Sunday, January 6, 2008

Cheap, cheap.

I have been spending a lot of time lately looking for more ways to save money.

I will be in line at the supermarket and see a magazine which reads, "Save thousands this year."

Yahoo. I look in the magazine, and voila! I do every item on the list except the one which reads, "Shop for a lower credit card rate so you can pay off your balance sooner."

We don't have a balance.

I am not trying to sound sanctimonious here--we were raised by frugal people, and I love a good bargain. Okay, I am CHEAP. I get my hair cut at the beauty school, I cut coupons, and my family's wardrobe is from clearance and thrift stores. My kids bought each other presents from Salvation Army this year, and all of them got much more than what they would have normally been able to afford. However, we do spend our money, too. My kids go to private school, and I drive a nice car. My vet bills alone would support a small third world country.

One time, my sister called and said, "My mother-in-law's neighbor is moving, and they put a bunch of stuff in the trash. This woman threw away a bunch of clothes, and she is about the same size you are." I went over and got my entire summer wardrobe, plus a wrought iron patio table and chairs, minus the glass top. A few weeks later, I was driving home from somewhere, and I saw a glass table top in someone's tree lawn. Bingo.

Tonight is Garbage Eve in our neighborhood. I guess I could go shopping...

6 comments:

TobyBo said...

"Garbage Eve"?

Which is scarier... did you learn that phrase from me or did you come up with it independently?

Tuesday is Garbage Eve here. :)

Munchkin Mom said...

I learned it from you, and I loved the FESTIVE connotation so we adopted it. LOL.

Kiki used to look at overdone Christmas lights and moan that they looked like Snoopy's doghouse. I told her the people were trying, unlike the Scrooges on our street.

So she changed her term to "joyous."

As in festive.

TobyBo said...

LOL, our Old Navy has "Nice" notebooks and stationery left over from Christmas... I came real close to buying some to send you for your students... also, I received a chili pepper air freshener. Would your DH like that?

And my brother in law has a Chinese tattoo on his leg which he translated for our kids as "Openly Joyous." Only he doesn't mean festive.

Munchkin Mom said...

DH loves chili pepper anything, and the rest of us would enjoy the air freshener.

I have added several words to the "naughty" list: anyways, very, stuff, well (unless referring to health) and sure (unless used as an adjective.

Also, andy of those ^%#* text message shortcuts.

Ack.

TobyBo said...

LOL at your naughty list. The writing program we use (Institute for Excellence in Writing) uses "banned word" lists... I love it.

you understand the freshener smells like chili peppers?

Munchkin Mom said...

Well, I could dab Tabasco behind my ears and drive that man wild. And, frankly, around here, chili peppers smell much better than many other things.