Caramel Syrup, Homeschool Free Time, and Young Budgeting
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
I some how have two bottles of caramel syrup in my fridge. How can I use them up? I found a recipe for turtle brownies, but I need other ideas.
-Jill
Ooh, that's a much easier problem than having, say, two pounds of Brussels sprouts to use up!
Since it's fall, the first thought that came to my mind was the combo of apples and caramel. I'm not sure how thick your sauce is, but could you cut up some apples and use the caramel sauce as a dip?
Pouring it on top of ice cream is another option, but I'm sure you've already thought of that.
No fear, though-I'm sure my readers will have plenty of ideas for you in the comments section.
I'm wondering if you could share a bit about what your children do to keep occupied the rest of the day after they're done their school work? We are considering pulling our 9 year old son out of public school and homeschooling him, but as we research I note many people saying that the school work only takes a couple of hours. My son does enjoy playing outside etc. but is past the age of doing so alone, and all of his neighborhood friends will be @ school and unavailable. I'm concerned that after he helps with household chores, reads and plays he will still a lot of time to be bored. I note you said in one of your postings that private [music] lessons are a great thing to do during the week, which I would try to implement, but would love to hear more of what your afternoons look like especially once the weather turns are we're all stuck indoors!
-Jennifer
It is generally true that homeschooled kids finish their work before public schooled kids are home from school-that's generally the case at our house. You probably wouldn't have hours and hours to fill, though, so this problem might not be as large as you imagine.
Our situation is a bit different in that there are four kids here. So, even if neighborhood kids aren't available, there's usually someone here who can be a playmate, and my kids aren't usually lacking for entertainment (or for someone to fight with, but that's another story.... 😉 )
If I were in the position of having a lot of empty hours to fill, I'd join a local homeschool group, go on field trips with other homeschoolers, and have playdates/get-togethers with other homeschoolers. I'd also look into more extra-curricular activities, such as art classes and PE classes (martial arts, dance, sports). Also, perhaps there are some volunteer opportunities where you live, whether at a library, church, or local park.
In addition, maybe some of the free time could be spent with you. For instance, maybe he could help you grocery shop or cook.
One last thing-I don't think it's necessarily our job as parents to prevent boredom completely. To a degree, I think it's good for kids to have some opportunity to learn to entertain themselves.
At any rate, I don't think this is an insurmountable problem, so if that's all that's keeping you from taking the plunge, I say go for it!
I have been reading your blog for about the last six months and have found it very helpful, fun and motivating. I am 23 years old and been living with my parents all my life I will be finishing up the first part of my nursing education this December and needing to move out. I am a server and will soon have a casual or part time nursing position. All my childhood and during my teens I was extremely good with my money being able to buy my first car with my own cash, having 5,000 I had saved for school. However the last few years have been hard for my parents and I have tried to spend most of my time out and about while in school leading to some debt that I am eager to reverse soon! My question to you is what is your tip that you and Mr.FG learned while you guys were young and living together to be able to properly budget your money, have a safety net, and still have some fun together?
Rebecca
When Mr. FG and I were first married, we had a very lean budget. We had food to eat, clothes to wear, and cars to get to work, but there wasn't much wiggle room at all and our entertainment budget was kind of nonexistent. We did live within our means, though, and we always had some money in our savings account (We lived off of Mr. FG's income and banked mine.)
We really felt that the most important thing was not what we were doing but who we were doing it with, and as long as we were hanging out together, it was ok even if we weren't able to do fancy stuff.
So, we did pretty normal, everyday kind of stuff together, like grocery shopping and then stopping for a Frosty from Wendy's afterward (Such activities led my older brother to sarcastically label us "The Fun Couple". Hee.) We also walked and biked together for exercise (no gym!), and we had friends over for meals instead of meeting at a restaurant. I do remember doing some mini-golfing too, but that was back in the days when it was about $5 apiece.
And since we couldn't really afford a vacation, we both took a week off from work and took day trips to local sights.
I think that you really have to decide what is more important to you: pricey entertainment, or paying off your debt. If you place a high value on paying off your debt, then you'll be willing to do what it takes to prune your entertainment spending (and I really do think you can still have fun on a budget. It just takes a little more thought.)
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Readers, the floor is yours. Let the advice roll in!
Your comment about your children having each other to fight with reminded me of something my father in-law said years ago. In response to learning "so and so" was having a second child, he said "good, now the first one will have someone to fight with". I thought it was a rather cynical way of looking at things. However, children do fight, among other more positive things. I also think it's good for children to learn to entertain themselves and not to always have to have a lot of external stimulation. My children weren't homeschooled, but I felt they didn't need to always be on the go or have every moment planned for them.
They certainly do...fighting isn't all there is, but it's definitely a part of any sibling relationship. I think it's valuable in its own way, though...sibling conflict is practice for future relationship conflict.
Amen and amen! The best place to learn conflict resolution is within the safety net of your family (when, for instance, not that it happened yesterday at my house or anything, a sibling slams a door on another sibling resulting in a broken thumb ... ).
Thank you, Kristen, for also saying that kids need to learn to entertain themselves. My biased outlook on this is that a little boredom results in creativity (a LOT of boredom results in mischief so the trick is to find the balance). Such a wise woman you are! 🙂
There are lots of things you can do for fun that cost very little money, both for couples and single people. In the city that I live in libraries often have free talks or free movies, there is free music in parks on a Sunday afternoon, there are festivals in the city sometimes, and there are plenty of places to go bushwalking. I also play music with a community band, which has been free, but they are introducing fees ($2 per rehearsal) next year. I also have been meaning to start volunteering at a community garden. Just search Google related to your interests and you should be able to find some free activities 🙂
What about carmel apple pie? I am sure you could find a reciepe for that.
I want to respond to Jennifer's question. I have a 4 year old and 8 year old and we are in our 2nd year of homeschooling. We have found it helpful to have an "I'm Bored" List we keep on the refrigerator. I sat down with each child and we brainstormed ideas of activities they enjoyed. For example, play with legos, build a fort, play computer games, drawing book, etc. These are things that each child could do alone or together if they wish. Now when I hear "I'm bored" I point them to their list and they choose an activity. Also one of the great things about homeschooling is the "extra" time that you have instead of being in school for 7 hours. I try to encourage my 8 year old to pursue activities that she enjoys. For example, if she is learning about mammals in science we might watch a Netflix documentary that ties in to mammals or pull out library books that are fun and interesting about mammals and read alone or together. Also my daughter enjoys music and wants to play the guitar. I do not know how to play any instruments so I have found 2 "Learn to Play" books at yard sales that are beginner level that she can read and start herself. Also there are free guitar, piano, and drum lesson videos online that I have found. We plan to start these in the future as it is a much more cost effective option for a beginner than private lessons. Sorry my post is so long, but hope it helps!
Regarding playing alone--I have an almost 9 year old, and I think she's at a great age to play alone! She doesn't HAVE to have someone else around to do things with or to keep an eye on her. She can go roam w/o me worrying where she is every moment. She reads, she creates fairy houses, she paints, she finds ladybugs, she bikes....
Plus, when she tells me she's bored, the answer is, "Oh, good! I have something for you to do!" (Followed by a chore assignment. She's very rarely bored anymore.)
We never told our mom that we were bored or it resulted in a chore. My cousins quickly learned this lesson when visiting our home as well. As a result, we were/are great at self entertaining. I'm hoping to instill the same habits in my babies (14 months and 1 month) as soon as they are old enough to understand the concept. I'm glad to hear that other families do the same thing.
I love dipping apple slices into caramel sauce! That is my favorite snack. My son loves to use caramel sauce on his pancakes instead of syrup...and then the eggs and bacon get dipped into the caramel sauce too.
I homeschooled for years (back when it was not popular) The kids did household chores, they did the school work and leftover time was used to teach how to cook, do laundry , answer a phone correctly and take a message, a bit of free tv time, free reading time and free artwork time , they were never bored!
I'd rather have two pounds of Brussels sprouts! I could eat them for every meal...just sayin' 🙂
Healthwise, I'd rather have that too...but tastewise, the caramel sauce would win!
We're homeschooling for the first time this year, with a co-op, so the kids have assignments each week and set syllabus to cover throughout the year. And I'm finding we don't have much of this free time! 🙂 Now, we are starting later but between all they need to do, piano practice and chores (and their getting distracted--we're working on it), they aren't done much earlier than before when they were at school! The days my 2nd grader is focused, he's done by noon, but my 4th grader has a heavier load and he usually is going until 2. Add in soccer and other 'extra' things, and we're scrambling some days. So much for all our 'free' time! 🙂 (But I love having them home and love their distraction is often playing with younger brothers, so I let some of it go.)
Not too long ago I was fresh out of grad school and unemployed, so I know how you feel Rebecca. That's actually when I started my first blog. I actually wrote a post on entertainment on a budget that has a list of things that are cheap or free. It's too much to list here so I'll just leave you the link: http://lifelovelibrarianship.com/entertainment-on-a-budget/
Also, I'm so glad to hear that you are working to pay off your debt. Things might be lean for a while but you won't regret being debt free!
When we were young and broke we had game nights with friends. One night at their house another night at ours. Snacks were pretty minimalist--maybe a bowl of pretzels and another of M&Ms. Gaming is popular again so invite some friends over for fun.
I remember long ago being young and so broke, we would get together for barbecues with friends and bring our own meat!
On homeschool free time: There will be an adjustment period, but unstructured play time is one of the greatest gifts of homeschooling I've encountered in our (short) experience. You might check into some ways to make your home supportive of exploration and play. For example, you could get a notebook and a large plastic box to start a nature/science collection from items gathered in the yard. A small supply of dirt-digging tools and an area of the yard to make mud pies. Inside, some solitaire games like Traffic Jam, Bananagrams, etc. Art supplies (carboard boxes, empty cereal and yogurt containers, etc.) and a designated area, if your home is large enough for that.
We meet up once a week with a homeschool group at a local park. Every other week, it's the "home" park, and on the alternate weeks it's a different park picked by a few of the parents who meet at the end of the previous month to choose. Any parent is welcome to put in their two cents, but frequently it's the same dozen or so.
We also signed my son up for one day a week of the after-school program offered through our Y. It's mostly regular-school kids. He's taking a "class" called Amazing Aerodynamics at the age of 5! Mostly, they're learning about how air allows planes and birds to fly. It was a lot less expensive than many once-a-week classes offered around here.
If you live in or near a large metropolitan area, finding some other homeschoolers shouldn't be too hard. Finding a group with which you "gel" might take more time, but keep trying - it's worth it!
My siblings and I were homeshcooled in a kind of unorthodox way. Mom and Dad were hippies and not at all religious, so it was very free form. After schoolwork we could do whatever we wanted. We tended to do a lot of reading, generally whatever we could get our hands on, which is how I ended up reading the Divine Comedy at ten years old. I understood maybe 15 percent of it, but it was fascinating anyway.
We also did crafts. Clay modeling, painting, drawing, collage. As we grew older we started sewing, knitting, crocheting, origami, jewelry making, and gaming. None of these were really planned or supervised activities, though our parents joined us sometimes, and as we grew older we just branched out to whatever crafts we thought looked interesting.
It's easy to get a few sticks of modeling clay, some colorful old magazines for collage, and some crafts books from the library. Origami paper is beautiful and comes about 20 sheets for a dollar. Of course, LW's kid might not be the kind to sit for crafts.
I don't think LW should worry too much about planning a structured day. It's the unstructured time that really makes homeschooling better than public schooling, and the freedom to do what I wanted was what I liked best about being homeschooled, along with the highly negotiable bedtime.
Carmel sauce - make bananas Foster! ...and put in crepes....yummy.
make caramel brownies - put most of the batter in the pan, drizzle caramel syrup all over the top, then blob the rest of the batter on to mostly cover the syrup. Total yum.
A friend turned me on to pineapple pieces dipped in caramel sauce....unusual and delicious! You could also mix some caramel sauce into coffee instead of sugar for delicious flavor, with or without milk.
Thinking about entertainment on a budget:
Fresh out of college, here are some of the things I used to do that were low- or no-cost:
1. Go for walks. If you live in an interesting neighborhood, this can be especially rewarding. If you're thinking about moving out into a particular neighborhood, try going for a walk there once a week or so. It's one of the best ways to get to know an area, and there are a lot of lower-cost rental places that only advertise via front-yard sign (like someone renting out a basement apartment in their home, or a duplex renting out the other unit).
2. Coloring books! I loved/love coloring books. They're portable (great to take on walks, then sit down and doodle/color in a pretty location), inexpensive, and you don't have to be an "artist" to feel like you're still making something pretty. Plus, embracing one's inner child is always fun.
3. Community center classes. Sometimes community centers offer free sample classes, and even if the classes aren't free, frequently they're not too expensive, and it's also a great way to meet new friends in your area of interest. I did ballroom dancing, and had a great time.
4. Board game nights. You could host your own, ask your library to let you use a meeting room (you'll probably have to make it open to the public, but that usually works out fine), ask a friend to help host one at his/her home, or find out if there's a game night at a local board game store (most of them host once-a-week game nights).
5. Cooking experiments. Gather a couple of friend, pick one or two recipes you've enjoyed at a restaurant, and try making it at home! This one isn't always a guaranteed win, but it can be a great way to recreate some of the fine dining experience without the fine dining price tag. The Frugal Gourmet has a great series of books (...cooks with wine, ...cooks Italian..., etc.) for going down this path. Just be sure to read the recipe all the way through - some require soaking something overnight, and you don't want to find that out 2 hours before mealtime! If nothing else, cooking experiment nights always make for a good story (think Bridget Jones' Diary!).
If you like crafty things like sewing or knitting, but don't want to buy materials, find out if a church near you has a blanket or quilt ministry. I've made several prayer shawls through church ministries where they provide you with the yarn and sometimes even the needles, and you just provide the time and labor. Doing this with a regular group of friends, where one person reads from a book, can be a great experience. We had a knitting group in college where 12 of us met regularly. One person read aloud from a book while the rest worked, and I still have very fond memories of that group. We read The Count of Monte Cristo, and it took us two years of weekly meetings during the school year. The last day, we went to a park and sat under a willow tree. Oh, and the group was 7 guys and 5 girls, so this isn't a gender-only group. Some people did homework, and some people played quiet 2-player board games like mancala or dominoes.
Check out kid-oriented websites like Red Tricycle. They can be a great resource for free or inexpensive activities. Some are very kid-specific, with age restrictions, but many are still very enjoyable for adults, like rehearsal performances of opening shows, community theater, community music, or park events.
One of the biggest things I've found with finding fun things to do on a budget is to become comfortable with time with yourself. You may not be an introvert and fueled by time alone, but being able to be alone, to be content with yourself, can go a long way towards being able to then later say "no" to a friendly request to spend money. It can be hard to feel left out, but if you change the thinking to an opportunity to also get to know who you are, some time spent with the unique person of yourself, then saying no can feel like a gift to yourself, instead of a denial. I don't feel like I'm saying this very well, but it was a hard lesson for me to learn, that contentment and acceptance of who *I* am was just as critical to my budget as it was to my own happiness.