Just for a Giggle: Adjustable Waist Jeans

These make me giggle every time I put the jeans on. 

They're my multi-purpose, around the house, cleaning, gardening, neighborhood walking jeans. This pair are hand-me-downs, and as such have fit problems.

The waistband has 3 buttons (one that came on the jeans, two that I added). The 3 buttons allow me to tailor the fit to whatever I need for the day. Going for a walk around the neighborhood and don't want to look gangster? The brass button on the far left in the photo gives me the tightest fit and holds the jeans all the way up. Scrubbing the kitchen floor or weeding the garden and want a sort of loose fit as I get up and down from my knees? The middle button provides a fit tight enough so the pants don't fall down, but loose enough to handle a lot of movement. Just eaten a H-U-G-E meal plus dessert? The original silver-tone button provides the loosest of fits.

The downsides -- none of the buttons match. The two that I added were selected from my mother's button box based on their size (so they would easily fit through the buttonhole) and not appearance. And the front of the jeans do look a little odd (being pulled over at the waist beyond the natural point when zipped) when I've got the tightest fit. 

But these are practical jeans. They're made from all cotton, thick denim that can take a beating. And they were free to me. Can't beat that price.

Despite their practicality, seeing the 3 odd buttons makes me laugh to myself in the morning when pulling the jeans on.

This is one of those things that only other frugal people would understand. Adding buttons to my jeans to make them fit better is akin to drying out a barely used paper towel to use again, or cutting open a toothpaste tube to get that last bit, or washing and reusing ziploc bags until the sides split and even then taping the split up with dict tape. Making do or using up are hallmarks of historic frugality.  But sometimes, even we laugh at our own frugality.

When you know ahead of time that you've got a very busy day coming up

Tomorrow, Thursday, will be a busy day from the moment I wake up until dinnertime. As life would have it, my husband will be busy with work all day and has a deadline he's working on. And both daughters will be busy all day, as well. Problem -- somebody's got to make dinner.

I considered getting burgers at dinnertime. But then I thought about all of the wonderful food that we have at home. And honestly, home-cooked meals are so much tastier than burgers to me.

So, this afternoon I came up with a plan. Between my daughters and myself, we could cook 2 complete meals this evening, one to eat tonight and the other ready to heat and eat tomorrow. That's what we did. I've found that as long as I'm in the kitchen preparing dinner for us, I have lots of small bits of time to do other kitchen work. Often times that means baking a dessert or making granola for the next morning. This afternoon I was able to do both main dishes, a dessert, and get a start on sides. My daughters took over after dinner and completed all sides for tomorrow. We even came up with a plan for all of our lunches for tomorrow, so none of us waste time in the morning figuring out what to pack for lunch. Planning and preparing two nights of meals in one afternoon made it possible for us to continue eating down our freezers, have tasty home-cooked foods, eat healthier both nights, and save some money.  

Of course, you all probably do this sort of thing on a regular basis. My mother always cooked meals fresh every evening, and I learned her habits. So for me to prepare in advance is a big deal. I will say that I sometimes double up recipes to freeze half for another night. But this is probably the first time I've (with help of daughters) made two completely different dinners on one day to feed us two days in a row.

Anyway, have a wonderful day, friends.