money, or a lack there of

so we have a certain amount of money in the bank and three things will probably happen in the next 12-18 months. 1 - that i want to go back to school. 2 - we are looking into private school for frodo and eventually sam. and 3 - my car will probably need replacing. 4. and some crazy expensive act of god will happen to the house - like we will need to replace the roof or something.

it really is this crappy death spiral of circumstances. im going to need a car to get to school. but if i buy a car, i cant pay for school. i need to go to school so i can get a job doing something meaningful to help pay for kiddos to go to school. and until then, i will need to cover some sort of day-care costs for kiddos, which costs money, so i need a job - and one that will make enough for it to be worth it. ARGH!! i remember reading the price of motherhood back when buddy one was first born and i was working full time and while i read it and understood it, i never really grasped the feeling of helplessness when one leaves the workforce/looks to reenter because of kids.

plus im dealing with some feelings of inadequacy about changing careers. i can see it now...

MLIS choosing people: ok. you were an english major...good. then you were a secretary for 2 years? and havingnt been working for 2+. and now you want to be a librarian...rrriiigght. and why should we let you in?

me: cause i like books?

looking at the requirements for applying requires 3 personal/professional references and a personal statement. oy. im already freaking out about it. but im determined to make it work - i will rehash my bosses - i kept sending them christmas cards for a reason!! - and find some time to volunteer/work at the libraries i frequent. plus maybe work at starbucks.


in lighter notes, ive gotten back in the super thrifty mode. i borrowed the complete tightwad gazette from the library again and got some good ideas for stuff. every time i get it, i think i should buy it, but even amy says to borrow it from the library to save money.

so heres some of the ways im stretching our money:

method laundry detergent: when we were in the market for a new washer and dryer, i really wanted to bite the bullet and get the more expensive front loaders because they use less water - very important in drought prone areas. i like method because it is bio-degradable, crunchy-approved, and super HE concentrated. for 12.99, the bottle says i get 64 loads of laundry.

i bought a jug of it when we moved in early september. i just now bought a new bottle. now give or take a few weeks when i was out of town, thats over three months of laundry. i did the math and i do about 8 loads of laundry a week. 3 of those are "heavy" - diapers. 12 weeks times 8 loads equals 96 loads of laundry. well over what the bottle said. that works out to 13ish cents a load. granted tide or some other generic detergent is cheaper, but they arent as concentrated, i hate the smell, plus have all those crappy chemicals im trying to avoid. now i just cant wait until spring when i can start line drying again.

baking more: it figures that with the weeks of blah weather, i should have been a baking fool. but i didnt. i need to do more.

gardening: one nice thing about living in a southern part of the country is that spring starts in february. im reading up on canning from TwG cause i wanna grow lots of tomatoes. and there are two fence posts left in the backyard that im going to use as a latice for climbing plants.