Family fun doesn't have to break the bank

I love my job more than anything, but it definitely has its "what was I thinking" moments. My only interaction during the day was with a child. And sometimes stir crazy was an understatement. It was more like "if I don't get out of the house now I'm going to jump off a bridge" crazy. So getting out of the house on the weekends was so very necessary to bring some balance back to my life.

We found some great family fun that was either free or pretty damn close. We started doing corn mazes in the fall. It averaged about $25 for our family to get in and have hours and hours of fun. We enjoyed it so much that our first year doing it we were corn maze champions. Yep...I'm bragging alright! We were the first to complete all of Maze Play's qualifying corn mazes in Georgia that year. It got us out of the house, it's cheap and truly fun for the whole family. We also discovered Letterboxing. This is completely free and so much fun. I won't get into too much detail since Google is so readily available. But let me just say it's like an extreme scavenger hunt. And once again fun for the whole family. The bottom line is, we didn't have to sit around and do nothing because we were pinching pennies. There is fun to be had by everyone!

Going Once. Going Twice. Sold to the lady with the baby.

The money I saved making the necessary cuts really helped a lot. And we were getting by by the skin of our teeth. So, it was time get creative. What could I do to earn a little extra cash without putting Makenzie in daycare? I toyed with a few ideas and even attempted providing an in home daycare. Nothing was concrete though. And honestly, taking care of my own children was work enough let alone another person's screaming little monsters. Truth be told, I am glad the child care thing never worked.

The ideas left as quickly as they came in. Luckily my mom swooped in with a brilliant idea that saved the day! Do you know what happens to your stuff in a storage unit if you don't pay the monthly rent? It doesn't sit there and wait for you. The contents of the storage units are sold auction style to the highest bidder. This was the break I was longing for. I work when I want, I am the boss and my baby can always be with me! So we managed to save a little start up cash. Nothing big, just $100.

We struck gold with the first storage auction we went to. We won the entire contents of a unit for $50. We did invest in a truck, $65, to get it all home. That was a total monetary investment of $115. I ebayed and craigslisted the hell out of that stuff. Off of that $50 unit we made $2,000. Deduct my original investment of $115 that gave me a profit of $1,885. And so my auctioning days began.
Not all auctions produced that much profit for me but they definitely produced enough extra cash to make it all worth while. It just takes a little dough to get started. The biggest investment was my time and commitment. But damn it was worth it!

So now what?!?

Here's a fact for you...no job equals no paycheck. We were there. We had the big house, ate out when we wanted, no shortage of spending money and we walked away from it all. It's not like we were swimming in money but we were comfortable. First thing was first. We quickly had to figure out just how in the hell this was going to work. So I prioritized (and let me add that these are my personal priorities and I in no way condemn mothers that choose to work). Obviously keeping Makenzie home was top priority. Premium cable channels, every option on the cell phones, lightening fast DSL and all the other little extras we had were the first to go because they were unnecessary. Just cutting those down to the bare minimum dropped the monthly expenses by $150. Now for the big house. Truthfully, we didn't need all that room or the expense to heat and cool it. So we downsized to a small three bedroom ranch and we loved it! That freed up another $400 a month. The life style change alone saved another $150 a month. We stopped eating out, kept the A/C on 78 or the heat on 68. We were cautious with water and electricity usage (things we should have been doing regardless). That's a total monthly savings of $700! I compared it to stuffing myself silly of Thanksgiving dinner and being so uncomfortably full, then unbuttoning my pants to get that little bit of relief.

I am not trying to make it sound easy because I promise it wasn't. I missed the paychecks and the security that went along with it. But I also knew that if I was working the things I would miss were more valuable than a paycheck such as my baby's first step or smile or word. And to me those things are priceless. So we dropped everything down to the bare necessity. And that was ok with me because I truly felt like I was still living "the life". I was a sat-at-home mom!

Turn left on Broad Street, right on Main Street and Memory Lane is straight ahead.

I am compelled to take you back to October 16th, 2005. This is truly where my adventure begins. This is the day that Makenzie Elizabeth entered our lives with an ear piercing scream and a sucking reflex I could hardly satiate. But that screaming, sucking little bundle of joy was ours! I was now a mother of two demanding girls. And just as I was starting to enjoy a little of my own free time again, as my oldest was becoming more independent, my new baby swiped it right out from under me. Complaining...not really. It's just the reality of a mom with a newborn. No free time, no sleep, lucky to sneak in a quick shower and boobs that do nothing but hurt, get in the way and leak milk. Not to sound cliche, but she really was worth all of it.

When I was pregnant with her I worked all the way up to the very day that I had her. So, financially up to that point life was pretty good with mine and my husbands salaries combined. During my maternity leave I was certain I would go back to work when Makenzie was six weeks old simply because I didn't think we could make it otherwise. But the thought of putting my brand new baby in day care tortured me enough to say "No way!" So I did what I thought was unthinkable and I quit my job the day my maternity leave was over giving no choice but for our family of four to survive on the hubbie's salary alone. Was I scared? Shitless! Determined to make it work? Absolutely!

And so it begins.....

A Little About Me Before I Get To The Juicy Stuff

First things first...who I am. I will try not to bore you with too many drab details about who I call "me". I also go by mommy and my husband throws in a honey or baby every now and then. But the one constant name I have been called for the past 33 years and 3 months is Jessie, thank you mom and dad. I remember being a little girl wanting to change my name, but completely unaware of the money and legal work involved. So, Jessie on the day I was born and still Jessie today. The name has grown on me and quite frankly I think it fits.

As you can tell from above I am 33 years old. I have two daughters, Madeline 11 years old and Makenzie 4 years old. My husband and I are quickly approaching our 5th wedding anniversary. We live in a small Georgia town about 45 minutes north of Atlanta. I know what you are thinking now, but go ahead and remove any redneck or country folk stereotypes that may be running through your head. I am a Yankee transplant from Ohio and although my hubby was born and raised in GA you wouldn't know it unless I told you. My husband commutes everyday to Atlanta to do whatever it is he does (his uber geek language is difficult to understand so I won't even attempt to translate) for the MEP Firm he works for. And me, well I am a domestic goddess. At least that's what I call myself, but everyone else refers to my job as stay-at-home mom. Whatever you want to call me is fine, but the bottom line is that I love my job and I made some serious sacrifices to get the job. And those sacrifices and money saving tricks and whatever hell or joy I have gone through to keep my job is what I want to share in my blog. Because if I can do it, than anyone can do it.

Happy reading, I hope you enjoy, and I welcome any comments!!