keepin it real...and cheap

All right! We are halfway through the month, and halfway through the cash I've set aside for miscellaneous and baby. I thought I'd update you with how it's going.

To be honest, I thought I had given myself a pretty wide berth. $80, I figured, would be pretty easy. But as I'm evaluating all the things I could be spending that money on, I'm remembering why Misc. is always my runaway-overspent category in the monthly budget.

For example: I want a haircut. Vance needs a haircut. Isaac could use a new pair of jeans that don't have holes in the knees (don't worry, people, he has other non-holey pants to look decent in). We're running low on Clorox 2. It's a new season, which means that I have the itch to go buy new fall things for a table centerpiece and my door. Oh, and I could use some new hangers to hang pants on. You get the picture.

But I'm reevaluating some of that stuff. We've only got $31 until the end of the month, and I'm probably going to have to blow $15 of that on diapers. So I think I'll embrace longer hair, until next month, at least. I'm seriously considering cutting Vance's hair myself (he is not seriously considering it, however :). A lot of that stuff is not that imperative. And if the more important things wait until next month, maybe that will help me not spend what's left over frivolously.

Our pirate costumes (see post below) were not stunning, nor well assembled. But if I had had another 12,471,236 hours, they could have been cool. And I only spent $3. I was okay with that trade-off.

The kids and I took a walk up to Vance's office the other day, and we collected pretty leaves and acorn tops for a free centerpiece I could use for the table. Isaac walked the half mile up to the office and still had enough gas to go back down home, without needing to jump in the stroller. I was impressed. Isaac was especially happy to thrust handful after handful of leaves into the stroller basket, and collect "mouse hats". Vance told him the acorn tops were mouse hats, and now Isaac can't remember their real name. He just calls them "hatmouse".

I was pleased with our foraging. It made a pretty nice centerpiece, though not what I had originally planned. Maybe being frugal will work out after all.

Full disclosure: I took this picture when the centerpiece I made looked beautiful and fresh. Now, my impatience has been revealed...since I didn't press the leaves, they're all curled up and dead looking. I'll have to try again with pressed leaves. But hopefully that will look good too.