I feel whiny. I know, I shouldn't I have so much more than many people. Things I don't even think about. Running water. Climate Control. Much. But there are days when I just want to go get a real haircut at a real salon and go to the grocery store and buy one of everything that I might consider eating in the next month. So, in case anyone else is in that position, I thought I would tell you some financial shortcuts that I have figured out.
Direct TV or cable is EXPENSIVE. I guess I never gave thought to what we spent to watch cruddy TV shows. On the other hand NetFlix streaming is CHEAP. $7 per month for streaming. You need a half way decent internet connection, and the current seasons aren't on, but there is a decent variety. I have sciency little urchins and we often sit down to watch some great science documentary about anti matter or mythbusters. There is plenty of brain dead entertainment, too - but you could almost write this off as an educational expense. My kids totally don't miss "real" tv at all! This is one of those expenses that I would never have again. Netflix is way more TV than we really even need.
Your kids don't know if they have expensive furniture or not. I know, it is hard to believe. All those hours pouring over Pottery Barn figuring out the perfect bed. Perfect dresser. Book case just the right width to go next to the bed to encourage reading. Searching for the perfect shade of sour apple green for the walls. They don't care. When given free rein in the hovel, both girls instantly went to work attaching vampire posters to their walls and then filling in leftover space with school projects. When I made mention to my 12 year old one day that I was sorry that I wasn't able to bring her furniture with us (mommy guilt) she laughed and said that she likes her Ikea stuff just as much and she LOVES her walls now. I stressed over the green looking "too yellow" or "too bright" when the sun hit in the mornings - I must have tested 20 colors. What she really wanted was a bunch of posters of an anemic vampire, a civil war project on Jefferson Davis, a couple of football mums, chocolate marketing project, and designs for future DNA splicing ideas. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?!?! If you move your kids without their stuff, offer them a bunk bed or a loft bed. You will be queen. Pottery Barn be damned.
And back to that internet connection, did you know that companies will charge you less for things if you just ask? - well, sometimes. When I called to get internet here at the hovel I was again shocked at the price. I decided to check and see if I had other options in my little area and told the nice sales guy that I was going to check around and see if I could find something cheaper. He said he would talk to his supervisor and when he came back, hot dang I got a deal I could live with! I went ahead and signed up and have been really happy, but the "better" price was $20 a month less than what they quoted me to start. I have been told that the same thing works for cable/satellite and even cell phone bills.
It is nice cutting things that you don't even miss!
It is only scary before you jump!
SingleBrokeMom
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