I've always loved a bargain for as long as I can remember... As a kid, I have vivid memories of finding amazing bargains at garage sales (enormous pink and green plaid stuffed elephant comes to mind) and of my late Grandma Betty bringing down bags of her most recent garage sale finds. As a college student, I was cheap out of necessity, and definitely did the ramen noodle thing on more than one occasion. However, it wasn't until I was a stay-at-home mom for a year that I really found my true appreciation for being thrifty.
Here's a dirty little secret of mine: I like high-end, fancy things. I like them a lot.
I like them *SO* much that when Queen Bee was a baby, I am fairly certain that a baby girl clothing boutique could have been run from her closet. It didn't take too long for Big Bee freak out a teensy weensy little bit about the disparity between the amount I was spending on baby stuff (which was adorable...) and the amount I was earning (...which was nothing). And so began my adventures of being a thrifty/frugal/bargain-seeking maven. What I wanted was the high-end, adorable stuff that made my baby look like she had her own stylist--on a budget that allowed for low-end, bargain-basement duds (See what I did there? Duds like clothes--or duds like "Gee, that outfit is a dud..."). Both. A budget for duds that were duds.
That's my backstory--or at least the backstory that I'm sticking to.
And from clothes, I moved onto baby gear, furniture, groceries, holiday gifts, and so much more.
I hope to share some of my tips and tricks with what I anticipate will be tens if not dozens of blog followers... If you have any questions/comments/ideas that you can share with me, please don't be shy--I'm not.
You could try not moving to the middle of goddamn nowhere, buying a house you don't know how to renovate, and allowing your husband to actually find a job with his relatively lucrative Master's Degree if you were so damn worried about money.
ReplyDeleteWow. When I said not to be shy, perhaps I should have chosen my words more carefully. Clearly I *should* have chosen them more carefully. Noted.
DeleteNow then... The middle of nowhere you speak of is where I grew up, and where there is a support system for my family--something that both my husband and I believe is important as we raise our children. Neither my husband or I ever claimed to be a renovator of homes, and unless I've missed something (wouldn't be the first time, certainly) we aren't the only folks around who've purchased a home and then hired someone else to perform the necessary renovations. Finally, to insinuate that I wasn't *allowing* my husband to use his "relatively lucrative master's degree" to find a job is laughable at best. I have been waiting EAGERLY for a couple of years now to "ALLOW" him to secure a job utilizing that very master's degree.
Oh, and one last thing... Have the courtesy to not hide behind the "anonymous" thing next time. If you know what all the solutions are to my life, or if you happen to have magical powers to line up jobs for my husband and his master's degree, I need to give credit to someone.
You can't hack it away from Mom and Dad. Just own it. Are you really saying small town Iowa has a better quality of life for you family than say, Colorado, where there's also family and support? Hell, look how things turned out for you.
ReplyDeleteIf not, well, you did move to a town where there's virtually no opportunity for either of you to use your educational background, but given you didn't seem to be able to hold down a teaching job maybe that's not such a big concern for you.
And if you're so broke why did you have your kids in daycare and on formula when under and unemployed? Further why do you commute 90 miles a day with gas close to $4 a gallon?
The solutions to your life involve time travel and not marrying a guy you new for a few months. So sorry about that.
It's no secret that I am far closer to my extended family than my husband, but I certainly don't believe I "can't hack it" away from them. It wouldn't make sense to move to Colorado (or any number of other places) for a number of reasons, but I'll not bore you with those.
DeleteAnd if you'd be so kind--since you seem to know my employment history better than I do--please let me know just exactly which teaching job I couldn't hold down. The two teaching positions I've held, I've left because of either having a child and staying home for a year, or because of a cross-country move.
As for the formula comment... Seriously? You want to take issue with what I fed my infant? I literally have no words with which to respond.
All I am trying to do with this blog is share some thoughts. If you have problems with me personally, or if I've wronged you in some way--which seems to be the case from the hostility I'm picking up--please contact me so I can rectify whatever situation exists.
Hi Lindsey! So happy you are writing a blog. You are such a wonderful friend, wife and mother! Please don't listen to people who will try to tear you down. For your children to be able to know and have a relationship with their grandparents is a blessing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Beth. :-)
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