Photo Montage Frugal Fun and Family Sit Downs

I share with my readers tips to keep the family together while sharing my frugal life. The world is so fast paced that we most often the children are grown before we know it. Time passes so fast that we need to slow down. I share how to make simple meals that unite the family and offer a bit of flair, all the while on my old battered shabby, sheik table.

Here is the table setting for stir fry. We went to San Fransisco years ago and I collected chop sticks some trinkets that make this setting simple and lovely. The items were quite inexpensive even though I bought them before I became a frugal person!(this picture is older but I wanted to share some visuals with what I do with my family)

Here is the setting for country chicken noodle soup here in the farm house.

This is our table from Thanksgiving 2007- once again sharing how one can make simple things to give the family a cozy lovely place to gather and share memories. My daughter and I made the turkey place settings using construction paper and glue. I crocheted the place mats to place the China that was my parents that they bought in 1961.

Board games are a wonderful way for the family to gather and slow down the pace. This is a picture of a game of Risk that we played. We try to play games once a week to have some fun time together.


Cleaning the coolers took on a whole new look when I had the teens clean them before we were to go to White Sands for the day. They were hot so they made some fun out of the work(of course they washed them out when they were done!) They told me that they were cooler racing and my daughter was winning and my son was making sure we all knew he was her older brother!

Some times we set up the ping pong net on our trusty table and play ping pong. The table is a bit smaller but hey- are we playing professional ping pong or are we trying to relax? If you are wondering about what is on the table- let me explain. As each member of the family was born, I added the state they were born in and their name. Along the edge of the table is a listing of all the cities, states and countries that we have lived in. We all were born in different places. Two were born in Germany(in different states) one in California, one in Utah...I was born in Georgia and my husband was born in Texas. I love that the kitchen table joins us each and every day, and look forward to adding my future daughter in laws' names, my future son in law's name and even the grandchildren when they arrive. It has been our mainstay during all our moves, and I believe it is in its final home here in New Mexico!

Even work can be done with some play. We made our gardens tire gardens this year, and here the kids played in the large tires before they were filled with dirt.

As I share tips both in person and on line, I cannot stress enough, how living a simple frugal life brings the family closer. Without expensive toys in our way, my family creates things to do and enjoy.