Frugal Kids & Frugal Finds

The squash biscuits made with only molasses had a good taste but a slightly gooey texture. Next time I make them I'll have to decrease the amount of other liquids to account for the molasses. Overall I was pretty pleased, a little time in the toaster solved the gooey texture problem and make the biscuits a tasty treat. I have found that toasting, like ketchup, often times makes the worst of culinary creations edible.

I think the best part of raising kids in a frugal family is the way they learn to appreciate the value of both goods and services. This week my oldest son put on a a Hawaiian style shirt that he's been dying to wear since he discovered it in a bag of handme downs from a coworker last fall. Two buttons were missing, so he asked if I could put new buttons on for him. "You probably have buttons just like that in your box of buttons," he told me. He was right and this morning he was tickled to put his "new" shirt on. "Thanks for sewing on my buttons," he told me.

After living with her loft bed for almost two years, Leen has decided she doesn't like it all that much. (Personally, it would give me claustrophobia to be up that close to the ceiling.) A while back she asked me to keep an eye out on our local ecycling group for a daybed to replace her loft bed. This was her lucky week. I picked up the unwanted daybed on Tuesday. She's thrilled. Since she used her own money to buy the loft bed, she's trying to decide what to do with it now.

Tasha has been using the same rickety student desk for years. This week we were able to replace it with a beautiful, sturdy wooden desk, also from our local ecycle group. Although she wasn't unhappy with her old desk, she is very pleased with her new one.

This week we also acquired a 13 inch tv/vcr combo that was dumpster bound. My sister rescued it while helping clean out the store she works in and gave it to us. It works beautifully and even has the remote! Jim and I are pleased that my sister thought of us before tossing the tv.

I know I've said this before but its worth saying again for anyone new to frugal living. A lot of times you just need to make it known that you don't mind taking used items. Sure you'll have to wade through some junk a long the way but you'll get some treasures as well.

I really like the fact that my kids have no problem with previously owned items. They only let very close friends in on the origin of these items but thats ok with me. If I can just make sure its engrained in them before they leave my house and enter the world of consumer debt, they will be so far ahead of their peers.