Mommy Math

Living affordably takes some time and know how, but most of the time it is just a little thinking outside of the box. We live a a 2700 sqft home and with 6 people we are always in need of something. Maybe it is filling a space in our home with our style or keeping up with the clothing needs of our children, we are always spending $$$$$.

We definetly believe in the hand-me-downs, with 3 boys it is a must. But sometimes that does not fit our needs. So I do Mommy Math.

Let's say my oldest needs a pair of football cleats. I always look for used first (Once Upon a Child and Craigslist), you can often get brand new things if you are patient. Then I price new (of course with a coupon). Once I figure my cost I shop our home (closets, furniture, nothing is safe) for what I can sell. I then subtract the price of what I get for my items from the cost of what I purchase and that is the total cost.

Example: Stainles Steal Appliances for $1200 but then sold our White Appliances for $1100 total cost $100 (see Kitchen Makeover Post).

More examples below;

 

Twin beds $10 (yes for both) Goodwill spray paint $3

 

Sold $50 on Craigslist



Purchased Blue bunkbeds with Trundle $140
Total cost $90

Gap Jacket $3.50 Once Upon a Child

Sold Swing $17
Total cost free

There are very few times I don't do this so I don't include the cost of the purchase of the old item in the Math. This way I keep saving money and of course EVERYTHING is paid for in CASH!!!

Builder Basic + Personal Style = Our Kitchen

This is what we started with, well not really. We did get new appliances when we moved in 5 years ago. However at the time we did not have the funds for stainless and I was not for mismatched appliances.

So we saved up for the french door bottom freezer refrigerator from the sears scratch and dent store. We then got a over the stove microwave (new). And we then purchased a smooth top range from a friend who was upgrading for $100. We were set for a while.

Then I started spending time in the blogging world. I saw that I did not have to settle for builder basic and that we could easily infuse our style in our home affordably. All I needed "want to", which we had because we laid our own tile floors (that is a different story). So I got to work convincing my husband that painting the oak was not just OK but that painting it black would be Divine. I could not convince him to let me paint them so we hired a contractor to spray the cabinets.

To add to this Kitchen Cinderella story, DH went on an impromptu trip to the Sears scratch and dent store and got a deal he could not pass up, $1200 for the package above, (not pictured is the microwave). There is a slight dent on the left side of the fridge, but who cares. That sealed the deal, black cabinets it was. We then turned right around and sold our old set for $1100. Who passes up $100 appliances (that was a quick lesson in mommy math, more on that later).

 See the finished results below.

Now I need window treatments, hardware, and pendent light above the sink. I will definitely post our finished results.

 So including the appliances we remodeled our kitchen for the grand total of $950. Yes that is including the contractor.  

The molding made a huge difference

I had to get the floating shelves. I will have fun adding accsories or necesities soon.

 I want to paint the chairs black and I still need to recover the chairs

 You can see the wood grain, but I lik e it.

Da, Da, Da, Another one bites the dust ........

It fought the good fight but the little boy wins. He wiggled and wiggled until he pulled his tooth out. All in the name of the mighty dollar. Maybe we are paying too much, hmmmmm?

Origin of the Tooth Fairy

In light of recent events I thought I needed a bit of background.



Most kidlets know what happens when they lose a tooth – they place it under their pillow and the tooth fairy will come in the night and replace it with some money. Like many childhood “visitors,” the tooth fairy seems to have evolved from different folklores and cultural rituals. A quick browse of the topic online sheds some interesting light on where the Tooth Fairy came from.
Many folk cultures have for centuries marked the loss of a child's baby or milk teeth

Many historians believe the Tooth Fairy evolved from the tooth mouse depicted in an 18th century French language fairy tale. In "La Bonne Petite Souris," a mouse changes into a fairy to help a good queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow to torture him and knocking out all his teeth.
In Europe it was a common practice to bury the baby tooth in the garden or in the fields surrounding the child's home. One reason was to ensure that a new tooth (permanent tooth) would grow in its place.
In some Asian countries, the usual custom was for the child to throw a lost tooth onto the roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. Apparently, the teeth of mice go on growing for their entire lifespan which is a good thing.

In parts of India, young children offer their discarded baby tooth to the sun, sometimes wrapped in a tiny rag of cotton turf.

No one seems to have a solid story about what the tooth fairy does with all those teeth. (Anecdotal evidence indicates that parents generally make something up on the spot…)

So that's what we did..... the tooth fairy leaves whatever she has on hand at our house. So since we had both boys lose a tooth on the same day I had they split $4!!!!