My daughter starts feeling really bored and trapped when we stay home for far too long of stretches and everything follows a simple basic mundane routine of each day blending together in sameness. She is a very active 12 year old who loves creativity and newness so this is to be expected. She does not accept me having cancer or our finances being an issue as an answer, or a good answer anyways. Now granted sometimes this means she just wants us to spend some family time together playing board games or doing something together. Other times it means she is desperate to get out of the house and go do something fun! I can't say as I blame her, I think most of us feel this way from time to time especially for those of us who really stay home a good share of the time.
So when my chemo was cancelled for the second week in a row this past Tuesday due to my white cell count still being low, I decided to take full advantage of us having 2 whole days off as a family including hubby! I had $35 to our name, so knew it had to be frugal is as frugal does! My 15 year old son had been asking to go to Game Stop for a few weeks now. We do not go that often because it is in another town 30 miles away, the same distance as my hospital for chemo trips but in the opposite direction! We had already put the gas in our truck though for chemo prior to it being cancelled!
So I had hubby and the kids go through all their Xbox 360 games to gather what they no longer wanted or played which brought up a dozen games to return for store credit. We went to Game Stop and took our time with no hurrying or rushing where we had enough store credit for each member to choose a new video game. They love going here and for 4 new video games the out of pocket expense to us was only .70 cents! WOOT WOOT!
Our daughter also loves clothes shopping and at 12 let me tell you she has been growing continuously so always needs new clothes. There happens to be 2 thrift stores in the area of Game Stop, a Salvation Army and a Good Will. She got to go to both and found a couple items at each, I also was able to find a like brand new pair of jeans at Salvation Army. I was happy about this because other than a couple of sweat pants hubby got me at the start of chemo treatments, I only had one black pair of corduroy pants that fit me that again was purchased after loosing a bunch of weight from the cancer.
Then stopped by Walmart to pick up a couple things for dinner at home. All in all we only spent $15 while the kids enjoyed their afternoon out, even our 15 year old son enjoys going to thrift stores. At home they all played their new video games with each other while I fixed a nice dinner.
$15 for an afternoon day of fun for family of 4, not so bad!
So when my chemo was cancelled for the second week in a row this past Tuesday due to my white cell count still being low, I decided to take full advantage of us having 2 whole days off as a family including hubby! I had $35 to our name, so knew it had to be frugal is as frugal does! My 15 year old son had been asking to go to Game Stop for a few weeks now. We do not go that often because it is in another town 30 miles away, the same distance as my hospital for chemo trips but in the opposite direction! We had already put the gas in our truck though for chemo prior to it being cancelled!
So I had hubby and the kids go through all their Xbox 360 games to gather what they no longer wanted or played which brought up a dozen games to return for store credit. We went to Game Stop and took our time with no hurrying or rushing where we had enough store credit for each member to choose a new video game. They love going here and for 4 new video games the out of pocket expense to us was only .70 cents! WOOT WOOT!
Our daughter also loves clothes shopping and at 12 let me tell you she has been growing continuously so always needs new clothes. There happens to be 2 thrift stores in the area of Game Stop, a Salvation Army and a Good Will. She got to go to both and found a couple items at each, I also was able to find a like brand new pair of jeans at Salvation Army. I was happy about this because other than a couple of sweat pants hubby got me at the start of chemo treatments, I only had one black pair of corduroy pants that fit me that again was purchased after loosing a bunch of weight from the cancer.
Then stopped by Walmart to pick up a couple things for dinner at home. All in all we only spent $15 while the kids enjoyed their afternoon out, even our 15 year old son enjoys going to thrift stores. At home they all played their new video games with each other while I fixed a nice dinner.
$15 for an afternoon day of fun for family of 4, not so bad!
Perhaps your daughter might enjoy the stimulation of public school.
ReplyDeleteSorry, anon, every kid gets bored from time to time, homeschooled or public schooled, I have never met a child yet who has never had a day they felt bored. Part of being an active kid period. Public school is not the only way for stimulation, nor always a desired stimulation. Public school is not always an answer and not for everyone. Thank you for your opinion and concern however,
DeleteHi Carrie,
ReplyDeleteIf you have a used book store nearby, you can also take trade-ins there, to get "new" books, videos (DVDs), gifts (like stationary, calendars), and sometimes craft kits. We have a Half Price Books in town. My daughters always loved going there to get something "new", in exchange for books we were ready to pass on.
Our recent frugal fun was an evening at the beach. There's a walk-up stand that sells fish and chips. I had been given a gift card to this place in spring, as a thank you for watching kids for an evening. We went to the walk-up place, got our fish and chips, and carried it over to the picnic tables for a dinner on the beach. We also toured the lighthouse, there, before having dinner. It was a really fun time with the whole family together.
Sadly there is not a used book store nearby but we do frequent the library. What a wonderful frugal beach day for you, sounds heavenly, we are doing a beach day tomorrow!
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