Surviving the Economic Crisis

Surprisingly, the current economic crisis has actually had a mostly positive effect on my family. I'd like to preface what I'm about to say with this: As a suburban middle class family, I can't even begin to pretend that we're struggling. We still have jobs and a sufficient income, which is more than lots of people can say right now. So, we're trying to watch our own spending so that we can help those in our own back yard who are not fairing as well. We're all in this together!

So, here are some things that we're doing to cut costs around here:

Consigning! My goal is to buy almost all of my kid's clothes on consignment this year. So far, I've had great success with the sales in our area. Others are doing the same and it's working out great for everyone! The deeper issue for me is not feeling like my kids have to keep up with the latest fashion trends. They are adorable non matter what adorns them!

Coupons, coupons, coupons! We started doing this a year ago and it has revolutionized how we do grocery shopping. I would estimate we saved a couple of thousand dollars last year on groceries. 2 great resources for me has been thegrocerygame.com and faithfulprovisions.com. We also use those clipper coupons for restaurants and we share food! Carrabbas is a great place to share a meal because they're so huge. Works for our budget and our waistline!

Less trips to Target! When I first became a SAHM, one of our regular outings was Target. I know... crazy! I was board, we needed to get out of the house and it was close. No longer! We go to Target only when we need something now. During the winter our outings now consist of the library, the mall playground, chick fil a, McDonalds and of course the YMCA.

Finally, for me it was all about a heart change. I'm slowly beginning to understand that relationships are where it's at, not how much stuff you buy or what your house looks like. There are always deeper issues that drive what we do and I'm finally working on those issues. Believe it or not, that has been the best thing for our family economic condition!