Its been a while since I posted but I've been busy. It seems my two youngest (11 and 14 years old) will need braces. After the small amount the insurance covers I will be paying $440 a month for the next 2 years. As a single parent providing 90% of their needs this one will hurt a little. So what has to give? I do not have the ability to make $440 just magically appear out of nowhere each month, so sacrifices have to be made. I just happen to be giving up caffeine for a metabolism cleanse so maybe I'll save $40-$50 a month on coffee. Great! Now I just have about $390 to go. I've been meaning to cancel that gym membership I never use, so that's another $20 a month. (We can discuss the unused gym membership next time.) I probably spent at least $150 on clothes and shoes for the boys the last 6 months in a row (this would be much less if they would just stop growing!). If I limit buying clothes to an emergency DEFCON 5 level, then maybe I could save another $75 a month. Add those all up and I still need $295 a month.
I've talked before about eliminating fast food and cooking more at home, so I have already cut back there, but how do I save even more? No, really, if you have any suggestions I am all ears. Doing even more cooking and baking at home will require more of my time and that I do not really have to give right now. Store brands versus name brands might get me $35 a month and buying more things in bulk could get me another $35-$40 (that is as long as I can keep the stash hidden from the boys or I just end up buying even more). I think I could manage finding $20 in coupons a month to save even more. Now we are at $200 a month.
Now I have to get creative. After a month of research and planning I think I could reduce our electricity bill by $25 a month and if no one buys anything from ITunes for the next 2 years that's probably another $15-$20 a month. I can give up pedicures, but I only go about 3-4 times a year, so the cost divided by 24 would average a savings of $8 a month. I already cut my own hair and I don't drink, so no savings opportunities there. If we also give up seeing movies in the theater that would save about $60 a month. (I will miss the womb-like atmosphere of a good movie theater). I can also cancel my subscription to CBS.com now that The Mentalist is cancelled and that's $7 a month. Where are we now? Wow, I just need to find another $80 a month.
If I pay for groceries and even the braces with a credit card I could earn as much as $40 a month on cash back rewards, assuming something unexpected doesn't happen and I can't pay off my balances each month:) I could probably sell stuff I have cluttering up the basement, garage and closets and earn an extra $200-$300 dollars and that would spread out to be almost $12 a month. We are so close but I'm running out of ideas. I could limit shower times and toilet flushes, but a lot only adds up to a little when it comes to reducing the water bill around here. I'll give my efforts a $4 a month credit. If I only buy gas at Costco this could help me save another $10 a month. Just $14 more to go. I'm sure I could nickel and dime my way to that each month by never forgetting to bring my own bag to the grocery store and vigilantly recycling bottles and cans. I know I find at least $1.50 each month doing laundry.
So there it is...the cost of a perfect smile. Its more than a smile, its making room for all those permanent teeth and correcting under bites, and sending them into adulthood with healthy chompers. I would like to be all martyr and say it will all be worth it, but I will definitely miss getting pedicures and I'll probably regret cancelling my gym membership but that's only if I can find the time to go. I found a way to make a $440 a month payment for braces, I guess the next thing I should do is find a few hours a week to workout!! Moms move mountains but braces move teeth:)
