The Real Farmville

On the family's trip to Iowa for my grandmother's 90th birthday celebration, Old Wahoo and family visited Uncle Gary's farm just outside Muscatine, Iowa. The trip was great for the usual reasons: boys get to ride John Deere tractor, boys get to ride the Gator and boys get to ride the tractor some more. (And by boys, I mean the grown-up boys, too.) Mostly, though, the visit to the farm brought back memories of old family trips to Iowa, when I went with my grandfather for trips to the relatives' farms, for excursions to Wildcat Den (a state park east of Muscatine) and checking out the zoo at Weed Park. Though much has changed - my grandfather, sadly, died nearly 25 years ago - it meant a lot to share those experiences, however different, with my children and my family. It was a chance to reconnect with family, and that's what matters more than anything.

Tightening the Belt

Everyone knows the economy is in bad shape, and almost everyone I know has had to make tough choices and changes to adjust to the times. Old Wahoo has struggled with this, though, and needs to re-examine the family budget, particularly discretionary spending.

Quite simply, I think I still spend too much money on needless things, from a cup of coffee or smoothie at Biggby's to the Netflix account. Something needs to change, and the Simple Dollar blog offers 100 ideas for a money-free weekend.

Here's an example:

32. Scan your old pictures. If you have a digital scanner laying around somewhere, bust it out and scan in the piles of old prints you have laying around. If you have a screensaver of pictures, scanning in old prints and adding them to the rotation will make your screensaver all the more amazing. Plus, it becomes easy to just attach them to emails and send them to friends and family.

Some are great ideas, some are simple and some I absolutely won't try. (I will never quilt. Sorry). But it's worth trying, I think, for two weekends a month. I'm curious how everyone else is finding creative ways to save. What are some things you do for a money-free and fun weekend?