It's that time of year again!!!

The girls go back to school tomorrow. Nicholas, my husband, and myself go back on Tuesday. It's the time of year where everyone gets back into the routine of things, we are all on a schedule, and I realize how fast my babies are growing up. Nicholas will get on the bus and leave me on Tuesday. I know I will be in tears, but it will still be a bittersweet moment. I am looking forward to see what this year will bring. I am also very excited to see all of the plans we have made come to life. The future is looking very bright at the moment.

Reflecting

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my life lately. Sometimes I feel that I am not living up to what I could be. I have a degree and am not using it. At times I feel that after all of the schooling I have had, I should be doing something more. Then I spend an amazing day with my children and remember why that degree is not being used. I know that I am exactly where I should be right now. This is the first year that all three kids will be in school all day and I will be a little lost without them. However, I am babysitting for one more year so that I may continue to concentrate on my school work and finish my next degree. Babysitting gives me the flexible schedule that I want for my kids. I will have all holidays, school breaks, and snow days off with them. I am so excited to know that in 9 months, I will finally be a big girl and have my dream career. I will finally have the money to give my children the life that my parents were able to give me. I don't want to send the wrong message, I realize that money isn't the answer to everything. But we already give them love, structure, stability, and all of those wonderful things. I just can't wait until I have the ability to afford to put them in more activities. I didn't have everything growing up but I never did without either. I want to be able to put them in activities to help build their teamwork skills, self esteem, and an interest in new things.

The Frugal Fairy

     I LOVE yard sales!! You can find amazing things at yardsales for fractions of the original retail price. I have bought some clothes at yardsales, but usually it is just items for the kids fo summer time. I have never even thought of buying clothes for school at a yardsale.....until this year. My family didn't have a lot of money when I was a child, but I never did without. We always went to department stores to do our school shopping, so I never thought to go to a yardsale for school clohes. Over half of the clothes that I have found so far still had the tags on them. Never been worn clothes for under $2.00???!!! So far in the last three weeks, I have bought clothes that totaled $300 retail and I only spent $60!!!!
     At this time of year I am usually making lists for all three kids and it includes EVERYTHING!! All of them usually need socks, underwear, pants, tops, sweaters, jackets, skirts (for the girls), and shoes. This year, after all of my wonderful finds at the yardsales, I only have to buy jeans and shoes for all three kids!!!! I have drastically reduced our out of pocket expenses for this expensive back to school season. I have cut our budget for school clothes and supplies in half!!!
     Aside from the wonderful benefit of saving money, I feel that I have fullfilled my duty to my husband in making our money stretch farther. Being a stay at home mom, (even though I work part time), I feel that it is my duty to save money and making our money go farther. Couponing was short lived and didn't really save me much money. I still use coupons, but only for things I absolutely need. But this made me feel really good about school shopping this year.