The past week certainly was not inexpensive in money or feelings. The total for gas was 878.87. I do not need to rehash the whole drama of a cruel comment. We saved a ton on food and drink costs by not eating out. Our hotel and camping costs were 200 dollars.
Pedicures
My feet take a beating from running and being barefoot. A pedicure used to cost me 55.00. I purchased the equipment for 12 dollars. I can do 25 pedicures. I do 2 pedicures a month.
Manicures:
My manicures used to cost 25.00 a month. I can do at home manicure at home for pennies.
Leg waxing:
I use cotton strips. I mix sugar, lemon, and water. I prefer to torture myself thank you. This is a service I used to pay 50 dollars for.
Eye Brow waxing
I save 10 dollars on this service as well. Again, I can't pay for torture.
One way to save money is to make sure that your spouse and yourself understand a budget before it is serious. It is important to understand that it is difficult to always be on the same page every time. This last trip I didn't think was worth the expense before we left, and certainly, I knew it when I got back.
My husband understood I had an appearance standard that can be expensive. The pandemic was the deciding fact was becoming more DIY beauty.
My husband values adventure and I value education and creating things. it works because we value this in each other.
Music
Of course, there is always the radio. We use the free options of Pandora and Spotify on smart speakers at home. On the road, I use a 256 GB thumb drive full of our home library with the car stereo. We never run out of music on the road.
Data storage:
I have several cloud services that offer free storage. I use one for the house things that are not senstitive. I use one for my writing projects. I also purchased a 500 GB external drive with a gift card earned from surveys.
The wear and tear of the home
Our everyday dishes are white so they are easy to replace for a low cost and to match. I have a maintenance manual for the home to maintain, prevent damages, and plan for repairs. The key role of the homemaker is to create a haven that makes people want to behave accordingly. I am constantly upgrading furniture coverings, curtains, etc. If the house looks good, people act good. I believe a home should be comfortable and livable, yet, we are only 20 minutes away from being company ready on the worse day.
