. I have been promising my youngest daughter she can try gymnastics this year and the oldest will do indoor soccer. We all provide the best we can in whatever ways we can

[coupon girl]

my kids when they were little did one sport or fun activity -my daughter did jazz once a week ,and baseball in summer -my son karate and baseball or soccer in summer -that keptthem busy and still had time for friends and to play outside

[Insane]

Welcome back,

Kids activities are insane, the one girl I work with her kids are still playing baseball (one in rep which is insane) and are about to start hockey, plus where we live there is a ton of travel. I would hate to know what they spend in a year.

My son is going up a level in squash to development. That increases the cost. But it is also after school, so it keeps him busy after school. We are also going to Edmonton for a tournament. He hopes to make the Canada Games team. He also played tennis this summer, which cost us $25! Next year he hopes to train all summer in preparation for Western Canada Games and eventually Canada Summer Games in 4yrs.

The cost of activities and your choices vary depending on where you live too.

Yes! Missed you! Amazing how after awhile you start noticing certain personalities posting less frequently on SC and thinking "I wonder what happened to ____", even if you only know them by a made up name.

I'm a little nervous how much LO will cost once she gets older. Expenses always come up, but I just keep thinking that things could have been much worse had I not been saving up until then. Enjoy the comfort in the winter as the money is well spent. Just keep thinking money is a tool that improves the quality of our lives. It hurts a wee bit less when I try and think of it like that.

It varies a lot. We have fewer options here. And the costs are higher- a lot higer. I firmly believe that organized sports are key to not only active teenagers and adults but keeping teens out of trouble. There is so much my son has learned in organized sports. Discipline, teamwork, defeat, respect, I could go on forever. The years he has spent playing hockey will serve him for the rest of his life. Not just in the fact that he can play pick up hockey with friends when he's older, but also in the skills he's learned. Same goes for squash. Okay, got a little side tracked here.... My kids get 2-3 activities each depending on how often they are and how expensive. #1 hockey and squash, #2 is doing jazz this year, and either skating or swimming lessons (she is still deciding) and Brownies. #3 starts ballet this year and skating. #4 does nothing so far. This will be the 1st year #3 is doing any activities. We shall see how it goes. They don't do much in the summer. Usually just swimming lessons. You just become selective and limit things. My son would do a million activities if we let him. We've had to say no. We've tried new activities every year with #2 as we haven't quite found her "niche".

[Insane]

What's September's thread going to be called?

I suggest September's Super Savings.

[Insane]

Back to school costs were really small this year. Just needed a few things. We reuse most things from year to year. I've bought 3 MEC school bags for the kids. The only time they get a different one is when it becomes too small. Then we keep it for the next kid. I find the teachers asks for more than they need. My son needed like 3 glue sticks last year, he came back with 2 unused. So didn't buy him any this year! I spent about $20 getting the 2 kids back to school. I also stock up on discounted items that I know we can use at the end of Sept for the next year. We are still using lined paper I bought in University for like 5c a pack. No word of a lie, the Zellers coupon on the front expired in 2000!

What's your back to school tip?

[sweet sparrow]

I just want to say that a person can make it as expensive as they want when it comes to costs for kids.

That's very true. There's also competitive and non-competitive activities. My nephew was in a swim club which was the platform for his eventual competitions in provincial and national swim meets. It's sort of exciting that he was close to being sent off to the Olympics! My sister, on the other hand, was really not enthused about driving to Thunder Bay from her home in the GTA, or any trips with more than a five hour drive, to have him compete. She also sacrificed her own wants (not needs) so he could keep up his practices over the years. Now that he's an adult, she can finally put money into fixing up her home, and replenish her savings. He's made some great friends and had some memorable experiences with the opportunities that he's been given, so she felt it was worth it.

She told me to hope that our LO is not really, really good at any particular sport or extracurricular activity or it can get very expensive and inconvenient quickly.

[sweet sparrow]

Back to school costs were really small this year. Just needed a few things. We reuse most things from year to year. I've bought 3 MEC school bags for the kids. The only time they get a different one is when it becomes too small. Then we keep it for the next kid. I find the teachers asks for more than they need. My son needed like 3 glue sticks last year, he came back with 2 unused. So didn't buy him any this year! I spent about $20 getting the 2 kids back to school. I also stock up on discounted items that I know we can use at the end of Sept for the next year. We are still using lined paper I bought in University for like 5c a pack. No word of a lie, the Zellers coupon on the front expired in 2000!

What's your back to school tip?

I just love MEC. I know LO is only four weeks, but I'm already considering picking up pencil crayons for her that will last her through grade school. Probably after a good night's rest, I'll just think that was a temporary moment of insanity. I hear that I may not get a good night's rest until she's about eight months, so that's a lot of insanity that I get to live with until then.

Ah Zellers. I miss those $0.05 Hilroy packages of lined paper... I'm getting all nostalgic.

[Insane]

I just love MEC. I know LO is only four weeks, but I'm already considering picking up pencil crayons for her that will last her through grade school. Probably after a good night's rest, I'll just think that was a temporary moment of insanity. I hear that I may not get a good night's rest until she's about eight months, so that's a lot of insanity that I get to live with until then.

Ah Zellers. I miss those $0.05 Hilroy packages of lined paper... I'm getting all nostalgic.

Congrats!! You miss so much when you disappear for a month!

If it's any consolation, my 12yr old sleeps through the night. LOL All my kids have slept through the night at varying ages. And some still do it better than others. I think I could write a book on baby sleep. Most of mine slept through the night by 6mths. Some early, some later. The later one was all my doing, but that's a long story.

Okay, my 1 piece of advice. Sleep, seriously sleep. Sleep is so integral in our lives. You need it to function. I truly feel it was a huge contributing part of my post partum depression. You can honestly, slowly go batty, without even knowing it from sleep deprivation. It just creeps up on you. So the take home message here is one needs to ensure one gets enough sleep throughout the day.

And I can guarantee pencil crayons will be on sale when she enters kindergarden. So you don't need to stock up just yet!

[Frugalbigmama]

I will support my kids in whatever they want to do as I like them keeping busy and if they are good at something then as their mother it's my job to support them. Oldest is musical (plays guitar very well- takes lessons and jams at home all the time) and fools around on the drums too. When I hear him and his friends playing in the basement I know exactly what they are doing lol. Youngest is my sports guy, Hockey- yes we are on the road all the time and have to pay $ to go to games (plus the cost of registration, equipment, tournaments etc) but I enjoy watching him and last year had a great group of parents that it was really fun. Hoping for the same this year.

[MrsSunshine]

I was quite lucky when my kids were young.. we literally had a playground right in front of our place.. (well still is.. LOL) they played on that for hours. plus they had bikes that amused them.. we did baseball when they were a bit older.. (it was free through a church).. they didn't have interest in it for long.. my son played 'street hockey' with friends..
they kept each other good company.. now.. its all about working on things, bikes, computers, cars.. the only thing i find expensive for them.. is food. !!

[sweet sparrow]

Congrats!! You miss so much when you disappear for a month!

If it's any consolation, my 12yr old sleeps through the night. LOL All my kids have slept through the night at varying ages. And some still do it better than others. I think I could write a book on baby sleep. Most of mine slept through the night by 6mths. Some early, some later. The later one was all my doing, but that's a long story.

Okay, my 1 piece of advice. Sleep, seriously sleep. Sleep is so integral in our lives. You need it to function. I truly feel it was a huge contributing part of my post partum depression. You can honestly, slowly go batty, without even knowing it from sleep deprivation. It just creeps up on you. So the take home message here is one needs to ensure one gets enough sleep throughout the day.

And I can guarantee pencil crayons will be on sale when she enters kindergarden. So you don't need to stock up just yet!

Aw, thank you! The last month went by quickly for me, at least, except the times when LO was seemingly inconsolable. Those moments stretched out into slow motion. It's hard when you have no idea what's wrong and she can't tell you.

Well, if you have a book on baby sleep, I'd read it!

I'd love to sleep but who would do her laundry? I've got to keep up on those cloth diaper covers, which we seem to run out of most.

You're right, pencil crayons and anything else will be on sale eventually. Sometimes I feel like I should stock up so I can spend more time with family and watch each precious moment. Unfortunately, I still have to shop for fresh produce. Well, getting out every now and then is nice.

Right now, LO is sleeping through a thunderstorm. Not a care in the world, and certainly not for pencil crayons. Ha ha!

[Insane]

I was quite lucky when my kids were young.. we literally had a playground right in front of our place.. (well still is.. LOL) they played on that for hours. plus they had bikes that amused them.. we did baseball when they were a bit older.. (it was free through a church).. they didn't have interest in it for long.. my son played 'street hockey' with friends..
they kept each other good company.. now.. its all about working on things, bikes, computers, cars.. the only thing i find expensive for them.. is food. !!

Oh my! Food! My son just turned 12 but he's been on a major growth spurt for about a year. I've had to buy him entire new wardrobes twice in the last year. He grew an entire foot in 1year. Last Christmas I was buying him a size 14 and a few months later I was buying him Men's small! He's taller than me now too. I'm sure he'll be way over 6feet in no time. But holy cow, where does he put all that food? He eats more than his 3 siblings combined. I used to have tonnes of leftovers for lunches. Now I'm lucky if there is 1 serving left for leftovers! One day this is how he ate....Had breakfast, had breakfast again when I got up (2hrs later), had lunch, had afternoon snack, had dinner then had 2 bedtime snacks. It's like feeding a newborn only on a bigger scale! Fruits and veggies are so expensive here, and I'm having such a hard time keeping up with him! I may need to increase my weekly food budget soon to $250-$300 a week.

Not to mention I want to make sure that as his growth spurts slow down, that he slows down his food intake so he doesn't become obese. And I'm not sure how to do that. I don't want him falling into the same trap I did as a teen/young adult.

[thriftygranny]

Ah competitive sports. Four kids and all played at least one competitive sport,some played two plus a rec sport thrown in there for good measure!! I have spent 25 years driving up and down the highway to tournaments and games.Was it expensive..you bet.Time consuming ..definitely.Was it worth it.. absolutely I had one go to college on a soccer scholarship, one played soccer in Sweden and Denmark for a summer and one went to the Disney Cup in Florida and they all learned humility,hard work, commitment and team work as well as they all formed friendships that have taken them into their adult lives and now that 3 are adults they are still active in their sport.I have worked endless bingos to fund teams and countless bottle drives and other fundraisers to help pay for trips and tournaments out of the country .I wouldn't change a thing, but it worked for our family and you have to have a child that truly loves the sport and commitment.My youngest quit team sports at thirteen, he just didn't take the pressure of performing and it stressed him out.Oddly enough he is the most talented out of the four but he didn't enjoy the commitment and stress,He is very active but does his activities at a non competitive level and I am fine with that, I am just happy he was able to come to us and let us know how he felt.I don't miss the bottle drives and bingos either!!

[Insane]

Aw, thank you! The last month went by quickly for me, at least, except the times when LO was seemingly inconsolable. Those moments stretched out into slow motion. It's hard when you have no idea what's wrong and she can't tell you.

Well, if you have a book on baby sleep, I'd read it!

I'd love to sleep but who would do her laundry? I've got to keep up on those cloth diaper covers, which we seem to run out of most.

You're right, pencil crayons and anything else will be on sale eventually. Sometimes I feel like I should stock up so I can spend more time with family and watch each precious moment. Unfortunately, I still have to shop for fresh produce. Well, getting out every now and then is nice.

Right now, LO is sleeping through a thunderstorm. Not a care in the world, and certainly not for pencil crayons. Ha ha!

I had one with colic and one with very bad acid reflux. It's a small miracle I decided to have #3 after those 2. Seriously, I felt like I was owed a "good baby". And she was.

Do you have a moby wrap? I absolutely LOVED mine. I wish I had discovered them earlier. Being in that upright position, all snug against mom was just what they needed sometimes. It takes awhile to get the hang of putting it on, but in to time I was putting it on in the middle of the airplane aisle! When they got too big I switch to a snuggli (and a Becco Gemini when the snuggli I'd had for 12yrs broke!) I still put my 16mth old in the Becco on my back while I cook, ect... He immediately stops crying and sometimes takes a snooze in there. The other important thing for baby sleep is swaddling. Most babies startle themselves awake. Those limbs are forever flying around. Swaddling keeps them all snug like they were in the woom and keeps those limbs from flying around.

Pencil crayons will just become chew toys when she's a toddler! (disclaimer...pencil crayons should not be used as teething toys! LOL)