Fantasmic Adventures in this thing called life: Show and Tell: Steal & Splurge

Today I decided to join up with Andrea from Momfessionals for show and tell Tuesday, where I was prompted to share how my family saves and what we feel is worth the splurge. This prompt was interesting to look at, because I feel like our family has been in a bit of a transition with especially the splurge aspect. We used to splurge on electronics and in particular movies. There for a while, I felt like I might as well move in at Best Buy. But honestly, we rarely go there and buy movies anymore. We also used to splurge on ball games, since my husband is a huge sports fan. Again, though, we haven't really gone to that many games lately. I think it's so fun how your lifestyle changes once little ones come into the picture. Where we splurge now is easy, so I'll start with where we save.

Clothing. We're not big shoppers to begin with, at least not normally. But I feel that I really save on clothing in particular for Littlecjc. There are two different organizations in our city that each host these very large consignment sales twice a year. Almost all of Littlecjc's clothes come from these sales. I usually volunteer to work them so that I am among the first to shop and it has worked out well for me in the past. I usually even find some very nice boutique outfits among the needed basics. I've found everything from Mud Pie, Peaches 'n Cream to Giggle Moon, Matilda Jane and Persnickety. I know this is a huge save for us and I always get compliments on Littlecjc's clothes, so win, win.

Also a save, groceries. I try to do almost all my shopping at Aldi's. I noticed a huge price difference when I made the switch. Within that time, I've also noticed a big difference in the products at Aldi's in the positive way. They have made the switch to more and more organic and the quality of their fruit and produce has vastly improved. It's only on the rare occasion now that I have to make an additional stop at another store. My husband has always done his own spreadsheets on where we're spending our money, but this month I decided that I would track how much I spent on groceries. So far this month, I've spent $246.35 which breaks down to $82/week for our family of 3. This includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Since this is the first time I've specifically tracked groceries only, I don't really have a comparison, but I think this is a good amount and I look forward to watching the trend as more time passes and I get more data. So again, win, win.

Hair. We spend little money when it comes to hair. For at least the last two years, I've been cutting Patrick's hair myself. I was terrified the first time he suggested it, but we bought the clippers kit that was the same price as one haircut figuring we weren't really out anything if it didn't turn out so well. It's a little annoying on my end, but in comparison, it's worth it and really not that big of an inconvenience. On my end, I'm one of those bad people and don't really cut my hair as often as I probably should. I have long, extremely straight hair that I trim up maybe twice a year. Honestly, I'm not really sure how often I cut it, that's how infrequently it happens. Every once in a while I get the urge to chop it shorter and then the growing out process starts again. Otherwise, it's just a trim whenever I feel that it's starting to get straggly. I've never colored it, and the only highlights I've put in have come from an over the counter box, maybe three times before.

Now, on to the fun, the splurge. If you've looked at my blog at all, it should come as no surprise that we completely splurge on all things Disney. We go to the theaters and buy almost all Disney movies that come out. My splurge meal each week is my Disney dinner. All our gifts lately seem to be from the Disney Store. And of course, we love going to Disney World. Last year, we actually went to Disney on three different trips. Now, keep in mind, we always drive, we almost always stay in a value hotel, and we never buy the meal plan. We always take advantage of sales and almost never pay full price for anything. We also have friends that live in the area, who graciously invited us to stay at their house during one of our trips last year, and got us into the park a total of three days in 2016. We love these trips and we feel that it is totally worth the money to experience that magic with Littlecjc.