Freeloading...Freestyle

Spring is my favorite time of year for a number of reasons, not least of which is the onset of yard sale season. I love driving through exurbia on a bright Saturday morning with a travel mug full of steaming tea and a wad of cash in my pocket. There’s nothing as exhilarating as finding the motherlode of little girls T-shirts (10¢ each) in front of someone’s tract house. Most of my kids’ clothes (and plenty of mine too) are second hand. A lot of it (especially the girls’ stuff) is not necessarily what I would have picked out if I could style my principina exactly the way I wanted. But she’d look cute in a paper bag and doesn’t seem to mind.

Buying up other people’s cast offs is just one of the many ways this frugal domestic goddess keeps the family budget in line. Among the other belt tightening measures I have taken on: Gave up my $25 a bottle shampoo in favor of $4 Pantene (there is a difference in case you were wondering). Switched from premium to cheap-ass cat food (sorry boys). Let my magazine subscriptions expire and put Netflix on hold (sniff). Of course, we long ago gave up new books, records, dining out, round robins at the tennis club and most cosmetics. I did buy a $16 lip gloss from Mac earlier this spring. Felt a little guilty but I looove it. The color is perfect. The packaging is perfect. I actually feel kind of glam when I’m wearing it to preschool drop off, the way I used to back in the days when I’d routinely walk over to Saks on my lunch break and buy something from Stila as a little pick me up….

Let’s see…I’ve been putting off getting a new pair of glasses after Hank caused mine to break in half by jumping on them. Also putting off getting a haircut but it will have to be done at some point. I was commiserating on this subject with a friend whose husband was recently laid off from a technology company and who has been implementing a similar austerity plan. She mentioned that she’d stumbled across a 10% off coupon from the one and only hair salon in Lovetown and wondered if she should give it a shot. I regularly drive by this place, which is located on the main drag in our sorry little hamlet. It appears to be staffed by a bunch of leather skinned hags (with terrible 80s hair) who hang out on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes. Hell no, I told her. Spend an extra $10 and go to a “real” salon in the inner exurbs where at least they’ll make every effort to make you look like Jennifer Aniston from her Friends days instead of Joan Cusack in Working Girl.

There are a few small indulgences I’ve refused (so far) to give up: swimming lessons for my boy, Ghirardelli chocolate and the occasional bikini/eyebrow wax. I still buy organic veggies/milk/hormone free meats as much as possible (although we do have a two-tier system in place as far as eggs go: organic for me and the kids and cheap/industrial for poor old papa).

Anyway, above all, we try to keep things simple. And I’m always on the lookout for free activities. Among my favorites are once a month Friday happy hours at a local yoga studio (an hour of free yoga, followed by wine and cheese) and story hour at the local library. Coco and I generally hit this one while Hank’s in school. It’s quite the social scene for local toddlers. If only they served cocktails.