photo credit: plindberg

If you are looking for something fun and cheap to entertain the little ones, try making this sidewalk paint.  I found this recipe at Easy Fun School:

¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
6 to 8 drops of food coloring

Basically, add the water to the cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency.  Then add the food coloring!

We are going to make ours in some old Cool Whip containers so that we have lids for storage.  According to the website, if the paint dries out, just add more water. Also, since cornstarch is all natural, it won’t harm our plants.

I am going to make red, blue, and yellow so that the kid can mix the colors himself (free art lesson!).  Also, since food coloring can stain, we’re going to be sure to wear old clothes.  Have fun!

photo credit: milele

In a previous post, I mentioned that we hoped to spend $250 total on Christmas this year.  We had $95 dollars left and quite a bit to still get.  So in the end, how did things turn out?

• We actually ended up with $105 to spend, since my mom wanted to contribute to the gift certificate for my stepfather (we had budgeted $20, but only spent $10).
• We spent $15 on my brother – we redeemed $20 in gift cards from Amazon, and split the cost of a Wii game with my grandmother.
• We didn’t get my sister-in-law anything.  Things have been tough for her this year, and she didn’t want to exchange gifts.
• We spent $48 on the tree, which was $13 more than we expected.
• We spent $20 on a gift card for my sister-in-law’s boyfriend, and $20 on a simple train to put under the tree for the kid.  I also spend $5 for some alphabet foam stickers (the kids only request to Santa).

Overall, that put us at $3 over budget for Christmas.  I can live with that!

I would highly recommend a Christmas budget for everyone.  It really forced us to pick and choose what was most important to us, and as an added bonus, we don’t have a ton of useless crap after Christmas!

Did you follow a budget this year?  If so, how did it go?

photo credit: naviniea

Christmas is going to be so much fun this year. Our little one is almost 3 years old, and he’s going nuts with all the Christmas lights around town. He’s been asking about a “Kees-mas tee” all week long, and today is the big day!

Since all of our Christmas shopping is done, it’s going to be a very relaxing holiday season. Here are some of the things we plan on doing as a family this year. Some do cost money, but we feel they are well worth it!

1. Cut your own Christmas tree – Yes, we are buying a real tree again this year. However, we planned ahead and included this cost in our holiday budget. There is a wonderful tree farm near our house – we take the dog and make it into a big event. There is a petting zoo, and you can print coupons for free hot chocolate online. As an added benefit, we always get some of our best holiday pictures on this day!

After the holidays, we cut off a small piece of the trunk and woodburn the year on it. After placing a small hook in it, we have a great holiday ornament!

2. Go see the lights! – Consider both going by foot and by car. I would also recommend seeing if there are any local light displays. For example, we travel to Baltimore each year to see Hampden’s Miracle on 34th Street, where every house is decorated. While many homes here could be considered just “over-the-top” with lights, there is also local art on display, including our favorite Hubcap Tree by Jim Pollock. Luckily, we have friends on 33rd Street, so we get parking earlier in the day and have made a tradition of visiting our friends and taking cider on our walk.

3. Bake some of your holiday gifts – It does cost money for ingredients, but I pick one or two recipes and scale them up to keep things simple. The kid always gets a special job, and after all the cooking is done, we have presents in a pinch. Besides, it’s nice to turn on some Christmas music and smell cookies in the oven!

4. Make holiday crafts together – It doesn’t have to be complicated! This year, for example, we are making construction paper rings for our tree garland. The fun is in the creative process itself – the end product is just an added benefit!

What are some of the fun and frugal things you like to do over the holidays?

$41 – the Christmas shopping for all of our little friends.  We have three little ones that are like family to us, and I combined this with two birthday gifts for kids (the total order was $69) to get free shipping.  All of the gifts are made from sustainable wood and are earth-friendly.  I had budgeted $15/kid for Christmas, so I came under budget by a few bucks.  But now I am sad since all the fun gifts have been purchased!

$2 – stocking stuffer for our kid.  This was an impulse purchase at the craft store – I got him 2 sticker books with stickers.

$20 – gift certificate for the stepfather.  We get him the same thing every year.  Whatever.

$46 – Crap from Bath and Body Works.  They kept giving me coupons for $13 in free stuff when I spent $10.  I am not a big fan of this store, but my sister loves it.  With the coupons, I took care of my sister, her boyfriend, my sister-in-law, and our niece.  Each of them is getting basically $20 – $22 worth of stuff for $10-$12.  I am glad that I found this deal because all of the people mentioned above are hard to shop for.

$23 – a clearance truck for the kid from Little Tikes.  The box is damaged, and the batteries may need to be replaced (I can handle that!).  This is one of those really big trucks that he can push around and play with in the yard.  We like the fact that Little Tikes toys are made in the USA, and this truck got great reviews for being durable.

This leaves us with $95.  We expect to spend $25 on my brother (we’re going in on a video game with my grandmother), $25 on my sister-in-law (gift card), and $20 for my sister-in-law’s boyfriend.  That will leave us with $35 for the tree, and nothing else for the kid.  I’m not sure that this is going to work, as we would like to get a couple more things for the kid; I want to at least spend a little money on yarn so that I can make him some more stuff.

I’ll have to show the numbers to the husband so that we can make a decision.  I am thinking that another $50 might be reasonable, but I don’t want to go overboard.  Any thoughts?

This weekend, we went to visit some friends, and took some time to walk around Washington DC since the weather was so nice.  As the kid was attempting to scale the Washington Monument, I was looking around and saw the White House from a distance.  As I turned back around to check on the kid, he was laughing happily with a couple other kids from a different country as they all tried to scale the wall.

It just kind of struck me that regardless of who we all go in and vote for on Tuesday, people aren’t really all that different.  Perhaps it is because this is the first election where I have a child myself (and therefore am more aware of the daily political news), but I feel that this is an election where so much hatred, ugliness, and division has bubbled to the surface.  Sometimes it is easy to forget how lucky we are to have the right to walk around our nation’s capital freely, and talk about how much we love (or despise) a candidate, and be able to vote.

I guess that I found myself to be a bit surprised to become humbled when visiting our nation’s capital, instead of being more fired up for Tuesday.  I also can’t wait to take my son back to Washington DC when he is old enough to start learning the significance of the monument he was trying to scale…

Or is it?  I think that perhaps we’re really at a turning point — a sort of reality check where those that have not been realistic about what they cannot afford need to come to terms with the consequences.  While this is happening at a personal level, I am not really sure that it is happening on Wall Street and in the government.

I know that for us, things are a lot more tight financially because we are trying to rebuild our emergency fund quickly after some major truck repairs.  But we’re really coming together as a family, mostly because I am working evenings to generate additional income to rebuild our fund.  This is an added responsibility for my husband, since he has to come home from work and take over childcare duties.

Although initially it took some getting used to, I think that this is also a great opportunity for us to really evaluate what is important in life.  I think it has helped us develop a better appreciation for what the other person is doing, since now we are both working, and both taking care of the kid alone.

We’re also very thankful that we are frugal, and can currently handle our financial situation.  I don’t need to run out and make the big $$$, but can stay at home with the kid during the day.  At the same time, it has strengthened our resolve to get out of debt, and I am working harder to generate additional income streams.

How about you?  Are you keeping your head up in today’s economy?  Why or why not?

Am I missing something?  I thought that the terrible twos were horrific, but we’ve had a lot of fun so far.  Of course there are craptastic days, but overall it’s been a wonderful experience.  Maybe he’ll turn into a demon on his third birthday?

I think we’re going to stop at one kid.  This one got all the good DNA

For me, it’s been some time since I have tutored math, and I have forgotten how much I enjoy it.  When my neighbor insisted on paying me, I felt that it wasn’t fair to charge an hourly rate, since we discussed our kids and other topics between math problems.  So we worked out a deal where she will watch the kid (she also has a son who is close in age to mine, and the kids play well together) in exchange for my services.

This is so great for my husband and I – we really can’t justify paying for a babysitter since money is tight, but we haven’t been out on our own in a really long time (I can’t remember the last time… definitely not in 2008!) since we don’t have family in the area.

Have you ever exchanged services?  Has it worked out well?

He’s also at the stage where he imitates everything we say.  For example, when we run out of something, like milk or dog food, he’ll say, “Milk all gone”.  I respond with the usual, “Yep, we’ll have to go to the store to get more milk” (or more dog food, or whatever).  This is almost always followed by, “Oh boy (I have no idea where he picked this up!).  Go bye bye car.  Go store, get more milk.”  It’s pretty cute.

Anyhow, tonight when I put the kid to bed, I remarked how his scab (aka boo-boo) had finally come off.  Here’s our dialog:

Me:  “Look, sweetie!  Your boo-boo is all gone!”

Kid examines his knee up close (cause 2-year-olds can put their eye up to their knee without giving it a second thought).

Kid (very serious):  “Ma-ma.  Go to store.  Get new boo-boo knee.”

Me: “Ummm…Well, honey, they don’t sell boo-boos at the store.  And it’s a good thing your boo-boo is gone.  It means you’re all better.”

Kid:  “Ma-maaa.  Go to store.  Get new boo-boo knee.  Peas (which is please).”

Well, at least he said please…

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Four of my friends have recently given birth (to happy, healthy little ones – congratulations!). For some reason, I was asked for advice. Given that my friends have different nationalities, religions, and even political affiliations, I really thought about what might be some good universal advice.

I came up with 2 things:

1. Read to your kids – Both my husband and I read to our kid. We started when he was just a couple weeks old (prior to that, we were in total survival/adjustment mode). I take him to the library weekly, and he can’t wait for story time every week.

We always read before bedtime, and frequently throughout the day at his request. He takes books with him everywhere we go. I can honestly say that he loves books!

If something were to happen to me tomorrow, I would like to think that even though the kid might not really remember me, I would have left him with a love of reading that will guide him through life.

2. Spend a couple minutes each day reflecting on your role as a parent – I tend to spend a couple minutes before I go to sleep going over the events of the day. At this age, I usually end up asking myself: What did we have fun doing? What sucked? How well did I do at enforcing discipline? Was I too strict or not strict enough? If I could change one thing about the day, what would it be?

All of these questions help me reflect on how I can guide my son as he continues to grow. Kids change so quickly, and I think it’s a lot easier to appreciate them for who they are when we take time to really think about the role we should (or perhaps should not) be playing in their lives.

Do you have a universal piece of advice? I’d love to hear it!

p.s. Just to let everyone know, we’ll be camping tomorrow and Saturday, so I’ll be back on Sunday (don’t want you to think I’m ignoring you!). Have a nice weekend!