The Ant vs. The Grasshopper: A Bedtime Story for the Frugal

 The Ant vs. The Grasshopper

It is now past 10 p.m. I am pooped...and again today I realized I am the ant.  Sometimes I wish I could be the grasshopper and sing all summer...but I am an ant and I just don't sing quite the same song as the grasshopper.  But I sing in my own special way.

I have spent much of the week freezing and canning items from my garden and others.  While I was making jam– I calculated that each jar cost me $.75 to process (that made me sing my own special song, while I compared it to what the grocer's charges for the same item).  So my hard work will add up eventually and I'll be glad this winter to see the savings and enjoy the harvest.  However, when you've been at it for five days in a row it gets a little wearing and sometimes I'd like to unzip this ant suit and try on a grasshopper one just for a bit....

And then I remember I did try on the grasshopper suit for a little while and it was too tight and I couldn't breathe and it was really scary in there, and even though on the outside it looked like I was having a jolly good time and my songs were really exciting– the jolliness was short-lived, especially at the end of the month when the bills came due and I didn't have enough songs left to pay the piper.  Thankfully, I got out of that grasshopper suit and I felt much better in my own skin (my own frugal skin).  

You see once upon a time... while I was an ant, my husband lost his job the same day I found out I was pregnant with baby number two (seriously...same day)...and for an instant I panicked...and then I started to breathe again.  I remembered that "hey, I am an ant and ants store away and work really hard so when winter comes they can relax and make it through."  Winter lasted for about five-months and here is the kicker...we saved money during that time...we had learned so many ways to scrimp and save over the years (practicing our ant ways) that we pulled out our frugal black-belts and saved money on one teaching salary and a little bit from Uncle Sam.  The winter is over for now...sort of...I don't teach anymore and so we are back to one more substantial salary.  So I continue my ant ways and store away because I don't know when winter will come again and I want to be prepared...and that way I can live happily ever after, even through those rough cold winters.

The End.

Be an ant my friend.