OK – this might seem like a no-brainer, but I swear that it changed the way I spend. A long time ago, my father told me that if I just stay home, I wouldn’t spend any money. It’s seems a little silly, but it’s so true.
I used to think that the only way to entertain my small children was to take them out – even a supposedly free trip to the playground often resulted in an ice cream after – and oh, while we’re here at the store…
Staying home has proved to be the much more frugal way to spend my day – particularly on the weekends. Many Saturdays find us hanging out in the garden with the kids in the morning, and then hanging out on the deck in the afternoon, culminating in a free campfire by nightfall.
Do we miss a lot of fairs and festivals? Well, some…we go to our local fair of course – you can’t miss the Tunbridge World’s Fair if you live here. And sometimes we go to one of the balloon festivals or a craft fair that supports a local cause. I even splurged and let my daughter take four of her close friends to a movie and out for pizza last night for her birthday (so I’m not a complete miser), but considering how many activities and sports my children are involved in, it’s nice to just stay home. Maybe I’m becoming a recluse in my old age, but I like waking up – slowly – on a weekend morning, making up a batch of pancakes (or two or three – so we have some to freeze for the rest of the week!), taking the two and nine year olds out to the garden, weeding for a bit or discovering which veggies are doing well, then “taking a break” on the deck to read the paper and drink a final cup of coffee. We’ll make a little lunch and talk about what to make for dinner (we all love to cook). I might hang a load of laundry while the kids splash in the little pool or play “crabapple smash” – basically dodge ball with crabapples from our pasture trees. Then we’ll tackle some sort of project in the afternoon – building a new compost pile, planting something, whatever. And then we make dinner and do the campfire thing (my family never tires of fires, pyromaniacs they are!).
A full day and we didn’t leave the house! We get to hang out with each other and talk and whatever. We listen to loud music. We play games. Whatever.
Try it. You’ll be amazed at how you can spend a whole day and never leave the house…or empty your wallet!
And please let me know how you spent your day…
The Joyful Mom says:
This is so true!
We don’t go places for a variety of reasons… we mostly play in the backyard or swim in my parents pool.
Even a trip to the park can lead to snacks and drinks… and ice cream. LOL
Its raining today so we’re eating popsicles in the bath tub and watching movies.
31st July 2007 at 7:26 pm
marye says:
True! ANd when you stay home it is easier to keep up with the the never ending to-do list…
Providing you stay off the computer.. :/
31st July 2007 at 2:33 pm
Dausta says:
I love your writing. You are giving your children what costs the most…. YOU!….. My family loves the campfires too and what is best of all you are making wonderful memories for your family that money cannot buy. I believe if more families will do what you are doing the world will be a better place to live. I commend your way of living. You are a wise woman.
31st July 2007 at 12:55 am
ruralchick says:
Ah, so true.
I found as well, that when we lived in the city for short while after I quit work, my spending habits were not much different. The big spending changes came for us when we move to the country.
In the closest town of 800 everything is closed at noon on Saturday and not at all on Sunday.
I’ve also found the more I stay home the more I want to stay home. So much more interesting!!!
We are currently in the process of going green and simplifying our lives and have found that this is a very conscious and sometimes challenging decision we made to do so. Staying at home helps to keep us on our path and inadvertantly or maybe elsewise, allows us to do things on our own time, slower and with more thought.
I’m like you. We take it slow in the a.m. and work our way outside after getting the house in order (beds, dishes, general pickup), laundry is an all day task, hanging two or three loads at a time with the kids outside playing around me. After lunch we rest for a bit, with the littlest one (16mo’s) napping and the 3 year old and 9 year old finding some quiet activity. Around 2:30p we slowing start preparing for dad and dinner. Finishing laundry, picking vegies for dinner, watering, taking care of the pigs and animals, such things that we enjoy doing and like to have done before dad gets home so we are not running. On these evenings when its starting to cool off earlier, we like to hang out side and cook dinner, watch the kids play, finish watering and visit. As you probably know after dinner on is the “bed rush”. Phew… a little rest and we start afresh the next day.
We gave up a lot (not just money) in order to allow me to stay home with the children. And, I love it!!
Thank you for the post.
31st July 2007 at 3:13 pm