Shockingly, I have found a silver lining in this abysmal economy! For the last several years, I have run so much that I’ve caught up with myself (a few times!). Because our new reality budgeting requires us to cut back on expenses, some of the extracurricular activities have been greatly trimmed.
Erin had to give up baton twirling. Suddenly we have several extra nights a week free (from classes and private lessons) and we have an extra free weekend each month (no workshops or competitions). As the holiday season rolls around, we also have our weekends free from parades unless we want to go watch one. In the past, every single weekend starting at the end of November was booked for area parades. Night parades where we had to put lights on cars, day time parades where we decorated with green, silver, and gold garland and big red bows.
We are saving at least $300 per month by leaving the sport (and it was often more than that when figuring in lunches and extras). That’s a car payment we can now send.
What’s the plus side? We don’t have our “together” time in the car anymore fighting over the radio (I don’t like listening to Drake, Trey Songz, and Nicki Minaj while she *loves* them). Instead, we sit in the living room after school or in the evenings when we’re both home and talk about school, who she likes, and how cute the new kitten is. We talk about the guys at her school (not “boys” because she’s in high school now!). We talk about teachers. We talk about whether she should become a cosmetologist or an ultra-sound technician.
Having this free time is marvelous.
Leave a Reply