75 Days of Summer Vacation

It’s here. It’s here. It’s finally summer vacation!!!

Despite what Fineas and Ferb tell us, there are really NOT 104 days of summer vacation.  Here at the Ryder house, we counted it out, and there are only 75. Boo hiss.  Where do those guys live, anyway?

Nonetheless, we are going to make the most of every last one of them.  We’ve made a huge chart listing 75+ possible summer activities and a calendar outlining our main plans for the summer.  As you may know, since my husband is a teacher, we are ALL home all summer, which makes it all the more important that we stay busy and don’t kill one another.

Of course, we Ryders will be living the high-life “Low-Ryder” style, which means lots of fun for a little bit of money.  However unlike last year, I am not going to be blogging “finances” all summer, but rather, I am just going to try to blog a little something every day about our goings-on.

Yes, I said it. Every Day. I am going to try to blog every day. I know it is crazy since I have all but dropped straight out of the blogosphere, but I’m going to try.  Hey, maybe some of you could send in a guest post about what you are doing this summer to help me out.

Just in case you are wondering, there are a few reasons for dropping the finance focus, namely

1. I seem to have lost my “low-mo.”  This is the name J and I have given to my cheapness mo-jo.  For some reason, I can no longer subtract 2-2 and get 0.  And I’m NOT even going to tell you how much money I spent yesterday at CVS. You would have cried. I would have cried. But I just stared down at that gigundous number on the receipt and without any ire boiling up inside me, I walked right out of CVS. Sure I felt a little confused, but I didn’t have that righteous indignation that a true couponer ought to have.  I don’t know what happened to it or if it will come back, but in the absence of my “low-mo,” I’m not sure I can really inspire you with my money saving blog-posts.

2. It’s always fun to do something new.  Therefore, this summer I am going to try blogging about some other types of challenges beyond just finances. Some of them may have a connection to finances, but that component won’t be what I blog about.  For example, one week we are going to try NO DRIVING ANYWHERE.  And another week, we are going VEGETARIAN. And another week, we might, just might, if we are feeling exceedingly brave, try NO SCREENS (TV, computer, LEAPSTER).  So if you have an idea for a cool challenge that would be interesting to blog about, let me know.

3. And the third reason that I’m dropping the finance focus is that it is kind of played out. I mean, I will probably inevitably end up mentioning how we are surviving with no income, but if you are hard up for a blog exclusively about living simply . . . .let’s see, there are about 8 gagillion that I can recommend.  So, rather than reinvent the wheel, or teach you how to cram that 83rd bottle of mustard under your mattress, I’m just going to tell you what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Okay, so there it is. This has been Day 1 of the 75 Days of Summer Vacation. I’m pre-posting this because I will actually spend Day 1 packing the kids in the car to head to the beach to kick-off what will surely be an awesome summer.  Wish me luck and I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow!