Fighting frugality fatigue
There are some days I am so
tired of pinching pennies. Some days where I just want to go out and
spend the last $20 in the account on burgers and fries. Some days I just
want to go into the store, open my arms wide, and say “Get whatever you
want boys!” This feeling is called frugality fatigue. It is that point
where deprivation, depression and frustration all meet and cause you to
make a rash splurge or snap and totally break your budget. It is a
feeling that can drag you down. I have made some regrettable fatigue
decisions (looking at you Ice cream maker we have used three times in
10 years). Almost always it involves some impulsive splurge in the
moment. Like heading home to eat leftovers and just deciding “Forget it!
I’m getting McDonald’s” and then spend a bunch of money on something
that just lasts a little while. I am stuck in that place right now, except so far I haven't made a dumb choice...yet ;)
I was surfing the web the other night looking for ways to help curb frugality fatigue, once again, frugal and money saving blogs were no help. The three most common answers to how to break out of that funk was to
A. Go out and splurge a little- nope, totally impossible, couldn't even if I really, really want to, and boy do I want to.
B. Change your budget to include more "fun" money- um, I am trying to find "electric bill" money, fun money doesn't exist.
C. Look for ways to earn more money- Well, I am going to maybe try that one, still haven't gotten the nerve to sell stuff on Facebook Marketplace yet. But honestly, I don't know if anyone will want to buy our used twice over stuff. And besides, if you are living in a shelter or hotel, you don't even have stuff.
Once again, the internet has let me down. There just aren't any good tips for people that have extreme circumstances. So I did what lots of grown ups do when they are desperate, I called my mom. I asked her, how did she put one foot in front of the other during our worst times? She laughed and said, "Do you remember those times you came home from school to find all of the furniture rearranged? That would happen when we got a shut off notice, or something. I dealt with that frustration by changing the furniture around or some other big undertaking." I thought about that for a minute and asked, "What happened the day you switched our bedrooms so that we had the boys room and they had our room?" She thought for a minute and laughed. "That was the day I went through your rooms and got out all of your old clothes and put them on consignment at the thrift store! Most of them you didn't even notice gone, but one or two times someone said they were missing something and my response was that it must have gone missing in the move!"
Some of the other things she told me about her doing included:
- Sending us to spend the night with relatives -she needed a BREAK and my other family were just as poor as we were, so they understood and babysitting this way was a free way to help out.
- Taking us on random picnics or drives
- Making over something or create something new- I remember one summer day we sat outside and made jewelry with some wire from a telephone spool- there are like twenty different colored wires in there. I have NO IDEA where she got wire from a telephone spool, haha, but I remember the big wooden spool in our backyard for a little while and she made a flower ring that I loved.
- Doing something completely crazy or out of our routine- like the time she let us all stay home from school and watch tv all day. She said perfect attendance was over-rated! Or the time we drove all day just so we could stand at the edge of one of the great lakes, then drove back and got home at like midnight
- She said a few times she organized a potluck party and everyone brought something and she provided the space and coffee and tea, also, just inviting people over
- She would do a whole apartment/house/trailer clean
- Help someone else out with something- she would offer to babysit someone's children or we would go do yard work for someone, or whatever
- Make up a goal-
I had no idea that some of my best memories are connected to some of our worst times! I felt so much better after talking to my mom.
I didn't make a Shelf Stable Saturday post this week, instead I spent that time cooking. I cooked a big batch of rice and a big batch of pinto beans and made refried beans. It is going to be Mexican food here this week! I also boiled up eggs and chopped up onions, celery and carrots for soup and salads later in the week. I don't have tons to work with this week, but after talking to my mom about making the best of a situation or time, I was a little energized to get busy and do something productive. I think the hardest part of going through tough financial times is the lack of control, or the perceived lack of control, and by being productive we can take some of that control back. So here is our menu plan for this week !
Monday-
- Breakfast- Scrambled egg, toast, 1/2 banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, Us-Sandwiches, crackers, canned peaches
- Dinner- Burrito bowls- rice, refried beans, salsa, sour cream and corn on the side
Tuesday-
- Breakfast- Oatmeal with peanut butter and banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, Us-leftover burrito bowls
- Dinner- Chicken noodle soup without the chicken, tuna salad on toast
Wednesday-
- Breakfast- scrambled egg and toast, 1/2 banana
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, Us- Leftover soup and sandwiches
- Dinner- Pasta Salad with chopped boiled eggs, celery, carrots and a little onion, apple slices
- Here is a post about cooking pasta in the microwave
Thursday-
- Breakfast-scrambled eggs, toast, apple slices
- Lunch- Kids eat at school, Us- egg salad sandwiches, crackers, carrot sticks
- Dinner- Cole slaw and Bean and rice chimichangas- Fill tortillas with a mixture of refried beans, cream cheese, rice and taco seasoning (they mix better warm in a pot on the stove), divide among flour tortillas, tuck in sides, and roll up each tortilla, lay seam side down on a greased pan, spread melted margarine or butter over tops
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, or until browned how you like
Friday-
- Breakfast- Oatmeal with peanut butter and banana
- Lunch- Kids at school, Us- Leftover chimichangas, carrot and celery sticks
- Dinner- Taco soup with tortilla chips, banana pudding
Saturday-
- Brunch- Fried egg and bologna sandwiches, fried potatoes, canned peaches
- Dinner- Macaroni and cheese with hot dog coins, Peas, garlic toast
Sunday-
- Brunch- Bacon fried rice, scrambled eggs, fruit salad made with fruit cocktail and whatever fruit we have left
- Dinner- Potato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
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