Friday, January 19, 2018

Frugal Friday 228

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Mark worked one night at his part-time job and I had one Usborne party.

- We had lots of snow and the kids enjoyed getting out in it as much as possible. It's been a couple of winters since we've had this much real snow and both of the kids just love it!

- Mark shoveled our elderly neighbors driveway. She was so sweet and came out to visit while he worked. She even let Owen "throw snowballs" at her. She paid Mark, which was totally unnecessary, in cookie dough and he and I enjoyed movies and cookies on Saturday night.

- Sunday evening we had dinner at Mark's parents' house. His mom generously supplied everything for dinner and we had a great nacho dinner night.

- Monday we had planned to visit a friend out of town but she is nearing the end of her pregnancy and wasn't feeling up to company. We spent two hours cleaning out and organizing our school room that morning instead. We were able to get a lot done and sent many items to the sale tote and even more to recycling.

- We also cleaned out our coat closet and our game cabinet on Monday morning. Many items from there also went to the sale tote.

- We noticed about a week ago that our water heater wasn't heating properly. We had small amounts of warm-ish water at a time. Mark ordered parts and spent his day off fixing it. He was able to repair it for $27 in parts and some tools. This is a HUGE savings as a nice, new water heater would have easily been $700+
**Side Note: I am SO thankful to have married a man with so many skills! Last year, Mark was able to fix our disposal, replace and install outlets when needed around the house and garage, and fix the clothes dryer - all for around $200 for all of the projects. It would have been over $1200 to buy new and have outside workers install or repair**

- We did a quick cleanout of our toy cube and Owen's room on Wednesday morning. We sent about 10 more items to the sale tote.

- Wednesday morning we went to our once-a-month storytime at a friend's church. I love this little group and the kids really enjoy it as well! Owen does much better in this storytime since there is lots of movement and play vs. some of the storytimes at our library.

- Yesterday morning we met friends at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. We have had a pass for the past year but it expires on the 31st so I am trying to get a few more trips in. I love that they always have free parking and let us bring in our own food so it's really a free (minus a bit of gas) fun day out!

The circus exhibit has been a huge hit every time we have gone.
The kids had fun pretending to be elephants on these big circus stands.  

We got to China just in time to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Some loved seeing the dragon and Owen was afraid. 

We have a had a good week here and are thankful to all be healthy again!
We are looking forward to company this weekend and our Annual Junk Exchange!

Happy Savings to All! 



2 comments:

Abbi said...

Praise God that Mark was able to fix your water heater so inexpensively! That was a huge blessing.
The museum looks like a lot of fun!

Amy and Mark said...

We live near Indianapolis, IN and it happens to have the WORLD'S LARGEST Children's Museum!! Last year my parents gave us passes for the year as a Family Christmas gift. We have enjoyed 8 or 9 trips for free! There is so much to see and explore!