This is the beginning of our second weekend living on a limited cash budget. I’m amazed at how smoothly things are going so far, and how inspired we’ve been at entertaining ourselves. Weekends have always been the cause of most of our money hemorrhages. The temporary “vacation” mindset of the weekend would lead us to overspend, and I would dread looking at the budget come Monday morning.

Now that we’re living on cash only, I know exactly what we’re spending, so I don’t dread Monday morning so much. I’m free to enjoy our weekends a lot more without budget anxiety. We’ve also been a lot more creative about entertaining ourselves. Instead of heading out and spending money, we’re looking for frugal, active things to keep us occupied. We don’t have any plans for this weekend yet, but I’m excited to see where it takes us.

Most importantly, we’ve learned that we don’t always have to be doing something or spending money to stay entertained. We’ve both been doing a lot of reading, watching movies we haven’t seen in a long time, spending time at the library, and going outside. It’s been surprisingly fun, and incredibly frugal.

And now for some interesting links:

• Mrs. Micah shares 6 money skills & habits to teach your kids before college.
• Bargaineering explains the new “Cash for Clunkers” bill, and how you may soon be able to get several thousand dollars just for upgrading to a more fuel efficient car.
• A guest post at Simple Mom warns you of health busting food ingredients to avoid.
• On Simplicity reminds us that sometimes life is a good enough excuse to celebrate with a little luxury.
• My Two Dollars asks, “What’s your debt philosophy?“

I’m off to enjoy another frugal summer weekend. I can’t wait to share our successes with you on Monday. Happy Friday!