a penny for my thoughts...

I know that I just "weighed-in" yesterday, and I'm not supposed to officially "check-in" until tomorrow, but last night, I was reflecting on this week in money and who knows how much time I will have to write tomorrow night. So, here's this week's reflections...
This past week was kinda tough, but also getting easier (to not spend any money- or very little). I didn't carry cash or my card with me (other than some change in my pocket). DH (Dear Husband) had 2 checks from his part-time retail job, so we were able to cash those at a Currency Exchange to have some cash for this week and next week. This was very fortunate, because he needed new white shoes for his other job at the pet hospital (a uniform requirement) and his old shoes that we were planning to replace in the next month or two kicked the bucket last week. So, cashing these checks gave us the means to buy his white shoes. We lucked out even more by hitting a big sale at Steve & Barry's, which I was unaware of at the time I suggested he look there for his new shoes. All I knew was that a friend of mine had gotten a pair of the Starbury shoes there for about $12. She liked them and they lasted quite a while. Well, the sale let him get the shoes for $9! Everything in the store was $9! Including the down-filled winter coats! So, he was able to replace his old winter coat that part of the outer-shell was torn on. Since we were at the mall and it was getting late, we did eat out there once this week. Only eating out once a week is an accomplishment for us. The other thing that cashing DH's check meant was that we could fill up the gas tank (a big concern when we are really short- one that I intend to remedy in the future by stocking up on gift cards for the gas station that we use). I don't know why, but we seem to go through gas like crazy! It's about a tank a week- and at $50 a tank (give or take)- that's a lot of gas! The funny thing is that I don't feel like we do a lot of driving- just to and from work and to and from my mom & dad's (they watch the kids while we're working). Yet, the gas disappears! I guess I should be glad the van uses E-85, otherwise it would be even worse! I now that E-85 fuel seems to burn faster than standard gas, but it is always cheaper by at least 50 cents per gallon- which more than makes up for the quicker burning. Plus, E-85 is better for the economy- supporting our farmers instead of the oil barons and foreign countries- and better for the environment since it burns cleaner than standard fuel. When I researched it, I honestly couldn't see why anyone wouldn't use E-85 if they could! But I'll get off my soap box for now...
Another thing that came up this week was that the Martial Arts school that we visited in December called about fitting the kids for uniforms. To backtrack, we had talked about starting the kids in Marital Arts because our oldest DD (Dear Daughter), Miss B, has been having some trouble with impulsive behaviors and emotional over-reactions at school. She also has asthma, and we thought that having her involved in a physical activity would be good for her, as well as some of the focusing on breathing and stuff that they do. Of course, DH also liked the idea of her learning some self-defense moves since she is a girl. Even though she's only in first grade, he thought the knowledge could come in handy in her future dating experiences. And, of course, if she was taking Martial Arts, the other 2 wanted to also. So, long story short, we had an introductory private lesson (just the instructor and our 3 kids). We were very impressed and wanted to sign the kids up but, we realized that right before the Christmas season was not a good time to start a new activity. So, we told them we would be starting the kids after Christmas, in January, to the tune of $165 a month for all 3 kids (really, not too bad of a price). And so, they called on Friday, wanting to schedule a fitting for the kids' uniforms, which are $40 a piece- $120 all together. And now, here it is January, and you saw the bank balance from last week... there is not $120 for uniforms! We were going to have to push off lessons until next month anyway, due to some meetings that I have this month that will interfere with getting them to lessons, and, since my parents are not wild about them taking Martial Arts- they seem to think it's just teaching kids to fight- I can not ask them to help with transportation or the expense. So, this is another reason to behave with our money- to be vigilant and watchful about where our money goes. So that we can do some of these extra things for our kids. I know that saving money is supposed to be about cutting out some of the extras, not adding extras, but I feel like this is an important, beneficial extra that will be really good for the kids. Definitely cheaper and preferable to ADD meds! So, I'm going to really buckle down in my efforts to monitor our money and make sure that it goes to the places that we feel are important. Consider my resolve doubled!