Friday, February 5, 2016

Frugal Friday 128

Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money:

- I returned a Christmas gift that I will not wear. With the store credit I was able to purchase a bottle of hair product that I love! Saved: $21.50

- I combined a gift card and coupon to buy Owen a box of diapers for just $.24 OOP! Thank you to Uncle John for the gift card! :)

- We received a FREE bottle of shampoo to review from PinchMe!

- We went to our friend Asher's Super 1st Birthday on Saturday. Rose made awesome capes and masks for all of the kids. Annabeth really loved hers and she and Owen were superheroes all week long!

Super Annabeth and Super Owen!

- I used a $10 reward in my e-mail to buy some clothing basics online. By using the reward and going through Ebates I saved more than I would have by just going to the store. It was also much easier than taking the kids out for these items.

- The kids and I signed up for Winter Reading at the library. The first prizes are little trinkets - which Annabeth loves. But I am excited that if we go to the library four times we will be entered in a drawing for a family membership to a local attraction! We have never won any of the grand prizes but it is fun to think about winning it!

- I took three big boxes of things to donate at Goodwill. The great clean-out continues!

- I purchased a container of decaf coffee and soy creamer at the grocery store. (Owen does not tolerate dairy well and cannot have caffeine at all) This will help me stay away from the coffee shops and will save us lots of money!

- I sewed up holes in 4 of Annabeth's stuffed animals.

- Mark worked one night at his part time job.

- Last but not least, we have committed to not eating out as much in the month of February. (We will make an exception for my birthday and Mama's Morning Out for coffee) We have been eating out WAY more than usual the past few months and while it's been in the budget, it's hurting our waistlines and our potential savings. I hope to figure out a rough amount of what we "might" have spent and we will make an extra Principal payment on our mortgage with that amount.

We had a great week getting lots of projects done around the house AND Owen began crawling! He is now a "real" little brother who loves getting into his sister's things and pestering her all day long. I love watching my children together because at the end of the day they love each other so much.

Happy Savings to All!

2 comments:

Mrs. Siegel said...

Does Owen have an issue with caffeine or is it just your choice to not give it to him? I'm just curious, I've been breastfeeding for all of 3 weeks now, and it's going really well, I'm just trying to figure it all out and soak up as much information as possible! I love reading about your little ones. :)

Amy and Mark said...

I drank coffee/Dr. Pepper the WHOLE time I was pregnant with both and the whole time I nursed Annabeth (13 months). I never saw any adverse effects. However, in the first few weeks of nursing Owen, I noticed that if I stopped for a coffee that he would SCREAM for hours and hours after the next nursing! It was so horrible! At first I thought it was just dairy products but even after cutting them out I still saw the screaming episodes after Dr. Pepper. Once I gave it up (a horrible habit but still so hard to kick) I have seen very few of those screaming episodes.

Kelly Mom is a great resource for Breastfeeding Information. Here is a link to their page on questions about caffeine and nursing: http://kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/lifestyle/caffeine/