Spending Fast Recap

This has been a good month. I didn't feel the stress I felt last year when I did this for the first time. I am already not buying anything new this whole year, so this wasn't all that different other than decreasing my grocery budget and not going to the thrift store. I am really happy I did it but I don't feel like it was as life altering as the first time I did it. Here are the things I've learned. 

• Jason LOVES Spending Fast month. Or at least he loves watching our bank account during the month. He recently said "Can you believe I looked at our Amex bill and there wasn't any charges" Uh, yeah, I can. 
• I can live without saran wrap and sandwich baggies, at least in the short term. I am doing better about using tupperware. I want to make reuseable sandwich baggies, but haven't done it yet. 
• I plan more fun outings when I don't shop.
• I sew more when I don't shop. 
• I re-focus my grocery priorities. I stuck with fresh fruits and veggies this time which meant I really had to skimp elsewhere. I'm glad I did though. I definitely prefer fresh over canned or frozen.  

I spent $44.84 at the grocery store this week, so I was successful in staying under $50 per week! Yay!

I did have a slight lapse in judgment on Thursday and went to a yarn shop and new thrift store. It was really fun to walk around Alexandria and the stores just sucked us in. I bought a skein of yarn for $6.00 and spent $5.00 at the thrift store. Thankfully LuAnn bought the skein of yarn from me when I found very similar yarn at the thrift store. So, yeah, I ended up only spending $5.00 but I still felt guilty about it. 

How did your month go?

#2 Visit Mt. Vernon

Calder and I went to Mt. Vernon last Monday. It was free in honor of President's day. I'm so glad we went. It was chilly but manageable. We saw the tomb, the museum and took the tour of the mansion. We couldn't take pictures of very many things so, here is what I got.

 This is a very large stained glass window inside the visitors center.

 This is how Calder spent the morning, when he wasn't on my shoulder so he could see the band or walking through the mansion.

 George Washington's Army. Calder LOVED watching them shoot their guns. He would laugh uncontrollably each time. As other kids would cry or cover their ears, Calder just laughed.

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON. Okay, not really but he was a good actor and did a good job pretending to be GW. Calder didn't get a chance to talk to him because the line was too long. When we were looking for a bathroom Calder suggested we ask GW where his bathroom is.

And this was the drum and fife band performing on the mansion lawn. Calder very much enjoyed this too. 

It was definitely a good day. I probably wouldn't pay for it but I'm glad we went.

#46 Brookside Gardens

 Since we've been having beautiful weather Calder and I took an evening trip to Brookside Gardens. It is a huge garden about three miles from our house. This is the Children's Garden area. They have tables and stools made out of logs, a tree house and a gnome house.

 Calder loved the gnome house and was frustrated the door doesn't close.

 And he took a pretty decent picture of me.

 I can't wait to go back when we have a few hours to explore and I can only imagine it will be amazing come spring.

Spending Fast Week 3

Okay, I had a cruddy week at the grocery store. I spent $57.15. So, I went over even though I had some saved up. So, that means I have $47.17 to spend at the store this next week. That should be manageable. We'll see. 

Otherwise I did really good. I didn't eat out at all and didn't buy anything but gas, so week three was a success. 

I don't feel like this is as hard because there is so much to do for free here. Calder and I can stay busy without spending money. It is so nice. It also helps the weather has been warmer so we can spend time at parks instead of malls.

How was your THIRD week of the Spending Fast? This next week is your last week! Yay!

#69 Gravelly Point

 After our "hike" around Roosevelt Island we went to Gravelly Point. This is a great park where you can see the airplanes taking off and landing at Ronald Regan National Airport. Calder LOVED this and can't wait to take daddy. We brought a picnic and just had a great time. You can sort of see the flag Calder is holding. It is an American flag he insisted on having from the thrift store. It has been well loved and he wanted to bring it to wave at the airplanes. I think he was thinking it was going to guide them like the workers who direct planes with small orange flags or sticks, but I'm not sure. Either way he waved his American flag for the airplanes.

 I had a hard time getting this picture because Calder kept wanting to watch the airplanes.

This is my friend Liz and her son Henry. We always have a great time with them!

So, back to the bathroom story from the previous post. We got here and Calder hadn't mentioned needing to go to the bathroom for a while. Then he needed to go poop. They only had porta-potties and so we went in and I told him how it works. He desperately wanted to poop in the urinal part because the other one was "already used". Thankfully he had to go bad enough he didn't argue much when I told him it doesn't work that way. He did make me crouch down so he could see my face the whole time because he was scared, but he did it and was so proud of himself when he was done. So, I guess we can go camping now.

#19 Roosevelt Island

 Last week we went to Roosevelt Island with some friends. It was a beautiful day and we loved the nature walk. Calder will tell you it was a hike. This is on the bridge crossing over to the island from the parking lot.

 This is Calder's adorable friend Henry. The older Henry gets, the more Calder likes him.

 There was some construction at the island and Calder loved just standing and watching the bulldozers and excavators.

 Look how small Calder is! That is a huge statue. I told him to wave at me and this is what I got. It looks like he is trying to do the same thing that President Roosevelt is doing. 

Calder needed to go to the bathroom at the island and they only had porta-potties. We got inside and he decided he couldn't use a "construction bathroom". Thankfully he was able to hold it until our next destination.

Spending Fast Week 2

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I know I posted the Spending Fast week 1 recap a little late last week. I had a rough week and didn't get to it until the end. So, this is the official recap for week 2. 

Week two was good and bad. I wasn't feeling great so I stayed home a lot. Which is good, it's hard to spend money if you don't leave the house. I also went to the doctor and payed a $20 copay, so there's that. And while I was at the doctor Jason took Calder out to McDonalds. They get such small amounts of time together these days I think it was worth breaking the Spending Fast for. I'm sure they would agree. 

At the grocery store I spent $50.86. Since I had roll-over from last week, it worked out fine. I hurried through and didn't add up as I went, so I was sure it would be more than that, so that's good. 

Okay, tell me about your second week of the Spending Fast!

Spending Fast Week 1

The first week of my spending fast went perfectly. I spent $44.82 at the grocery store, so I will be rolling over the remainder of my $50 budget to this week. I think it gets increasingly harder as the month goes on, so the more I can roll over the better. I don't feel the same struggle as I did when I did it last year. I would like to think it is because I am a stronger, better person but in reality it is probably because I'm doing the Nothing New 2011 Challenge and I already switched up my spending habits. I do miss the thrift store and can't wait to go back in March. 

How is everyone else doing with the Spending Fast? Feel free to comment here or post on your blog, but I'm dying to know!

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

 Last week we also went to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. It is surprisingly close to our house (15 minutes or so) and was a lot of fun. We met up with friends and the boys had a good time. They spent a long time being "space men".

 Calder loved these puppets. They had helmets that came off and he enjoyed pretending they were gloves.

 This rocket was the test rocket to see if two guys can live in a space this size for 14 days, the length of time it would take to get to the moon and back. I love this picture because it looks like Calder and his friend Jack fell asleep in there. They didn't. Believe me.

 At the end everyone drank their yogurts. We didn't bring spoons, the boys thought it was cool. It's a great "space man" food.

National Archives

We went to the National Archives this last week. It was my first time and I was so glad we went when we did. The above pictures aren't mine. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside the building and it was just too cold to stop to get a good exterior picture, but I thought you should see what it looks like. 

 There weren't any lines. It was awesome. We just walked around, looked at what we wanted and then went to the basement cafeteria for lunch. We packed our own since we're doing the Nothing New and February Spending Fast. Calder loved it. If you ask him about the National Archives he will tell you about the candy room (the cafeteria had a bunch of candy machines) and the men working in a manhole in the sidewalk right outside the building. The Decleration of Independence and Bill of Rights aren't nearly as impressive when you're two.

They had a bunch of previously printed posters all over the cafeteria walls. This was from 1943. I love it.

Giveaway

I'm hosting my first giveaway over at my other blog, Candied Apples. Head over there to enter! You have until next Thursday. Seriously, it's good stuff.

Snow

 We finally had a big snow! Calder was so excited to go out and help shovel. The guys he's standing buy is David. David is king in Calder's mind. He is the maintenance manager of the building. When we first moved in he was the guy who walked the dumpsters out to the garbage truck. Since then he has been the bee's knees. Calder wants to show him all his new toys and runs over to give a high five whenever he sees him. This is a big deal because Calder is generally shy.

 We built this snowman in the area in front of our building. Calder likes to look outside the window and say "I see the snowman we built in my backyard".

Savage Mills

 Last week we went with my cousin's wife and their kids to Savage Mills. It's this old fabric milled that was turned into an artsy shopping center. It was lots of fun to watch the kids run around and look at everything. The shopping center was basically dead. There weren't any other shoppers as far as the eye could see. It snowed that morning but seriously, it wasn't that bad out.

 Check out this clock. It was WAY more than I ever want to spend on anything for my house but it was pretty cool.

 Three happy kids.