That is pretty beautiful :) I would have loved to have a ring/diamond that was passed down from my history to give to my wife! Would def. never want to hawk that regardless of how much it was worth or not… But maybe we start the tradition and pass this one down to our kids later? Never considered that one before (again – pending okay with my wife, haha… since it is *her* ring :))

YES YES YES to all!! Thinking about dying is great as it really puts *everything* into perspective more. And the last thing your loved ones will want to do is figure out what to do with all your stuff amidst the grieving..

So keep on going, baby!! You’re on a roll!

Thanks for your insight! Going to check out that link myself right now… I used to read that blog yearrrrrs go – loved it.

Haha yup – another one that would NOT be making it on my to-do list anytime soon ;)

Awesome about only having 1 car for 3 years! Great quality time with the wife too!

Sounds like it’s definitely working out! Are you planning on making it a permanent thing for now, or just testing it out and seeing how it goes?

I’ll chime in with my experience here. I’m fully in the diaper trenches (4yo, 2yo and baby #3 due in 9 weeks) and cloth diapering has been a huge perk to our budget for very little effort.

There are several sites that have done more extensive breakdowns of the costs (http://www.iheartbudgets.net/2012/09/cloth-diapers-vs-disposables-cost-comparison/ for example) and, even factoring in the extra laundry resources, cloth wins hands down. The combo of that and knowing other families with full time working parents who did it convinced me to give it a go when I was pregnant with our first.

Other moms I know spend $50-75/month on disposable diapers and wipes per kid. Our family spent ~$300 up front on higher end cloth diapers, inserts, liners, wet bags and wipes. At the end of our diaper years, we will likely be able to sell them for about $150. I’ve spent maybe $50 on replacement supplies and disposables for a few cross-country flights, etc. They fit each kid from about 1 month through potty training and we are about to use them for our third. They also tend to encourage earlier potty training and can be bought for cheaper than what we elected to do. So, at a minimum, $3600 for 6 years of diapers vs $200 plus minimal laundry expenses. Those dollars were significant in our budget.

As far as the time commitment, it has worked out for me to be about 3 extra loads of laundry a week. The ~15 minutes/load it takes me in total to start the washer, switch over to the dryer and toss in a basket works out to be ~45 minutes of work a week. At this point, it is so second nature I don’t even think about it.

All that said, I would never encourage a new parent to tackle the learning curve straight home from the hospital. Meconium poop, umbilical stumps and super tiny bums have convinced me disposable is the way to go for those first few weeks until you get your feet under you and that’s what we’ve done with all of our kiddos!

2. I spent a lot of time selling the idea that the money for an expensive engagement ring would be better spent elsewhere. I told her whatever price she thought it should be worth, that I’d put into a special personal space for her in our home. It worked and I was able to get a ring we both agreed on.

3. We moved across country and only had one car for almost 3 years. She’d drop me off at work, then go to work at a later time. Fortunately we lived less than 2 miles from both our jobs. I didn’t have to deal with the hassle of parking and paying to park and we saved on the full 2nd car expense.

4. Pass on that idea.

5. Leaving an expensive state for more opportunities in a lower cost area was one of the best decisions we ever made. We’ve since moved again, but look forward to going back to that way of life.

6. I did a major purge years ago. It was both good and bad. I was never too wasteful with my spending, so when I got rid of an item I later wanted to use, it was a bit of a bummer. I’ve also lived out of suitcases for work, so that’s also like having nothing. It’s doable, but not a way I want to live.

7. I used to cut my own hair in college and when I was broke. I still hate paying for haircuts, but at this point I prefer to look more professional than what I could do on my own.

I remember watching this special on TV years ago about a woman that would get food out of the dumpster. She even had a dinner party and surved it to her friends. Now THAT is something I’m too nervous to try. I’m thinking food poisoning may not be worth the savings.