For instance:
- It costs us money to send them to daycare
- It costs us money to let them watch television with advertisements.
- It costs us money to have extravagant, over-the-top birthday parties for them (every year)
- It costs us money to shuttle them to the 10 different activities each of them has, not including the gear.

In contrast, if we spent more time with them I think that we’d find that the returns are terrific:
- Time spent with children bonds them with us– a bond that we’ll want as they grow and become more of their own individual.
- Time spent playing a board game with the family only cost us the initial investment of buying the game (unless Susie ate one of the cards again!).
- Time spent celebrating with the extended family binds us to who we are– especially when welcoming in the new year.
- Time spent on nature walks, playing soccer in the back yard, or playing catch will work on the same skills as all of those practices, and will provide time for the family to grow together.

The bests things in life may not be free, but they will take more of your time and less money from your wallet.

–

While not a mommy or a girl even, MInTheGap writes about the culture war, finances, marriage and families at his site, since 2004.

Each hour today, we are blogging for charity. Please consider making a donation to The Children’s Hunger Fund. You will helping to feed a child.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

We have a winner . . .  The Ford Escape gives you the quickest payback.  Owners will break even in only 3 years.  The Honda Civic and the Mercury Mariner tie at number 2.  The Saturn Vue comes in at number 3, which allows owners to break even in 4.8 years.  According to Clark Howard, any hybrid offering return on investment in under five years is a smart buy.

The Toyotas didn’t do so well.  The Toyota Highlander takes 11 years to break even and the Camry takes 12 years.  Eeeekkkk!!!  Even worse, the Toyota Corolla will take you 17.9 years.  Ouch! Toyota, the greenest of all the automakers, doesn’t give you a good payback on your hybrid-purchasing dollar.   Sounds the Toyota is for environmentalists and not for the frugal.

I was pretty impressed with Edmunds website.  They have some interesting and informative articles on their site. 

Do you own or have you considered buying a hybrid?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

On the night of Saturday, September 30th, I asked my husband if we could make a trip to Dollar Tree.  I needed some things to put in my shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.  Somehow or another things continued keeping us from leaving the house.  We ended up leaving the house way later than we wanted to and we missed out on going to Dollar Tree.  We decided to go to Wal-Mart instead.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of shopping at Wal-Mart.  Every trip into Wal-Mart seems to take us at least an hour, but usually 2 or more.  This night was no exception.  We knew what we were getting ourselves into, so we put the kids in their pajamas and headed out. 

We’re doing our shopping and I’m pushing Baby Boy around the store.  It’s not long before he’s asleep.  One down and one more to go.  My daughter isn’t going down as easily.  (I will say for those of you that are against late night shopping with kids, this trip was very unusual for us.  We don’t normally do late night shopping.  I will continue to ramble on now . . . )

As we’re shopping through Wal-Mart I see this long line of people.  The line starts at the layaway department (soon to be obsolete) and continues through the photo lab and into the aisle.  The small crowd standing in line looks tired, on a mission, and ready to hurt someone.  They look antsy and they have even taken chairs from the furniture department to sit on. 

Suddenly it dawns on me why they are in line.  Could it be?  Could they be waiting for the TMX Elmo?  I take my daughter to the bathroom and question some people that are waiting.  Sure enough, they are wanting an Elmo. 

I couldn’t help but to get a little excited.  I might have a chance at getting one of these dolls.  Then I begin to walk around and talk to people.  Some say there are 75 dolls, some say 65.  I begin to get more excited.  But then, an employee tells me there are only 39.   So, I begin to walk around and count the people.  There are more than 39 people in line.  Bummer!  One lady says that she has been waiting in line for over 12 hours.  Wow!  Now that’s determination.

At this point it is 10:45.  I’m getting anxious and am really giving this some thought.  Should I get in line for over an hour and chance it or should I move on?  I convince my husband that we should stand in line. 

As we stand in line, we count the people.  Our chances are slim.  We also wonder if there are people in line that are holding places for others.  Finally, another associate comes by and tells us there are more than 39. She says there are 69 Elmos!!! 

We recount the people waiting.  If no one else gets in line in front of us, then we will get an Elmo.  What a relief it was when an associate came around with a notepad.  She had us sign our name beside a number.  That meant we would get a TMX Elmo!  Now all we had to do was wait until 12 a.m., when they were allowed to release them.  I can’t help but admit that we were still a little skeptical as there were no guarantees.

We had some good conversations with people while waiting.  We found out that some people were waiting in line to get a TMX Elmo for their baby.  I’m constantly in my thrifty mode so I am wondering why someone would go through so much trouble to get an Elmo for a baby that doesn’t know any difference. 

And FYI I do not feel guilty for getting an Elmo to sell.  I had a lady tell me that the people who are reselling the dolls are heartless and that her one year old’s Christmas would be ruined because of people like me.  Ok, is she really serious?  Does she really believe that?  Please tell me she doesn’t.  Now I really feel cheated.  I don’t know how I survived my childhood without a TMX Elmo, My Little Pony, or Furbie.  Sorry, that comment really irked me and brought out the sarcasm. 

My son is one year old and I really don’t think he cares what he will get for Christmas.  Just the thrill of tearing the paper will be enough for him.

Sorry, I was rambling again.    We did get the TMX Elmo.  Actually, my husband purchased one and I purchased one.  They will be on E-bay before Christmas arrives.  The profits will most likely go toward us buying Christmas gifts this year. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy