You try to be frugal. You try to pinch pennies.
But you're a mom.
And your kids thwart you.
Every time.
-Your kid plays with the fridge, which causes the freezer door to open (because of bad mechanism), which causes the freezer to defrost then refreeze then defrost then defreeze... Which causes your electric bill to go up... and your freezer and fridge to stop working... which spoils a lot of your stockpile, not to mention needing to pay for fridge repair (if you don't figure out how to do it yourself).
-You buy 30-60 eggs at a time so you can take advantage of the cheaper price. And then your toddler climbs on the table where you keep them (because they don't fit in the fridge) and, thinking they are balls, plays with them, squeezes them, and tosses them on the floor. Fortunately you manage to get the eggs while they're still whole and in his hands most times... but he's still managed to break quite a few eggs already.
-You successfully complete a very frugal grocery shop, buying nothing more than absolutely necessary, wait on line to pay, and your kid takes an expensive candy off the shelves next to the register and opens it up in the blink of an eye... and you end up needing to pay for an unhealthy overpriced piece of garbage.
-You are very careful not to waste water, only flushing toilets when absolutely necessary. However, your toddler thinks its a game to climb onto the toilet seat and flush the toilet. Repeatedly.
-You're pretty careful with your electronics. (Or so you tell your husband.) Your kids get their hands on your digital camera, and between the two of them, manage to drop it enough times that it doesn't work and you need to pay for a new camera.
-You're trying hard to make clothes last as long as possible so you can keep the clothing budget to a minimum but still look presentable, but your kids paint, color, spill beets and wipe snot on your clothes, their clothes, and your husband's clothes. You're left with the choice to either look terrible, slovenly and like a charity case in your horribly stained clothes... or spend more money to buy new clothes. (Any good tips on how to get snot off clothes? Its not coming off in the wash here for some reason!)
-Your kid throws your cell phone in the washing machine, rendering it useless. (Ok, this one actually was my fault... it was in the laundry pile- thanks to the kids- and I put it in the machine unknowingly... Fortunately I got it to work again by taking it apart and sticking it in a bag of uncooked rice for a few days.)
-Your kids flush shirts down the toilet, backing up your sewage and necessitating a call to the plumber. (This didn't happen to me, but it happened to our upstairs neighbors in our old apartment, which backed up all the sewage in the whole building.)
Kids. Gotta love em. But they sure do affect our budget when they make all attempts to thwart our efforts at frugality.
How do your kids thwart your frugality? Have any of these things, or similar happened to you?
And your kids thwart you.
Every time.
-Your kid plays with the fridge, which causes the freezer door to open (because of bad mechanism), which causes the freezer to defrost then refreeze then defrost then defreeze... Which causes your electric bill to go up... and your freezer and fridge to stop working... which spoils a lot of your stockpile, not to mention needing to pay for fridge repair (if you don't figure out how to do it yourself).
-You buy 30-60 eggs at a time so you can take advantage of the cheaper price. And then your toddler climbs on the table where you keep them (because they don't fit in the fridge) and, thinking they are balls, plays with them, squeezes them, and tosses them on the floor. Fortunately you manage to get the eggs while they're still whole and in his hands most times... but he's still managed to break quite a few eggs already.
-You successfully complete a very frugal grocery shop, buying nothing more than absolutely necessary, wait on line to pay, and your kid takes an expensive candy off the shelves next to the register and opens it up in the blink of an eye... and you end up needing to pay for an unhealthy overpriced piece of garbage.
-You are very careful not to waste water, only flushing toilets when absolutely necessary. However, your toddler thinks its a game to climb onto the toilet seat and flush the toilet. Repeatedly.
-You're pretty careful with your electronics. (Or so you tell your husband.) Your kids get their hands on your digital camera, and between the two of them, manage to drop it enough times that it doesn't work and you need to pay for a new camera.
-You're trying hard to make clothes last as long as possible so you can keep the clothing budget to a minimum but still look presentable, but your kids paint, color, spill beets and wipe snot on your clothes, their clothes, and your husband's clothes. You're left with the choice to either look terrible, slovenly and like a charity case in your horribly stained clothes... or spend more money to buy new clothes. (Any good tips on how to get snot off clothes? Its not coming off in the wash here for some reason!)
-Your kid throws your cell phone in the washing machine, rendering it useless. (Ok, this one actually was my fault... it was in the laundry pile- thanks to the kids- and I put it in the machine unknowingly... Fortunately I got it to work again by taking it apart and sticking it in a bag of uncooked rice for a few days.)
-Your kids flush shirts down the toilet, backing up your sewage and necessitating a call to the plumber. (This didn't happen to me, but it happened to our upstairs neighbors in our old apartment, which backed up all the sewage in the whole building.)
Kids. Gotta love em. But they sure do affect our budget when they make all attempts to thwart our efforts at frugality.
How do your kids thwart your frugality? Have any of these things, or similar happened to you?