Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:
- Last Friday, my dad and I took the kids to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. My parents gave a us a year pass last Christmas and we have really enjoyed visiting it as much as we can. On Friday, we really explored the outdoors sports area and the Take Me to Greece exhibit. We also enjoyed touching a real T-Rex bone (it's the only place in the world that the public can do that!)
The kids LOVE seeing this "cat statue" on our walk in each visit
Touching the T-Rex bone
- Friday night we took dinner to Mark's parents. We purchased two Chicago's pizzas for $.01 thanks to gift cards we had purchased from a fundraiser. The part for our oven still had not arrived so I baked Annabeth's birthday party cupcakes while there. The kids and Mark had a great time playing with Baby Jackson while I baked.
- Saturday we celebrated Annabeth's birthday with her school friends and cousins. She chose to paint pottery and we had a nice little party with them. This party was very affordable as far as out of the home parties go. We also treated Mark's mom and our nieces to an early dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door to the pottery place. The kids really enjoyed that.
Celebrating #8 at uPaint Pottery in Greenwood
Annabeth chose the gold foil wrappers,
pink and purple frosting, and these Happy Birthday toppers.
- Sunday we had a busy church day. The kids played handbells and sang at both services. We had a quick lunch and then set up for a special celebration. Mark is on the Parish Relations Committee and they put on a lovely event to celebrate our Pastor's 40th year in ministry. It was a surprise event and so many special people came from near and far to celebrate with Pastor Lee. We enjoyed hearing our District Superintendent speak as well as one of our favorite retired pastors.
- We had some time between lunch and Pastor Lee's celebration so we stopped by the church library. When we lived in Greenwood, we often borrowed books from the church library on days we volunteered. I have gotten out of the habit but I was excited to see two of the books from my Amazon list there. We can check out for three weeks and then renew if we need to just like at the public library.
- Sunday night Mark and the kids helped me load the cars and I spent nearly two hours placing all of our items and our Express Taggers' items on the sales floor at the Here We Grow Again - Indy South sale. I look forward to selling LOTS of items this week!
- Tuesday it was over 90 degrees. After school, we chose to have some play time at the library. The kids enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt, playing with other homeschool friends, and we brought home with two huge bags of books for the week.
- We donated a box of clothes and toys to a local thrift store run by church volunteers. We also donated a pack of pull-ups to Michelle's Free Little Pantry.
- I met a sales goal with my Usborne Books & More business and accomplished a long time goal of making Month 1 towards Team Leader. I also met a sales challenge and earned $20 in FREE books! It was so much fun to get some great books for our home library as a thank you for my hard work in September.
- Yesterday, between an orthodontist appointment and Saddle Club, we had a picnic lunch in the woods at a park. I love to find ways to be out in green space each day with the kids. We've had fun exploring lots of extra parks while eating "out." Even if we only have twenty minutes, I find this to be a much more enjoyable (and affordable) way to have lunch than running through a drive-thru.
- Last night we had "Buffet Dinner" - aka Leftover Dinner. The kids thought it was so fun to go through the buffet line to pick their foods. We had cinnamon pancakes, bacon, BBQ pork, corn on the cob, and mini corn dogs. They each had to choose one meat plus some other fruits and veggies that I had cut up. It was a good way to use up what we had in the fridge in a way that didn't feel like, "Oh man, leftovers :( "
My biggest frugal success of the week was tough for me. For the first time, I did not shop the Here We Grow Again sale. I LOVE this sale! I have always found the best items (toys, clothes, and books) there but this year we did not have any true needs and I knew I would spend money if I went. So, we stayed home. I seriously feel like I missed out because I saw some amazing items when I dropped our things off but we have some huge financial goals for the next 13 months and every little sacrifice will add up.
We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend celebrating our Miracle Girl's 8th Birthday!
Happy Savings to All!
- Tuesday it was over 90 degrees. After school, we chose to have some play time at the library. The kids enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt, playing with other homeschool friends, and we brought home with two huge bags of books for the week.
- We donated a box of clothes and toys to a local thrift store run by church volunteers. We also donated a pack of pull-ups to Michelle's Free Little Pantry.
- I met a sales goal with my Usborne Books & More business and accomplished a long time goal of making Month 1 towards Team Leader. I also met a sales challenge and earned $20 in FREE books! It was so much fun to get some great books for our home library as a thank you for my hard work in September.
- Yesterday, between an orthodontist appointment and Saddle Club, we had a picnic lunch in the woods at a park. I love to find ways to be out in green space each day with the kids. We've had fun exploring lots of extra parks while eating "out." Even if we only have twenty minutes, I find this to be a much more enjoyable (and affordable) way to have lunch than running through a drive-thru.
- Last night we had "Buffet Dinner" - aka Leftover Dinner. The kids thought it was so fun to go through the buffet line to pick their foods. We had cinnamon pancakes, bacon, BBQ pork, corn on the cob, and mini corn dogs. They each had to choose one meat plus some other fruits and veggies that I had cut up. It was a good way to use up what we had in the fridge in a way that didn't feel like, "Oh man, leftovers :( "
My biggest frugal success of the week was tough for me. For the first time, I did not shop the Here We Grow Again sale. I LOVE this sale! I have always found the best items (toys, clothes, and books) there but this year we did not have any true needs and I knew I would spend money if I went. So, we stayed home. I seriously feel like I missed out because I saw some amazing items when I dropped our things off but we have some huge financial goals for the next 13 months and every little sacrifice will add up.
We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend celebrating our Miracle Girl's 8th Birthday!
Happy Savings to All!
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