Klowns in my Koffee

Daily Kup (What I Did On My Reality Vacation)
There should be a sainthood awaiting the person who invented lidocaine. Productive movement is again possible.

Today was Attila the Son's last day of summer school. Now he's home for the balance of the summer. The conclusion was a Fourth of July parade complete with fanciful red, white and blue construction paper hats.

Princess Potatohead has resigned from preschool effective the end of July. After a week with Grandma and Grandpa, we will have three weeks all together before school starts. By then, paid work will probably seem like a refuge.

Strange Brew
Yesterday, we were talking about reducing expenses. One of the lessons learned from the last three months is that I can have an improved life on half the income. It's a lifestyle that doesn't allow much opportunity for saving, and therefore cannot continue indefinitely without modification, but I'm confident that we've learned enough to avoid going back to the choked and stifling, living-for-the-weekend-and-then-too-exhausted-to-enjoy-it life we had before.

No explanation of how we were able to cut costs so dramatically makes sense without listing those 'duh'—smack in the forehead—simple/obvious cost savings first.

--Stop eating out and learn to cook

--Drive less by sharing drives, walking or biking, saving up your errands

--Stop paying for things you don't use — magazines you don't read, memberships to places you don't go, lights and televisions left on in rooms that you aren't in

--Don't pay for things that you can get free — library, parks, school activities, grow vegetables (not completely free but close)

--Pay less for things that you have to buy — use coupons, buy sale items, compare prices, bargain, consignment stores

--Limit drycleanable clothing purchases. Use home drycleaning kits when needed. Wash and dry full loads. Air dry your clothes if you have a place for a line. Iron dress shirts instead of sending them to the laundry; it's not that hard.

--Stop buying unnecessary things. You can't, and shouldn't for the sake of your sanity, cut every possible luxury but you must prioritize what's really important to you. A planned luxury is even more gratifying. If your hobby has been shopping, look for a new hobby.

--And the step everyone hates, make a written budget.

So, those are the things that we already knew even if we don't always act accordingly. Tomorrow, I'll share some great resources I've found. How would you like to help out a charity and get seven dinners for four for $32 total?

Demitasse
Did you know that you can sing the theme to Gilligan's Island to the tune of Stairway to Heaven? Here's the proof!