Friday, April 26, 2019

Frugal Friday 292

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last weekend we headed down to Evansville to celebrate Easter with my family. My parents kept the kids on Friday evening and Mark and I were able to enjoy a dinner out at Hacienda thanks to a giftcard from my sister. Thank you all - we enjoyed it so much!

Easter Morning with my handsome man. 
He made me that beautiful beaded necklace in Sunday School. 

 Our family Easter picture in front of Old North Chapel where we
were married in 2009. We did not purchase any new items to wear for Easter.
Instead we worked with what we already had and color coordinated nicely. 

- Monday morning we dropped off all of our items for the Here We Grow Again - Indy South Sale. I have made nearly $200 on Facebook since the beginning of the year so I didn't have nearly the amount of items that I ususally have. I was happy to get more than three totes of items out of our garage. I will update next week with the amount I earned.

- Annabeth enjoyed her free P.E. Class at Franklin College and we all enjoyed lots of free play at our local library.

- Tuesday morning the kids and I ran to the store and got craft items ($7) to decorate our Derby hats and party supplies ($12) for Owen's birthday party. Owen was very sad to not have a hat to decorate so we helped cheer him up by allowing him to pick all of the decor and paper goods for his party in a month.

- Mark worked some overtime and I worked my Usborne Books & More business.

- The kids and I shopped the kids sale and found $299 retail items for just $72 OOP! WOW! Check out this post to see all of our finds.

- A friend ran a Cards for a Cause Fundraiser through my Usborne Books & More business. She was able to earn $189 for her daughter's mission trip this summer. I LOVE this part of my book business! Do you have a cause you'd like to raise money for? Ask me today about running your own Cards for a Cause!

We had such a good week and are looking forward to a weekend of celebrating LOTS birthdays!!

Happy Savings to All!





Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Spring Consignment Sale Haul

Today we shopped the Here We Grow Again - Indy South Sale.
I have been buying and selling at this sale since 2012.

Hooray!!! We love good deals!!!

Today we spent $75 and here is what we found
(price I paid vs. approx retail price below each picture)

Owen's Haul
Paw Patrol Puzzle ($1 paid/$1 retail)
Usborne 1001 Things to Spot in the Sea ($3 paid/$9.99 retail)
Paw Patrol Swim Shirt ($1 paid/$5 retail) 
This is all that he wanted. He is really into look and find books and I 
was excited to find this Usborne one to add to our shelves! 

 Dance bottoms for Annabeth in the next size
MCA Leggings ($5 paid/$12 retail)
Alpha Factor Shorts ($1 paid/$25 retail)
I honestly had no idea how expensive that Alpha Factor brand was, I just liked the $1
price tag. I probably would have looked for more if I had known the deal I was getting.

 Ruffle Girl Tunic and Leggings 
($8 Paid/$45 New)
There were many sets from this brand. 
This was the only color combo that
Annabeth cared for. 

 Lined Columbia Jacket
($4 paid/$30 retail)
Annabeth has had a Columbia jacket the past two or three years (also purchased at this sale)
and it has held up SO well. I was excited to find this really nice one for such a steal!

 Unicorn Dress
($8 paid/$15 new)
This dress was only maybe 50% off but she loved it and it is adorable!

 Matilda Jane Dress
($6 paid/$46 retail)
This was buried in the girls section! What a steal!!
The same dress is going for $30 on resale pages. 

And finally, our WOW item! I gave each of the kids a $5 toy limit. They do earn and save their own money so I like to let them spend it every now and then. That being said, I parted with more than three totes of things and didn't want a bunch of stuff coming back into the house. They both saw this ice cream truck and fell in love. It was well worth the $25 I spent (it was $35 but $10 less after they put their money in) 

Next Generation Ice Cream Truck
It come with over 90 ice cream items and it lights up and sings!
($35 paid/$110 retail!!!) 

We spent $72 with an approximate retail value of $299!! 

If you are local, come shop the sale this weekend:
Thursday Friday, and Saturday 9a-5p. Saturday is 50% off day!!

Happy Savings to All! 

Friday, April 19, 2019

Frugal Friday 291

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Annabeth and I finished tagging and organizing ALL of our items for the Spring Consignment Sale. Her help made the process much faster and much more fun!

- Friday morning Owen enjoyed a free science class for preschoolers at a local library. He especially enjoyed that it was an edible science class and that they were able to eat three different foods as they listened to stories and made crafts.

- Friday evening we did our weekly shopping trip. We spent around $190 which included two $25 giftcards (one for a wedding, one for a birthday) and $20 in coffee that was a super good deal for Mark to take to work. So our actual grocery budget that we spent was $120. That will carry us for nearly the next two weeks.

- Saturday morning we enjoyed the Annual Easter Egg Roll at the Benjamin Harrison Home. He is the only president to have been elected while a citizen of Indiana and as we are studying the presidents and first ladies this semester I thought this event would be fun. The kids each made a small craft, toured the carriage house and first floor of the main house, and did an egg roll all for FREE! Owen especially enjoyed seeing the portraits of his favorite president - William Henry Harrison. Mark bought each of the kids a book to use for school - Owen chose a picture book about Benjamin Harrison's pet goat (a true story!) and Annabeth chose a button book with a bag of buttons. We came home and enjoyed reading through the history of buttons and playing games with them.

- Saturday afternoon we enjoyed our friend Oliver's second birthday. His family throws amazingly fun parties and we all had a great time visiting with friends! The kids came home with tons of prizes and candy.

- Annabeth somehow tore her dress during Saturday's fun. It was her first time wearing it and she was very sad. Thankfully even though the rip wasn't along a seam it has a busy, flower print so I was able to mend it for everyday wear.

- Sunday morning Annabeth and Owen helped with the palm processional and with the singing of the anthem at both services. I love Palm Sunday as it leads us into Holy Week.

Palm Sunday 2019

- Sunday after church I dropped the three of them off at home and ran down to Charlestown to spend the day with my best friend. We spent four hours talking over sandwiches and snacks. I am so thankful to have met Rosie during our high school summers at Lakeview and am thankful for over half a lifetime of friendship since then. We haven't been able to get out for an afternoon like this for almost 18 months and it was glorious!

- Last year I bought a dragon hoodie for Owen. A friend asked to buy it from us when we were done. Owen has outgrown it and we were able to trade it with their family for a new pair of jazz shoes for Annabeth in a larger size. We LOVE trading!

- Mark was given a very nice tool (worth hundreds of dollars) from a friend who recently moved and didn't want it any more. This was very exciting to not have to buy.

- Annabeth enjoyed her free P.E. Class at Franklin College and Owen enjoyed his monthly preschool storytime at the Church of God in Franklin.

- I enjoyed picking up coffee and lunch after storytime with the end of my birthday giftcard from the kids.

- My wedding ring broke, one of the prongs came very loose on the engagement band and my diamond was loose in the setting. We took it to our local jeweler and were very happy to hear the price to repair it was over $70 less than we expected.

We are looking forward to a busy, fun weekend celebrating His Resurrection.
He is Risen!

Happy Savings to All! 

Friday, April 12, 2019

Frugal Friday 290

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Mark worked overtime at his full-time job. I worked my Usborne Books & More business.

- Monday Annabeth enjoyed her free P.E. class at Franklin College. She is enjoying basketball especially.

She likes to get there early to talk to Dr. Eiler and to practice
her basketball dribbling.

- Sunday morning Annabeth woke up feeling poorly. We missed church, did home church, and then she and I spent the day resting. Mark and Owen enjoyed the day over at Mark's parents' house with the family.

- I made it a goal to spend a minimum of one hour outside everyday this week. We ended up spending more than two hours outside every day! Happy Sunshine!

- Tuesday afternoon we prepped the front yard for spring. We cleared out flower beds and then spent a good hour visiting with our neighbors on their front porch. The kids love visiting with our neighbors on either side - they are elderly and love sharing stories with our kids.

- Wednesday we watched one of Annabeth's friends. The kids had a great time playing board games and spent a good amount of time outside as well.

- Yesterday, before school, we headed to the library to check out new books for the week. Annabeth is very into American Girl books at the moment and I love that we can find ALL of them at the library!

- Last night Mark's mom kept the kids and he and I went out. We enjoyed free ice cream thanks to a giftcard from my birthday (thank you John and Nicole!) and browsed Barnes and Noble. We saved 20% there with my Educators Card and successfully didn't buy anything for the kids on our date night.

Frugal Fail: Last Saturday Annabeth had a dance competition, 12+ hour day in Carmel. We packed snacks and lunch but did splurge on dinner out as a family. Mark and Owen also splurged and spent the day at Conner Prairie. They could have done a park and we could have eaten all packed foods but we save money so that we can occasionally have special things like those treats.

 Mark bought the kids rock candy at Conner Prairie 
and they enjoyed it as a treat on Monday.

We are looking forward to a busy weekend with some history, a birthday party, and the celebration of Palm Sunday!

Happy Savings to All! 

Friday, April 5, 2019

Frugal Friday 289

Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Saturday, Mark helped a friend move. It took nearly all day but he enjoyed working with some good friends. He was paid enough to cover the registration for a class he wants to take next September. He was able to register for the course for only $30 OOP - such a blessing!

- Saturday evening we went out to dinner (our bi-weekly family treat) and then did our first grocery trip in nearly three weeks. We spent just around $150. We do get our produce from Imperfect Produce but everything else comes at the grocery.

- Sunday after church we enjoyed lunch and a game day at Mark's parents' house. I especially enjoyed a good hour snuggling our new nephew.

Few things in life are sweeter than newborn snuggles
or snuggles with Mr. O. 

- Monday afternoon, Annabeth enjoyed her Spring P.E. class at Franklin College. We're so thankful to the college for providing this fun, free class for homeschoolers!

- The kids and I rolled the change from their piggy banks. We took it to the big bank and I had the kids help fill out their own deposit slips. We enjoy helping them learn the process of saving. We know they will be thankful when they turn 18 and have enough money to buy a car or to keep adding and saving towards their first house.

- With Annabeth's help, I have all of our clothing items hung, organized, and tagged for the spring consignment sale. It's so nice to have her able to cut and read labels for me! The process goes so much faster with her help. Next week we will finish the books, toys, and shoes. People often ask "Is it worth it?" For our family, it has 100% been worth it! We've made back nearly $2,000 since 2013 by selling at the Here We Grow Again - Indy South Sale. That is money we've always been able to put back into clothing/shoes that the kids need and the activities that they enjoy.

- Wednesday morning we had friends over to play. It's been fun to watch Owen grow and develop his people skills especially as her nears age four. They also enjoyed playing outside for hours after school. We are thankful for our fenced in backyard.

- Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the library and then headed to the park for a good few hours of play with friends. We especially enjoyed swinging and kite flying!

 I think they would swing forever!

We are looking forward to a busy dance day tomorrow and some exploring for the boys as they don't want to sit through 12+ dance hours.

Happy Savings to All!