It has not been easy, both emotionally and financially.
Emotionally, it is lonely. In Elk River, I had a support system. I had friends and family close by. In Hastings, I have no one. I have been attending classes for Stella through ECFE and the library, to socialize Stella and also myself. So far, I've gotten one mom's phone number and became Facebook friends with another. I'm pretty proud of myself. When I got the phone number it was like getting a crushes number, "when should I call?", "should I ask them to hang out?", "do we bring the babies?". (ha!) It's hard to make friends as an adult and I think of myself as "socially awkward". I struggle to make conversation with people I barely know, but I'm trying. Having babies helps, if I'm looking for something to talk about we can always talk baby.
Financially, we have always had two decent incomes. We lived comfortably. If we wanted something, we bought it. If we wanted to go out to eat, we did. Now we are just one income so we've had to make some sacrifices. We limit what we buy and when we go out to eat. I've also had to cut back and look for cheaper ways to do things. A couple of the things I've done to save money is to use cloth diapers and to make my own baby food.
Cloth diapering is great! It's become an obsession. It can be a pretty significant investment upfront, but in the long run it can save you thousands. According to realdiaperassociation.org it can cost $1,600 to diaper a baby in disposable for two years. I have spent approx. $500 on cloth diapers and will be able to use the diapers for all of our kids. The only cost not included is the added laundry, but I wash diapers every three days and try to hang dry when I can so there really isn't that much of a laundry expense. Eventually I will write a post on my cloth diapering system but I need to take pictures and my itty bitty is napping so I don't want to bother her by being in her room. (Read about my cloth diapering experience here.) I also need to give a shout out to my friend Melissa at Just Me and the Boys for helping me get started in my cloth diapering adventure. I wouldn't have started if it weren't for her.
My newest money saving adventure is making my own baby food. I started Stella on solid foods just shy of 5 months.* We started with cereal, but I really felt like cereal was just sort of a filler and I really want her to breastfeed for the majority of her food and when she does eat solids I want them to be nutritionally beneficial. So we did cereal twice and then I moved onto bananas. I just mushed up part of a banana that I was going to eat and mixed in some breastmilk and gave it a try. She wasn't too excited about it. It sort of went in her mouth, came right back out and she made some funny faces in the process. I think the banana was too ripe. So, after four days we moved to avocado. She loved it! After avocado we did sweet potato and again she loved it. Again, I really want her to be breastfeed the majority of the time for now so we only have solids once a day or every other day.
Tonight we are going to try green beans. I try to use fresh, organic fruit and veggies when I can but with green beans I used frozen. Frozen green beans seem easier to get a smoother consistency when pureeing.
Here's what I did. I cooked the green beans according to the instructions on the bag. Then transferred the beans to my food processor/blender thing with a small amount of cooking liquid (approx. 1 tbsp).
Then puree. A LOT. Green beans don't ever really get a really smooth consistency but you want it as smooth as you can get it.
I'm not too worried about how thick or thin it is because I'm going to freeze it and I can thicken it with cereal or thin it with breastmilk at feeding time if needed.
Then I spooned it into ice cube trays. Ice cube trays work well because it makes approx. 1 ounce servings. (I've also used a cookie scoop for thicker purees like sweet potatoes and froze it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.)
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours, then freeze. Once frozen you can pop the cubes out and transfer to a freezer bag. When your ready to use just take out what you need. Baby food can be kept for 48 hours in the refrigerator or 3 - 6 months in the freezer.
Easy peasy! And cost effective. I can't remember how much the green beans I bought cost but it was probably about $2 for a 1 lb bag. I got 32 cubes from the bag, that's about 6cts an ounce. For Gerber 1st Foods you are looking at about 25cts an ounce. So I'm saving 19cts an ounce, over time that adds up.
I'll try to post other ways I'm cutting back and saving money. If you have ways you save money or ways to live a healthier life I'd love to hear them!
* The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and World Health Organization (WHO) both recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a babies life. Remember, always consult with your pediatrician before introducing solid foods to your baby.
