Frugality

Frugality.  Is that even a word?

Well, if it’s not, it should be.  Because it’s 2012’s new motto in the Breitenstein household.

In the last year, we’ve had a lot going on over here.  I got laid off from my job as a teacher when the district I worked for cut over 100 first and second year teachers.  Our house value plummeted (thank you, economy) and we had our first baby. 

Just reading that, it sounds pretty lame (um, except the having a baby part). But in reality, each of those represented a tremendous blessing.  Let’s go down the line:

1.   I lost my job.  At first, it really was lame.  We definitely thought so.  But what it allowed was for me to spend a lot more time than we had originally planned at home with our baby.  What a huge blessing.  And it also allowed for me to earn money as a sub when I wanted.  I get sub calls every morning, and if I want/we need for me to take one, I do.  I don’t have to, but I can.  I never, ever thought I’d sub but what a huge blessing it has been in this season of life. 

2.   Our house value plummeted.  This one took a little while for us to be able to see the blessing, but it is there.  We bought our house in early 2008, literally right before the housing market crashed.  Since then, we’ve seen a steady decline in our investment money pit.  BUT, but, there is a silver lining.  We can afford to live here, even with our house value underwater.  We’ve never missed a mortgage payment.  We can pay our bills.  We have a beautiful home that we love.  Our neighborhood is perfect for Blake.  We live on a dead-end street, with a big backyard and plenty of room for a growing little boy to explore.  We would be foolish not to see the blessing in all of that.

3.   We had our first baby.  Do I even need to go into this one?  Biggest blessing of our lives.  The end.

So, basically, moving into 2012 we feel very blessed.  We’re happy to put 2011 to bed and lean into a new year, packed with new blessings and new opportunities to see God’s hand and His provision. 

Even so, we do find ourselves treading in unfamiliar water.  We’ve never really lived off one income.  We’ve always had two.  We’ve always been able to do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.  Money just has never been an issue.  And, again, we’re blessed that (even now) it’s not.  We can pay our bills and take care of our obligations.  We are putting away money for Blake’s brothers and sisters (well, and Blake too).  We’re putting money in savings every month.  Our bank account is healthy.  

But, we can make a few changes/continuations in our lifestyle to save a few extra bucks, and since we can, we will.  Exciting.  

Here’s what we’re planning

1.   No credit card debt.  This is just a continuation.  We’ve never had any, and we never plan to.  My dad gave Adam and I an invaluable piece of advice when he told us to never charge something we didn’t have the money to pay for at the end of the month.  We never have.  

2.   Consolidate trips into “town” (we live about 10 minutes outside the nearest big city in a town of just over 3,000) to save on gas.  I feel like I pretty much already do this, just because Blake and I spend a lot of time at home anyway.  I keep my errands early morning (after we drop off Adam at work) or late afternoon (before we pick him up).  In between there, our days are filled with play time, naps, eating….you know, baby stuff.  HOWEVER, this will change in February, because Blake and I are signed up for Mommy and Me Swim lessons.  SO FUN.  But neither here nor there.  Sorry. 

3.   DIY whenever, and wherever, possible.  This one I am very excited about.  I have a couple ideas already cookin’ in that noggin of mine.  Not ready to share yet, but soon.  Promise.

4.   Find “creative” ways to bring in some extra bacon.  So far, this has included selling items we really don’t need on Craigslist, signing up for SwagBucks (uhh, how did I not know about this sooner??) and opening an Etsy shop (well not yet, but very soon)

5.   Buy secondhand.  Mainly for Blake.  This kid has blown through his wardrobe for (what I thought would be) the first year of his life.  His little four month self is currently wearing 12 month clothes.  When we realized this would be the case (at about 2 weeks of age) we decided that buying him new clothes/shoes was out of the question.  He just doesn’t wear them long enough to make spending $15-20 a pop reasonable.  Instead, we buy secondhand.  We have an amazing children’s resale shop here in town that I frequent all the time.  I rarely spend more than $3 for anything in Blake’s wardrobe.  Plus, they frequently have sales and I can score things for as cheap as .75 cents.  It also helps that Blake has a cousin who brings him big boxes of his hand-me-downs every time we get together.  LOVE that sweet family (and their little man, who has incredible style).  For us, buying secondhand extends all the way to baby gear.  Blake’s jumperoo, his walker, his Johnny Jump-Up, one of his play gyms…..all secondhand.  Anything that wasn’t gifted to us we bought secondhand.  And you’d never know!  I got out my Dreft and cleaned the living daylights out of everything, and Blake never knew the difference.  Doing this has saved us tons.

6.   Selling back baby clothes.  I don’t actually do this, because we’re saving our little boy clothes should there be an Isaac James Breitenstein coming on down the line (<-- you like that?  yeah, this my non-Adam-approved name for baby boy #2) but it would be a great way to earn a little extra money.

7.   Save money by being a frugal housewife.  Yes.  This means I’m cutting out coupons, planning menus in advance so grocery shopping is very efficient, and taking on new projects to save us money in the day to day stuff (like making reusable paper towels) 

 
Those are just a few of our ideas, but already it's been fun.  And exciting.  I love my new role as a (mostly) stay at home mom, and I love doing little things like those mentioned above to help take care of my family.  The older I get (uh oh, sounds like a cliche coming your way) the more I realize how little things matter.  I could live anywhere, literally anywhere, with my husband and son by my side.  They are my joy.  We are rich in things money can't buy, and that's all that matters.