Saturday thrift

Today, John and I discussed ways to reduce our spending and save a little money.  We decided, once and for all, to re-commit to using cloth diapers, as we had for the first 9 months of Gabriel's life.  That alone will save us hundreds of dollars a year.  Of course, there are ecological advantages to using cloth, because they are reusable and won't sit in a landfill.  We were sort of set to do this over the winter, but ended up backing out.  But this time, I went and bought a diaper pail at the re-sale shop for ten bucks.  I folded up the diapers (We use Bum Genius) and put them in a nice big basket and everything is ready to go in the morning.

Another thing we are doing is reducing our cable package to basic.  I really thought that I wanted to have the whole cable package deal again, but after it was installed I felt and still feel overwhelmed by all the choices available.  Inevitably, I either turn on a local channel, PBS, or turn it off altogether.  We can borrow DVDs from our local library for free, and there is always Netflix downloads if we really want to use it. That is another huge chunk of change that stays in our pocket.

While I was at the re-sale shop I found two pair of adorable baby leggings for fall/winter.  One is a pull on style with brown and cream  stripes and a lion on the bottom, the others are navy leg warmers with grey polka dots.  They look so comfy and cozy and Gabriel is going to look adorable toddling around in them! 

We are going to sort through his clothes from last fall and hopefully sell some to the re-sale places for cash or credit.  Then we can use this towards purchasing some "new " stuff for fall/winter.  His grandparents bought him some pjs and a couple of adorable outfits, so we have a bit of a start, which is really helpful.

I also found a new chunky wooden knob puzzle for 3!  At PTO Thrift I got a perfect condition "Pat the Bunny" for 50 cents! My family got him a copy for Christmas last year that he kind of chewed up when he was little and teething, so I was happy to find such a good copy for so little.  I also got him a little tin that had pictures of butterflies and flowers and a big sun on it, to practice opening and closing.  30 cents for that "toy."

John made a delicious dinner tonight of roasted vegetables and pasta.  We ate bowls of it, and then to further the whole grain goodness of the night, we gorged ourselves on some good bread and butter.  Then we watched the remainder of "The Plan," which was sort of a companion piece to the Battlestar Galactica series.

Gabriel had a hard time falling asleep tonight.  He also crawled out of our bed when John fell asleep and came out to play, I think.  He was quite pleased with himself.  I went and layed down with them, until Gabriel fell asleep...finally....


Last night, I finished the name garland/banner I made for Gabriel's room.  I took a picture, which I will post soon, but cannot now because the camera batteries have died.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Tonight I started cutting out 4x4 squares of fabric for the nine patch quilt I'm going to do for his room.  I experimented with other design ideas, but since this is my first quilt and I'm doing it by hand, I opted for the most basic, simple, old school pattern: the beloved nine patch. Just like Laura Ingalls!