I'm back ...

again tonight!
I bet I'll do that a lot over the next few days ;-)
Little Man woke up after falling asleep about 2 hours too early and decided he wanted to play! So he's sitting at the table, eating a snack, and even though it's 11:30pm at night and we have a party to go to tomorrow and a busy morning to get ready for it all - he shows NO sign of falling back asleep. I'm giving him until midnight, then we are both going to my room and I'm sleeping and he can do what he wants to LOL!!

So, I have a point being back here - people who read this blog - yes, all 5 of you out there! please PLEASE I need tips on how to be more frugal and how to save money and how to not spend as much. Every little bit will help. We are getting close to spending more than we make each month. It is a bit scary.

I'm thinking we will stop our cable service, although apparently we signed up under a promo and dh said it might cost more to cut than to keep it - seriously, that is so wrong, but if that is the rule, we should have read it when we signed up.

So here is where it stands so far:
*The kids and I will not be buying pool passes this summer - which is a bummer, but I did buy a whole 7 dollar sprinkler the other day and so far all kids love it.
*Today we walked to the store which does several things - 1) gives us exercise 2) didn't drive the car which saved money for gas and money for wear and tear 3) stops frivolous spending because, I can only fit so much in the stroller and so I was able to buy to pretty much all I went for (although I did spend 2.00 to buy raisins for the kids as a snack LOL!) The best part is the kids were able to keep up and so I know we can do this more often.
*I don't buy movies/books/cd's - we get them all from the library.
*I will only spend profits from my store for any more craft things I buy which I know will go a long way to helping.
*I already make menus so I do shop from a list instead of just randomly grabbing things.
*We do cloth diapers half the time.
*I use almost no paper products otherwise - I clean with rags and I have lots of dishcloths, we don't use paper plates/cups so we aren't buying those items constantly. (I want to add here, the rags, dishcloths, etc, don't even add one extra load of laundry a week because one weeks supply fits in with all the towels pretty easily!)
*Speaking of towels, we do not wash our towels after only one use. Frankly, we are pretty clean after the shower and so I don't think they get dirty after each use. But, I know that they do need to be washed and so usually do it weekly (obviously I will clean them more frequently should they need to be though!).
*Everyone gets one cup a day to use. I know what you are thinking - but my kids drink water 90% of the time. No need to wash 6 cups a day that were filled with water and nothing else.
*We are stingy with our air conditioner during the summer - but not to the point where everyone is melting!
*We use rechargeable batteries - and especially with all the kids toys we own that need batteries, this is a HUGE saver for us.

But it seems like my list is full of really little things and frankly, not enough of them!

Problem areas:
*I spend too much on the kids clothes though.
*When purchasing "extras" I never spend a big amount. It's not like I go out and spend 200 at one time. HOWEVER, I buy 5 dollars here, 10 dollars there, 20 there, another 15 there and it adds up so quickly, but my mind doesn't add it up because I think it's only 20 extra dollars. I need to track those little extras to see where I stand for the month instead of thinking of it as how much for the day!
*Not that I buy a lot of toys for the kids, but I need to buy NO MORE toys for them. They have enough. They have too much! No more. I think we have enough arts and crafts, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, dolls, cars, trucks, books to provide enough for a dozen children. We need to use what they own already much more. They have tons of games, but we play with them infrequently.
*Although I plan my meals and buy the ingredients accordingly, I don't always follow the plan. And have had to toss food that has gone bad in my fridge because of it. This is probably my worst offense. I bet we have to toss at least one major thing a week (i.e. Tuesday we had to dispose of almost a pound of roast beef and a chunk of ham :X) That doesn't include the little things - like 1/4 head of lettuce that has gone bad or the last few celery sticks. It really is terrible. I need to follow my plan much better and/or stick things in the freezer the second I know I won't cook it that week AND do a better job of planning meals that will utilize the things in the fridge when I go shopping.
*Speaking of, I need some no stove/oven recipes. Especially for summer - the stove heats our house a LOT and when the temps outside are already high, I don't need to add any more heat inside. Although dh did finally buy a grill (he got a gift card for his birthday - we used no cash for this purchase!) and so I hope to learn how to grill and use it well this summer!
*We are a very electronic oriented house. We own 4 computers and too many times all 4 are running. Cell phones are charging, digital cameras are charging, tv is on, radio is on in our room, cd player is on in my kids room, etc, etc. We need to be more conscious of what is on and when. And I am trying hard to remember to unplug cords when the product connected to them is not in use (which is good on our electric bill and I've also heard is good for the environment!).

Any more suggestions or internet? I know somewhere there is a wealth of information out there. But to just google search it - the results are overwhelming frankly! I don't want 1,385,265,048,361 sites to search through - half of which do not apply to me! So please help me, give me tips, point me in the right direction.

Thanks bunches!