Show and Tell Tuesday: Steal vs Splurge
Andrea from Momfessionals has started her new writing prompts for 2017! This is the first month of her new Show and Tell Tuesday: Steal vs Splurge. I am late to the link up party, and I debated even linking up because after reading just a few posts, I realized that I am REALLY taking this very literally!
Without further ado...this is what we skimp on:
I rarely buy things like clothes, makeup and shoes for myself. If I do, its typically with birthday or Christmas money. I don't usually buy jewelry, and any purse I have has been a gift. Same with shoes and boots.
The clothes our boys wear are 99.5% secondhand or hand me downs. Jovie also has a good start on her secondhand wardrobe. She has a few new items purchased for her by her grandmas and a few friends.
Because Mike wears a uniform to work, his clothes for home are typically jeans and tshirts or workout gear. He buys himself one new pair of jeans a year. (No joke.) And is still wearing jeans from years ago, but I digress.
Mike cuts his own hair. Every two weeks without fail.
We used to lease my car, but we ended up paying Mike's car off and purchasing my car - my first used car ever. It's five years old and has some miles on it. I have always had brand new cars and never had to worry about issues with them - but already this car has needed its brakes reworked, transmission fluids flushed, brand new battery...*sigh* Hopefully new car for Erin will someday make its way back on our splurge list ;)
We don't go on vacation ever. The last time we went anywhere it was six years ago, and that doesn't include trips to PA to see family, by the way. At this point, I don't foresee us going on vacation any time soon either.
We got rid of cable years ago. (But have Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.)
We don't eat out - unless its McDonald's drive thru or take out pizza. Sometimes Mike and I will get a date night.
I don't buy any decor for our home. In fact I bought curtains for Jovie's room (at TJ Maxx, on sale) last week and that was the first thing I have bought for our house in forever. I do a lot of shopping of our own house. Besides our living room couch and buffet - and our bedroom furniture - our house is filled with hand-me-downs and garage sale finds. Which is fine because my kids destroy everything, but hopefully someday we will have nice things! ;)
I have cut back on drives, traveling out of town or shopping trips to nearby cities. Usually we go out of town once a week for therapy, so I only use one tank of gas a week. (I always fill up on Tuesdays.)
And this is how we splurge:
Mike belongs to two gyms - one for more conventional fitness that he goes to several times a week and another for MMA training that he does one evening a week. Fitness is important to him and crucial for his profession so that is something we invest in.
While I don't buy much for myself, I DO like nice hair products that I get from a salon or order online.
We like our iPhones (I adore my Apple Watch) and our data plans and all the fun stuff that comes with that.
Our kids have nice shoes. Maybe their clothes are secondhand, but they always have nice shoes.
Since we are one income and that is our choice, we make a lot of sacrifices so I can stay home. Mike works a lot of overtime and off duty details when he can.
When Grayson was diagnosed with autism, that very day as we were driving home and my mind was spinning, I told Mike that someday we need to build a house that could have an apartment for Grayson for when he is older. We don't know what the future holds for our Gray, but I want to be as prepared as possible. So that is a goal for someday. I have been praying for a position I can work fro home so that I can help out with income. I have said it before and I will say it again - autism is expensive.
These years are hard, but I think it will pay off and then some down the road.
Without further ado...this is what we skimp on:
I rarely buy things like clothes, makeup and shoes for myself. If I do, its typically with birthday or Christmas money. I don't usually buy jewelry, and any purse I have has been a gift. Same with shoes and boots.
The clothes our boys wear are 99.5% secondhand or hand me downs. Jovie also has a good start on her secondhand wardrobe. She has a few new items purchased for her by her grandmas and a few friends.
Because Mike wears a uniform to work, his clothes for home are typically jeans and tshirts or workout gear. He buys himself one new pair of jeans a year. (No joke.) And is still wearing jeans from years ago, but I digress.
Mike cuts his own hair. Every two weeks without fail.
We used to lease my car, but we ended up paying Mike's car off and purchasing my car - my first used car ever. It's five years old and has some miles on it. I have always had brand new cars and never had to worry about issues with them - but already this car has needed its brakes reworked, transmission fluids flushed, brand new battery...*sigh* Hopefully new car for Erin will someday make its way back on our splurge list ;)
We don't go on vacation ever. The last time we went anywhere it was six years ago, and that doesn't include trips to PA to see family, by the way. At this point, I don't foresee us going on vacation any time soon either.
We got rid of cable years ago. (But have Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.)
We don't eat out - unless its McDonald's drive thru or take out pizza. Sometimes Mike and I will get a date night.
I don't buy any decor for our home. In fact I bought curtains for Jovie's room (at TJ Maxx, on sale) last week and that was the first thing I have bought for our house in forever. I do a lot of shopping of our own house. Besides our living room couch and buffet - and our bedroom furniture - our house is filled with hand-me-downs and garage sale finds. Which is fine because my kids destroy everything, but hopefully someday we will have nice things! ;)
I have cut back on drives, traveling out of town or shopping trips to nearby cities. Usually we go out of town once a week for therapy, so I only use one tank of gas a week. (I always fill up on Tuesdays.)
And this is how we splurge:
Mike belongs to two gyms - one for more conventional fitness that he goes to several times a week and another for MMA training that he does one evening a week. Fitness is important to him and crucial for his profession so that is something we invest in.
While I don't buy much for myself, I DO like nice hair products that I get from a salon or order online.
We like our iPhones (I adore my Apple Watch) and our data plans and all the fun stuff that comes with that.
Our kids have nice shoes. Maybe their clothes are secondhand, but they always have nice shoes.
Since we are one income and that is our choice, we make a lot of sacrifices so I can stay home. Mike works a lot of overtime and off duty details when he can.
When Grayson was diagnosed with autism, that very day as we were driving home and my mind was spinning, I told Mike that someday we need to build a house that could have an apartment for Grayson for when he is older. We don't know what the future holds for our Gray, but I want to be as prepared as possible. So that is a goal for someday. I have been praying for a position I can work fro home so that I can help out with income. I have said it before and I will say it again - autism is expensive.
These years are hard, but I think it will pay off and then some down the road.
Comments
Post a Comment