Nutrition Policewoman

My son is learning how to prepare his own school lunches. It's so easy to see how he operates. Think quick, minimal effort, and maximum tastiness. Well! It'd be nice if that's all that was needed to motivate our food choices.

After choosing two starchy foods, I emphasized that his lunch should include (1) a protein, (2) a dairy for calcium, and (3) a fruit or a vegetable. (I'd settle for two of those three, actually!) Pursuant to this, there is a brief discussion about the body's needs for nutrition.

Son says: "IS THAT ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT: NUTRITION?!?!?!?"

Yep. I'm a mom. That's my job.

Do You Ever Have Frugal Duds?

Do you ever "buy" something that is free with coupon or pennies on the dollar, and later it turns out everyone hates it? That happened to me with the free Dano-nino yogurt. It just didn't fly at our house. I didn't even try to put it into smoothies. As much as I hate waste, I'm just not going to make my family eat something (or use a health and beauty aid product) that they hate just becuase "I got it free with a coupon!"

Shopping with coupons allows me to get free things every week. We get to try a lot of new products that I would never buy without coupons. Many things we like. A few things go into the garbage. If these yogurts were not perishable, they would have gone to a food drive.

It is important as home keepers that we bless our families with our frugal shopping. My goal is not to make my family groan over the things I bring home from shopping, but that it will be a delight. Let your money saving ideas be a blessing and not a curse!

Humor: Get out of Debt

Here's a light take on getting out of debt from the folks at SNL. Good advice. We should all heed it.