Confession time...

[MKCP5]

fast food, great hair, and diet coke ---what can I say? Guilty Guilty Guilty

 

[disneynewbee]

BIG FAT DITTO!! Thank God I only have one girl!! I swear I buy her something everytime I walk into a store. Even if it is little. $1 pairs of Disney socks, pens, pencils, clothes!! Just yesterday I walked out of Target with two new cheer bottoms because they were on sale. Seriously, how many sets of practice/workout clothes does she need??

My 6yr old is also an All Star Cheerleader this year. VERY expensive. $2000 like you said for competition fees and uniform etc., plus hotel and travel, plus the monthly tution for cheer and tumble.

**whew** I am starting to agree with my husband that 2 children are enough. I also have a 2yr old boy....much less expensive.

I remember when I was younger and you could do sports for 40 bucks for the whole season now everything is so expensive. My niece cheers on a competitive rec team and and she pays about $700 a year and hers is only from Sept-May and doesn't include any tumbling. My oldest dd dances and while it's a lot cheaper than cheering ($300 per year) I just forked out $180 for 3 dance costumes and then money for tickets to go watch her. My 6yo also does a hip hop class which is $40 a month and $60 for costume and $10 a person for tickets to the recital. Ow and can't forget the $66 in dance pictures between the two of them. Goodness I don't know what I'll do when the younger two are ready to do this stuff. I don't have any boys but I know my nephew does baseball, wrestling, basketball, soccer, and band so my sister is only getting off slightly easier LOL.

 

[kinntj]

1. Kids--clothes, crafts and toys. I'm trying really hard to cut back and have a little.
2. Eating out and take out. At least 2-4 times a week for lunches mostly and on the weekends. We would save so much if we would just eat at home on the weekends.
3. Books for me and the kids!!!!! I don't feel as guilty with these though.

I splurge on the kids activities, but again I don't feel guilty with keeping my kids active and they have a blast doing them.

 

[rmom50]

 

[kellyg403]

Definitely eating out and the kids. The kids are always top of the list when discretionary spending comes around. My dd is headed to Gov. School for 6 weeks for a summer program. So far this 'free' program has cost me just under 1000.00. And we are not done! So far the months of May and June have been budget busters for sure. Prom, Project Graduation, Gov School, Marching Band Fees, one trip to NYC for other DD, two birthdays etc. I could go on and on.

DH and I work too much and some days, standing in the kitchen cooking is the farthest thing from my mind. So, the kids always order up some kind of fast food and then we hit our favorite Mexican Rest and spend some quiet time. Well, we have gotten in the habit of doing it 3 times a week lately.

Definitely have been 'wanting' to try and do the once a week cooking to see if that will make a difference in my budget. But, unfortunately, I have worked the last 6 Sundays in a row. Why I don't do it on Monday when I am off I have no idea but it seems like I NEED to do it on a Sunday?!

Just an excuse to carry on on the easy route!

Kelly

 

[TifffanyD]

I refuse to deal with the morning/afternoon traffic on the freeway and instead take a toll road to work. This costs me about $40 a month (down from $60 though due to working from home 2 days/week!)

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

ohhh once a week cooking? that was be an awesome idea to help me not waste all of our money on fast food! is there a certain website that helps you get started (meal ideas, etc.) ? thanks

 

[Ava]

We have spent waaaaaaay more money on Duncan Donuts, Lego, and American Girl stuff in the last 12 months than I would like to admit.

Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about my American Girl collection. I don't really consider it a waste of money, because I love those dolls and will pass them on to DD when she's older, but I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent on them since I got back into collecting a year and a half ago. It's probably nearing $1000. Let's just say I went a little nuts when they announced they were "archiving" Samantha. I haven't bought anything in a while though, because all my money has been going to things for the baby. I'm also not letting myself go to AG Place because I really want Rebecca and I'm afraid if I go there and see her in person I'll end up buying her.

 

[tonilea]

Diet Coke. I am ashamed to admit how much of the stuff I drink.

 

[disneyJMD]

Dunkin Donuts. I think they put something addictive in their coffee. It doesn't help that they are EVERYWHERE in our area either. I pass 5 of them on my way into work. I have tried the whole make your own and bring it in a travel mug thing... I even got a Keurig machine to make really good coffee. Doesn't work. I try not to add up how much I spend a year on my Great One coffees and Iced coffees (sometimes w/ the turbo shot). It's a lot, I know, and I try to justify it by saying that I work night shift and need me my caffeine. The problem is that the kids now want the coolatas or smoothies and when you get 2 coffees and 2 vanilla coolatas it is downright expensive! It doesn't help that they take debit cards either, because now I don't have to have cash in hand to drive thru.

This is soooo me as well...I probably spend $150/month at DD and I have been trying to stop--I think there is something in there! I have gotten better over the last few weeks--The Kuerig maker helps and I get to use my Disney mug from our last trip, so it brings Disney back into the day as well...

Disney is my other weakness...I have an annual pass and it has been my excuse for the 4 trips in the last year...(those have come to an end as DH is out of work now)

 

[lpandorf]

BIG FAT DITTO!! Thank God I only have one girl!! I swear I buy her something everytime I walk into a store. Even if it is little. $1 pairs of Disney socks, pens, pencils, clothes!! Just yesterday I walked out of Target with two new cheer bottoms because they were on sale. Seriously, how many sets of practice/workout clothes does she need??

My 6yr old is also an All Star Cheerleader this year. VERY expensive. $2000 like you said for competition fees and uniform etc., plus hotel and travel, plus the monthly tution for cheer and tumble.

**whew** I am starting to agree with my husband that 2 children are enough. I also have a 2yr old boy....much less expensive.

Me too! My daughter has 3x as much as any kid needs. I keep saying this is the last outfit. And then one more comes hom. Although it's getting a bit easier as she's getting older. She does not want anything to do with matchy match stuff at Gymboree anymore. She's also in competitive cheer and moved from an older age group this year and it doubled in cost. I think about $2,000 for the year. But she loves it so I can't tell her no. DS is not into competivie sports yet, and not quite so much fun to dress (although summer is more fun as I love madras and plaid shorts so he has too much)

 

[mrsklamc]

I spend waaayyy too much money eating out.Travel is my other big expenditure, but I'm PLANNING to spend money then. I hate seeing how dining out adds up to way more than you think it will...

 

[MusiqChic99]

I eat out pretty much every day at work. I keep $25 out of my check every week to buy myself lunch. That's $100 a month and that's just for 5 days. So if I eat out with my family on the weekend that's more money we waste.

My hubby just got laid off so my days of eating out everyday are gone. I will be packing my lunch. I'll probably shave an inch of my waist too since I wont be eating fast food!

 

[5 Disney Fans]

Don't give me any ideas about throwing out the litter pans! That sounds so much easier than cleaning it!!



I eat fast food way too much. All those little meals sure do add up!

disposable litter pan tip...

We buy the disposable foil pans (like for parties) at the dollar store and use then for our litter pan. We feel less guilty throwing away $1/week. It is soooo worth it to us though, we hate cleaning the pan!

 

[MKCP5]

Diet Coke. I am ashamed to admit how much of the stuff I drink.

Not to hijack, but I do the same..........are you worried at all about what it is doing to your body? I try not to think about it, but I am sure it is probably going to do something awful to me long term!

 

[SandrA9810]

Sode refills at the gas station. I have one of those huge refillable mugs that cost 85cents to fill each time. If I know I'm going to be in the car out and about for day I have the hardest time resisting the urge to fill my cup. And there's always at least one in the car. The only way to stop me is if all the cups end up in the house.

 

[NWOhioAngela]

ohhh once a week cooking? that was be an awesome idea to help me not waste all of our money on fast food! is there a certain website that helps you get started (meal ideas, etc.) ? thanks

Consider once a month cooking---great fairly new site at www.onceamonthmom.com They even give you grocery lists. It's a lot of work on cooking day, but worth it.

 

[jam217]

I spend $140 for a ritzy health club membership for me and my son. We do go there at least every other day if not more.

 

[eww1024]

You know you could buy a box of liners for much less that would solve that problem. Not to mention filling up the landfill with 52 plastic litter boxes a year.

I second this... I know litter isn't pretty, but please think of the earth. I have really tried hard to change the way I live so I have the least amount of garbage every week and a smaller carbon footprint. If we all tried, maybe the world would be a cleaner place!

 

[momtokendantom]

Okay, the one thing I will not cut-down on is..... pillowcases. Yes, you read that correctly! I need to have nice, high-thread count pillowcases. It used to be the entire sheet-set, but I have at least cut-back to buying separate pillowcases. I have change them everyday. To me, sleep-time is so important and I want a nice, fresh pillowcase every night.