Frugality is being more economical and less wasteful.
Showing posts with label school/work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school/work. Show all posts
Back to School Savings- CBC Radio Column for August
In August on the radio column we talked about Back to School Savings (surprise). Check it out and see what you have to add: http://www.cbc.ca/mainstreetpei/liz-mackayfrugal-friend/
School trips-again!
Today a notice came home from school about the children attending a play in town. The cost is $7 for each student. The home and school is paying out $2 for each student which leaves $5 left. (My math is astounding isn't it?) In our home that means shelling out $15 this week for a school trip, but I refuse to pay it all out. We have a policy here to help the children learn about money management. They are to contribute to these activities (we are MEAN parents) Read about it here.
This is the same policy for soccer and other sports.
Now I am not going to be totally mean and not let them go if they don't have the money. I have one child that finds it INCREDIBLY hard to part with her money. So instead, the children are able to do extra chores this week to earn their money for the play and the money won't even go into their allowance jars. I get "free" work and they get a "free" play! Everyone is a winner!
How do you teach your children about money?
Enjoy your day!
Breakfast - a must for the day to begin
Ever find your mornings hard and rushed and you think no time for food? How many skip breakfast? How many children miss out on this most important meal of the day?
Breakfast is very important and the more filling you make it, the longer it lasts through the day to engerize your body!
So I would like to offer you some frugal breakfast choices to begin your day with.
Idea number one and most popular here is oatmeal. Remember your mother told you that it would stick to your ribs? She was right. It lasts longer in your body and keeps you feeling good. Don't like plain oatmeal? Who does? Add some brown sugar and maple syrup to it. Top it with yogurt, dry or fresh berries. Sprinkle cinnamon in it while cooking it for extra flavour. Have it in addition to a fruit smoothie to round out your food groups. Here are two places to get more ideas for oatmeal, one and two. Personally I like my oatmeal cooked on the stove instead of in the microwave. I'm old fashioned :)
Idea number two then would be the smoothie. Although not as filling for children generally speaking, it is a great way to get their fruits and veggies in to them for the day. All children love smoothies and there are many healthy foods that you can hide in there to get them to eat/ drink them. Looking for some recipes? You get your fill here and here and here! The great thing is that you can even make these ahead and freeze them in popsicle stands and have a great afternoon snack for the children.
Another great and filling breakfast idea would be the breakfast sandwich. It's something that can be eaten on the way out the door as well. There are lots of fantastic options out there that will fill anyone's belly. Check here and here for some ideas to get you started.
Two more options for you besides the usual cereal or toast. Try out some breakfast muffins! Again, a great thing to eat on the way out the door, on the bus or in the car. Three links for you here as well. One, two and three.
There are also omelettes, boiled eggs and scrambled eggs on/with toast or in a wrap.
One of the favourites in our home are waffles. These you can make ahead and freeze them on the weekend. Then, when you need them, just pop them in the toaster and a nice warm breakfast morning of! Check out one and two links for some ideas.
We also make our "syrup" for our pancakes as well. We like to buy real syrup, but it's not always feasible to pay out for this, or there are times that you run out of syrup. If you buy imitation syrup like Aunt Jemima, or any other brand, try out our recipe for some nice warm syrup made in a few little moments.
Maple Syrup Recipe:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2-3 tsp of maple extract
2 tbsp honey or corn syrup.
Put all of it in a pot mix together and heat until it's boiling. Voila! Homemade "syrup"!
My one piece of advice; put a list together and see what your children will eat and what they won't. No point to make something that they won't eat, right?
Have anything that you would like to add to our breakfast list? Please email us at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca or leave a comment here.
Enjoy your day!
Breakfast is very important and the more filling you make it, the longer it lasts through the day to engerize your body!
So I would like to offer you some frugal breakfast choices to begin your day with.
Idea number one and most popular here is oatmeal. Remember your mother told you that it would stick to your ribs? She was right. It lasts longer in your body and keeps you feeling good. Don't like plain oatmeal? Who does? Add some brown sugar and maple syrup to it. Top it with yogurt, dry or fresh berries. Sprinkle cinnamon in it while cooking it for extra flavour. Have it in addition to a fruit smoothie to round out your food groups. Here are two places to get more ideas for oatmeal, one and two. Personally I like my oatmeal cooked on the stove instead of in the microwave. I'm old fashioned :)
Idea number two then would be the smoothie. Although not as filling for children generally speaking, it is a great way to get their fruits and veggies in to them for the day. All children love smoothies and there are many healthy foods that you can hide in there to get them to eat/ drink them. Looking for some recipes? You get your fill here and here and here! The great thing is that you can even make these ahead and freeze them in popsicle stands and have a great afternoon snack for the children.
Another great and filling breakfast idea would be the breakfast sandwich. It's something that can be eaten on the way out the door as well. There are lots of fantastic options out there that will fill anyone's belly. Check here and here for some ideas to get you started.
Two more options for you besides the usual cereal or toast. Try out some breakfast muffins! Again, a great thing to eat on the way out the door, on the bus or in the car. Three links for you here as well. One, two and three.
There are also omelettes, boiled eggs and scrambled eggs on/with toast or in a wrap.
One of the favourites in our home are waffles. These you can make ahead and freeze them on the weekend. Then, when you need them, just pop them in the toaster and a nice warm breakfast morning of! Check out one and two links for some ideas.
We also make our "syrup" for our pancakes as well. We like to buy real syrup, but it's not always feasible to pay out for this, or there are times that you run out of syrup. If you buy imitation syrup like Aunt Jemima, or any other brand, try out our recipe for some nice warm syrup made in a few little moments.
Maple Syrup Recipe:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2-3 tsp of maple extract
2 tbsp honey or corn syrup.
Put all of it in a pot mix together and heat until it's boiling. Voila! Homemade "syrup"!
My one piece of advice; put a list together and see what your children will eat and what they won't. No point to make something that they won't eat, right?
Have anything that you would like to add to our breakfast list? Please email us at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca or leave a comment here.
Enjoy your day!
What's for lunch?
How often are we asked that? Here it's daily times 4, as each child needs to ask me when no one else is around. With back to school happening, it's time to start thinking about school lunch preparation. Our mothers didn't have that issue as much as we were allowed to take peanut butter sandwiches to school. Since most schools are at least peanut free schools, if not nut free, it puts a whole new spin on what to pack in that lovely box.
Now that you have all of the supplies, you need ideas to put in them. Here is a list compiled from readers via comments on the blog, email, facebook, twitter, some magazine articles, and my personal compilation.
One other thing that I do, is print off the list of lunch ideas and then sit down with each child to go over the list. Each one that they like, their initial goes by it so I know that there will be a no fuss lunch sent to school. Nothing worse than having a lunch come back home and have nothing eaten from it.
Sandwiches:
luncheon meats
meatloaf
canned tuna, chicken or ham
leftover meat from chicken, turkey, roast beef or pork, or ham dinners
jam
cheese and mayo
molasses (one of my favourites, on homemade bread. yum! yum!)
sliced cheddar with jam or mayo
cream cheese with chopped maraschino cherries or chopped olives
cheese slices with sliced apple, pickes, or crumbled bacon
pea butter *
almond butter*
*although with these choices, make sure to send a label with them so your child's teacher knows you aren't sending peanut butter
Instead of regular bread try:
whole wheat, oatmeal, rye or pumpernickel
pita pocketsins
bagels
hot dog buns
hamburger buns
soft tortilla shells
hard rolls
sub buns
biscuits
croissants
crackers
rice cakes
english muffins
Ideas for wide mouth hot thermos
Spaghetti
macaroni
ghoulash
spanish rice and bbq chicken
chili
curry
chicken nuggets
chicken strips (send shredded lettuce, grated cheese, dressing and tortilla shells in seperate containers for them to make their own snack wraps)
Cold thermos ideas:
potato salad
pasta salad
chef salad
ceasar salad
blt salad
vegetable salad
fruit salad
cottage cheese
cubes of meat or cheese
*don't forget to put the salad dressing in another container so salad is still fresh at lunch time.
More ideas:
Cook up a homemade pizza the night before. Slice and send in a container with an ice pack for lunch. Freeze the rest of it for later lunch meals.
Cold cereal and in seperate container the milk
mini pizzas on english muffins
subs with real cheese and deli meats
wraps: chicken, mexican, fajitas, burritos, omelets, snack wraps
boiled eggs
canned soup
Leftover stew
bread and butter
leftover soup
chefboyardee or other canned pasta items
waffles with jam
pizza sub buns (split bun open, spread pizza sauce on top and bottom of bun, layer it with pepperoni, diced green epode and cover with cheese. Broil it to melt the cheese and then close and wrap it in tin foil)
Salsa and nachos
veggies and dip
graham crackers and sauce to dip in
muffins (oat, banana, cranberry, blueberry)
Home made cookies
Granola bars (homemade)
For more ideas, check out a podcast from CBC's Maritime Noon. Go down to the podcast titled, " If you make it, will they eat it? Tips and suggestions for making healthy school lunches." You just might here a familar voice :)
Thanks to the health department and social services for a list of ideas they gave out to all students last year as I shared their ideas here.
That should be a good list to start you off with. There are over 60 ideas here. And with all the different bread types, there are more than 200 ideas! That will get you through the school year!
Let me know what you think, your children think or if you have more ideas to share. Keep them coming! Thanks for reading!
Enjoy your day!
Now that you have all of the supplies, you need ideas to put in them. Here is a list compiled from readers via comments on the blog, email, facebook, twitter, some magazine articles, and my personal compilation.
One other thing that I do, is print off the list of lunch ideas and then sit down with each child to go over the list. Each one that they like, their initial goes by it so I know that there will be a no fuss lunch sent to school. Nothing worse than having a lunch come back home and have nothing eaten from it.
Sandwiches:
luncheon meats
meatloaf
canned tuna, chicken or ham
leftover meat from chicken, turkey, roast beef or pork, or ham dinners
jam
cheese and mayo
molasses (one of my favourites, on homemade bread. yum! yum!)
sliced cheddar with jam or mayo
cream cheese with chopped maraschino cherries or chopped olives
cheese slices with sliced apple, pickes, or crumbled bacon
pea butter *
almond butter*
*although with these choices, make sure to send a label with them so your child's teacher knows you aren't sending peanut butter
Instead of regular bread try:
whole wheat, oatmeal, rye or pumpernickel
pita pocketsins
bagels
hot dog buns
hamburger buns
soft tortilla shells
hard rolls
sub buns
biscuits
croissants
crackers
rice cakes
english muffins
Ideas for wide mouth hot thermos
Spaghetti
macaroni
ghoulash
spanish rice and bbq chicken
chili
curry
chicken nuggets
chicken strips (send shredded lettuce, grated cheese, dressing and tortilla shells in seperate containers for them to make their own snack wraps)
Cold thermos ideas:
potato salad
pasta salad
chef salad
ceasar salad
blt salad
vegetable salad
fruit salad
cottage cheese
cubes of meat or cheese
*don't forget to put the salad dressing in another container so salad is still fresh at lunch time.
More ideas:
Cook up a homemade pizza the night before. Slice and send in a container with an ice pack for lunch. Freeze the rest of it for later lunch meals.
Cold cereal and in seperate container the milk
mini pizzas on english muffins
subs with real cheese and deli meats
wraps: chicken, mexican, fajitas, burritos, omelets, snack wraps
boiled eggs
canned soup
Leftover stew
bread and butter
leftover soup
chefboyardee or other canned pasta items
waffles with jam
pizza sub buns (split bun open, spread pizza sauce on top and bottom of bun, layer it with pepperoni, diced green epode and cover with cheese. Broil it to melt the cheese and then close and wrap it in tin foil)
Salsa and nachos
veggies and dip
graham crackers and sauce to dip in
muffins (oat, banana, cranberry, blueberry)
Home made cookies
Granola bars (homemade)
For more ideas, check out a podcast from CBC's Maritime Noon. Go down to the podcast titled, " If you make it, will they eat it? Tips and suggestions for making healthy school lunches." You just might here a familar voice :)
Thanks to the health department and social services for a list of ideas they gave out to all students last year as I shared their ideas here.
That should be a good list to start you off with. There are over 60 ideas here. And with all the different bread types, there are more than 200 ideas! That will get you through the school year!
Let me know what you think, your children think or if you have more ideas to share. Keep them coming! Thanks for reading!
Enjoy your day!
Bringing lunch from home? How to do it and what you need.
I know most schools have lunch programs available to purchase, but even for one child that can become quite pricey. At the school that three of my children will be attending this year, if I were to purchase the lunches there everyday, it would run me $40.50 each week, plus a drink and the other snacks that are needed for recess or if lunch isn't sufficent! That's $162 a month! My food budget for the entire month for the 6 of us is $500.
By taking a lunch with you instead of purchasing the school lunch, you save money, eat healthier, and you can have garbage free lunches!
First things first, buy a good lunch box and containers. You want this to last, have room in it and be able to keep the food safe. I must say that I really love the lunch box by thermos. I purchased it at Walmart for $13. It comes in your choice of one of three colours, has a hard shell on the inside to keep it from ripping or food getting crushed. The hard shell makes clean up a breeze and all of my children love it! I can't find a picture of it online, my apologies.
The second is a good thermos (hot and cold food keeper). Great for soups, chili, noodles and casseroles. You will also need snack containers; tupperware, locck'n'lock, food saver, whichever brand you chose to be able to put salad, fruit, crackers, baked goods etc in.
Another thing to consider would be utensils. If you are nervous about sending your own utensils, and are hopefully not sending plastic utensils, make a trip to the dollar store and pick up a few regular utensils there to send with them.
Purchase several lunch box size ice packs as well. Keep them in the freezer and each morning include one in the lunch box to keep salads, milk, puddings, etc cool until it's time to eat them. It's my children's responsibility to ensure that these are placed back in to the freezer when they arrive home.
Also, I like to include a napkin (reusable) and don't forget the the drinking bottle as well. See? Garbage free lunch!
Most, if not all, of these items are on sale during this back to school time. It's a cost in the beginning, but it's savings in the end.
Enjoy your day!
By taking a lunch with you instead of purchasing the school lunch, you save money, eat healthier, and you can have garbage free lunches!
First things first, buy a good lunch box and containers. You want this to last, have room in it and be able to keep the food safe. I must say that I really love the lunch box by thermos. I purchased it at Walmart for $13. It comes in your choice of one of three colours, has a hard shell on the inside to keep it from ripping or food getting crushed. The hard shell makes clean up a breeze and all of my children love it! I can't find a picture of it online, my apologies.
The second is a good thermos (hot and cold food keeper). Great for soups, chili, noodles and casseroles. You will also need snack containers; tupperware, locck'n'lock, food saver, whichever brand you chose to be able to put salad, fruit, crackers, baked goods etc in.
Another thing to consider would be utensils. If you are nervous about sending your own utensils, and are hopefully not sending plastic utensils, make a trip to the dollar store and pick up a few regular utensils there to send with them.
Purchase several lunch box size ice packs as well. Keep them in the freezer and each morning include one in the lunch box to keep salads, milk, puddings, etc cool until it's time to eat them. It's my children's responsibility to ensure that these are placed back in to the freezer when they arrive home.
Also, I like to include a napkin (reusable) and don't forget the the drinking bottle as well. See? Garbage free lunch!
Most, if not all, of these items are on sale during this back to school time. It's a cost in the beginning, but it's savings in the end.
Enjoy your day!
Back to School Contest and Prize for you. Today only!
Friday the back to school lunch post will up. In the meantime, from the time of posting to midnight tonight, I have a contest for some PEI deals.
What's up for grabs? Some coupons for buy one 12" pepperoni pizza at Sam's get one free, 2 for 1 admission to the CARI pool, buy $10 of merchandise at Repeats and get $10 free and rent one dvd get one free at your choice of That's Entertainment, The Box Office or Stratford Video.
All you have to do is leave a comment, tweet (fightin2bfrugal), or email (smile_zil at yahoo dot ca) telling us a brown bag lunch you or your children love and recipe if needed. Winner will notified in the morning and the coupons will be mailed out tomorrow. Great prize package for the long weekend.
Ready? Set? Go!
Enjoy your day!
What's up for grabs? Some coupons for buy one 12" pepperoni pizza at Sam's get one free, 2 for 1 admission to the CARI pool, buy $10 of merchandise at Repeats and get $10 free and rent one dvd get one free at your choice of That's Entertainment, The Box Office or Stratford Video.
All you have to do is leave a comment, tweet (fightin2bfrugal), or email (smile_zil at yahoo dot ca) telling us a brown bag lunch you or your children love and recipe if needed. Winner will notified in the morning and the coupons will be mailed out tomorrow. Great prize package for the long weekend.
Ready? Set? Go!
Enjoy your day!
back to school lunch post is coming
Hello all,
It's almost done! Any last minute ideas you want to add email me at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca and I will add them. Thank you for your patience.
Enjoy your day!
It's almost done! Any last minute ideas you want to add email me at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca and I will add them. Thank you for your patience.
Enjoy your day!
Back to School and Back to Bags
Have you ever spent good money on a poor backpack for school? We all have. I know of one person who has purchased three different backpacks for one child during one school year! Isn't it sad that one backpack can't stand up to the use that is required of it for 10 months?
If you are tired of pouring out your money only to trash your pack a few months later, this post is for you.
How much, on average, do you spend on a backpack? How much would you be willing to spend on one if it were to stand the test of time? If it came with a warranty that insured you would be satisfied or they would refund/exchange it for you no matter what? Seriously, put some numbers in your head.
Being frugal is about using your money in the best way possible. Getting the best product/entertainment/whatever for your $ and getting quality.
We have three children in elementary school this year. We DO NOT buy the backpacks with characters on it, with funky designs on it or any other "I have to have it" backpacks. We shop at MEC.
Never heard of them? Check them out.
We purchased this pack for our oldest about 6 years ago. He has since outgrown it, but it then went through this sister for k-2 grades and now his youngest sister uses it for over nighting (she's only three and not in school yet). There is NOT ONE TEAR, FRAY, HOLE of any kind anywhere on it after 6 years! And let me tell you that this pack has been through everything a child can throw at it. We paid all of $12 for it and it was so worth it.
My older son and daughter both now use this pack. My son is on year 4 of having it and again, not one problem with it. Not bad for $26?
I don't think that they cost any more than the character packs one would purchase at Walmart, Zellers, Bentley, or wherever, but they sure are worth their weight. If you want to save money and have quality, I seriously recommend getting a pack with a warranty on it. And please keep your receipts. Although MEC has a record and no questions, not everywhere is like that.
Tell me, what bag does your child use for school? Have a good deal to share? Please comment or email.
Enjoy your day!
If you are tired of pouring out your money only to trash your pack a few months later, this post is for you.
How much, on average, do you spend on a backpack? How much would you be willing to spend on one if it were to stand the test of time? If it came with a warranty that insured you would be satisfied or they would refund/exchange it for you no matter what? Seriously, put some numbers in your head.
Being frugal is about using your money in the best way possible. Getting the best product/entertainment/whatever for your $ and getting quality.
We have three children in elementary school this year. We DO NOT buy the backpacks with characters on it, with funky designs on it or any other "I have to have it" backpacks. We shop at MEC.
Never heard of them? Check them out.
We purchased this pack for our oldest about 6 years ago. He has since outgrown it, but it then went through this sister for k-2 grades and now his youngest sister uses it for over nighting (she's only three and not in school yet). There is NOT ONE TEAR, FRAY, HOLE of any kind anywhere on it after 6 years! And let me tell you that this pack has been through everything a child can throw at it. We paid all of $12 for it and it was so worth it.
My older son and daughter both now use this pack. My son is on year 4 of having it and again, not one problem with it. Not bad for $26?
I don't think that they cost any more than the character packs one would purchase at Walmart, Zellers, Bentley, or wherever, but they sure are worth their weight. If you want to save money and have quality, I seriously recommend getting a pack with a warranty on it. And please keep your receipts. Although MEC has a record and no questions, not everywhere is like that.
Tell me, what bag does your child use for school? Have a good deal to share? Please comment or email.
Enjoy your day!
Back to School (where did the summer go?)
It's that time of the year again. The one that Staples touts is, "the most wonderful time of the year," except to me, it's not. I miss my children ferociously when they leave. My oldest is in 6th grade this year (when did I get old enough to have a child in 6th grade?!), and I have two others in third grade and kindergarten respectively.
Now the preparations are starting to get them ready for school. Two of them, thankfully, I don't have to buy supplies for. The school asks for $35 for each child and they buy the supplies for you. I have compared this cost with a friend who purchased everything for her child last year. Her cost was well over $50 for each child. I guess this is a wonderful savings in my pocket.
My oldest child I have to buy supplies for. Tell me, do you buy yours all at once not caring the price? Probably not because you are here reading. When do you start purchasing? I started looking through the list that was given and between what came home from last year that was unused or minimally used, and things that I had purchased on sale throughout the year, there's not too much left that I need to buy.
Do you reuse your supplies from last year?
My son is mortified that I have a 48 "pack" of colour pencils for him that I have been able to combine from supplies that came home at the end of the year. They were barely used, so why oh why, would I go out and buy a pack of colour pencils when we all ready have tonnes of them waiting to fill their purpose? They will all be sharpened and in their own pencil case and no one will be the wiser.
One thing that we buy new every year, is jeans. This is for two reasons really. One, I can not find used boys' jeans anywhere that aren't ripped and stained and not meant to be and our children have worn through their's from last year and two, I can get them fairly inexpensive.
As I tweeted the other day (fightin2bfrugal), Old Navy has their children's jeans on for $10, regular $24.50. Great deal and it's on until August 19th. As we went in, I remembered that I had been asked to fill out a survey the last time I purchased something there and would get 15% off my next visit. Oops, forgot to do the survey.
It's horrible when you know you could have saved more money had you only not procrastinated.
Then the wonderful thought came to me: buy only one thing and see if you get another survey! Well, sure enough we were invited to participate again.
Out we trudged to the car and did the survey, got the code and went in to take advantage of the 15% off.
Instead of those lovely jeans they were selling for $10, we were able to purchase them for $8.50 each! Fantastic savings! Three pairs for each school age child! $76.50 on jeans instead of the $220.50 that it would have cost us had we purchased them at the regular price! Yeah, I know, I never would have bought them at the regular price.
The only thing left to buy are two pairs of sneakers, a thermos, a lunch kit and a few more actual supplies for my oldest. Not too bad!
Tell me, what do you do for back to school? Are you ready to go?
I am preparing a post on school lunch ideas next. What do your children love, don't love and can't live without? Please share your lunch ideas with me and I will post with all that I find out.
Enjoy your day!
Now the preparations are starting to get them ready for school. Two of them, thankfully, I don't have to buy supplies for. The school asks for $35 for each child and they buy the supplies for you. I have compared this cost with a friend who purchased everything for her child last year. Her cost was well over $50 for each child. I guess this is a wonderful savings in my pocket.
My oldest child I have to buy supplies for. Tell me, do you buy yours all at once not caring the price? Probably not because you are here reading. When do you start purchasing? I started looking through the list that was given and between what came home from last year that was unused or minimally used, and things that I had purchased on sale throughout the year, there's not too much left that I need to buy.
Do you reuse your supplies from last year?
My son is mortified that I have a 48 "pack" of colour pencils for him that I have been able to combine from supplies that came home at the end of the year. They were barely used, so why oh why, would I go out and buy a pack of colour pencils when we all ready have tonnes of them waiting to fill their purpose? They will all be sharpened and in their own pencil case and no one will be the wiser.
One thing that we buy new every year, is jeans. This is for two reasons really. One, I can not find used boys' jeans anywhere that aren't ripped and stained and not meant to be and our children have worn through their's from last year and two, I can get them fairly inexpensive.
As I tweeted the other day (fightin2bfrugal), Old Navy has their children's jeans on for $10, regular $24.50. Great deal and it's on until August 19th. As we went in, I remembered that I had been asked to fill out a survey the last time I purchased something there and would get 15% off my next visit. Oops, forgot to do the survey.
It's horrible when you know you could have saved more money had you only not procrastinated.
Then the wonderful thought came to me: buy only one thing and see if you get another survey! Well, sure enough we were invited to participate again.
Out we trudged to the car and did the survey, got the code and went in to take advantage of the 15% off.
Instead of those lovely jeans they were selling for $10, we were able to purchase them for $8.50 each! Fantastic savings! Three pairs for each school age child! $76.50 on jeans instead of the $220.50 that it would have cost us had we purchased them at the regular price! Yeah, I know, I never would have bought them at the regular price.
The only thing left to buy are two pairs of sneakers, a thermos, a lunch kit and a few more actual supplies for my oldest. Not too bad!
Tell me, what do you do for back to school? Are you ready to go?
I am preparing a post on school lunch ideas next. What do your children love, don't love and can't live without? Please share your lunch ideas with me and I will post with all that I find out.
Enjoy your day!
The cost of school trips and summer activities
It's coming up to the end of the school year and that means class and school trips. They seem to be getting more expensive every year and the more children that you have in school, the more it's going to cost you.
Now I know that in most cases the Home and School helps defray the costs, and you may even be lucky enough to have a class that tries to raise the funds to help out with the cost for each child, but there will inevitably be a cost to you. You know you can't be the parent that says no for your child to miss out on it. Especially when there is only one trip. I mean come on, everyone is going! However, what do you do when there is more than one trip for that class, or more than one child needing to attend a trip?
Plus, with handing out money for soccer, baseball, swimming lessons and any other summer activities that are coming up that your child is involved in, it just may seem like your wallet never stays shut!
We've started to implement something in our home so that our children are understanding the costs that are involved with the activities.
Every time they have come to us in the past several months with needing money to see this play at school, or to go on this field trip or that one, we have looked at the price of the event with the child and have asked them how much they were willing to contribute to it, what it’s worth to them.
Once, it was a play that two of our children were going to attend. It was going to cost $5 for each child to see it. I took each child aside individually, and mentioned the cost to them. Then I asked them how much they were willing to contribute from their own money to be able to attend.
I must say, that they were stunned at first that I was asking this of them. I heard all of the not fair's and being told that I am a mean parent and such. However, when I stated that it's not fair that I shell out all of the money and I don't even get to have any of the fun, they started to see my side.
One of my children is a saver and is VERY stingy with their money. This child still had birthday money left from last year and their birthday was coming up again soon! When presented with the question of how much were they willing to contribute, this child was willing to cough up $1. I was not renegotiating with them, I was willing to take whatever they thought it was worth for them. 20% was a good contribution. They went off to their penny bank and brought back the money asking for change.
Child number 2 was a little different. When presented with having to contribute, this child told me it was worth $2 to them. However, they didn't have exactly that amount on them at the moment (money burns a hole through their pocket VERY quickly). This child asked if they could do some tasks around the home that they normally weren't asked to do to earn the money. Sure thing! I love having more time to finish the other tasks around here that I don’t always have the time for.
I told them that the job would be paid on how quickly they accomplished the task and how well it was performed. If it had to be done again after I checked, the wage would be cut down. Well, they lugged out all of the wood for the spring clean up VERY quickly and it was very well organized. No boards were missed. They earned their money to go to the play.
Now soccer is happening, and one child is contributing 50% of their soccer membership and is finding other ways to earn the money than just helping around the home. It's really made them think more about how much things cost to attend and how much it's really worth for them to go. I enjoy seeing the creative ways that they come up with for making money and have noticed that they put more effort into their activities and sports because it's some of their money paying for it.
We also take advantage of family rates, when they are available, as we usually have at least 2 children involved in the same activity. We also shop around for activity costs. Our children are allowed to go in one summer activity that they choose plus swimming lessons, because those are mandatory in this household.
Now soccer is happening, and one child is contributing 50% of their soccer membership and is finding other ways to earn the money then just helping around the home. It's really made them think more about how much things cost to attend and how much it's really worth for them to go. I enjoy seeing the creative ways that they come up with for making money and have noticed that they put more effort in to their activities and sports because it's some of their money paying for it.
We also take advantage of family rates, when they are available, as we usually have at least 2 children involved in the same activity. We also shop around for activity costs. Our children are allowed to go in one summer activity that they choose plus swimming lessons, because those are mandatory in this household.
Activities for the same thing can have remarkably different price tags attached to them. Take swimming lessons for example. There's a pool in town that offers swimming lessons for quite a bit of money. It's the place to go, you see, and everyone wants to be there, so they can charge what they want. However, the local Red Cross offers swimming lessons sometimes at the same pool and sometimes at a different one for a cheaper price. Then there's also the private lessons route, which amazingly, can be even cheaper then a group one depending on where you go.
Last year, my children attended swimming lessons at a local campground that was really the same distance as the popular place, just in the opposite direction. It was a wonderful facility and the classes were nice and small, with a playground for the children to play on that were waiting for their siblings that were in class. The cost there, for 3 of my children to attend, was less than the cost for ONE of my children to attend at the popular place! They came away with the same report card and certification and their teacher was actually an instructor from the popular pool to boot!
How do you do the school trip, extra curricular activities? Do you pay all, some or none? Do your children go to these events? All of them, some of them or none of them? Do you have a cap on how many events they can attend for summer recreation? Let me know. I would love to hear from you. Drop me a line at smile_zil at yahoo dot ca or leave me a comment.
Enjoy your day!
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