Happy New Year loyal Kid Row readers. As you may have noticed, I’ve been on a little hiatus. The reason was a two week pilgrimage to see relatives in Oklahoma and New Mexico. The kids, of course, were spoiled rotten, stuffed with sweets and showered with affection. That my husband was able to get all the booty crammed into an already-full Honda Civic is a miracle of physics.

So now it’s back to life, back to reality. The biggest development for us in 2010 is that we are poised to become homeowners. There are few decisions in life that have kept me up at night like this one — for weeks on end. “Thirty-year mortgage” is the juggernaut that rolls nightly through my brain, crushing all fanciful dreams and whimsical subconscious digressions.  Thirty years! My children will be nearing my age, college (we hope) and carefree 20s behind them. I’ll be old, or depending on my genetic fortune, maybe even dead. The unknowables that can crop up between now and the end of 30 years are inconceivable. But supposedly we’ll still be writing that monthly check to the bank, or whomever becomes the ultimate holder of our loan. It seems insane. But then I think of my husband’s folks, who paid off their house years ago and now enjoy a mortgage-free retirement. Or that wondrous beast called equity. And of painting the front door fire-engine red because I can. I remind myself that never in my life have I been afraid of bold action. And at least so far, I haven’t found cause to regret it. 

So in light of this pending monster purchase, my New Year’s resolution has been to plug all leaks in the family budget. There’s the obvious targets: $2 cups of coffee, occasional lunches out and costly craft brews. But I’ve also ferreted out savings that require little or no self-sacrifice. These include saving $5 a month by bundling our existing cell service with our existing Internet service, $10 a month by ordering our eco-friendly diapers in bulk online (same with dishwasher soap, baby wipes and laundry detergent) and more than $20 a month by baking our own organic bread instead of buying it. That’s $420 a year to put toward our new money pit!

Another dollar catcher involves some risk: we’ll save $160 a month by switching to a high-deductible insurance plan at work, though some of that gets set aside to cover medical expenses. Here’s to hoping 2010 is illness free.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? If saving money is one of them, what ways have you found to stretch the family dollar?

Want to freshen up your or your children’s wardrobe while contributing to a good cause? From 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, Volunteers of America Thrift Store is having an everything-you-can-wear-out-of-the-store-for-$5 sale. The store, at 639 E. Second Ave., is clearing out merchandise ahead of the move to its new location at 1111 Camino del Rio, where it will open May 2. Already the store has marked its offerings down by 40 percent.