We want to get into some new routines prior to summer break because it will be easier to transition the kids if it’s something we’ve been doing for a couple of weeks already.
The boys only have ten days of school left and I’m beginning to stress out a little bit because our grocery budget has taken a hit. I’m working to overcome some of these obstacles but the reality is, it’s much easier said than done. For now we will have to work within our means, while we strive to do better.
One of the things we wanted to start doing is returning to the farmers market.
We used to do this all the time when the kids were younger but it’s been years since we’ve been there.
The way I see it is that if we set aside $50.00 a week, and spend that at the farmers market, we’ll end up farther ahead, than if we had we spent that at the grocery store. At the farmers market, $50.00 buys a ton of fruit and veggies. We would still hit the grocery store for everything else.
This should help to stretch our grocery budget.
One of the other things we want to do is work on getting the house under control. Doing this before summer vacation, will help to start things off on the right foot.
Lastly, while we will never be able to do another family vacation anywhere close to what we were blessed with last Fall, we recognize that we need to try and do something as a family each summer.
Lizze and I are going to beginning looking into what it would cost to rent a cabin at Cook Forest State Park for a weekend. That’s something we could likely pull off and while it might not be as glamorous as our Florida trip, it could be amazing in a whole host of other ways.
Being an Autism parent is physically, emotionally, and financially exhausting. I’m working very hard to address the financial part of things because that makes everything else a bit more manageable.
We want to focus more on embracing life and giving the kids as many positive experiences as we can. In a near future post, I’ll share a bit more on at least one of the new projects I’ve been blessed with and how it could have a big impact on my family.
Hi Rob, glad your family had a nice Mother’s Day and that you were able to spend the night before with your parents and siblings. That’s always so much fun (and difficult!) to be able to pull off when you have a big family. I love the farmer’s markets in the summer. There is just nothing like fresh produce. I love to throw a bunch of carrots and cauliflower on the grill for dinner; I will grill just about anything I can. That would be fun to do if you’re able to figure out the camping trip too. If you can’t get there on a weekend maybe you could try for a few days during the week. It might be cheaper and the boys might do better if it’s not as crowded- just some food for thought. So sorry that Gavin’s bio grandmother has all but ruined your ability to earn money from FB. That sucks in so many ways. Have you thought about getting back to your Unboxing Stuff videos? It seems like doing those would help out a lot because you can go back to selling the items after you’ve reviewed them. Which reminds me, why didn’t you ever do a Casper review? I was (in all seriousness) wanting to see how you liked that mattress because I am in the market and have been thinking about one of the mail order mattresses but the reviews are just so mixed. It would be nice to see what you thought of the Casper as well as the newest one you got. I’m so hesitant to spend the money when I can’t lie down in a store and try it out though so reviews are all you really have when making that sort of purchase.
Hey Kim. Thanks. Mother’s Day weekend was great. I agree with you on the farmers market and yes, you can pretty much grill anything. ☺
The unboxing stuff may not happen. There’s a reason I didn’t publish the Casper review but not because it’s not a good mattress. As for the Eight Sleep, I’m still working with them to address an issue with the sleep tracking technology. I can’t publish that until we figure out what’s going on.
What’s turning out to be very positive is YouTube. I was accepted into a program that allows me to sorta make short commercials (roughly 1 min long) and make what I think is an insane amount of money. I can add them to the normal videos I upload to YouTube. That’s very positive for us and has the potential to a game changer for us.
For the record, you can’t go wrong with either mattress.. ☺