Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:
- Last Friday, we met with friends so the kids could play. She had been cleaning out her kitchen and sent us home with a huge bag of food items to donate to our church food pantry. She also sent home juice boxes for the kids which Owen especially loved this week. Thank you Jeanette!
- Friday afternoon, we picked up a load of laundry at a friends house. We came home, washed and dried it, and then returned it by dinner. About two years ago, our washer broke and their family kindly let us do laundry there for an afternoon so we were happy to return the favor this week when their washer broke.
- Saturday Annabeth had nearly 12 hour dance day. We packed water, meals, and snacks so we did not by any eat-out food or concessions. I also had leftovers ready for the crockpot and Mark had dinner warm when we got home. Dance days are long and quite busy, we could easily spend an extra $150+ each dance season if I didn't plan ahead for meals.
- Sunday was Mark's birthday. We enjoyed a quiet morning at home with home church and then spent the afternoon at his parents. He got some new tools and coffee and we enjoyed a long, snowy afternoon with family. We came home for dinner and the kids watched a movie while Mark and I had dinner alone in the dining room. Not quite a date but it seems to be as close as we can get.
- Annabeth won an AWESOME gift pack from our library's Winter Reading Program. It was a movie themed pack so lots of popcorn, candy, and cute popcorn bowls. She also won two Disney giftcards! We will keep the items we will eat and she chose to donate the microwave popcorn and Cokes to the Franklin Police Department's Tutoring Program for the kids there to have some fun snacks.
Thank you to JCPL for this fun prize!!
- Wednesday we took the WHOLE morning (5+ hours) and deep cleaned both of the kids rooms. We do this about once a quarter. We take everything out, dust, sweep, mop, and declutter. In total we had one kitchen tote full of trash (broken toys, toys with missing pieces, rubber bands, etc) and three diaper boxes full of toys to donate or sell. I did Owen's myself so two of those boxes were my choice of items to get rid of. Annabeth and I worked together but she did decide to get rid of some larger items from when she was a toddler. This is always such a huge undertaking but I wanted it done on a 10 degree day vs a beautiful, spring day in a few weeks.
- Yesterday, I took the whole morning (3+ hours) and deep cleaned our master bedroom. I moved all of the furniture, dusted, swept, mopped, and decluttered. I also rearranged it for the first time since we moved in this house in 2013. With all three bedrooms moved around and the main living spaced moved around in November it's almost like having a brand new house!
- One evening, Mark had a meeting and the kids and I had a dance party at home. Last night, the kids and Mark had a game night while I enjoyed reading a book I've been working on all week.
We are looking forward to a calmer weekend than the past few. Mark is on call for both workplaces so we'll be laying low and enjoying time as a family.
Happy Savings to All!
2 comments:
Good job on the meal planning for dealing with Dance. I know that is tricky. We have been dealing with a lot of Theater practice lately that cuts in on our normal meal times. We have been making it work with carting food here and there and not going out to eat but it sometimes feels a little overwhelming. Especially when some of us have been going on special diets (for Mara's sake) and so we have to sometimes have 2 different main dishes.
That is cool about deep cleaning and rearranging in your house. I have been working on that some but want to get more done.
Yes! We also often have several meals prepared and packed. Owen loves PB&J but then we make peanut/tree nut free for Annabeth. It is extra work and planning but so worth it to have that money to do other fun things in the future.
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