1. Stay in Our Grocery Budget AND Continue to Eat Healthfully. Our grocery budget really went out the window these past couple months, but now that I’m feeling so much better, I’m newly-inspired to track every penny and put together more wholesome meals.
2. Continue With My Morning Routine. I have been trying to cultivate a better morning routine, wherein Simone and I have breakfast, do school, and get the house cleaned up BEFORE I sign online, no matter how sleepy I am. My days are so much more productive when I do this. Once I sit down on the couch with my computer, it’s really hard for me to wake up all the way and get motivated, no matter how long I sit there.
3. Strive for 15 No-Spend Days. It’s not unusual for me to go to the grocery store several times in one week simply because I forgot something, but I rarely leave with just the thing I went in for. I’m also bad about batching my shopping trips. All of those things are horrible re: efficiency, our budget, and the environment. I didn’t used to be so unorganized about shopping, so either I’ve just gotten lazy or living three minutes from Kroger and Target is bad.* Probably both.
4. Plan a Loose Homeschool Curriculum. We’ve been having fun with our laid back homeschooling each day, but I know that we’re going to get bored in a hurry if I don’t come up with some kind of plan. I want to design a loose “curriculum” for the next month or two so I know what activities and reading we’ll be embarking upon.
5. Finish Our Christmas Lists. We always pay for Christmas out of Jason’s “extra” paycheck each fall, and we like to complete our shopping by Thanksgiving or so. That way, we have plenty of time to mail gifts to out-of-town friends and relatives, and we can really relax and enjoy the holiday season. We need to completely figure out what we’re getting everybody.
*I often fantasize about moving to the country. Jason, who grew up in the country, is less than enthused about this fantasy, and often asks questions like, “What would we do?” We’d spend a lot less money, that’s what. The difference in our spending habits between when we lived 15 minutes from the grocery store/Target (but in an awesome area) and 3 minutes away is kind of terrifying. The argument against the country that does work in Jason’s favor is this: “There’s no library. Or at least not a good one.”
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
We live way out of town, and in the same area that I grew up. There are so many advantages and disadvantages. We do save money by not taking regular impulsive shopping trips, but I think in the end it evens out because we spend a lot more on gas. Even though my husband takes the bus, he still has to drive a long way just to get to the bus and I can’t take the bus because of where my job is and my flexible work schedule that allows me to spend more time with my young children. Thus, we are required to have two cars and we have literally nothing within walking distance. We also pay more in property taxes because we have a larger yard and higher property values.
In the end I think it overall evens out and that you should choose between rural/suburban/urban based on a variety of reasons and not just thinking it will save you money, because it very well may not.
Oh, don’t worry…I don’t want to move to the country just because of the money-saving aspect! We spend quite a lot of money on gas as it is, because the school where Jason teaches is about 35-40 minutes away—which also prevents us from being a one-car household. Right now we live in suburbia, but I’d much prefer either moving out to the country (where we could have a bigger yard and more privacy) or back to our old neighborhood, which was like a lovely small town within a bigger city.
Hahaha, after I posted that I thought “after reading her blog for so long I know she wouldn’t move JUST to save money.”
you should look into unschooling … and shop at whole foods which is 25 minutes away in good traffic for me lol …. however i do have a new daily farmer’s market store near me in old louisville that i spend too much money at on organic veg and kenny’s cheese …. let me know when y’all move to the country, i’m there! my dream is to start my own school … some kind of montessori/waldorf/unschooling hybrid ….
Kenny’s Cheese is soo good! I love the cumin gouda so much.
I have been looking into unschooling and other homeschooling approaches. I’m realizing that there are a lot of things I love about a lot of different approaches, so I figure I’ll run with what feels right. I’ve been reading Teach Your Own and I think John Holt is just awesome.
Will you start pasting regularly about what you’re doing for homeschool? My toddler is just behind Simone in age, and with the new baby in our lives I’d love to set up a little more planned activities throughout the day.
Great reminder on the Christmas gifts… I should get on that too.
Also, I spent most of my childhood living in the country and I *loved* it. I’m thankful to be .2 seconds from Walmart and Kroger now, but I miss seeing the stars and walking in the woods.
The stars are one of my favorite things about visiting Jason’s parents (who live in the country). That and just how private it is. I have a hang-up about being outside in our own yard much because I always feel watched, which is ridiculous and doesn’t keep me from being outside, but I never enjoy it as much as I do in the country.
I will definitely be posting updates on our homeschooling activities here and there. I’m working on a post about what we’ve been doing lately.
Ha, I’m with Jason on that one! I was just about to say, “But in the country, you have crappy libraries…” Actually, the town I grew up in didn’t have a library at all. We had to drive to the next town over, and it still was a small, SMALL library with the largest selection of books being romance novels. Needless to say, when I moved to Knoxville for school, I nearly had a stroke from the excitement of walking into their downtown library.
It’s almost exclusively because of libraries that I consider living way out in the boonies to be a bad idea. When I think about home ownership, I think I’d like us to find a place that was a little ways out from downtown (maybe 15 min.) but still within the city limits. My coworker has a place like that, and she gets all the amenities of living in a city without the annoyances of being packed together like sardines.
I often calculate how cheap our mortgage in the country would have to be in order to make all of my inevitable extra book-buying (due to a lack of good libraries) even out.
CHRISTMAS! Holy crap. That’s coming up, isn’t it? I need to get on gift making! Gah. I want a secretary.
Me too!