July 7, 2023
1. Gave PiC and Smol Acrobat their haircuts this weekend. Smol hates their haircuts so it took a ton of energy and Lucky Charms to get through. JB’s next. Savings: $50 Remembering that we shouldn’t do three haircuts on the same day: priceless.
2. I let us both off the dinner hook over the weekend. We were wiped out from the week, and we had cooked all week which makes me feel better when I do resort to takeout. We had a treat of burgers and fries and shared a mini shake between the four of us. That last wasn’t specifically to be frugal. The shared mini shake is exactly the right amount for everyone in addition to their own burgers and a big helping of fries. Still, not wasting money on a larger shake, some of which could go to waste, feels like the comfortably frugal thing to do.
Helping folks: FOGA‘s friend is trying to escape an abuser, can you help?
ZJ’s friend lost her sibling, leaving her the sole surviving member of her nuclear family, and is trying to raise funds to help their brother in law be with their niblings during this time of grief.
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June 30, 2023
1. I am making real progress on my backpack repair. I made new zipper pulls! 😍
2. I bought three Kindle copies of Kate Elliott’s The Keeper’s Six to give away! Leave me a comment (include your email address in the comment, it won’t be visible publicly) and I’ll send it to you. Please claim in 24 hours.
If not redeemed, I’ll pass to the next person who wants it so they don’t linger, unloved forever.
Helping folks: Mari Copeny, also known as Little Miss Flint, has been fundraising for clean water filters for the past four years. She’s asking for donations for her 16th birthdays.
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June 23, 2023
1. I was in (self inflicted) PAIN on Saturday from a long day. We’d taken the kids to a family friendly event early, and ended up staying until the end because Smol Acrobat napped hard part way through. My feet were screaming, my leg muscles were on the verge of giving up. I popped a handful of OTC pain meds, hydrated as much as I could and passed out by 9 pm. The thing I didn’t do, which I used to do every single flare-up, was torment myself over the choice to have fun. I’d usually notice the pain and start mentally punishing myself for being weak, for making a stupid decision, for making the mistake of leaving the house.
2. Humoring Smol Acrobat by letting them take a spin around Target will net me a $5 gift card. We spotted this sign for $15 back if you spend $50 on Pampers, and I came home to look it up. I found the rebate site and it’s good for PG products in two forms: $5 back when you spend $20 and $15 back when you spend $50. Good for purchases between April 2, 2023 through June 30, 2023 so check your receipts!
It’ll take 6-8 weeks to get the prepaid $5 Visa. I also learned that I don’t want the Target brand 3 ring binders for my projects so that was helpful too!
Helping folks:
Can we help this good boy?
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June 16, 2023
1. Smol Acrobat was exposed to a child with COVID last week and we’ve been testing and watching them for any signs of symptoms or infection. Still 🤞🤞
2. We made it. This has been a Very Full Week.
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June 9, 2023
1. My money and professional mentor is now on YouTube!! It’s wonderful to see and hear her talking about money again.
2. We survived. Tough week.
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June 2, 2023
1. Week one of camp for JB: so far so good! This is a new one for all of us so we (JB and I, separately) were slightly apprehensive. Them: what if no one likes me?
Me: what if it’s run by untrustworthy bastards?
They found two familiar faces and two more kids from their school, so that was their concern allayed. I spent the whole first day camped out in the waiting area to keep an eye on things. My butt wasn’t pleased by the hours on a hard chair but my worrywart soul was appeased.
2. WE MADE IT TO FRIDAY. OMG.
I feel like the Frugalwoods must have been following the wrong people before dreaming of growing all their food. I started following one farmer friend years ago (Neolithic Sheep) and learned immediately that, physical limitations aside, I didn’t ever want to HAVE to grow all my own food. It’s an unfathomable amount of work. The chores never stop, the harvest comes when the harvest comes, and you’re never guaranteed a harvest which is especially stark if you’re depending on it. I like the idea of growing some of my own food on a very small scale, like we do with the potatoes. A few harvests are a treat, and fun, with long periods of growth in between.
I know about the looming crisis with the debt ceiling fight though I can’t wrap my head around the details at the moment. What I do find easy to understand is that a default would hurt a hell of a lot of real people, none of whom the politicians care about: Financial Concerns – How a U.S. government debt default would affect my military family
Jane Fonda Shades Redford, Disses Godard, Dishes On Hepburn In No-Holds-Barred Appearance In Cannes: “We would shoot sometimes 14 hours a day,” she noted. “And Lee Marvin took me aside and he said, ‘Fonda, we’re the stars of this movie. If we allow them to work us so many hours, we’re not the ones that get hurt. It’s the crew. We have to stand up for the workers, for the crew, and we have to refuse to work these long hours. We have to stand up for the crew.’ And that had never occurred to me. That was a huge lesson from Lee Marvin….
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on the issue of climate change:
“We still have reason to be hopeful if we do everything right. But I’m saying this is serious. We’ve got about seven, eight years to cut ourselves in half of what we use of fossil fuels,” she said. “And unfortunately, the people that have the least responsibility for it are hit the hardest — Global South, people on islands, poor people of color. It is a tragedy that we have to absolutely stop. We have to arrest and jail those men — they’re all men – [responsible for the crisis].”
May 26, 2023
1. I had my weekly therapy session, PiC had his weekly (when he can, this depends on friends showing up) sportsy outing. These are both good for our health.
2. We walked the whole family to the local park on Sunday for outdoor time. That was good for everyone though I crashed hard a couple hours after we got back. Impromptu nap!
Helping folks:
From a dear friend… My friend’s partner needs a new car or repairs because rural Minnesota. They teach ASL and drive folks just a little older than them all over. (They’ve been stuck at this funded level of $1000 for 2 months, can we help them out?)
These poor dogs got QUILLED. Can we help their family with the vet bill?
I follow @tinytempest on Twitter and she’s fundraising for family in a tough spot. Emergency Help for the Byrd – Bradford Family.
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