Selfishly Doing Our Part

Recently, my hubby and I decided to make Mondays 'screen free' days.

To our family, this will mean that both TV's and the computer will be unplugged (literally) from Sunday night until Tuesday morning.  Unplugged, because otherwise they still use electricity when plugged in, despite being off.

Now some of you may be thinking, "Good for them!  We all need less TV in our lives!"

Or maybe, "Every family needs more focused family time!"

Or maybe even, "Good job in conserving energy and helping out our planet!"  Every little bit helps, right?

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but none of the above reasons were our primary reason.  Yes, they were bullet points to our main reason, but in all honesty, we are simply being selfish.

Maybe that's a bit harsh?

Our main reason for doing so is to help cut down on our electric bill.  Obviously with less sunlight during the winter, this means more lights on in the home for a longer time.  We are hoping by cutting out just one day, that our electric bill won't skyrocket like every winter.

Like most people, we are 'hurting' for money.  We have slowly been digging ourselves out of the first eleven years of our marriage and debt that incurred with that, but still have a long way to go.  Bryan's last payment for his summer job comes in mid-September, and from then til June we struggle, living mostly paycheck to paycheck.  Often by February our bills even begin to fall behind, due to the higher gas and electric bills during winter.

We're hoping with my new job with Tastefully Simple (www.tastefullysimple.com/web/aking3), that the little bit of income will help keep the bills from falling behind.  So far, all income has gone back into the business, but we have seen improvement in profit and parties, so that's encouraging!

Like my plug? :) Ha.

Until then, grocery shopping slows to once every 6-8 weeks, furnace is kept as low as possible, and candles are used not only as mood setters and fragrancing the house, but to help keep the lights off just a bit longer.

Which is where our idea of screen free Mondays came from.  Every little bit helps.

And as positives, we do experience less boob tube time, the more focused family time, and a tiny part of conserving energy for the planet (even though I think this is pointless.  another post for another time.)  :)

So far we've had two of these Mondays.  Ruby is having it the hardest since she has recently discovered Dora on Netflix.  Noah is having the easiest time, and has been the biggest cheerleader for it, which surprised us both.  Bryan and I enjoyed the first one, but after a trying day yesterday, all we wanted to do was veg in front of the tv and let our brains turn to mush.

Don't worry, we didn't give in. He just went to bed at 9, and Zane and I played til 11.  (Can you tell which of us is addicted to the TV the most?). ;)

I'm looking forward to more though.  I feel so much more motivated, the kids and I dance to music ALL day long, and we just enjoy each other.

Well, except when little sisters pick and pick and pick then shove us and we shove back, resulting in 5 stitches for her forehead...  :P  (blogpost for later)

Maybe the more focused family time isn't the best idea??

Ha.