Times have gotten so hard that most stay at home wives can no longer watch The View, Ellen, Regis and Kelly, Oprah and Dr. Phil and now have to narrow it down to four out of the five. It's like Sophie's Choice ... the guilt and shame can be psychologically devastating.

Re: cloth diapers
We used cloth for quite some time, and over time it does save money compared to disposables. We started running into problems with our clothes washer plumbing, however, once our kid was only eating table food and no matter how much we rinsed/scraped the diapers there was somehow still enough poop on them to clog the washer outlet. Now he's only in cloth at night. But for someone who has a young baby or is expecting, I completely and wholeheartedly recommend going the cloth diaper route. With breastfed babies, until they start solids at 6 months the diapers wash out no problem, without using that much water or energy. After solids come into the picture it gets a little dicier but we kept going with cloth until our son gave up baby food for table foods entirely and probably saved about $1500 compared to buying disposables. New style cloth diapers are really easy to use and when you're done with them, you can resell them (I just resold all my outgrown cloth diapers for about $100, not what I paid for them, but more than I would get for a pile of used disposables :). Cloth diapers can be expensive to purchase depending on what kind you get (super-cool pocket diapers cost a lot, prefolds and wraps don't cost as much but are scary for some people, etc.) but our Craigslist has listings for them all the time, and there are online sites where people sell their used ones that are still in good shape.

DaShredda: I wear work shirts/pants maybe 3, 4 times before I wash them. Do you sweat that much?

You wash gym clothes EVERY TIME you wear them? WTF?

Yeah I was gonna say that.

And as far as the person saying I answered my own question....the kid's clothes are like the size of a pair of boxer shorts, I can't see a kid being that messy.

She's gotta be one of those people that tries different things on in the morning and whatever is unfolded or not hung up is "dirty"

jst3p: oldass31: Conversation at work when I offered to cook/buy groceries for a dinner for my friend's family(wife and three kids)...

Me: "oh, it'd be easy because I'm under budget for food".
Friend: "aw, dude thanks"
40s something secretary: "Wow, you have a food budget? That's so responsible for someone your age. How much do you budget?"
Me: "Well, I live by myself so about $160/month"
Secretary: "Geez! Do you live off rice and beans!?!"
Me: "uhhh...No, mainly it's rice, stir-fried veggies, cereal, salad, canned soup, a casserole every now and then...that kind of stuff"
Secretary: "that's crazy, I don't see how you could spend that little."

Does that seem like too little money to anyone? Mind you this is for one person.

Your budget would be larger if you had to include some meat.

I also buy boneless, skinless, chicken breast(frozen) It's about a dollar per pound or 50 cents per day.

Weak, dnlpoon. I am new here and even I have seen you do better.


I know. Sorry. I'm in a hurry. My upstairs guest bathroom steam shower sprung a leak. I woke up to puddles in my hallway. I'm heading home to start cleaning up. I'll put more effort into it next time. Promise.

Pray for my new Bamboo Floors. Thanks.

oldass31: Does that seem like too little money to anyone? Mind you this is for one person.

Too little money? Ha, I have almost the exact same food budget every month, and its more than enough for one guy. If a person is spending more than $200 a month on food for just themselves, then they're either doing it wrong or need their stomach stapled.

oldass31: I also buy boneless, skinless, chicken breast(frozen) It's about a dollar per pound or 50 cents per day.

Chicken? I said meat.

Steak is my weakness.

The 99 cents only stores have awesome bargains on food, here in So Cal. Fresh fruit and salad items are the best! Shampoo and toiletries too. Just have to go to the regular store for a few things, when I am done there.

ZholtayaStrelka: I'm 25, and my wife and I make a combined 320,000/yr. Yay education! How about that, poor people?

good thing your wife makes that 20k. you'd be screwed without it.

/asshat

jst3p: oldass31: I also buy boneless, skinless, chicken breast(frozen) It's about a dollar per pound or 50 cents per day.

Chicken? I said meat.

Steak is my weakness.

Plus what does he do for the other 2 meals a day? And a half pound for one meal is not enough.

Look.

If you're not fat ass wealthy... if you rent instead of owning... if you have a running car, food, heat, bandwidth, happy kids that are well fed, well behaved and are receiving a good education... if you have people who love you and you have some luxuries like a computer and a stereo and a television...

You are NOT a failure.

Don't buy that.

You are rich beyond the wildest dreams of many a good man and woman in this world.

Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

fark the hype. Those people make a lot of that money by blowing smoke up your ass and conning you into believing that you need something they're trying to foist off on you, otherwise "U R a Loser!"

That's a crock. Your integrity, dignity and decency and honest work and happy home are the core of life in America as we defined it for the first two centuries of this nascent giant that is America and if you keep getting suckered by arrogant wankstains who live and die with their bank balance, you can miss out on just how good your life is.

Remember:

Really important, successful people don't spend a lot of time trying to make you feel unimportant or unsuccessful. They have things to do. And their good name is invaluable, as yours should be.

Go pick up your kid, pull them into the air until they laugh, tell them you love them and make something nice for dinner. Go smile at your spouse or SO and say "Honey.. we ain't doing so bad".

fark these posturing pricks.

There's a lot of happy to go around and it isn't all swimming around in an IRA or a mortgage note.

And if you couldn't make a batch of laundry detergent to save your life, it might be fun. Hell, paper airplanes are fun, if the mood strikes.

Integrity is the only commodity on earth that becomes worthless the minute it goes on sale.

Enjoy your wonderful life.

What a great story!

You show people in want coming up with ways to make the most of what they have. It's inspiring, isn't it? And it even turns out that being economical makes you realize how wasteful you were before! Holy Jesus! It's like some things you do actually make you better.

Obviously, we need to make all Americans be very poor, because that way they'll appreciate what they have and not be so wasteful.

Chach: swankywanky: jamminatorr!: The woman highlighted in the article is a stay at home mom with a kid whose husband is a bartender. No wonder they're having a hard time making ends meet. Get a job you lazy slut.

yeah, so all that "extra" money can go to child day care?

dumbass.

You're right, the guy's bartending job is probably a 9-to-5 gig. Imagine if he had a position that only required him to report to work from 5 pm till 1 am and then his wife could work during the day while he took care of the kid! But seriously, that was a fun excursion to fantasy world.

if it's his only job, he's probably not a 9 to 5 bartender, but maybe he is

I have good friend who are doing this - she waits tables or tends bar at nights and he works during the day and they switch off

but that brings up the other problem I haven't seen mentioned here - their marriage is going to shiate, and hey know it

/sometimes it's dammed if you do and dammed if you don't
//except on FARK, where life is a few mouse clicks and a witty retort away

cerberus9: What I've learned from Fark parenting threads......

I know you are being sarcastic, but I agree with most of what you have said.
1. If you don't have a second car and don't need to pay for daycare; wow, you just saved a butt load of money
2. B,b,b,b,b,but it's the 'murikan dreeem!
3. Unless you have had children, there is no way to consider all of the ramifications of having them until after you have had them. Kids are chaos personified.
4. Unfortunately true for some of my fellow parents.
5. I'll get a second opinion. And his behavior still IS my fault, since I am the one that has raised him and helped develop this "problem" behavior.

bunner: Look.

If you're not fat ass wealthy... if you rent instead of owning... if you have a running car, food, heat, bandwidth, happy kids that are well fed, well behaved and are receiving a good education... if you have people who love you and you have some luxuries like a computer and a stereo and a television...

You are NOT a failure.

Don't buy that.

You are rich beyond the wildest dreams of many a good man and woman in this world.

Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

fark the hype. Those people make a lot of that money by blowing smoke up your ass and conning you into believing that you need something they're trying to foist off on you, otherwise "U R a Loser!"

That's a crock. Your integrity, dignity and decency and honest work and happy home are the core of life in America as we defined it for the first two centuries of this nascent giant that is America and if you keep getting suckered by arrogant wankstains who live and die with their bank balance, you can miss out on just how good your life is.

Remember:

Really important, successful people don't spend a lot of time trying to make you feel unimportant or unsuccessful. They have things to do. And their good name is invaluable, as yours should be.

Go pick up your kid, pull them into the air until they laugh, tell them you love them and make something nice for dinner. Go smile at your spouse or SO and say "Honey.. we ain't doing so bad".

fark these posturing pricks.

There's a lot of happy to go around and it isn't all swimming around in an IRA or a mortgage note.

And if you couldn't make a batch of laundry detergent to save your life, it might be fun. Hell, paper airplanes are fun, if the mood strikes.

Integrity is the only commodity on earth that becomes worthless the minute it goes on sale.

Enjoy your wonderful life.

I'm not a gay man, but I think I love you.

I had no idea that attitudes such as yours still existed.

Thank you.

Damn I got a ton of bites off of that last post. Go me.

withvengeance86: Not into the whole brevity thing: We each buy or own groceries, give ourselves ~$100 for one month. Then we see how long we can make it last. So far my record is 6 weeks (I got sick of eating pasta everyday and caved). He is in the lead with 8 weeks.

/Working on week 3, still going strong due to a sale at Kroger.


Kroger is amazing.

About two weeks ago, they had this "buy 10 certain items and get 5 bux off" sale. I had some coupons for some frozen food and other items that was on sale. What would have been 25 dollars...I paid 8.

Also...the cubed pork steaks were 2.19/lb, and when covered in panko crumbs and fried up, they make delicious sammiches. Also wonderful when baked and top with spaghetti sauce over pasta.

Been doing the casserole/hotdish thing for years, so rice and egg noodles are top staples in the pantry.

/Freelancer and housewife, no kids

ZholtayaStrelka 2008-04-21 10:35:20 AM
I'm 25, and my wife and I make a combined 320,000/yr. Yay education! How about that, poor people?

I'm sure it was already stated, but get over yourself.

bunner: Look.

If you're not fat ass wealthy... if you rent instead of owning... if you have a running car, food, heat, bandwidth, happy kids that are well fed, well behaved and are receiving a good education... if you have people who love you and you have some luxuries like a computer and a stereo and a television...

You are NOT a failure.

Don't buy that.

You are rich beyond the wildest dreams of many a good man and woman in this world.

Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

fark the hype. Those people make a lot of that money by blowing smoke up your ass and conning you into believing that you need something they're trying to foist off on you, otherwise "U R a Loser!"

That's a crock. Your integrity, dignity and decency and honest work and happy home are the core of life in America as we defined it for the first two centuries of this nascent giant that is America and if you keep getting suckered by arrogant wankstains who live and die with their bank balance, you can miss out on just how good your life is.

Remember:

Really important, successful people don't spend a lot of time trying to make you feel unimportant or unsuccessful. They have things to do. And their good name is invaluable, as yours should be.

Go pick up your kid, pull them into the air until they laugh, tell them you love them and make something nice for dinner. Go smile at your spouse or SO and say "Honey.. we ain't doing so bad".

fark these posturing pricks.

There's a lot of happy to go around and it isn't all swimming around in an IRA or a mortgage note.

And if you couldn't make a batch of laundry detergent to save your life, it might be fun. Hell, paper airplanes are fun, if the mood strikes.

Integrity is the only commodity on earth that becomes worthless the minute it goes on sale.

Enjoy your wonderful life.

and just after I wrote the snarky comment about FARK you go and write something great like that

thanks, that was great to hear, good one

<b>hugram:</b> About a month ago, I was at the supermarket and this lady in front of me put 5 things back from her original purchase. I guess she could only afford around $47.00 that day for groceries. I felt bad for her. It seemed that she only had $47 in cash and no credit cards. I was only buying a couple of items so I had a chance to walk behind her. I was actually thinking of telling her that if some of those items were important that I would help her out, but as she approached her huge SUV (no joke), all that went out of the window. I'm sorry but I have no sympathy for stuff like that. If that makes me a jerk, then fine.

So if they had recklessly spent on some other type vehicle (a costly hybrid, or some portscar), you would have helped them out? It was the specific type of vehicle that made them not worthy of your sympathy? Maybe it was a friends vehicle she had to borrow to get to the store.

Nah, just stone them for having SUV's, that's the new enlightened viewpoint.

bunner: Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

That reminds me of a thought that occurs to me every now and again when I'm riding the subway into work. I work in the film industry and we have a really relaxed dress code. I'll spot some dude in a really cheap suit looking down his nose at me and I'll think to myself that that guy, who thinks he's the shiat, probably doesn't even make half what I do in a year. I enjoy that... probably more than I should.

PeriRies: My wife and I dug up some old receipts and found that our food costs from the grocery are up about 20-30% over the same time last year. We're spending around $80-$100 per week for two adults and a two year old. Not starving ourselves, but certainly not eating steak every night. We eat a lot of chicken and rice. Couple that with gas, and you can see the truth about inflation, despite what the dept. of labor wants to say.

Easily.. just in the last 6 months you can compare receipts and I see that my monthly required expenditures have risen. Where I was averaging 120 a week for groceries (two adults and a 2 year old with food allergies) I am now spending 140 approx.

And like you said, with gas prices up as well, not to mention utility costs. I just got notice from my electrical provider that they will be rising the cost per watt by 15%. This is on a notice from my natural gas provider that it's going up from 6.5 per therm to 7.9. Both of which will bump my monthly costs by another 60 bucks or so... even more so in the winter.

It sure as hell ain't a depression, but we're right smack on the precipice of full head on long hard recession.

tweekster: jst3p: oldass31: I also buy boneless, skinless, chicken breast(frozen) It's about a dollar per pound or 50 cents per day.

Chicken? I said meat.

Steak is my weakness.

Plus what does he do for the other 2 meals a day? And a half pound for one meal is not enough.

You're joking right? I'm not on Atkins binge or here. U.S. Department of Agriculture says 5.5 oz is enough daily. I help myself to 8 oz in a single meal.

d.

bunner: Look.

If you're not fat ass wealthy... if you rent instead of owning... if you have a running car, food, heat, bandwidth, happy kids that are well fed, well behaved and are receiving a good education... if you have people who love you and you have some luxuries like a computer and a stereo and a television...

You are NOT a failure.

Don't buy that.

You are rich beyond the wildest dreams of many a good man and woman in this world.

Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

fark the hype. Those people make a lot of that money by blowing smoke up your ass and conning you into believing that you need something they're trying to foist off on you, otherwise "U R a Loser!"

That's a crock. Your integrity, dignity and decency and honest work and happy home are the core of life in America as we defined it for the first two centuries of this nascent giant that is America and if you keep getting suckered by arrogant wankstains who live and die with their bank balance, you can miss out on just how good your life is.

Remember:

Really important, successful people don't spend a lot of time trying to make you feel unimportant or unsuccessful. They have things to do. And their good name is invaluable, as yours should be.

Go pick up your kid, pull them into the air until they laugh, tell them you love them and make something nice for dinner. Go smile at your spouse or SO and say "Honey.. we ain't doing so bad".

fark these posturing pricks.

There's a lot of happy to go around and it isn't all swimming around in an IRA or a mortgage note.

And if you couldn't make a batch of laundry detergent to save your life, it might be fun. Hell, paper airplanes are fun, if the mood strikes.

Integrity is the only commodity on earth that becomes worthless the minute it goes on sale.

Enjoy your wonderful life.

I can't figure you out. Are you bitter about people who value wealth accumulation as a part of life? Or just those like Zholtaya Strelka who rub their wealth in others' faces. Because I disagree with the former, and wholeheartedly agree with the latter.

Unfortunately, money is something that can enable one to have a good life, or prevent it. Things like travel, a nice house, financial security all attribute to a feeling of happiness and well being. Thus, striving for wealth is not an empty endeavor as long as it's not to say your wealthy, but to do something with it. I work long hours now, and am trying to reach a high level of income, but the goal is to be able to travel to places I want to see and never worry about (future) kids college tuition, or health insurance.

That said, one can be quite happy being less than well off, unfortunately it's a happiness on a precipice. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, a loss of a job will flip your world upside down. I can't imagine someone being happy when they end up on welfare, worried about eviction, etc...

"Pond, 26, a stay-at-home mom with an almost 8-month old daughter, does four loads of laundry every other day."

I only wash my clothes every other week, and I'm lucky if it reaches four loads. How is it possible to do more than 12 loads of laundry per week?

bunner: Look.

If you're not fat ass wealthy... if you rent instead of owning... if you have a running car, food, heat, bandwidth, happy kids that are well fed, well behaved and are receiving a good education... if you have people who love you and you have some luxuries like a computer and a stereo and a television...

You are NOT a failure.

Don't buy that.

You are rich beyond the wildest dreams of many a good man and woman in this world.

Never let some jagoff with a nicer suit and a more expensive car get sniffy with you or compromise your dignity or tell you what's important.

fark the hype. Those people make a lot of that money by blowing smoke up your ass and conning you into believing that you need something they're trying to foist off on you, otherwise "U R a Loser!"

That's a crock. Your integrity, dignity and decency and honest work and happy home are the core of life in America as we defined it for the first two centuries of this nascent giant that is America and if you keep getting suckered by arrogant wankstains who live and die with their bank balance, you can miss out on just how good your life is.

Remember:

Really important, successful people don't spend a lot of time trying to make you feel unimportant or unsuccessful. They have things to do. And their good name is invaluable, as yours should be.

Go pick up your kid, pull them into the air until they laugh, tell them you love them and make something nice for dinner. Go smile at your spouse or SO and say "Honey.. we ain't doing so bad".

fark these posturing pricks.

There's a lot of happy to go around and it isn't all swimming around in an IRA or a mortgage note.

And if you couldn't make a batch of laundry detergent to save your life, it might be fun. Hell, paper airplanes are fun, if the mood strikes.

Integrity is the only commodity on earth that becomes worthless the minute it goes on sale.

Enjoy your wonderful life.

This is getting copy and pasted to everyone I know. You are my hero for the week.

SaladMonkey I can't figure you out.

It's ok.

My mom couldn't, either, but she loved me.

She was a nice lady.

skrilled: "Pond, 26, a stay-at-home mom with an almost 8-month old daughter, does four loads of laundry every other day."

I only wash my clothes every other week, and I'm lucky if it reaches four loads. How is it possible to do more than 12 loads of laundry per week?

Kids dirty a lot of clothes.

That and she exaggerates, most stay at home moms do. However many loads of laundry a stay at home mom does per week, multiply by .75

These articles about how everybody is "cutting back" and "struggling" and "facing harsh realities" always blow my mind. I've lived like this my whole life. Where's the story? When did it become a way of life to be a glutton, and the story is not how you're a farking spoiled glutton, but how you're now "suffering" because you don't eat out five times a week?

tweekster:Or if you ever thought an SUV was a good idea, even if gas was 10 cents a gallon.

What MPG do you consider responsible? I mean, there are plenty of vehicles on the road that aren't SUVs but get less than stellar mileage.

I drive one that gets 21 MPG consistently, and I *need* something with 4WD when I visit construction sites. Do you suggest I buy a *second* vehicle to get around in when I'm not visiting a job site?

skrilled: "Pond, 26, a stay-at-home mom with an almost 8-month old daughter, does four loads of laundry every other day."

I only wash my clothes every other week, and I'm lucky if it reaches four loads. How is it possible to do more than 12 loads of laundry per week?

as was stated above, at least a few times, you don't have kids, do you?

/ad no, my kids don't need to have new outfits due to them "looking good' or any of that shiate - they dumb whole plates of food on themselves, they spit up (my 7 month old a LOT) on themselves, their diapers overflow occasionally
//shiat (pun intended) happens

skrilled: I only wash my clothes every other week, and I'm lucky if it reaches four loads. How is it possible to do more than 12 loads of laundry per week?

It does seem kind of excessive, but one thing my sister in law has demonstrated to me is that kids generate 7x their bodyweight in laundry every 4 minutes.

ZholtayaStrelka: I'm 25, and my wife and I make a combined 320,000/yr. Yay education! How about that, poor people?

My penis is still bigger than yours, and your wife loves it.

Mercutio74 It does seem kind of excessive, but one thing my sister in law has demonstrated to me is that kids generate 7x their bodyweight in laundry every 4 minutes.

Only if you fail to teach them not to.

Kids are quick studies.

If they see themselves as part of a larger construct with an active role, they love to learn.

tweekster:
Plus what does he do for the other 2 meals a day? And a half pound for one meal is not enough.

For breakfast today and yesterday, I had two eggs, 2 bacon strips, 1/2cup of beans, a wheat biscuit with jam, and some milk.

Lunch is always leftovers. Once every two weeks or so I eat out with colleagues to keep up appearances/networking.

jst3p: Adman12: My wife and I do/did all of those things with both of us keeping our jobs (but she did have a year of mat leave for the full-time breastfeeding). We eat dinner at 7:30 or so, which gives us time to cook after work.

I save a ton using the following tactic:

Sunday night I make a "big" meal. Then I divide it in five containers for lunch throughout the week. Sure you have the same thing for lunch every day, but it beats eating out at $12 a day.

Just make 6 and save one in the freezer, then in a few weeks you can rotate different meals every day

Sabalo: On organic milk... there are coupons online for Horizon brand milk that put it in range of "regular" milk prices. Not that there's anything wrong with regular milk, but if you're one of those people that must absolutely have that label on your milk, a couple of minutes of searching will make it more cost effective for you.
------------------------------
Check the expiration date of regular milk vs. organic milk. Regular milk is not cost effective for me because half the carton goes down the drain. Organic, on the other hand, stands a chance of being used up before it spoils.
------------------------------------
danlpoon: Fark is loaded with "have-nots".

Also known as liberal Democrats, P/T Employees, Students of the Social Sciences (no, I will not call you 'doctor'), Bike-commuters, Text-messagers, Apartment-dwellers, Bus-riders, Dole-takers and assorted other lazy Socialist pansies with their hand out.
---------------------
Yeah, you have it all figured out, dude. Text messagers? wtf does that have to do with being poor or rich? Apartment- dweller? Hey- it makes more sense for some people. If you're not handy around the house, don't have time for yard work, and want to live in a nicer place than you could afford to buy? There's no shame in it. Bike commuter? my next door neighbor commutes by bike. Not because he HAS to, he's an IT director who certainly makes more than enough to have a very nice car (which they do) but he HATES driving, and lives close enough to work that he can do so. Bus- riders? My girlfriend rides the bus every day to work. Again, not because she HAS to, but because she wants to. Because we live close to the bus line, her bus pass is tax- deductible, she works downtown and doesn't have to pay for parking, her car insurance is half what it would be otherwise, and she gets to sit back and read or do sudoku puzzles while relaxing on her way to work instead of fighting the crush of cars streaming into down town at 8AM, finding a parking space, then walking 2 blocks to work. The bus stop is right in front of her building, and her walk from home to the bus stop here is less than it would take from the parking lot at work.

And yes, I am a liberal democrat. We also own a nice house in a safe, desirable city neighborhood. We have a local co- op market that lets us buy Trader Joe's/ Whole foods quality groceries at Kroger prices just 3 doors away. We both work in industries that are not THAT badly affected by recession (hell, my line of work gets better- when there's less money, people are more likely to fix their old car than buy a new one!) So no, I don't have a BMW (I have a Volvo.) But I'm hardly a have- not.

ZholtayaStrelka: I'm 25, and my wife and I make a combined 320,000/yr. Yay education! How about that, poor people?

And yet you can't afford TotalFark?

J/K

We've been on the poor end of the spectrum (first year we were together, we grossed less than $20,000). There is a difference between 60/40 ground beef and 93/7 ground sirloin...and the sirloin tastes much much better. We'll skimp on the cable bill, if it means fresh veggies and free-range chicken.

/SAHM who does not make her own soap (too lazy), no more breastfeeding either
//spends $300+ every 2 weeks for groceries (including cleaners, razors, etc)
///worked for almost 20 years in the restaurant industry (starting in high school)
////been there, done that
///going back to school next year when the youngest starts

bunner: If they see themselves as part of a larger construct with an active role, they love to learn.

Depending on the age I don't know if that will be doing them a service. My six year old will often go through two or three shirts a day due to "playing". I would rather do laundry than have her fun diminished because she is worried about getting dirt on her shirt.

bunner: Mercutio74 It does seem kind of excessive, but one thing my sister in law has demonstrated to me is that kids generate 7x their bodyweight in laundry every 4 minutes.

Only if you fail to teach them not to.

Kids are quick studies.

If they see themselves as part of a larger construct with an active role, they love to learn. (bold mine)

Aha! I see you know my sis-in-law.

Labrat407: jst3p: Adman12: My wife and I do/did all of those things with both of us keeping our jobs (but she did have a year of mat leave for the full-time breastfeeding). We eat dinner at 7:30 or so, which gives us time to cook after work.

I save a ton using the following tactic:

Sunday night I make a "big" meal. Then I divide it in five containers for lunch throughout the week. Sure you have the same thing for lunch every day, but it beats eating out at $12 a day.

Just make 6 and save one in the freezer, then in a few weeks you can rotate different meals every day

Wow, you just made my day!

/seriously

What is so amazing about growing your own herbs? I've been doing this for years - and thought I was spoiled because it's just BETTER than the 20 year old dried crap in a jar.

fatcatfan: tweekster:Or if you ever thought an SUV was a good idea, even if gas was 10 cents a gallon.

What MPG do you consider responsible? I mean, there are plenty of vehicles on the road that aren't SUVs but get less than stellar mileage.

I drive one that gets 21 MPG consistently, and I *need* something with 4WD when I visit construction sites. Do you suggest I buy a *second* vehicle to get around in when I'm not visiting a job site?

Any MPG where the driver won't complain about the price of gasoline is reasonable.

MemoryInMotion: What is so amazing about growing your own herbs? I've been doing this for years - and thought I was spoiled because it's just BETTER than the 20 year old dried crap in a jar.

Yeah. I thought everyone on Fark grew their own "herbs".

jst3p: That and she exaggerates, most stay at home moms do. However many loads of laundry a stay at home mom does per week, multiply by .75

This is true. The days I'm home I do all the laundry between whatever work I've brought home. Laundry is not work. It's picking up piles of clothes and taking them to a big, expensive bucket, pouring stuff in, and turning a dial. Eventually there is folding involved, which you can do literally while sleeping.

MadTheologian: withvengeance86: Not into the whole brevity thing: We each buy or own groceries, give ourselves ~$100 for one month. Then we see how long we can make it last. So far my record is 6 weeks (I got sick of eating pasta everyday and caved). He is in the lead with 8 weeks.

/Working on week 3, still going strong due to a sale at Kroger.


Kroger is amazing.

About two weeks ago, they had this "buy 10 certain items and get 5 bux off" sale. I had some coupons for some frozen food and other items that was on sale. What would have been 25 dollars...I paid 8.


Yeah, their sales impress me. I haven't been in this area long (Norfolk, VA) and I had never set foot in a Kroger before. The first time that I went there I didn't have a Kroger card or anything, but the lady in front of me at the checkout let me use hers. Just by doing that I saved a little over $4.00...and all I had was a basket full of groceries, it isn't like I had a ton of stuff. Needless to say, I went and got one of the discount cards.

swankywanky: jamminatorr!: The woman highlighted in the article is a stay at home mom with a kid whose husband is a bartender. No wonder they're having a hard time making ends meet. Get a job you lazy slut.

yeah, so all that "extra" money can go to child day care?

dumbass.

If daycare is $400 a month, and she works full time and makes $800 a month, they are ahead. Additionally she will probably save money on their heating and electric during the day, food if the daycare provides a meal, and her children may be better socialized for school entrance.