We are a family of six that have just moved to expensive Los Angeles. We have three children school age, and I had gone back to work to help contribute to the family finances, and then we had our (wonderful) surprise of a 4th baby. I am committed to staying home and not putting her in childcare, like we managed to do with the other three, but a larger family, a more expensive city, and shaky financial times, calls for some drastic action if I'm able to stay at home.
My goal is not just to be able to live on one income, but to live well. I do not want it to be a year of torture for my husband and children. I want to put my creativity to the test and still have great birthdays and Christmas, cook healthy good food, and find cheap ways to have fun.
Day one:
O.K. I confess that I am sipping on my (hopefully) last Starbucks coffee for the year. But to my credit we were homeless at the beginning of this experiment. One of our first introductions to California living was an evacuation because of a threatening forest fire. Thankfully, after only three days we were allowed back into our home this evening, and so I am able to start my blog on time after all.
Expenses today:
Department of Motor Vehicles (getting our CA drivers licenses) $28 each $56
Lunch out (homeless remember?) $ 48
Starbucks $6
Windsheild wiper fluid $2
Total today
$112
One thing I did not include was our hotel bill. Perhaps I should have, but I was counting that as a pre-experiment expense.
Now a comment about eating out. Our family can go out to eat at Taco bell for about $12, but part of our family philosophy is eating healthily, and that has to be compatible with our frugality. Today we went to a little Korean Tofu Barbeque place that was near our inaccessible neighborhood. I knew we had hit on a good place when we were the only non Korean-Americans in the restaurant. It was fabulous. My eight-year-old's only complaint was that she did not want the fried fish set down beside her plate. It was fried whole with head,eye, and tail--everything. My son said it tasted great.
It will be interesting to see over the next few months how a healthy diet can be made cheaply. Luckily I do not mind cooking. I had a friend say she could suggest a good Korean cookbook if I was interested. I will have to call her up and take her up on it.
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