Last night I decided that we needed some new pajamas for our son.  He’ll be one in a couple weeks, and this is the first time we’ve ever had to go clothes shopping for him.  This is due to the generosity of a friend who gave me her son’s hand me downs (which were given to her as hand me downs – we’re really into recycling around here), and to the fact that I believe that it doesn’t matter what babies wear as long as they are comfortable (thus you’ll never find me at the mall looking for cute outfits for him).  Anyway, after nearly a year, we had run out of pjs that fit.  So we headed to our two neighborhood thrift stores today, on a pj mission. 

I found lots of pajamas (including two piece sets that have not been treated with flame retardants, one of which had never been worn).  In addition to the pajamas for our son, we found all sorts of other goodies.  We spent a total of $46 between the two stores.  Here’s a look at our loot:

Two pair of zip-up pjs, a sleep sack, and a cute little shirt.

A Columbia jacket for me, two pair of shorts for my husband, a big saucepan for our solar oven, a yoga band, a garlic storage container (I currently store all of my produce in one huge bowl on the counter.  So my garlic snuggles with my mangos.  Now the garlic will have it’s own little home), and a Hip Hammock.  The Hip Hammock was only $3.50, and I tried it out in the store before I bought it.  I still love my Moby Wrap when we’re walking long distances, but it’s not the easiest thing to put on.  The Hip Hammock took about 5 seconds to get on, and our son happily rode around in it while we finished our shopping.  I checked it out online when I got home and found that some had been recalled a few years ago, but this one is a newer model that hasn’t had any problems.  Not bad for $3.50!

And more stuff for the little guy:  Two sun hats, a pair of swim trunks, two more sets of pjs, a really cool jacket that I think is handmade (it doesn’t have any tags or logos in it.  It’s amazingly well made), a pair of little guy slippers, a soft book with all sorts of little person-friendly activities that our son didn’t put down the whole time we were in the store, and a sweatshirt.

All of that for $46.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love thrift stores?  I can’t imagine ever shopping anywhere else.  Even if we made twice as money as we do now, I think I would always see it as a waste of money to buy things brand new.  Not only are there bargains around every corner when you shop second hand, but I love the idea that you never know what you’ll find when you go thrifting.  It’s always an adventure.

The following is a guest post from Trisha Wagner, discussing how our financial habits impact our children.  I grew up in a family where DIY, frugality, conservation, and making do were virtues.  There was always money available for things that were truly necessary, but that was because my parents did such a good job of not wasting money on things that weren’t really necessary.  My husband and I consider frugality to be a virtue regardless of inccome.  We are  passing that value on to our son by avoiding needless consumerism, buying nearly everything second-hand, and partaking in lots of free entertainment (hiking instead of going to the movies, for example).  I’m grateful to my parents for the frugal nature and desire to save that they instilled in me.  It has helped immensely over the years when money has been tight.  I hope that one day our son will also be grateful for the frugal values that we’re passing on to him.  As you read through Trisha’s article, think about your own children, and what sort of adults you want them to become.  Nobody sets out to deliberately create a spoiled, financially illiterate child.  But sometimes parents with the best of intentions go down that path out of what they think is love.  The rought economic times we’re going through are difficult, no question about that.  But a child raised in a home where money is tight but well managed will have a better start in life than a child who is raised in a home where money is plentiful and no request is ever denied, or one raised in a home where the family lives beyond their means.  Thanks for such a timely article, Trisha!

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Upper to middle class parents may have more issues during the current economic climate than just dealing with tightening the purse-strings to make it through harder times. Talking to your kids about why there is less money for indulgences may be just as large an issue to contend with, especially if finances have never been an issue before. Financial responsibility is something we learn at home long before we take our first class on economy. Many families will learn this the hard way by failing to avoid these common pitfalls in raising your children to be respectful of finances.

• Indulging your children’s every wish and whim. While families with less disposable income teach this lesson early, families that have the means to purchase whatever it is that Johnny or Suzie want sometimes have difficulty in saying no. After all, why deprive your child something that he or she wants when you have the ability to provide it? Stated simply- if you child never wants for anything, they can never truly learn how to appreciate the things they have. Just because you are able to buy whatever it is they want, does not mean you should. You will be doing yourself and your kids a favor by learning when to say no to things they simply do not need. If you don’t start this at a young age, do not expect it to get easier as they grow. As your child matures it is your responsibility as a parent to teach them that it is a big world out there and things will not always happen as they wish.

• Not providing your child guidance on how to manage money. This mistake can have a severe impact on your child when he/she is old enough to obtain credit cards or start living out on their own. If you provide your child with an allowance without making them responsible for contributing to their own expenses you are teaching them that money is for buying fun things only. While it is important to give your teen some freedom in learning how to spend or save, it is recommended you make them financially responsible for some of their own expenses as well. After all, when they get in the real world, they will not get their entire salary to spend on whatever it is they fancy. Money must be budgeted to pay for expenses, purchasing necessities and of course savings for a rainy day. It is much easier to learn these lessons as a teen and young adult BEFORE entering the real world where mistakes can be costly.

• Failing to make kids work for their money. When you child is old enough to need or want an allowance they are certainly old enough to contribute something to earn it. Even small children can learn the value of money by having simple chores such as keeping their room clean or helping mom or dad around the house. It is human nature to take for granted what is received without having to sacrifice or work for the end result. Unless you are able to leave a sizable trust for your children in which they will never have to work for a living, it is best to teach them at a young age that nothing in life is free.

While it is admirable to want to provide for your family’s every need, in some cases you are doing more harm than good by making the high life too easy. By teaching your kids real life lessons about money and money management you are preparing them to deal with the reality of life as an adult and that lesson is priceless.

Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DepositAccounts.com, where you can compare rates from dozens of banks in one place. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of personal finance and saving money.

Happy New Year!  Hope it’s off to a good start for all of you.  Ours is great so far.  I went for a long walk today with the baby and the dog (the Moby Wrap is amazing.  2.5 hrs walking, and I barely noticed I was carrying the baby at all).  And I made another diaper from my recycled thrift store fleece shirt and Cat In The Hat pj’s.  Feeling productive.

Yesterday I bought a used carseat for our son.  I know, I know – that’s the one thing that you’re not ever supposed to buy used.  Well, that and a crib (but we already got a used crib, so I figured I better go two for two and get the carseat too).

A few months ago, I orderd a Britax Marathon carseat online.  It was $220, which was apparently quite a bargain – every other place I’ve seen them they tend to be at least $250.  I love that carseat.  It’s solid and secure – it feels like it’s part of the car.  And it’s just buckled in with the seatbelt – our cars aren’t new enough to have the LATCH system.  But Britax makes an awesome buckle-in system, and I love how safe the seat feels.

We’ve been using an infant seat that my best friend lent us (gasp – another used carseat) in our other car.  Her baby is two now, and outgrew his carseat last year, just before our son was born.  But now she’s pregnant with number two, and we’re going to give her seat back to her.  Plus, our son weighs 19 pounds now, and the infant seats are only rated to 20 pounds.  So we needed another carseat for our other car.  It’s quite a process to get the seat secured into the car, so taking it out and switching it from one car to the other isn’t very practical (although I did actually consider that as an option).

I knew I wanted another Marathon.  They’re rated to 65 pounds, so they’re really the only carseat you ever need.  And I just like how safe they feel.  I was willing to pay full price if necessary, but I decided to just take a quick gander at craigs list first.  Sure enough, someone was selling a seat that was virtually identical to the one we have – for $75.  I got the model number and checked the Britax website to make sure that it hadn’t been recalled.  It looks like it’s never been used – the lady said it was the carseat in their second car that rarely got used.  The house was in a very fancy part of town and worth about a million dollars.  There was a brand new Audi in the garage and everything was shiney, new, and obviously well taken care of.  They assured me that the seat had never been in an accident, and I believed them.

So there you have it.  We got a super safe carseat for $75, and saved the world a bit by recycling rather than buying new.  Each to their own, and I’m sure some people wouldn’t feel comfortable buying a carseat used.  But it’s easy to check recalls online, and my mindset is to buy used whenever possible.  I know that we could get a new carseat for not much more than $75, but I prefer a gently used but top-rated carseat for the same price.  We rarely use my car anyway, but when we do, I’ll feel good knowing he’s in such a good carseat.

How about you?  Have you ever gone against the prevailing wisdom and bought a carseat or a crib used?

I just finished making another diaper for our son, and the process is getting much easier and faster.  This evening it took me less than a hour from start to finish.  I used a fleece sweatshirt I found at a thrift store for the liner (I should be able to get three more diapers out of that shirt, so for $2.50 it was a good deal), and an old t-shirt with a cool design on it for the outside.  I only make pocket diapers these days, as I find that they dry much faster and I feel like they get cleaner, since the insert and the diaper get washed in two pieces.  I used to make inserts, but I found that I can just fold a prefold diaper into quarters and have an instant liner.  Several people gave us prefold diaper burp cloths when our son was born, and we’ve been using them as all-purpose baby rags.  But now they’ve become diaper inserts, and save me time when I’m making diapers.  I retired one of his smallest diapers this evening, and replaced it with the new one I just made.   The rest of his diapers should last a few more months – I altered them all at the end of the summer, and gave him lots of room to grow, so they’re still working for now.  I’m trying to make a diaper every few weeks so that I can stay on top of the process.  I don’t want to find one day that he’s outgrown everything all at once and have to spend a whole weekend making diapers.

Last week we bought a desk at the thrift store for $15, and I moved it into our guest room as a permanent home for my sewing machine.  The sewing machine is a portable model, and I had been dragging it around the house, using it at my office desk, the dining room table, and the kitchen countertop.  And I had been storing my material and supplies in boxes and bags in the corner of the guest room.  Now everything is neatly housed in the new desk, and it fits perfectly next to my office desk.  The guest room gets used for guests maybe 4 or 5 weeks out of the year.  The rest of the time it’s my office and scrapbook room, and now it’s my sewing room too.  I like making good use of that space – our house is small and we can’t have a room just sitting there waiting for guests to show up.

We had a great day today – the only time we left the house was to go the gym and to take the dog for walks.  No spending, and lots of accomplishing.  Those are the best sort of days.  I did get a chance to do some catching up on my blog reading.  Miss Thrifty hosted the Festival of Frugality, full of great frugal ideas to inspire and encourage you on your journey.  Check it out.

Kristen has a post about a documentary called A Delicate Balance.  I decided I wanted to see this, and as a Christmas present to myself, I shelled out the five bucks and my husband and I watched it together after we put our son to bed on Christmas night.  It is a powerful movie – our motivation to be vegan is stronger than ever now.

In the Frugal Blog Network, Tight Fisted Miser details how he’ll be cutting expenses in 2009.  I love his plan to hike the Appalachain trail (for only $200/month) for a few months.

Kelly at Almost Frugal is on vacation this week, but is reposting some of her greatest hits.  I enjoyed her post about the problems with reselling cloth diapers.   For the people at ebay – what are you thinking?  We got some cloth diapers on Craigs list before our son was born ($3 each) and made the rest from recycled fabric.  We also got three as a gift from Kelly (thank you!)  I’m planning to hold onto mine in case we decide to have another baby someday.  After that, maybe one of my siblings will be ready to have kids, and I’ll be able to pass them on.

Not Made Of Money has some good ideas for a frugal New Year’s Eve party.  I’m just thrilled to have another short work week.

Frugal Zeitgeist has an article about turning 40 and her goals for 2009.  Lots of good stuff here, and I like seeing the high numbers on her savings goals.  That’s what happens when you pay off the mortgage – there’s lots of extra money for savings.

The Frugal Duchess writes about how a good number of us aren’t particularly savvy when it comes to finances (or basic math from the looks of it).

I hope you all had a good week.  Enjoy the last few days of 2008!

I know that the wool diaper covers look a bit odd, and I got a request for a picture of how they actually fit on the baby, so here it is:

They’re not going to win any fashion awards any time soon, but they work perfectly.  You could make these covers without adding the cuffs from the sweater to the leg holes, but I find that having a little extra wool extending down his legs helps contain leaks.  We do have diaper blowouts every now and then, but they’re always contained within the diaper cover – the blowouts very rarely make it as far as his outfit.

It is a cold snowy Sunday here today.  Perfect for sitting on the couch sewing felted wool sweaters into diaper covers.  Later on we’ll head to the gym, but other than that we’ll be staying indoors today.  I’ve been using my Moby Wrap to exercise with our son lately, and it’s working great.  Our gym has an indoor track and a set of stairs with 28 steps going down to the level below the track.  I put the baby in his wrap, grab two 9 lb weights, and hit the track.  I just walk laps, and I go down the stairs and back up on each lap.  I carry the weights while I walk, doing all sorts of bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, military press, etc.  We’re usually there for about 90 minutes, and by the end of that, I’ve had a great workout.  Nothing fancier than walking, stairs, carrying the baby and some light weights.  But it works well.  When it’s nice outside, we do the same sort of thing outdoors.  But today is a good day for the gym.  I love being able to get in a workout and snuggle my baby at the same time.  And it’s all free, since my job at the library includes a free gym pass.  Even though I’m just a sub at the library now, I still get the free gym pass. 

I’m getting much better at making wool diaper covers.  After I blogged about the one I made last week, Alissa left a comment with a link to a very simple wool cover pattern (thanks Alissa!)  I tried that pattern and I’ve made two covers this weekend.  I’m sewing them by hand with thick crochet cotton, and they’re turning out great.  It’s very relaxing to sit on the couch and sew by hand.  And the combination of the wool and the thick cotton thread means that they come together really fast.  I’d say it took me about an hour to make each cover.  Here’s a picture of the one I just finished this morning:

I’m still using old sweaters that a friend felted when she was making covers for her son.  I have two sweaters that I haven’t cut up yet, which should make four more covers.  That ought to do us for a while.  And I can also make long wool pants using the arms of the sweaters, so I probably have enough wool to make diaper covers to last until our son is out of diapers.

Last night I went shopping with a friend, and we ended up at the thrift store near our house.  I bought an extra-large men’s fleece sweatshirt that I’m going to make into diapers.  I’ve found that fleece is a great fabric for the inside of the diapers, since it’s soft and doesn’t stain the way knit cotton does.  I got the shirt for $2.50, and should be able to get at least four or five diaper liners out of it.

Around the Frugal Blog Network,

The Tight Fisted Miser writes about how he and his girlfriend divide their expenses.  She’s not as frugal as he is, but they’ve both compromised a bit, and it works for them, which is all that really matters.

Almost Frugal has written about her guilty pleasures.  We all have them, and frankly (unless your guilty pleasure is a Ferrari) I think they’re worth it.

The Frugal Duchess has a post about some of the financial schemes to which people are particularly vulnerable during bad economic times.

Frugal Zeitgeist has a very helpful post about getting promoted.  Any tips that lead to a promotion or a raise are good right now, considering how tough the job market is.

Not Made Of Money has details about some things you might not know about your credit score. 

I’ve made two more diapers this week, and retired two that were getting a bit too snug.  This evening I made a diaper cover out of an old, wool sweater that had been felted.  It’s not the fanciest thing ever, but it will definitely get the job done.  I cut the cover out as one long piece, folded it over, sewed up the edges, and cut leg holes.  But then I decided that the leg holes needed some work.  With just holes, we were begging for leaks.  So I cut a cuff off the sweater, cut it in half, and sewed one half to each leg hole.  Instant "poop guards."  The whole thing took me about 30 minutes to make.  The sewing wouldn’t win any awards, but that’s ok.  I used the back of the sweater and one cuff tonight; tomorrow I’ll use the front and the other cuff to make another diaper cover.  I love little projects like this that don’t cost anything and provide tangible benefits for our family.  And recycling materials into new projects always makes me feel good.  Another benefit is that this whole diaper experience has been good practice on the sewing machine.  A year ago, my skills in that department were non-existent.  They’re still not particularly great, but I’m getting better. 

I also came up with a free sleep-sack solution for our son.  He just started sleeping in his own room a few weeks ago.  It’s going great, but his hands are always cold in the mornings.  It doesn’t seem to bother him, but it bothers me.  He wears footsie pajamas with a sleep sack over them, and the rest of him is toasty warm.  But his hands stick out, and I hadn’t figured out a way to cover them.  He’s too young for a blanket, and even if we could put one on him, I’m sure he’d just kick it off.  I tried mittens, but he just pulled them off and chewed on them.  I considered putting him to bed in his snowsuit, which has attached mittens, but he’s basically immobile in the snowsuit (picture the little kid on "A Christmas Story") and I decided that wouldn’t be very comfortable.  But then I came up with an idea that has been working great for the past couple nights.  I dug out a very old sweatshirt from the bottom of my closet.  After I got the baby into his PJs and his sleepsack, I put the sweatshirt on him with just his head sticking out.  The neck is way too big for him, so I safety pinned it closed off to the side.  His hands are inside the sweatshirt, and stay nice and warm.  I pinned the shirt to the sleepsack at the bottom, to keep it from riding up or getting in his face.  So far it’s working great.  I had planned to sew a sleep sack without arm holes, but I came up with the idea of using an adult sweatshirt and I love the simplicity of it.  And that sweatshirt was just taking up space in our closet – now it’s got a second wind.

We just spent a lovely evening with some friends who were passing through town on their way to a Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow.  We’ve known them for years (I met her when I was a sophomore in college), and always enjoy getting together with them.  They had called and asked if we wanted to meet for dinner this evening, but I suggested that they come to our house instead, and offered to cook.  I knew it would be less expensive and far easier with three small children (they have a 3 year old and a toddler).  I made a great casserole out of beans (cooked in our solar oven earlier today), carrots, onions, mushrooms, a home-made sweet and sour sauce, and a topping of sliced potatoes.  It turned out fantastic, and is nearly all gone (everyone went back for seconds, which is always a good sign).  The ingredients were all inexpensive, and it was much healthier fare than we would have gotten at a restaurant.  I also made a big salad using peppers and tomatoes and greens from our hydroponic garden.  For dessert, I made raw german chocolate brownies.  When our friends saw the dessert they were curious, and asked what was in it.  Dates, raisins, nuts, cocoa, coconut… (as usual, I improvised, since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand).  They were a tad bit skeptical, and offered to split one between the two of them.  That soon disappeared, and they both went back for more.  So I was feeling very successful by the time the meal was finished.  My salad was gone, the casserole was nearly gone, and half the pan of brownies disappeared in under five minutes.  The whole meal was vegan, and half of it was raw, and everyone loved it.

The best part about having dinner at our house instead of going out to eat was how much easier it was on the kids (and the adults who take care of the kids!)  The three year old finished her meal and asked to be excused, and went and read our son’s books.  We fed our baby and their toddler at the table without worrying about messes or noise.  The kids were able to play with toys and run around after dinner without being packed into cars.  It was easy and convenient – and less expensive than going out.  True, there was effort involved, but I love to cook (the cleaning that I had to do before they got here wasn’t as much fun, but now my house is sparkling, so it was worth it).

Our friends left a big bag full of little boy clothes that their son had outgrown – so I’m especially glad that we provided dinner for them.  We got all sorts of great stuff, including a pair of adorable little Robeez shoes that he will be wearing to Thanksgiving tomorrow.  My friend got most of the stuff as hand me downs when her son was born, but even third hand everything is still in great shape.  Babies grow so fast that the clothes still look like new by the time they’re into the next size.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Take time to be thankful for what you have.  And remind your loved ones that you love them.

When I wrote yesterday about the awesome wooden toys we found at a thrift store, a reader wondered if we would do our holiday shopping in thrift stores.  So I thought I’d share my holiday gift plans.  First, I have to say that we try very hard to keep the holidays pretty low key around here.  We will be getting a little Charlie Brown tree this year, mainly because we have a little boy who will be fascinated by the lights (the last time we had a tree was 2003).  The forest service clears saplings in the hills near our city to prevent overgrowth, and they sell the trees to raise money for forest service projects.  The trees are as cute as can be, take about six minutes to put up and take down, and just have a few branches – simple and easy.

We went to a beautiful park last week and my brother took pictures of our family for our Christmas card photo shoot.  We ended up with some really great shots, and will be picking one to get printed on photo greeting cards.  I saw a sign at Costco last week advertising 50 photo greeting cards for six dollars.  So we will be all over that.

I make Christmas ornaments for our nieces every year.  This year, I’m planning to use a beautiful piece of fabric that I bought ten years ago in Tanzania to make cloth ornaments.  The fabric has been sitting in my closet all these years, and it will make great ornaments (I’ll post pics once I get them done – for now the pictures are only in my head).  I even found a bag of fiberfill stuffing at the thrift store for 25 cents, so I have everything I need to make the ornaments.

My family stopped exchanging Christmas presents years ago, once all of the kids were grown.  My parents are of the view (and I agree) that Christmas and the presents that go along with it are for children.  They gave us gifts when we were young, but stopped when I was in college.  My younger siblings were still living at home, but my parents switched to a tradition of taking them on a trip for Christmas rather than buying gifts.  Now that we’re all adults, we just get together for food and fun, which will involve lots of playing with our son this year.  We’re hosting Christmas dinner for my family at our house – there will be lots of food, but no gifts.

My girlfriends and I stopped exchanging gifts a few years ago.  We’re all adults, we’re all able to buy things that we need, and we all consider getting together for a meal, or a good long phone conversation to be far superior to additional possessions.

My mother in law loves Christmas and always gets us lots of gifts.  But she’s also very easy to please, and she loves simple gifts that involve photos of her grandkids.  With the hundreds of photos we have of our son, and my somewhat crafty nature, I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something perfect.

We won’t be doing much in the way of gifts for our son.  He’s too young to understand the whole thing anyway, and is just as happy with a wooden spoon as he would be with a fancy toy.  We might get him something from the thrift store, but we might not.  As I said, we keep Christmas pretty low key around here.  We’re not religious, so really it’s just like any other day.  If we end up finding more nifty stuff at the thrift store, we’ll probably just give it to him right away, rather than waiting for Christmas.

I’ll bake several batches of muffins and deliver them to some neighbors and my friends at the library.  I’ll also give some to the men who collect our garbage and recycling, and the people who deliver our produce and mail.

That’s pretty much it.  Homemade gifts in the form of ornaments and muffins are very inexpensive and fun to make.  Whatever I end up doing for my mother in law will be fun too.  We will be spending some money on food for Christmas dinner, but everyone will bring a side dish, so whatever we end spending won’t be a budget buster.

Since we keep everything pretty simple around the holidays, we can relax and enjoy the season.  To be honest, the part I’m most looking forward to is dinner with my family, and going for walks in the evenings with my husband and son, all bundled up against the cold.  I can already imagine the look on our son’s face when he sees Christmas lights all over the houses.  I guarantee he’ll enjoy that just as much as he would if we spent half a day in Toys R Us buying stuff for him.  And going for walks is free.

Say that title five times fast.  We went to our favorite thrift store today, and I found some great wooden toys for our son.  He’s able to sit up now and play with things, and while the wooden spoon and saucepan work great, I thought adding a few new things into the mix would liven things up a bit for him.  I found a wonderful wooden multi-level car/road thingie, with a wind up elevator for moving cars from one level to the next.  Didn’t have any cars with it, but wooden blocks work just fine for now, and for $2, we couldn’t miss.  We also got a set of three wooden train cars that hitch together, and several wooden blocks that fit into the cars – also for $2.  And a tambourine made of wood with metal discs for playing beautiful music.  He spent about an hour this evening playing with his train and blocks – just picking them up, wacking them against the floor, banging them into each other… it was as much fun for us to watch as it was for him to do.  And for a total of four dollars, we feel like we did pretty well.