Frugal Friday 131

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Mark worked overtime and two nights at his part time job.

- As we have moved things around the house and we have ended up with two extra TVs. My parents took one back to Evansville and Mama donated it to a charity for us. We were happy to make more room in our bedroom and to donate a working TV to a place that needed it.

- Owen continued to enjoy baby food given to us by his friend Asher. There were many flavors that I may not have purchased (example:  a jar of Beets, Pear, and Pomegranate) that he ended up loving.

- The kids, Annabeth especially, did a lot of painting. She used coloring pages from her coloring books and we also made cute little footprint parrots that she found the design for on Pinterest.

- We enjoyed lots and lots of time outside as the weather was gorgeous from Friday until Tuesday!

- I sold one of Annabeth's too-small leotards to a dance class friend. I added the money to savings. Made: $5

- We finished the Winter Reading Program at the library and earned a FREE book bag for our family.

I found a book at the library with her two favorite animals -

a vulture and a possum! She was overjoyed!

- I made Annabeth a turban headband from a video tutorial on Facebook. I used a tank top I already had on hand so it was totally FREE!

This cute headband got a thumbs up from Annabeth! 

- Wednesday night our sweet friends the O'Neal family had us over for dinner. We enjoyed the fellowship and delicious dinner.

- I continued to clean out my closet and parted with some worn out items. I am working towards only having items that I really love and really wear.

- I entered our Walmart receipt on Savings Catcher and got back $2.47.

- I ordered Owen's birthday gift off Zulily. Annabeth has had a very specific outdoor toy that she wants Owen both of them to have. I have been watching the price on it on Amazon, Toys R Us, and a few other sites. It came on Zulily this week for HALF the lowest price I have seen anywhere else. Even with shipping I saved more than $50 off the lowest price anywhere else. I also went through ebates for 1% cash back. I think they will both enjoy it for many years to come.

Frugal Fails:
- I broke down on the "not eating out" and ordered pizza one night. I cashed in a free pizza reward and a gift card so I just had to pay the tip.

- I went to Mama's Morning Out. This month we met at Starbucks and I did enjoy breakfast and coffee while there. I used a gift card from my birthday and paid nothing out of pocket.

- I have had a vision for the kids' Easter outfits and after a lot of online and in store searching I found what I wanted. I did not have a coupon but the items were 40% off. I spent more than I wanted to but am so happy with what I found. That night Mark reminded me sometimes it's okay to spend a little more to get what you want.

- We stopped at Subway between church and visiting Mark's family. They had been out to eat after early service and the kids would not have made it without lunch so we stopped.

Overall, we have noticed some real changes in our budget after (mostly) not eating out all month. While we don't go out to dinner very often, we do stop for fast food. All those little purchases really add up and we've been pleased with how much we have saved this month.

Happy Savings to All!