Raising Thrifty Kiddos

Update to the previous post about Noah's birthday...

 That's what I thought we were gonna do.  We did end up going out to lunch and getting the stuff for his special dinner.  But there was an unusual turn of events.

 While we were roaming around Kroger collecting the ingredients for chicken cordon bleu, at some point Noah must have done the math in his head.
Now, that's not a terribly expensive meal if you're cooking it for two people.  But for all nine of us... well, it adds up pretty quick!  He was undecided between that meal and homemade macaroni and cheese.  When he started adding up the ingredients in the buggy, he decided to strike a bargain.  Keep in mind that even though I am a die-hard tightwad, I really enjoy making birthdays and holidays special.  And although I still look for the ingredients on sale, I'm more than willing to splurge on occasion.  So here's how it went down...

After he added up the cost of the meal, he stopped shopping and asked me how much mac & cheese costs.  About ten bucks, total.  Everybody.  That did it.  He asked if he could keep the difference if he changed his mind on the meal.  I thought that was kindof interesting.  He's usually our biggest spender.  But this time, he got the epiphany.  Food isn't worth it.  So I got the ingredients for homemade German chocolate cake, picked out ice cream and then got some cash at the check-out.  He happily put the wad of money in his pocket and not another word was spoken.  He did have a pleased look on his face, though. Like he got over on the system.

I'm very familiar with that look.  Well, actually, I'm familiar with how that look feels. It feels good.  Even better than chicken cordon bleu tastes.  Which is pretty darn good.

And I'm hoping that Captain doesn't get around to reading this post, since he was really looking forward to that meal.  Oh, well, guess he's just gonna have to wait for HIS birthday.  : )