WAYS TO SAVE

Lately the Mr. has been talking about how we need to start cutting back on our spending. Who am I kidding - he has been talking about this for years now, and I do agree. Having 5 kids can make it difficult to stay afloat financially, so cutting expenses here and there is a must. And I think we have done pretty well at doing that over the past year if I do say so myself.

Some things we have cut out?

We canceled our satellite radio - which is a big deal believe it or not, as I really loved to listen to Howard Stern on the rare occasions I did not have the kids in the car. It was also quite nice to be able to have such a wide variety of music stations so as not to feel like beating your head against the steering wheel after listening to the same 5 stations play the same 5 songs over and over again.

I laid off the wonderful girl who was sent from heaven that used to come clean my house every other week. Oh how I miss her... Leaving my house for 3 hours with the kids and coming home to a sparkling clean house was nothing short of pure bliss.

I stopped shopping at Kowalski's. Let us have a moment of silence to mourn this sad fact....

Alright.

So I stopped shopping at my favorite store, the one where you can actually park within a mile of the front door, where you can grab your cart along with a Starbucks coffee and leisurely walk the isles filling your cart with food. The one where you don't have to wait in line for 30 minutes wanting to pull your hair out, in order to purchase your groceries. The one where pleasant, happy employees reside, that pack your groceries for you while you wait, walk them out to your car and load them up. Yes, I stopped shopping at this little slice of heaven - basically the most expensive, but best grocery store ever. And I am back shopping at Cub, sometimes Wal Mart, and it makes me want to cry.

I began making lists when I need to go to Target, and forcing myself to buy nothing but what is on that list. And for any of you ladies out there who shop at Target, you know how very, very difficult that can be.

I started clipping coupons, and I actually have been using them. Not that I never wanted to use coupons before, I just never found anything in the coupon books/ads, etc that we actually use in our house or that we need before the coupon actually expires. I now make it a point to use the items I find in the coupon books in lieu of other items I enjoy using better.

And just recently the Mr. informed me we were going to be getting rid of Direct TV and going back to standard cable. I love Direct TV.

Ahh, sacrifices, sacrifices, no?

So as you can see, we have been on a roll as far as cutting expenses goes - and these are just a few examples. It still is no where near where we need to be, but everything we do is a step in the right direction.

But I have to say, there are certain things we spend money on that are better left alone. Things that are, should we say, worth every penny we spend and better left to the professionals. Things such as hair cuts.

The Mr. has been talking for quite some time about wanting to ditch the expense of getting the boys hair cut.

My response every time?

No. Way.

I agree that their hair cuts are expensive - $15.50 each plus tip, but I have always been under the impression that this is money well spent. I think cutting their hair seems like an easy task, but actually being able to do it and make it look nice is a whole other ball game.

Yesterday he decided it was time to give it a shot. I bit my tongue and smiled nicely as he headed out to Wal Mart to purchase the appropriate "tools". When he arrived home, he took his test subject, AKA Anthony, out to the garage to give his hair cutting skills a whirl. I wanted to cry.

5 or so minutes later, Anthony came running into the house "Mommy, look at my hair cut!!" As I turned around, I caught a glimpse of the "hair stylist" laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking up and down. He managed to get out, "It is not that bad." before I looked over at my Anthony and saw this.

These pictures just really do not do it justice, as it is looks worse than this. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband dearly, but a hairstylist he is not. So I would have to say, as hard as he tried, his attempt at giving Anthony a hair cut had failed. Miserably.

Me, I simply said. "So you finally tried it, and we can safely say that the boys hair cuts are better left to the professionals."

His response? "That was just my first try, I will get better at it."

As horrible as I thought the hair cut was, it seemed like Anthony was as happy with the outcome as his Dad was. Go figure.