Week 2

Ok so here's the rundown for our second and final week of the financial fast, as suggested in the wonderful book, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches.

Friday- Jenny sees in the paper that tonight is First Friday in downtown Bryan, this is an event that they hold mainly to get you to spend money at one of the stores or restaurants located there, BUT it says that it has a free showing of Mary Poppins at the outdoor theater at 6 pm. Jack is fussy, so I send Kyle and Kylynn on a daddy/daughter date. Turns out the movie didn't start till 8:30, the event started at 6 (opps!). But they manage to have fun, lots of it without spending money. Kylynn dances to the music they have playing, one of the stores gives her a shiny piece of glass, and another store gives her a free cookie, and she found a "stone" on the ground-she is very proud of this. Plus, she loved the first 30 minutes of the movie. I got a night alone...priceless :)

Saturday-Kyle had previously (before we decided to do the fast) decided to do a charity bike ride. So he begins the day by paying his fee, but it's for charity so we still haven't broken our rules. However at the last minute a friend of Kyle's decided to come and do the ride with him and we decided that we just couldn't explain to him after 40 miles of riding why we had to scrounge for food at the house. So we officially broke our rules and went out to lunch. We got back on the fast wagon though and that afternoon continued looking at homes (for free) in the Parade of Homes. We packed the car up with snacks and drinks and all had a great time.

Sunday-Church is free, good. Took naps/mowed the lawn depending on who you are. Kyle says what he really wants to do is go to the pool. Yeah! We can do that, it's open, and I have a pass I bought in 2007 that still has 10+ visits left on it (they let you keep using it, I asked). So we went to the pool for free and had the best time we've ever had there. Both kids loved every minute and we spent almost 2 hours there, brought our own snacks, and even rode our bikes there and home.

Monday-The kids are continuing to drive me nutty. I decide to take them on a walk and to make it more fun let Kylynn push her stroller while I carry Jack in the carrier. Very bad idea (but free), Kylynn cannot walk nearly as far as I thought and this is going to be a long day! I am at the end of my rope with figuring out what to cook from the things in the house and both Kyle and I are generally hungry after 1.5 weeks of not eating as much as we're used to. Kyle gives me a great idea and I run with it, we end up having our best meal since the fast began, even cookies for dessert. It feels so good to eat a real meal again.

Tuesday-Go to the park for lunch with daddy, always fun for all of us. Kyle however doesn't want the lunch I packed because alas, he has gotten pizza from work (free to him). I realize that this financial fast is much harder on a stay at home mom than it is for a working dad, at least in regards to finding ways to eat up all the odd food (he is often saved from his strange lunch by a lunch work provides). Play with friends in the afternoon, one of our favorite free activities.

Wednesday-I am inspired by my positive experience with the dinner Monday night and think of lots of fun ideas for today. We go to the (open) library, have a great time. Come home and eat a good lunch. After nap we play in our baby pool in our backyard, which is placed so that Kylynn can use her playground to slide into it. When that becomes old we play with the art easel (which we saved from someone's trash). We have a great day! Funny I finally feel like I'm getting in the groove and enjoying this now that it's over.

Next: The rules for your own fast (according to the book) and what we gained from the experience.