Attempting Minimalism: The Year of Thrifty

March

Well, here we are halfway through April and I am finally ready to address the failure that is March. What can I say? March was super tough, financially, that is. It is baseball season here in the Deep South, which means little free time at home. Even with the abundant, and annoying I might add, amount of rain that we have had, baseball season does not lend itself to being thrifty. For one, there is very little time at home to cook, thus grabbing food or eating out is the norm. Next, paying several nights a week to attend a game adds up quickly. I finally realized that baseball is an evil that I cannot fight, so as the old saying goes...if you can't beat em, join em. I fully embraced the entire month of eating out of a sack and letting someone else serve me and clean up the mess. My waistline isn't too happy with all the processed foods, but now that things are winding down, I feel like we can get back on track.

Speaking of eating out, I realized that my goal of only eating out twice a month was quite lofty, but also, unattainable. I enjoy cooking, but I am seriously burned out. I am sick of coming up with creative ways to eat healthy and I am sick of going to the grocery store and I am sick of cleaning up....that's a lot of sick, huh? I made a crucial discovery last month, that has helped save what little sanity I have left, I don't have to cook breakfast every damn morning for my family to live!!! What a discovery. I wish I had come to this realization sooner. Now, we have what I have affectionately dubbed as "Cereal Saturday" any day of the week that I deem. I feel like if I do jazz hands when I announce "Cereal Saturday" that it adds a little something to it...like scented stationary i.e. Reece Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Ok, now I have this stupid bold font and I don't know how to get rid of it!!!!!! Ok, now I can't get rid of the italics! What the hell???? Oh my gosh, this is seriously annoying. Help me!!!!! Well, I will just write in italics. Sorry. Anyway, the first time I announced "Cereal Saturday" the hubs thought it was quite cute, especially with the jazz hands thrown in. Flash forward to the second or third "Saturday" that week, and he was like, "but today is Thursday...." I did the jazz hands twice that day, just to snazz it up a bit. I don't guess my cooking habits fall under the being thrifty umbrella, but I sure have enjoyed my brief moment of self-discovery. I finally confessed to the hubs, that I just couldn't stick with that resolve, I'm just not that disciplined. He said he thought it was stupid anyway, lol.

So on top of baseball and eating out too much, we also bought tickets to three concerts coming up in the near future. I take no responsibility for this, instead I blame my good friend, who shall remain nameless but knows who she is, and her husband. They are some concert goers from way back and mentioned that Boston and Kansas were coming to our area....OMG! I just noticed that my font changed back...YAY!!! anyway, they mentioned Boston and Kansas, I told the family, and long story short, we bought tickets. Then, when a couple of other classic rock bands announced concerts in our area, my husband and youngest son wanted to go to those as well. I was reluctant at first, but then I looked at my seventeen and fourteen year old sons and their lives flashed before my eyes, and I realized, at that moment, that sometimes it isn't about saving money, it's about making memories.

March may not have been our thriftiest month so far this year, but the realization that life is short is priceless. I don't want to look back and say, "well, I saved a lot of money in 2015" I want to look back and say "Wow, 2015 was one of the best years ever...remember when we....(fill in the blank)" That is what I want. I have wasted too many years of my children's youth worrying about if the house was clean and staying on a schedule. I have often wished that I could start over when they were babies, but I can't. What I can do is make the most of everyday from here on out.

We have a birthday for my youngest next month and that is never thrifty! I am, however, feeling renewed in my quest. Maybe being thrifty isn't all about money, maybe it is about looking inward and finding out truths about yourself and your family. Maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. I look forward to seeing what April brings.