Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:
- I did our end of the semester clean out of the school room. I filled a tote of paper for recycling and Annabeth chose to get rid of 12 books she is finished reading. We will donate the books that are still in good shape and recycle any that have been chewed or colored on.
- Saturday night we redeemed a FREE pizza from Papa John's Rewards for Nana and PawPaw to enjoy with Annabeth as a thank you for their babysitting. Mark and I enjoyed a few hours out at his work Christmas party.
- All are still sick we stayed home much of the week and saved a lot of money on gas and outings.
- Mark worked one night at his part time job and most of the day Sunday as overtime. He received his Christmas gift from his part time job - a $10 grocery gift card.
- We gave coffee shop gift cards to Annabeth's dance and gymnastics teachers. We really love her dance school and are so thankful for all that she is taught there. I choose to get gift cards at Christmas as at the recital as a thank you. I think they are probably appreciated by the teachers more than a coffee mug or trinket item.
- We hit a milestone with Pampers Rewards. I chose to get 25 FREE 4x6 photo cards and FREE shipping from Shutterfly. We will use this code to make the kids' Valentines for free!
- Our public library has undergone renovation the past few weeks. It opened again last Friday and we have enjoyed two days of play with all of the new puzzles and toys. Annabeth enjoyed exploring on her own and also playing with friends.
- I cleaned out a tote in the garage and was shocked to find items leftover from a garage sale 2.5 years ago. I put everything in two big boxes and took them to Goodwill.
- In the tote I cleaned out, I found two hand-print keepsake kits. We kept those and Annabeth made a hand-print ornament and Owen made a footprint ornament for our tree.
- Mark has made adjustments to his retirement fund so that starting in January he will be adding more from each paycheck into retirement. As we plan on me being home for quite a few years to come, we are unable to add to my Roth IRA without me working.
- We also came up with a simple game plan to add more money each month to the principal on our mortgage payment. We know that every little bit helps!
- I made homemade salted caramels twice this week. I needed to use up some whipping cream and made them the first time as a test run. They were pretty good so Mark requested I make them for the scout Christmas party as well.
Mr. O loves to watch me run around in the kitchen.
He also loves chewing on absolutely everything.
*Disclaimer: I did not use this slobber spoon to stir the caramels*
We had another long, sick week at home. Mark is back at 100% and Annabeth and Owen seem to be running at about 90% but we think I had it early last week, got a bit better, and then have it again! I am guessing being up and down all night and nursing is making me slower to recover than usual. Hoping to really feel better by tomorrow morning as we are celebrating Christmas at our house!
I will be taking a break as next week's Friday is Christmas Day.
I will see you all back for more Frugal Friday Fun on New Year's Day! :)
Until then, Happy Savings to All!
2 comments:
It was fun to read about all the ways you saved money. I am so sorry that you all have been sick. I hope you are feeling much better now!
We are feeling better! Just in time for Christmas travels and visits with family. We are looking forward to seeing so many people that we love while we celebrate the birth of our Savior!
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