How to be poor.

I hate being poor. I hate not being able to buy whatever I need or want whenever I want it, but such is life and now I must move on and learn to deal with my plight. My mission of being poor is to not appear poor, and make people think I have loads of money... not that it's necessarily working, but below are some of my tips for living if you're poor. These aren't going to be your "make a budget, buy used clothes and sale items, do free activities, meal plan and clip coupons", types of tips. We've all heard those before and are likely doing them. These are the above and beyond tips. Things I've learned along the way that I didn't know or hadn't thought of before.
Now some people will disguise their poorness by saying they're "living simply" or that they're "going green" but lets face it people, if you're washing your ziplock bags, you. are. poor. So if you're one of those poor, or "simple/green" living people see if you can use any of my tips, and please leave tips of your own!

Know what your budget actually is.
This one's obvious, but instead of going into the details of how to budget, my tips in this area are more about keeping track of your money and how to make it feel equal within a partnership. Dan and I do this later part by each getting an allowance of equal amount from our entertainment budge to spend on whatever we want for that month, clothes, beauty products, slurpees, coffee, etc. That way we can't get mad at the other person for spending all the money when the other was planning on using it for something else. We also put all our variable budgeted amounts on a white board on our fridge (three categories: grocery, gas, and entertainment) and as we spend we erase the total amount and write in the new amount. That way we always have a convenient place to find out how much we actually have left for groceries or date nights.

Purge and get organized.

Under my sink.
We have no drawers in our
bathrooms

Having stuff everywhere that you don't use and that you can't find just makes a person feel cramped and out of control. So get rid of the things you don't use. (If you haven't used an item or worn an item in a year it might be time to let it go). Then organize what's left, that way you won't be wasting money on buying duplicates AND you'll be able to find things easier, being less likely to say things like "this house is too small, we need to move to a bigger place!" I LOVE the cloth boxes you can find at dollar stores! They are everywhere in my house.


Keep things clean, tidy and in good repair.
Dirty things make us want new and shiny things, so keep your things clean so you won't be tempted to run out and replace something simply because it needed a bath or a small tune up.

Stock Pile.
But only a little. We shop at Costco, so we've got a mini stock pile in our ensuite shower, but I don't recommend going over board and hoarding. Just buy in bulk when it's convenient and cheap and when you find an awesome sale that you can't pass up and YOU HAVE THE MONEY FOR. (Buying cheap/on sale things if you don't have the money for it is not actually a deal!!!)

Go to the Library.
You can rent movies, tv shows, books, CD's etc all for free. You can also check out passes to museums and exibits if you live in certain places in America. I've seen several new release movies all from the library and have gotten hooked on some great TV shows... I mean really, who doesn't want to watch all 6 seasons of the Cosby show again?!

Make things yourself.
It's amazing the things you can make yourself! I had no idea that I could make my own yogurt until a few months ago and now we do it all the time! It's a big money saver. Here is just a sample of all the things you can make yourself:

• yogurt
• bread
• detergent
• cleaning solutions
• clothes (skirts, maternity pants, cloth diapers)
• Holiday decorations
• Toys

Ok, this list doesn't look that long, but if you have something that you NEED or really WANT try googling how to make it, I'll bet you find a whole slew of websites that will show you how. Or check out youtube for an instructional video. That's where I learned to crochet, how to install a spray hose onto my toilet, how to fix a garbage disposal, how to grow plants on my porch... I could go on.

Modify and get crafty.

Ghetto Sweeper

Two things that always bugged me when cleaning was using my Swiffer Wet Jet and paper towels. Both are disposable cleaning products and once used I'd have to buy more and they're pricey! So I decided I was gonna figure out a way to make my Swiffer work without paying for the refills. I took an old terry cloth washcloth and cut it in half and stuck in onto the Swiffer. I then bought a spray bottle at a dollar store and put water and Pine-sol that I had on hand in it and used that as the spray! Spray, wipe, spray, wipe! Just the same as the disposable except I just throw the washcloth in the wash to re-use! I recently saw a product that Rubbermaid has come out with that is this basic concept, but remember, I'm poor people! I'll stick with my ghetto Swiffer.
I also love the idea of the paper towels that can be ripped into smaller sections, but the cheapest cost friendly towels around here is the Costco brand, so that's what we buy and they are monster sheets. One day I decided, I was tired of wasting a HUGE sheet for a small job, so I took a knife and sliced the roll right down the middle,stopping short of the cardboard tube. Ta da! Half sheets! Now our paper towels will last twice as long!

Entertain at home instead of going out.
Have people bring things too, that way you don't have to foot the bill.

Eat at other peoples homes as often as you can.
This works great with family :)

Get poor friends.
Poor friends are just like you and don't want to spend money. The only problem is they might come to your place for a free dinner... or make you bring food to their place when they entertain :) This sounds like another blog post waiting to happen "What to bring to other peoples homes if they ask you to bring food and you're poor"... I'll include recipes for deviled eggs, popcorn, hummus, pea dip etc...

When getting take out make what you can and buy what you can't.
Dan and I love Indian food, but it adds up when you have to buy the sauce and the rice and the naan. We know how to make rice, but we don't know how to make the sauce as good as the place we love, so that is the part we buy. Dan's example is buying a bag of burgers from McDonald's and coming home using pop/soda that is much cheaper by the half gallon than paying for it in the restaurant.

Tips for saving with kids:
Cloth diaper. You don't have to pay an arm and a leg to cloth diaper. This is a whole nother blog post though. Soon to come.
Look for church SWAP meets to buy all child related items. This is where 90% of my baby girls clothes come from!
Make things like felt food, balls, blankets, blocks, burp cloths, play mats, books, room decor, etc. Again, more blog posts on this to come.


There really are so many ways to save money, sometimes it just takes a little time to get the idea and to incorporate it into our lifestyles. We also have to ask ourselves "is this worth the money it will save me?" and sometimes the answer is "no". In the end my discovery is that being poor is a lot of work. What some people can buy or pay to get done, we have to do ourselves, but when you read books like Little House on the Prairie, you realize how easy you really have it. I'll take making some homemade bread and yogurt any day over having to milk a cow in a blizzard, shovel animal poop every day, build my house and make everything I ever need from scratch! Those poor people didn't even have ziplock bags!

Who Wouldn't Want to Save this Kind of Money?

Today I saved money. Today I recycled. Today I saved the world.

I went shopping today at the thrift store two blocks away with $4 in my pocket determined to find some new books for my baby girl. I figured I might come home with maybe 2 or 3 new books, but instead I got 7! 7 new awesome books! And guess how much I paid? $3.50! I feel like I've won the lottery. After coming home and wiping them down with vinegar and water I tallied up the total cost of each book new and realized that if I had bought all these books brand new I would have paid $59.07! I saved myself $55.57! WOW. 

Now I will concede that some of the books look like they've been around the block a bit, but lets be honest, don't all brand new things given to a baby look like they've seen better days after a week in their wet drooly mouths?

So there you have it folks. Go to your local thrift stores and score a major deal. Also, donate to your local thrift stores so that others can use the awesome things you don't need anymore. You can even do one better and donate to thrift stores for a cause. The store I bought these books at not only recycles peoples goods back in the community at an incredible price, but a huge portion of all their income goes to stopping world hunger. So don't dump your stuff at Value Village where they'll mark up the prices so high you could spend a dollar more and get it new, but research the other thrift stores in your area and not only donate, but spend your money there too.

Some tips for finding books you can use/want:

• Do your research. Peruse Amazon.com for books in the age group you're looking for and read reviews. I searched for "books for babies" and found the books that most peoples kids loved were the "Bright Baby" books made by Priddy Books, so I kept my eyes open for those. I also learned that books that had textures were very popular, so I looked for those too. 
• Buy what your kid likes. I took my baby girl with me and we read several books in the store so that I could see which ones sparked her interest and which would be a waste of time. There we some that I thought would be great, but she didn't give two hoots about and didn't even bother looking at the pages as I flipped through.
• Think about the books you loved as a kid. I personally couldn't get enough of the Arthur series, or the Berenstain Bears series, so I kept my eye out for those too. 
• Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's worthwhile. There were several books that were in great condition, but I wasn't sold on the message they were selling, so I didn't bother even considering purchasing those. 
• Go the the library and try out books for free. You can then see which books your child is drawn to. Make a list of the books they liked and keep it in your purse, that way when you do go shopping you can just reference your list and see if you can find something that works!

Making Flash Cards or a Book for Baby

This project is actually super easy and only takes a few supplies and your baby will love it!
What you need:

• Paper, preferably cardstock, colored or white
• Magazines, parenting or baby magazines will have the best stuff
• Glue stick
• Contact paper (can be found at Wal-mart)
• Scissors
• Hole puncher (optional)
• Metal ring for documents (optional)

1.) Look through the magazines and clip out pictures of babies, toys, food, or numbers and letters, whatever you want the theme of the cards to be. Think colorful and appealing to look at!

2.) Next cut your paper so you know what size to trim your magazine images down to. I chose to cut my 8.5x11 size paper into 4 equal rectangles, you can do whatever size you like.

3.) Trim your magazine images and glue them onto the cards. Make sure to put them on the front and back of the cards. Also don't use too much glue as the purpose is simply to get the image stuck to the paper, not every edge has to be glued down.

Front

Back

4.) Take images and lay them out onto the contact paper to see how much contact paper you should cut off the roll. Then count the number of squares one row of cards takes up and cut more strips of contact paper so that you  have enough contact paper cut to cover both the front and back of the cards. I found it was easier to peel one big strip of contact paper and lay all the cards on top of the sticky side, then do one row at a time covering the other side. Just be sure to cover the entire card and have some bleed over on the edges so that you can trim around the cards and get a nice seal.

5.) Once all the cards are covered in contact paper cut around them and trim the edges so they all look uniform. You can then choose to either hole punch each of them in the corner and put them on a ring, or you can leave them as is.

Trimmed cards

Finished cards, no hole punch

Hole punched book

Hole punched book

Tips for Flying with a Baby

My husband and I have flown with our baby girl twice now since she's been born and have discovered that there are some things you can do to make your trip a bit easier and more enjoyable for everyone. Below is the best I've got!

● When buying a ticket make sure you check the option that you’re bringing an infant under two, then you don't have to deal with having to get that info printed on your boarding pass at the airport. If there is no option for that online, then tell the person when checking your luggage at the airport, they can do it for you right there.

● Plan your trip around the time of day that is best for your baby. I knew my baby would sleep in my arms great so I planned our flights during her nap times.

● Pay the extra money to choose your own seats.

● Check in online, this saves TONS of time.

● Check your car seat with your luggage; it's not worth lugging through the airport.

● Before going through security ask the check in clerk if any of the security line ups has a "family lane" most airports do, apparently, and you get to go straight to the front of the line.

● You can bring baby food on the plane; just make sure everything is in a plastic bag per the regulations and that you take it out of your diaper bag when going through the scanner. It may get checked out, (they swab it for drugs)but you won't notice any delay because they do it while your putting your clothes and shoes back on and dealing with putting your baby back in their stroller or carrier.

● Opt to be patted down rather than going through the x-ray machine. Apparently after going through more than 24 times your DNA starts to break down. I wouldn't risk it if you want more kids :)

● Strollers, car seats and diaper bags do not count as personal items or checked luggage. They are free-bies.

● Take as little personal stuff on the plane as you can manage, you'll be surprised how much stuff it feels like you have.

● Get to the airport earlier than you think you'll need, maybe even eat a meal there so everyone is nourished and ready to go.

● Bring toys that baby hasn't seen in awhile or are new to keep their interest.

● Find a quiet corner and let your baby crawl around/move around before boarding so they don't feel cooped up for too long.

● Ask to be allowed to pre-board. Not all airlines automatically offer this anymore, we had to ask.

● Nurse, bottle feed, or give a pacifier during take off and landing.

● Know how your car seat works and practice installing it if you're concerned. The better you know the car seat the easier it is to quickly install into another car.

● If the airline loses your car seat they will give you a new one to use until they find yours. If they can't find yours they will reimburse you for a new one you buy. (this happened to us, it was stressful because I didn't know they had extras on hand, and they did get ours back to us the next day)

● Traveling with a partner is SO much easier than alone. Just have a game plan and be willing to help each other out. It's really not that stressful if you have plenty of time and can keep calm. Be organized and ready for challenges. Also remember that the people who work at the airport are just people, if they ask you to do something understand that they are just doing their job and trying to make it through the day. If someone is rude, cut them some slack, you'd be rude too if you had to deal with herds of dumb people all day.

The death of a dream, birth of a life.

Well, as no one knows since no one reads this, my Etsy shop has died. Actually it died a long time ago, but I still have this blog, and I thought, "hey, I could still use that blog to post the ideas I have for the things I make for my baby girl and people would love it!" So that is what I'm going to do. No longer will I try and sell, but instead I will post my best ideas and the things I've learned during this journey of motherhood.