whew!

Rebecca1340 wrote:I'm taking you shopping with me the next time I go -- you sure found some good deals!

My husband calls me The Queen of Deals.. I don't buy something unless it's on sale, and I hit some really great sales! We got Chuck a pair of New Balance shoes the other day for a total of $32 (list prist $60)...

Anyone can come shopping with me, anytime. I love it!

I used to feel strange that I got such pleasure out of getting a good deal, until I heard Scott explaining that shopping is the female version of hunting. You stalk your prey, picking out the biggest one you can find, and in the end you feed your family and bask in the glory of your triumph.

thebigscott wrote:I used to feel strange that I got such pleasure out of getting a good deal, until I heard Scott explaining that shopping is the female version of hunting. You stalk your prey, picking out the biggest one you can find, and in the end you feed your family and bask in the glory of your triumph.

Okay all... time to get ready for work.... I will see you all later...

meantime, try not to aggravate the hive too much!

okay ... never mind.. go ahead and aggravate them.... and have fun without me, I will catch up tonight.

karen, that makes sense.. I'd rather hunt..

Tara, I too hate to shop. I could care less. maybe cause I am always broke. And if it aint on sale I refuse to buy it. seriously. I have absolutly NO clothes cause I refuse to buy them. I have ONE button up short sleeve shirt. ( I am nursing, I need some) cause I cant find any I like at walmart on sale. $6.00 is my limit. I just bought me 3 pair of jeans the other day at goodwill. 4.00 a peice. retail I will pay maybe 8.00.

the only thing I pay money for is my crocs. And even those I havent bought in years. Oh and my hair spray. I have to have Kenra. But I have to have a good hair spray. I cant function with out one.. Big Hair and all that

LOL Chelle. Maybe shopping is fun if you have money to do it. That could very well be the problem, that and I am totally a jeans and tee shirt kinda gal. I have no fashion sense what so ever and I am completely fine with that, lol.

jeans for me too.. but i don't like tees.. i like shirts.. button down, long sleeved.. white or blue or denim..

it is painful for me to wear big girl clothes or shoes....

tara, I dont know. Even when BR told me to take his credit card and buy maternity clothes requardless of the price, I couldnt do it. All I could think was "gee I could buy a bill of groceries for that." or "I bet I can find that cheaper online" and then I never did. I had 3 outfits. all from walmart. LOL the entire nine months.

LOL kath at the big girl clohtes.

I used to wear skirts, heels and hose daily. My grandmother made all my suits and/or bought them and redid tem. She bought me all of it really. She was always good at finding deals. and loved to shop. I wish I still had the clothes she made me. I have a few of the outfits left.

My maternity clothes all came from freecycle or my mom bought them. She is a shopper and has the money so I happily accept. I wear dresses in the summer simply because they are the coolest... definitely no hose or heels though. I don't think I have ever worn heels, lol, I'd break my neck. I do shop occasionally at JCpenneys... when they send me a coupon for 10 or 20 off and then I scour the clearance racks. My last trip I scored two tees and a pair if jeans for 21 bucks... 11 after the coupon. So far I have not bought either of my kids a stitch of clothing... everyone does and I got more hand me downs than either one could possibly wear before growing out of them. The thought of school shopping this summer already gives me a headache and gets my blood pumping. I hate spending money.

I like to shop, but not for fancy stuff, just comfy stuff. I like to find something I actually need or really wanted and get an unbelieveable deal on it. And Caly inherited the attitude, too. When she started kindergarten I would give her a quarter each day so she could have milk at snack time, and she asked if she didn't get milk could she keep the quarter. I told her sure and she got so happy. She told me she liked water just fine so she would save all five quarters each week and go shopping. She even asked if I'd take her to the second hand store so she could get more toys for the same money. And last week she had me take her shopping for her dad's birthday presents. She used coupons and some promotional gift cards for a store's grand opening, bought stuff that was already on sale, and ended up getting $35 worth of stuff for $5.63. It was impressive!

That is impressive! Smart girl saving her quarters.

wow! that is impressive!!

I love to spend money. but there isnt any so I dont. LOL. I guess I got spoilt to my grandma doing all my clothes for so many years. Even once I was married

my kids dont get handmedowns anymore. they are at the age when they wear it out before they can even wear it a few times..

and since they wear the same size its constant wearing out of things. Birthdays and Christmas they get new jeans and socks. LOL

Way to go Karen

I can't really claim the credit. She did it with her own money and hunted down the bargains herself.

Chelle, you're so lucky to have had a grandma to spoil you. What a wonderful thing that she made all your clothes. I've made a few simple things and it's hard work to make them look right. She must have loved you a lot.

Ah, but you taught her right!

I've tried to teach all my kids basic skills they will need throughout their lives. How to cook a decent meal, how to clean up after themselves (laundry, dishes, putting things away, etc), how to care for a baby and change a diaper, how to say no to someone, and how to budget their time and money.

They seemed to have paid attention to most everything but how to clean up after themselves LOL.

My kids have to help me clean and do laundry, wash dishes. all of that. and they do help me a little with Bow. They dont pick up after themselves unless I make them though.

But I have been thinking about us doing a 'mock' budget. Me giving them every expense that a real household does, and giving them a salery. making them pay that, and then buy groceries too. They might learn that its not easy.

I get so tired of them constantly asking for stupid stuff. and then getting mad when I dont buy it. Or just plain asking for it. I really get tired of saying "Sorry, I dont the money to waste on chocolate covered marshmellows." Maybe the budget thing will show them for a few months at least.

I give Zaven and Caly an allowance, but also a list of everything that they have to pay for themselves. They each get $2.50 a week, which is not much, but with four kids I can't afford a lot for each one.

They are expected to pay for:

birthday and Christmas gifts for family members
party gifts for friends
any movies they want to rent
any movies they want to go to at the theatre that I don't want to see
any junk food that's not for the whole family
all their own toys, books, DVDs, etc. (except what they get for gifts of course)

You'd think they'd always be broke, but they ALWAYS have money. Zaven sells his old stuff to friends, and Caly budget shops like a pro. She gets invited to lots of parties and always gives 3 or 4 presents but only one of them will be brand new. The rest will be stuff that she's gotten tired of but noticed that her friends play with when they come over. When I first started about 4 years ago, they'd say Mom, can I get this? And I'd say sure, just remember that you're paying for it. It took about a week for them to quit asking for stuff. Now they have things planned out way in advance. And they even started offering to pay for stuff they don't need to. Zaven wants to treat the whole family to a movie, pay for popcorn and drinks and even the gas to get there. And Caly offered to buy the supplies for her own birthday party. She helped me figure out the budget last year and realized that it wasn't as expensive as she thought and decided she should pay for this year's party. She'll probably figure out how to do it for $3.21 LOL

I had to start paying for everything, including my own clothes, when I was in 5th grade. My Mom did give us kids an allowance, as well as a bit of money at back to school time. We all had to get jobs though, even that young, and I am the oldest. We babysat, mowed lawns, etc. It did teach me quite a bit, but I am not like that with my kids. I did manage to teach them the value of a dollar, as they are both very good with money. Nicole called me last week to tell me about what a great deal she got on a room in bag set for the bedroom. She was so excited and proud of herself, that she kept talking about it. Finally her hubby said he was tired of hearing about it, so she called me