Expenses beyond monthly essentials this year:
- down payment on a mini van
- William's birth, my over night hospital stay 6 weeks before he was born
- 4 pediatrician appointments for Natalie's neck, CT, PT, chiropractor
- getting the Escort evaluated, even though we didn't get it repaired
- getting the Sonata's windshield repaired to get it registered
- items for William such as dresser, nursing pillow, some clothes, boyish liniens, car seat swaddle, breathable bumper, Halo sleep sack swaddler
- Natalie's toddler bed and sheets
- Renewing my teaching license
- Upgrading to smart phones
- Various one time cost items for the kids like a potty, paint brush set, video monitor
- A few special clothes items like my maternity jeans
Ways I've saved us money this year:
- I realized after the fact that getting my IUD actually saves us money than paying for the pill every month
- Natalie's winter outdoor clothes were all cheaper than last year. Her coat was $8 on clearance last spring, her boots were $10 at Walmart purchased in the fall, and her snowpants were lent to us by a neighbor.
- We use both sides of almost all paper when drawing and painting.
- Extensive use of the library for books for both the kids and me, including interlibrary loan.
- Used the Netflix to watch My So Called Life and almost all of Glee. This doesn't save us money, but makes the cost we spend worth it.
- Using coupons, especially on diapers and wipes.
- Buying items for the kids and Christmas so that we don't have to pay for shipping.
- Using points at Sears to buy the kids clothes
- Giving items we don't need anymore as gifts in a few cases
- Cutting gift money by $5 per person for extended family (saves us $30 a year)
- Making some gifts
- Buying a huge number of size 3 diapers for William at BJs with a coupon and a free month member ship
- Not replacing my sunglasses when they were lost
- Having 90% of William's clothes thus far lent to us by a friend
- Getting big purchases as gifts such as my Bogg's boots and our food processor
- Rarely going out to eat or to the movies
- Breastfeeding vs formula (though that isn't our main reason, it does save money)
- Selling back cds and dvds (I think we finished doing that this year)
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