Their ‘Starbucks’ was coffee at 10 in the morning and at 4 in the afternoon in each other’s homes. They all took turns hosting each day, coming away with many new crafts, recipies and practical ideas in the end. Thanks.

Get out the ratty old books and read them on the couch. Find forgotten sheets of stickers and lay them out with fresh sheets of paper OR cut up cereal boxes! Wash some grubby old toys in the kitchen sink — all of a sudden your tot will find them highly desirable. Repair a button or hem by hand with your kid looking on or ‘helping’ snip the thread. Iron something and hang it in the sunshine — when you ‘merchandise’ your own things this way you see them in a new light. This feeds three birds with one bread — time with your kid, a lesson about taking care of what you have, and rediscovering why you liked an item enough to buy it in the first place. I call this ’shopping in your own home’ — make the bed, lay out your clothes, iron stuff, try on different combinations, etc. I swear half of shopping is done out of not wanting to do the cleaning and ironing ourselves — go into a shop and voila! Everything’s clean and ironed! So you buy it and take it home, where it gets dirty and wrinkled, so you go out again, etc. DUMB.

Oh, and bake. Stop making excuses, just do it. Make a mess, go ahead. It’s cheap, it’s fun, and at the end you have food you didn’t have before. It’s really important for kids to learn that they have the ability to feed themselves. For that matter, start a garden. It’s really not hard! Just bung something in the ground or in a pot and see what happens. I did that and ended up giving away 8000 tomatoes and huge bundles of sage, lavender and oregano to passing neighbours by the end of the same summer! And I swear I know less about gardening than anyone I know!

PS I’m working on my posh coffee habit. Yesterday I was ON MY WAY IN to Starbucks and I turned around and walked away!!! I guess only I know how amazing that is. Funny — I got home and my husband said “Hi Honey, there’s fresh coffee made” HA HA! Jenny 1, Starbucks zero!!!

Gail, thank you for your blog. Reading it daily helps me keep my spending realistic. I’m now planning my purchases and thinking about what I need vrs want. And for the things I want I’m planning for those purchases.

Though I must say, as a “Banker” I take a little offense. Not everyone in the financial business is looking to get you in over your head and make you spend your money. We want you to be better of financially. We want you to save and invest your money. We don’t want you in a position where you can’t pay your bills – then we don’t get paid and no one is better off.
You can’t blame your bank for your fees, rates etc if you don’t take the time to talk about your needs and review your products. There are so many different types of credit cards and bank accounts and other products available. What’s good for me might not be good for you, so we need to discuss your needs and decide together what’s going to be a benefit.

All I’m saying is – get together in your neighbourhood – take turns, taking the younger kids down to the park or fields and let them loose – they organize themselves into teams and trust me, they work out their issues, kids are very smart and very resourseful if we give them a chance. Eventually, this will become a habit – getting out of the house.

I do beleive that if the kid is going to make a career in sports – ok, enroll him/her in organized sports – but otherwise there is no need for that.

To me, organized sports has become a way to make money and it’s for the parents mostly, not for the kid. Just so the parent can say – oh look, I am such a good parent, I have my kid in an organized sport, what organized sport does your child play?

Feed them properly, monitor the eletronics and be there when they need you and the kids will grow up just fine. I have an example right here in my house.

So my question is – what about kids who are not into sports – which would be my best friend’s son – super fantastic kid, great student, great person – where did he learn his lessons from? To me – you, the parent, are the best teacher of all! Thanks.

Exercise is exercise; however, to say that laissez-faire exercise and organized sports are identical in terms of the lessons they teach is not supported by any research that I know of, nor by my experience. If you have better research available, I’d love to read it.

PS: Just wanted to add – my son is an excellent student and reads every single day before he goes to sleep, reads on the bus when he commutes to school, etc etc. No TV, no phone, no electronics, nothing in his room. Oh yes, and no cell phone either, he carries quaters, needs to call home, uses the pay phone at school or where ever he is. So I don’t understand, what you mean by ‘I think that {not being in organized sports} may ultimately cost far more than you realize’ Geoff. He is growing up to be a fine young man, and I am very proud of him. Thanks.

I have a 17 yr old who has never been in organized sports and he is growing up just fine – he is healthy, and definately very active and in good body shape. We don’t believe in throwing tons of money in organized sports when it is just as good as rounding up the kids in the neighbourhood and heading down to the park with their basket balls, roller blades, bikes and other equipment. They do this every single day after school, except in the winter, when they go toboganning and ice skating.

All the skills that come with sports are still being learned in school and out of school in the park. One parent is always there to supervise.

As for the ‘fat’ part Geoff – it the food one feeds the kids – I cook every day from scratch and make extra so if there is a day, I cannot cook, out come the left overs. Vegetables, legumes, beans, lean meats and all. I’m a little offended by the comment, that not putting your child in organized sports is a form of child abuse. My parents or my in laws, never had us in organized sports, and we grew up just fine.

I must add, I don’t have any computer games or such crap in my house and the computer is off limits unless it’s for homework. The TV only comes on for news and documentaries. Other than that, out go the kids where they belong, in the yard, in the park. Thanks.

though I applaud your efforts to curb unnecessary costs, I do take issue with your comment that your kids aren’t enrolled in any sports. That is a mistake, I think that may ultimately cost far more than you realize. Though I think some sports are tremendously expensive (I’m looking at you, Hockey) others are much more affordable and require much less equipment to get going – think basketball, soccer, or cross-country running.) In an age when I see so many fat kids (we call them husky now) I can’t help but feel it’s a form of child-abuse. Note: Not saying your kids are fat, there are all sorts of other benefits to being on a team like leadership, teamwork, planning, learning to be dedicated, etc that you may want to consider.

1. Increase insurance deductible to the highest possible on your home and cars.

2. Find a cheaper bank account

3. If you are good with credit, which it sounds like you are get a cash back credit card. You can get one in Canada with a 1% cash back on all purchases and as long as the balance is paid in full it can pay off nicely over a year.

4. Bundle your communication bills with one provider can save 10-20 dollars a month.