School started back today and late last night one of the teachers called and asked me to sub for him, but then around 10:30 it started snowing like crazy and I thought for sure school would be cancelled, but it wasn't. I have a friend who also substitutes, and she doesn't have to work, so she is free to pick and choose her sub jobs. I, on the other hand, need to work as much as possible, so I take every job that comes my way. So I was able to work today and for that I am grateful. 

First thing I did this morning when I woke up was to make my lunch. Ham & Cheese on pumpernickel bread, pretzels, an orange (from those my Father-in-law gave to us), and a few cookies. What you can't see here is my reusable water bottle, which I fill from the water fountain at school. Cost of my drink is zero. 

I love substitute teaching, and I enjoy being around the students so much. Many of them are genuinely happy to see me when I am subbing in one of their classes. Today, several of them would walk by my room on their way to somewhere else, look in and see me, and continue on their way, but as soon as they walked past by room they would say, "YES!".  Makes it all worthwhile to me. 

Being off from work for two weeks made it harder to go back to work today, and I was very tired at the end of the day. Sure enough, as soon as I picked up my daughter from her school, she asked if we could go out to eat. I told her "No, because we have plenty of food at home". She asked me again, but I remained steadfast in my decision to not eat out. I came home and since we still had plenty of meatloaf left from the day before, I decided just to make some extra sides to go with it instead of the chicken I had planned.

Sides were macaroni and cheese, a rice/cheese/broccoli dish, broccoli, potato salad, strawberries, and  I also made a new gallon of sweet tea. I was very hungry, and as a result, I made more than I normally would have for dinner. While we were eating dinner, my daughter told me everything looked and tasted so good and she was glad I had cooked dinner at home. Made me feel good. :)

I was very tired after school today, and it would have been very easy to give in to my daughter's desire to go out to eat. Instead I came home and cooked dinner and cleaned up the dishes afterwards, which made me even more tired.  But it is important to me to save money because I have things that I want to do and cooking at home is one of the easiest areas to save money, so that's what I'm doing. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again except I will be subbing at her school, which makes things easier on me. 

I spent no money at all today, which is a good feeling. I hope you had a wonderful, frugal day as well. :)  

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”  

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