Sleep

I went to bed at 7:30 last night and it was nearly 7:30 when I got up this morning. One of my medical friends said that Bell's Palsy is related to Mono, so maybe that is why I am so tired. I just got up from an hour long nap too! I feel like I could still go lie down longer, but there is work to do, and do it I must. Today's paper had an article on American's use of money. It seems that even though the Great Recession is over, most Americans learned a lesson and are spending differently. Another short article in the paper had 10 ways to save your money. I get frustrated with those articles. We already do the things listed, so how can we save money? One friend pointed out that we make choices that limit the money we have. For instance, we have chosen to homeschool, and therefore I don't have a larger income. While that may be true, I would like help for those of us in this situation. There are more and more of us out there according to public school records. Don't tell me not to go shopping so often; the skirt I wore today is over 12 years old, the shoes 3 years, and the shirts hand-me-downs. I did buy 3 shirts for myself last week, but that was because I had a shortage of long-sleeved shirts, and we are saving money this year by keeping the heat lower. I thought the shirts were a wise investment. One way we have been cutting back is to not eat out. It takes a lot of forethought, but it is definitely helping the pocketbook. As it was we ate out about once a week as a family and once with Guys' Night Out. Now we eat out a couple of times a month. The guys have been limiting their restaurants to twice a month and just watching a movie at home or looking around the library. The library is a great way to save money. We have a great library system here as well as being able to use the University library. We borrowed The Odd Couple from the university this past week and watched it last night as a family. The movie isn't as good as the tv show. Maybe I will have to add that to NetFlix. Oops. There's an expense we could cut out. Shh. Now off to the work!