Getting the kids on board

On Monday night we had our Family Home Evening lesson on family finances.  I cut out pictures of different items, including every budget line item, and had the children decide if they were needs or wants.  Then we went through all of the "needs" and discussed how much each of them cost out of our budget. At the end we asked their help in our goal of paying down all of our debt this year.  They came up with some ideas of how they could be better at not wasting, being more responsible, etc.  And everyone agreed that we should also make this a matter of prayer through out the year.  Yes, the small ones were completing lost and bouncing on the couch, but all in all I think it went well.

The next morning over breakfast I asked them to help me come up with a list of fun things we could do as a family to have fun that didn't cost much, if anything.  They LOVED this and jumped right in.  Tanner even asked if he could see the list later after school.  My favorite entry was from him: snuggle.  Yes, snuggles are always free!

While the boys were at school today I played outside in the snow with Annabel.  She kept asking me to make more snow angels with her.  As I got up to look at our many large and small snow angels the thought came to me that snow angels, like snuggles, are also free.  We are blessed with so much that I think we forget these simple but very impactful bonding experiences with our children.

So onward we go with our free fun list... it includes playing board games, going to the beach, taking a nature walk, going sledding, camping in the backyard, going to the library, etc.  Some inexpensive ideas are going to the observatory or the 25 cent movie downtown.

There's one more benefit from cutting back on the children... I have more time for them!  Today my gymbucks were officially redeemable.  I happily made the decision that we didn't need anything and therefore didn't shop.  Normally I would have spent an hour or more finding the best items for the best deals for just the right amount.  It wasn't until today that I realized that gymbucks isn't really money... it's just a 50% off coupon with the stipulation that you have to spend at least $25.  I am not wasting anything by not using them!