I now have a brand new reason to be frugal this summer. It has come to me in the form of a shaggy brown haired creature with a bottomless pit of a stomach. No, this creature is not an animal although by the way he eats you might think - horse? Nope, but close.
Boy.
No, not just, "boy". TEENAGE BOY that is taking after his father in height. I know the cliche' "eating like a teenage boy". But do you really understand what this means? Have you lived with a teenage boy recently?? I have a HUGE respect for mothers with teenagers, always have, but now I really do! My time in the kitchen has doubled in cooking and cleaning since he has arrived.
Aidan is his name. He is a wonderfully sweet boy who loves his little brother and can get him to shriek with delight at his silly antics and play for hours. Aidan is the beautiful reason I have my husband today. It was the shocking news of his conception that turned my wayward husband (only a sophomore in college) to seek mercy and grace from Jesus. It turned his life around and was the very driving force for his re-conversion. God makes all things new and he truly does use bad for good. Aidan has an innocence that one could only dream for of a child growing up in downtown Chicago and going to a public school. I truly feel like that is indeed the grace of God and Jeremy's fervent prayers for his son.
So, with all that said, we really do enjoy having Aidan stay with us for a month in the summer. However, my frugal "momness" really starts to blare when he is with us. I'm trying not to nag but not only does he eat strings of continuous meals/snacks, much like my toddler actually, but in larger potions, he wastes more food than I would. I know my mom would love to know I am finally getting a taste of my own medicine. Since I was also one to just take a portion of food and throw out what was left on my plate. For example this morning he poured a large bowl of milk and added cereal to it. He ate the cereal and left the milk, or so it appeared by looking at the leftover milk. Now, as a child I would have dumped the milk. Actually it was probably my mom making me drink the gross sugary milk that made me start eating cereal with no milk at all. However, now that I buy the milk... I DRINK THE MILK. As I watch him dump out 1 1/2 cups of milk down the drain I can't help but think, no, not of the children in Africa, but of Augustine and how that would be half a days milk for him. Down the drain. Ug.
The positive result is that I am clipping ever more coupons and scouring stores even more carefully to save us from spending unnecessary amounts of money and stretching our budget. So, I will certainly be sharing more deals and posting more "Starving Artist - Editions" than I normally would.
So here is a nugget from all this penny pinching:
Aldi this week has a bunch of Dole bananas that are getting brown. They are $0.44 per bunch. There is also a sign next to them saying, "brown bananas buy one bunch get one free". That means I was able to buy 4 bunches of bananas for $0.88. So this morning I whipped up a double batch of whole wheat banana bread and mashed and froze the rest of the bananas for another batch next week.
For more great money saving deals check out this great blog "Money Saving Mom" that has been really inspiring me to pinch my pennys. I also really enjoy my dear friend's Frugal Friday's posts at Adventurous Beginnings.
Happy penny pinching!
Sarah
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