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Why this blog is called RhodeyGirl Tests

Grammar is really important to me. Back in the old blogging days of 2007 I wanted to be different and decided to keep the E when changing Rhode Island girl to RhodeyGirl. The “E” was supposed to stand for something cool and now I can’t even remember what it stands for. HA!

I don’t know why I chose such a silly name but I’m stuck with it. Back then in 2007/8 I could not have imagined that my little personal journal would have turned into a semi-successful food blog into writing about pregnancies and kids into falling off the face of the Earth before coming full circle into writing whatever I feel like that day. It did though and now I can’t imagine myself being anyone else except RhodeyGirl with the E. Even though I’ve lived in PA for nine years now. Even though the name is not grammatically correct.

I know the difference between they’re, their, and there though, so at least there’s that.

XOXO,
RhodeyGirl.

June Challenge Update

In June I challenged myself to spend money only on food and entertaining. I learned a lot from the challenge and am excited to share it was a success in that I learned a lot about my buying habits.

Here are my thoughts:

1. I buy a LOT almost mindlessly on Amazon.

At least 4 or 5 times I thought about something I “needed” and almost went on Amazon to buy it right then and there. I’m going to continue to challenge myself in the future by allowing myself to add items to my Amazon cart but making myself wait before buying. My standard wait time is a day but I’m pushing myself to wait a week. If I still want to buy the item the next week and it’s in our budget I will.

2. I didn’t stick to the challenge completely.

I bought Raffi, Alessandra and some friends FIFA World Cup player stickers. I bought a boy and girl Surfer Dude (affiliate link) for my kids to enjoy at the beach. I bought a few gifts. I also bought my kids each a book from our favorite local bookstore in Rhode Island, and I have no regrets about any of those purchases.

The World Cup happens only every four years. The Surfer Dude toys are something we will use for years, and it’s a really cool toy. And the gifts were for cousins we see rarely. I also bought 11 spray bottles from the dollar store in July for all the kids to play with on July 4th!

3. Our food costs a LOT.

It was eye-opening to check my Amex statement and find charge after charge for food. We shop mostly at Whole Foods because I like the quality, the experience, and convenience as it’s only a mile away. And I buy a lot of organic food and expensive meats. It’s super expensive! In the fall I’m going to challenge myself to lower our grocery and food bill by a lot, but I can only handle one challenge at a time. For now I will focus on making sure we use up every single food we buy. I’ve gotten a little lazy about making sure the kids don’t over serve themselves and it’s frustrating to throw away uneaten food.

4. Kids are expensive.

For several years I didn’t think they were, but now that we have two school-aged kids I understand why people say they are expensive. Babies are cheap in my opinion because they only need diapers and wipes, possibly formula depending on the situation. School-age kids need so much more though, especially if they are privileged enough to play sports. And they keep outgrowing their shoes and clothing. Shoes are so expensive, and when you are buying sneakers, sandals, and boots for a million kids it definitely adds up.

A lot of our friends have their kids in camps over the summer. While I would love to send our kids to some day camps and my husband would be supportive of it, it just seems like a waste of money. Camp for 3 is $$$. Instead they are in mommy camp. We pick one different place to visit each week and check off another item off our list each week. Every morning each child gets 15 minutes with me doing different sorts of personal development activities, from learning to tie shoes to learning to write a full name to practicing self soothing without thumb sucking. Then they make a mess while I get my housework done before we head out on our adventure for the day. It’s been lovely actually, although overwhelming at times. I am trying to really soak up this last summer before I have two children in all day school.

In short, the challenge was a success and I learned a lot about myself and my buying activities from it. I’m going to continue to delay my Amazon purchases and continue to go through each child’s things with them to pare down their room stuff to a manageable, maintainable level for each of them. And I will continue to focus on buying less, consuming less, spending less, using less.

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