Happy Frugal Friday!
Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money wisely:
- We had a great weekend with my parents. They took the kids to multiple parks, on miles of bike rides, and played a ton of games. They also treated us to Jockamo's Pizza and Piece of Cake cake for Owen's birthday with them.
- While the kids played, Mark and I redid Owen's room for his birthday. He still had the wall color and most of the decor from his nursery. He decided on Fountain blue walls and dinosaur decor. Thankfully he wanted to keep about 80% of his old wall decor so we just swapped out three wall signs for dino decor. Two of those three items were gifted to him by friends who were switching out their kids' bedrooms. Thank you Rose and boys!
- We ate cook-out leftovers all day Monday and Tuesday. This really helped our grocery budget! Even so, for last weekend's cook-out, Owen's special birthday food, and for his party this next weekend we spent just $125 at the grocery. We will be ordering pizza which will be $$$ but he opted for an at home vs renting a space party so that's just fine.
- Wednesday was Owen's 6th Birthday. We always give the kids 1 big gift, this year his was the room makeover, and so on their actual birthday they just open a few small gifts. We got him some scout shirts, art materials, and a game.
- Each year for the kids birthday they choose the menu with the rule that they can only have one eat out meal. They also choose the activities for the day. Owen chose pop tarts for breakfast, sandwiches and Doritos for lunch, and Chicago's Pizza for dinner. That worked really well as we had a coupon for free breadsticks and a giftcard making his birthday meal just $6!
- Owen chose his birthday activity to be bowling. I used a free game coupon and Owen, Annabeth, and I were able to have a nice day out for around $25. Owen had originally chosen a park/creek stomp as his activity but we had pouring rain and he chose to move our plans indoors.
- I have always allowed the kids to choose a special birthday dessert and most years they choose something homemade. Owen asked for a Triple Berry Parfait. We made it together and he loved making the #6 on top.
- We shopped for June Birthday gifts. We shopped local for one and purchased the June Kids' birthday gifts from my Usborne Books & More business. We prefer to shop local and shop small as much as possible. I am always thankful when people think to shop my small business when they need books.
- I forgot to buy tape twice at the store. That worked as I ended up getting a 40% off coupon from CVS and had $2 in extra care bucks. I was able to get three mega rolls of tape for just $2.
- Last night Annabeth and I went to her school friends' dance recital. She took time this week to write a bunch of tiny notes like "You shine!" and "I love your smile" and made little candy bags for them. If I teach her little else about being a woman, I hope to teach her to always cheer for others. I hope that she learns that she can do well, her friends can do well, strangers can do well, and that celebrating someone else doesn't take anything away from her accomplishments.
We are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend with Owen's birthday with school friends as well as his birthday with Mark's parents. He specifically asked to have as many parties as possible and we're having fun with that!
Happy Savings to All!
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