In the meantime, I have learned a few thing about frugality. While I have taught myself a lot over the past few years, these last months have shown me how much I still have to learn. For example:
- You really can use nearly everything in your fridge before it goes bad. You have to be creative. However, your children may not eat it, so continue to invest in peanut butter.
- When getting ready for a garage sale, one comes face to face with one's clothing habits. Specifically how one's children got clothed. And that they probably didn't need quite so many choices.
- Cheap backpacks break. Quickly. After you have bought 3 cheap backpacks, you should just invest in the good one the 4th time.
- Bread is super duper cheap to make. And super easy and yummy. However, bread could make you fat. Probably not your husband or children, but you should watch out.
- Pasta, however, is super cheap to buy, and a pain in the rear to make.
- When your daughter wants a cake made by you for her birthday, you might be touched, and think "that will be so much cheaper!". However, after you have made the three-tier confection filled with 3 fillings and 2 kinds of cakes, and frosted with about 5 pounds of powdered sugar and 15 sticks of butter, you realize that Costco makes an incredibly cheap cake.
- Sometimes, you get very frustrated at the lack of Christmas presents, or the meager Easter baskets. You stomp around and complain to your husband about how unfair it all is, that this stupid situation is hurting your children more than anyone else. Your husband remains calm and assures you that they will love the presents and baskets. They do, of course. But you don't admit that to him.
- Sometimes, you scrimp and save for so long, you take a bit of that and take a vacation. Like to the beach. And you scrimp while you are there. And you don't eat breakfast or lunch so that your kids can eat the little food that will fit in the fridge at the hotel. So you can afford the afternoon ice cream sundaes for them. And seeing the stress melt off their little faces makes it all worth it.
- That somehow, you can afford the second mortgage amount you are paying out in one certain bill each month. Because you have been working so very hard to keep afloat. Because you have no other choice. There is no way out.
- That, in the end, it is only money. Your kids are healthy. Your husband is healthy. You are healthy.
- And that you do have true friends. People who let you complain and whine and cry about the whole rotten situation. People who tell you how rotten it is with you. People who are right beside you, no matter what.
