No Longer an Expat

I just walked past the car keys and the small pile of junk that accumulates there. I noticed two one dollar bills and a couple coins. My first thought was, "I wonder where that came from." Second thought, "I need to find my bag of US money and put it away." Third thought as I shook my head, "Or I could USE it because I LIVE in America now." Sometimes I still think I'm an expat. Hehe.

Change

Just bought a $44 computer cooling fan because ithe laptops BOTH keep shutting off when they overheat. I got a $50 bill and pulled out a ziplock baggie of coins started to count to get to the $4 so change was an easy $10 bill for them to return to me. They took one look and asked it is wanted to just hange it all. They really wanted my change. SWEET!!! My purse is several pounds lighter now and all my $0.50 and $.10 are gone. Plus I made significant headway on the $0.20 pieces the other day buying groceries. I'm whittling down on my money to do list of cashing things in.

Cash Drain

May 19, 2013

Outta gas on a Sunday morning when we are running late already. Made it to church and since Ashlyn won't go to Sunday school I'll run out and fill up during class. Asked Brian for $50 cash just in case. "You take my money lots faster than the lunch lady does!"

Money, Money, Money!

All my kids LOVE money. Ben has been getting an allowance for about two years. He understands how to pay tithing and how much has to be put in his savings account and how much he gets to keep. He can read a price tag in the store and budget his cash to buy what he wants and know how much is going to be left over or if he can’t afford the thing he wants. Sometimes he even has the self-control to save up for a bigger item he wants to get.

Maddie started getting allowance this month. She LOVES to sit and sort her money out. She loves to count and put the right number of ten cent coins on the paper in the predrawn holes (doubt they are called dimes, but I don’t know what to call them).

Jake loves to hold as many coins in his chubby little hands as he possibly can. He walks around saying, “Dis one my money? Dis one MY money.” He scours the floor for lost coins and collects them to put in his pockets. I informed the kids that now that both of them are getting allowance we won’t be able to know if the money is his or hers anymore. Therefore, all money left out is Mom’s money. Maybe we’ll make it Jake’s money. When we pay out allowance to the big kids and then figure tithing and things I have to make sure to have lots of extra change to keep Jacob occupied placing it on colored paper all by himself.

Jake is also totally tuned into the fact that money is used for magic tricks and at our house it always is. Brian frequently does coin tricks for any visitors we may have as well as our own kids. Jacob loves to do magic shows just like dad. He'll grab a coin and say, "Abba abba hokus hokus" instead of "abra cadabra, hokus pokus." Then he will put the coin to the left hand and open the right one saying, "not in this one." Then he shifts the coin in his hands right in front of you and smiles as he shows you the other hand is now empty with total confidence that he has just accomplished the most amazing magic trick I have ever seen. It melts my heart.

Counting the Minutes

No Buy Month ends in just under six hours, but who's counting? We can hardly wait to buy... new equipment to convert to internet phone thomas train stuff on ebay for Ben's birthday piano book so I can return the one I borrowed to our friends before they move to Thailand three bottles of craft paint to finish decorating Jacob's room

Bad Choice, Mommy

I knew as I pulled into the parking lot that it was a bad idea. I had just done my grocery shopping the day before and didn't really need anything. I wanted to buy a drink with a bottle shape that would be good for making a piggy bank craft I saw in a magazine. I justified my plan because the drink was a food item, thus qualifying as groceries. Before I left the store I had a box of day old donuts on clearance, a dollar toy from the clearance bin the kids will LOVE on our next long road trip and report folders for my next preschool lesson (which I would have had to buy anyway so I got them that day since they were on clearance). All those clearance items and I STILL spent about $12. I know better. I didn't need to buy anything that day. Shame on me. $12 here and $12 there adds up to lots of cash over a month and a year.