Widowed mother of eight knows how to stretch a dollar

By JOHN CARLSON
jcarlson@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE -- As the widowed mother of eight children, six of them adopted from foreign countries, Diane Brooks knows a little something about stretching a dollar.

"We have a fairly decent salary," said the Spanish teacher at Union Junior-Senior High School, "but it doesn't go that far."

How does Brooks, whose husband died 12 years ago, do it?

"I say 'no' a lot," she admitted, seated on a couch in the living room of her huge, old eastside home. But if you ask whether she and her children -- who are age 20, 16, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 5 -- live comfortably, she also answers "very."

Eating out is a rare occurrence, though it happens. You are much more likely to spot Brooks in a garden than in a restaurant, however.

"My Mom, my uncle and I share a garden out at my grandfather's property," she said, noting the tomatoes she cans and the corn, peas and green beans she freezes add greatly to the family larder, particularly in the summer and fall months.

Of course, she shops, too.

This doesn't mean a single trip to one store, however. Brooks has identified certain foods that she can always find cheaper at certain stores, and shops accordingly, generally between Aldi's, Walmart and Marsh.

She also buys off-brand items.

"We don't typically buy name-brand things," she said.

She also stretches pricier items, and uses them sparingly.

"A chicken breast will feed all of us happily," she said, noting how she chops it up, then mixes it with rice, corn and salsa. "And it's a 20-minute dinner."

Even the family cats get in on the saving effort, eating budget cat food, plus just a "dollop" of the tastier canned stuff.

"Luckily, they don't have high tastes," she said, of the felines.

While Brooks' children appear well-dressed, you can bet their clothes did not come from a boutique. She gets clothes from friends, church members, the Attic Window or Goodwill. When they are done with them, she recycles them, as a recent exchange with a Goodwill cashier illustrated.

"She said, 'you do know our return policy?'" Brooks recalled with a laugh. "I said, 'when I'm done with it, I bring it back.'"

They were talking about two different things, but you get the idea.

Brooks makes it a point to save money in transportation, too. To move her sizable brood, she drives a 15-passenger van, a necessity since some of her children are still in car seats, due to their small size.

"But we don't go unless we need to," she said.

She also makes it a point to group trips around other errands. A recent example was taking one of her children to an algebra 2 class at Southside High School. Another child, meanwhile, had a nearby doctor's appointment. There was 45 minutes difference between the end of one appointment and the beginning of the next, but they didn't drive home.

"We just stayed there and read," she said.

To save more money, Brooks is learning to make minor home repairs. She is also planning to organize neighbors in an effort to help each other on such projects.

"I'm hoping to get that off the ground this summer," she said.

Recall what Mom said

Utilities and such? She stretches her dollars there, too, by following that old mantra your mother tried to drill into you in younger years.

"Turn out the lights when you're done in the room," she said, adding that, "In the summertime, it has to be really warm and muggy before the air-conditioning goes on."

Conversely, she keeps the house pretty cool in the winter to save on heating bills, with her and the kids bundling up in wraps downstairs to keep comfortable.

In saving money, she added, it helps to have cooperative children.

"All of them love to read books," Brooks said, noting they get them, as well as movies, from the library. The children also are, or will be, musicians, with some having earned instructional 401(k)ids scholarships from Cornerstone Center for the Arts.

Attending free concerts and such is another form of entertainment for them. What's not a form of entertainment is casually shopping for toys and such.

"Birthday presents tend to mean something," she said, "because they waited."

So, given the restrictions and cost-saving measures they live with, are her children happy?

Brooks actually took a moment to ponder the question before answering.

"I think they generally are," she then answered, nodding.

As for living thriftily, Brooks was asked whether she has to spend much time thinking about ways to save money, to make ends meet, while raising her children.

"Not anymore," she said. "I wasn't brought up to be a spender."