Got No Dough - Saving Money in Slim Times

Ok, so I thought I was so smart by talking about the foaming hand soap dispenser.  Only $7.99 I spouted.   Oh the money I thought I was going to save.

Then, the very next day I was at Walmart and I had a huge DUH moment.  Instead of spending $7.99 on a fancy foaming hand soap dispenser, why not buy one that is already filled and just reuse it?

So, I bought one made by Dial because it was most appealing (completely clear) and spent $1.84.  Luckily I thought of this before I spent the $7.99 and now I’ve just saved myself an additional six bucks.

I think that’s the key to truly saving money is to think outside the box.  Find new uses for items, find items that can be reused, and find items that can stretch so that you can get more bang for your buck.

The other day while waiting for my husband to finish an appointment, I was walking around Target wasting time.  I like to go up and down the aisles just looking at stuff, especially around the home furnishings and organizing sections.   I came across something that I thought was neat and best of all, it can be used to save money.

Rubbermaid makes a foaming hand soap dispenser.  Big deal, you say?  Well, they have a little tag attached to it that explains that foaming hand soap uses 1 part soap to 2 parts WATER.  I personally love foaming hand soap, but am turned off by the price of it.  However, if I can use the same soap I’m already using and make it go much much further with something that costs nothing, then I’m all for it.

The cost of the dispenser is $7.99, so it would take a little while to recoup the costs, but  once you do, the savings will be great.  Now, if you don’t wash your hands much, this is probably pretty meaningless to you, but for me, it’s gold.  I change a gazillion diapers, cut up raw chicken for dinner and deal with croup a couple of times a year, so the need for saving money on my soap is high on my list.

Besides that, it’s cool!  And as a double bonus, I got a $10 gift card to Target for Christmas!

It’s always a little awkward when you have some kind of injury because the first thing people think is domestic violence.  Despite the fact that my husband and I would love to strangle each other, this beating did come from my son’s hard head.

And my husband loves to make jokes during serious times to lighten things up.  It drives me crazy sometimes because I tend to be a very serious person, but he came up with something last night that really made me laugh.  We were making jokes about what would be written on our tombstone when we die and he said that this is what he will have put on mine:

Here she lies, a desert rose
Buried at an angle
To match her crooked nose

And without further ado…here are the pictures.  I realize it probably doesn’t look very noticeable, but I’m a bit self conscious nonetheless.

I want to thank everyone for your words of encouragement.  They have meant more to me than you will know.

Next, I want to say I was quite shocked to have received donations from two people.  I completely forgot that I had even put a donation button on my site, but it couldn’t have come at a better time.

I want to sent a HUGE thank you to John Chow and Flora.  I wanted to post these pictures to show you the effects of your kindness.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This has taken such a stress off of my shoulders and I will forever remember this special thing you’ve done for me.

My blog has not been my priority over the last couple of weeks and when I have posted it has only been half-heartedly.  Ideally, I’d love to take a few hours each day to plan topics and write these long meaningful posts, but life brings me back to reality and tells me that it is impossible.  On top of that, we’ve really been hit with several struggles recently and it’s been difficult to say the least.

I read a post by John Chow about the number one reason for his success and  it made me realize the first reason why things are not going so well.  The relationship between my husband and I has been shaky to say the least and we have spent the past couple of months talking about divorce.  It’s a very hard thing to say publicly, because there are only one or two people in real life who knows what’s going on.  Right now though, we’re both of the agreement that we are going to fight with everything we have to try to work it out.

Secondly, (and probably one of the primary reasons for our marriage problems) is that our finances are in absolute disarray.  On Blogging Away Debt, I read a post about a guy who owes $54,000 and spends $2,000 more than he earns each month and I feel like it really struck a chord.  That could definitely be us in a couple of years if something doesn’t change.  We’re constantly falling behind in our monthly bills and haven’t paid our creditors in a few months.  Whenever we come into money (Christmas, birthdays, etc.) I have to use that money to catch up on our utilities and avoid having them shut off.

And, I know the finances are really having an impact on me mentally because I’m just constantly exhausted anymore.  I think I’ve definitely hit frugality burnout but when there’s no other option, what choice do you have?

Lastly, this morning I feel like I’ve hit an all time low.  We do not have health insurance and that’s worried me a bit considering my Mother-in-Law just had to have surgery with no health insurance.  But you know, when it rains, it pours.  I was laying on the bed this morning and my son threw his head against my face.  I instantly heard a snapping sound and felt immense pain.  I’m 90% sure my nose is broken because it has this tell-tale curve to it now.  No insurance means I’m going to have to live with it though.  I’m hoping once the slight swelling goes down that it won’t be too noticeable, but for a woman - the face is the most terrible place to have something wrong.

On that note, I’m debating taking this blog any further.  I won’t give up blogging completely, but the frugal topic is overused, which makes it difficult to come up with things that someone else hasn’t already talked about.  Then comes the point where people needlessly call you cheap and it just really makes you start doubting yourself.

So, that’s it in a nutshell.  I wanted to at least post an update to break the silence.