The money fast, week 1

Sunday:  We are camping.  It is easy to not spend money when you're camping, as there is no place to spend it, (side note: if there was a luxurious shower with an adjoining salon to give you a pedicure and wax the various overgrown hairs, on the way out of the park, it would make millions).  It is however mother's day so Kyle has planned ahead and brought a gift card to a nice restaurant (we allow spending of gift cards during our fast, as we always have a pile of them laying around that we've received as gifts and never seem to use).  When we get home that evening we watch a family movie and eat a dinner of snacks in the den, it is the best kind of evening and totally free.

Monday: It is only day two but since we were out of town all weekend, I have to use our one exception and run to HEB to get milk and Pediasure.  The store has never looked so good, has never been filled with so many things I need!, has never had such a low price on HEB diapers which I love.  , I stick to the rules and walk out with nothing but the milk and Pediasure, even passing up the chocolate milk that has a million calories for Jack, deciding that even that breaks the rules.  

Tuesday: Usually after we drop off Kylynn at school, Jack and I run errands, it's a nice way to pass the time and it's so much easier to do with only one child.  However running errands usually involves spending money, so I run the free ones I can think of, return books to the library, mail a letter (the stamp was one laying around the house), and drop off our recycling.  That evening I make banana bread with the old bananas, that should be a nice treat to help me get through the week.

Wednesday:  There is still so much food in this house, it's not hard at all to make meals.  I make breakfast tacos for breakfast and decide I'll take the kids to the library, most likely my favorite free activity.  Kylynn makes a new friend at the library we all have a great time then go home to pack a picnic lunch to go eat with Daddy at the park.  Our friends come over to play after naps.  So far, so good.

Kyle and I have a date tonight, we swap babysitting with a friend of ours, so it's free, but what to do?  Good question, I cook dinner that we eat before we leave.  Kyle makes us some fancy iced coffees to go and we walk around an old neighborhood in Bryan we both love.  It's a beautiful night, the streets are quiet, and I get to walk around holding Kyle's hand.  We then go shopping....but don't buy anything, weird choice I know.  We go to Academy to look at bikes for Kylynn's upcoming birthday and decide that we also need: a life vest for Jack, water guns for the whole family, new swimsuit for Jenny, new shorts for Jenny, some cool bike toys, baseball shoes for Kyle...you get the idea, thank goodness for the fast and for self control.

Thursday:  Kyle and I have previously scheduled doctor's appointments today that are basically a check up saying we're healthy enough to adopt.  It falls under our exceptions, so it's not a problem.  We talk to a doctor, pee in a cup, and cry like a baby while we have our blood taken (okay, that one was just me).  I make pizza from scratch for dinner, courtesy of Pioneer Woman, and it's a hit, better than Papa John's, I think so!

Friday:  The fast is starting to get old, I see a weekend ahead with no eating out and that makes me sad.  We go on a walk in the morning and play at the local park for a little while.  The rest of the day is spent hanging out at the house.  I have bunko to look forward to, and although not free (I did put in in my exceptions) it is a wonderful way to hang out with women I'm starting to really like for not much and to boot I always win a prize, yes that's right, try not to be jealous, I've discovered the one thing I'm really good at, and it's bunko.

Saturday: The exceptions just keep coming I know, but again it was one from the beginning.  I run to Kroger to buy a handful of food items I need for a shower I'm helping to throw.  I get what turns out to be an amazing pineapple for $1.97 and am so sad I cannot get a second one for our family.  We go on a family bike ride, which has long been one of our favorite (and free) activities, we end up in downtown Bryan and it strikes me that we would definitely stop at one of the amazing restaurants there for a big breakfast.  So instead of feeling sad about it I ask myself what is it that I would want from those restaurants and decide I want a breakfast tostada with chips and salsa, just like the one I had on my honeymoon. I tell Kyle, he amens that, and makes us an amazing Mexican breakfast when we get home.  It was just as good as eating out if not better.  That afternoon a friend of ours who is graduating brings his parents by to visit and brings us a cake!  We go to church that evening to get out of the house for free and surprise they have dippin dots for everyone!  Kyle want to rent a movie and as fate would have it the other day in the mix of coupons Kroger printed out for me, was one for a free rental at RedBox.  We rented an okay movie and enjoyed our evening (I actually accidenally paid or the movie instead of using the coupon, but it's the intention that counts...right?).

Stay tuned, it's always week two that's the hard one.