Frugal Friday 396

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Saturday was picture day at dance. While the photographers take great dance pictures, we always opt to take ours at home. We print for under $.10 a piece and give to the grandparents that way. 

- Saturday afternoon I volunteered at the Resources of Hope Foster/Kinship Picnic. I donated nearly $700 in books (a picture book for each child to take home and magic paint books to paint while we were there). I met so many incredible families and had some great conversations with kids while painting. Last June, I set a goal of donating $5,000 in books and cash to local groups and this weekend's donation finished out that big, scary goal!

- I had a couple dozen books leftover so I donated 17 of them to my friend Rebecca. She will be gifting them to her students as an end of year gift. 

- Sunday after church Mark and the kids enjoyed lunch at his parent's house. I went to a baby shower for a dear friend. I enjoyed connecting with many of my old coworkers from JCSO and had a great time celebrating T, Shane, and Baby. Tiara was my very first friend when we moved here and it's so exciting to think of her being a mama!

- Sunday was also our 12th Wedding Anniversary. We splurged on a babysitter AND a dinner out! This is a rare, wonderful treat. We had a lovely dinner and drive afterwards. I am so grateful for a dozen married years.

- Monday we took a mental health day. We chose to step away from home and work to road-trip and play! We ended up at Marengo Cave and had a wonderful family day out. We did both the long and short tours and were very, very fortunate that we were the ONLY people on the 60 minute tour! It was a little eerie but very neat as I have only ever been on a cave tour, even while spelunking, in a group of 20+

- While the cave tickets were a bit pricey we did do a package deal on the two tours. We also ate breakfast before we left, packed in a snacky lunch, and refused many tearful pleas for fast food on the drive home. We were home by 4:15 and we cooked dinner - saving the cost of eating out. 

- Tuesday was Owen's last night of Lions. His pack had their annual Pinewood Derby Race. Owen's car made it through about half of the races before he had too many points and was out. He did win the Leader's Choice for best car design though. He was very proud of that.

Owen designed his car after the El Chromino from Demolition Ranch on YouTube.  

- We are hosting, for the first time in two years, a family cookout this weekend. When all of the kids were younger, we made due by having them sit at our children's size tables. Now with most of the kids ages 9+ we need big tables/chairs for everyone. Mark talked about buying/borrowing one but on Wednesday our neighbor messaged to see if we could use a 6 foot table they wanted to get rid of. Yes please! God is so awesome in the many ways he meets our needs!

- A homeschool mama friend had some items for sale on Facebook. I snagged a free Charlotte Mason book as well as three card sets and two geography games. She sold me all of that for just $15 which was amazing because the C.M. book alone would have been $20 used! What a score! We have already enjoyed Geography Bingo several times and already built the European Map Puzzle two times. 

Frugal Fail: I, once again, forgot to check our Hello Fresh and it delivered without us wanting it to. Thankfully we hadn't grocery shopped for the week yet so that became our dinners. I did go ahead and cancel our Hello Fresh subscription as this is quite the expensive mistake to make. Thankfully we were able to have three dinners and leftovers from the box this week.

We are looking forward to a fun, busy weekend with ALL of our out of town family in town! We are excited!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 395

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last weekend we hosted a garage sale. We always partner with our friends the Evans Family and this year my sister-in-laws added items as well. All together we made about $200 over the course of two days. We did Friday and Saturday from 8-1. Not super long days but we had decent foot traffic. I was VERY thankful to part with some furniture and a lot of the large items that we had.

- Sunday Mark and Owen went to Mark's parents for lunch. They enjoyed the afternoon over there and since none of the other cousins were there Owen really enjoyed having the grandparents to himself.

- Sunday Annabeth and I did the grocery shopping, took recycling, and then enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon at a friend's pool. Annabeth loved celebrating her friend's 8th birthday and really enjoyed the surprise of Ariel attending the party. It was a great afternoon with friends. 

- We started our library's summer reading program. The kids love the little prizes and filling out the coloring sheets so this is a GREAT way to keep reading and learning through the summer. 

- I sold two pieces of home decor on Facebook. Made: $15

- Owen had his last t-ball game. We successfully made it through the season without buying concessions. We did splurge to take him out for ice cream with my parents. We used a buy one, get one free coupon. We are so proud of his hard work this season. 

- My parents were in town Wednesday through today. We had a great time serving special dinners, the kids each chose one and helped prepare it. Dad took the kids out to the library, lunch, and to the western store to get new cowgirl/cowboy boots. Mama and I had lunch and a shopping day together - her Mother's Day gift from me.

We are looking forward to a busy, busy weekend!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 394

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- My parents were in town last Thursday and Friday to watch Owen play t-ball. We had a hot dog dinner before we went to the ballpark and they were GREAT sports about sitting out in the drizzle and cold. Friday we went to Nashville (Brown Co) and enjoyed a class at the magic shop, ate pizza, and I surprised the kids with a last-day-of-school surprise of gem mining. I am not sure who had more fun with that, the kids or the adults. We all loved it! 

- Last Saturday we enjoyed a family day, the first one since February. The kids had classes in the morning, then we paid the $4 admission to an antique show at the fairgrounds, and enjoyed the afternoon at home with evening church. We did spend some money on a fun, homemade sign for our house. It's rare that Mark and I agree on something like that. Now, everytime I look at it I think back to picking it out, in the sunshine, as a family. 

- Sunday was Mother's day. The kids made me cute homemade cards, tipped me $.30 for my service, and gave me a coffee giftcard. Mark and Owen spent the day with his parents and Annabeth and I spent the day at dance. Annabeth and I packed our lunches and did not buy any dance shirts or souvenirs. 

- Mark was out of state for work this week. He had a long drive but hopefully good results will come from the work they did. 

- The kids and I enjoyed our first week of summer break. The first week is always a bit crazy as we readjust to the summer schedule. By Tuesday, Owen had pulled out his first grade books and began working on them. It's been unseasonably cold this week so I think it was a bit hard to feel like "Yay! Summer!" 

- Owen had two t-ball games this week. Our coach was out of town and with Mark out of town, the moms got to coach. We had a great time and it's been great to watch Owen have so much fun. We were really blessed this week as Mark's parents and our neighbors each came to a game. 

- With Mark out of town, I cooked typical dinners but with enough for leftovers. This worked really well as we had friends over for lunch on Wednesday who graciously ate leftovers with us.

- I ordered two pairs of leggings on a great deal. The size chart was off so they didn't fit. Since I had already paid shipping to get them to me, and would have to pay shipping on the return, I just passed them along to a friend. 

- Our sweet neighbors gifted Annabeth, and I suppose the rest of us, an outdoor swing chair. She loved reading on their porch while they were on vacation and made a point to tell them. They were parting with it and gave it to Annabeth. I expect she will spend a great deal of her summer swinging and reading there! 

- We did our last big cleanout of the season as we are garage sale-ing today and tomorrow! Come see us for books, school books, kids clothes, home decor, and more! We are teaming up with our friends the Evans Family and our neighbor so it will be HUGE! Annabeth has also been baking all week so come by for some peanut-tree-nut-free treats!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 393

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday, Annabeth and I headed to Evansville/Owensboro for the weekend. We celebrated the Kentucky Derby, Mother's Day, and my Momaw's 91st Birthday. Annabeth loved playing with her cousins and I enjoyed being able to celebrate this special day. I am so thankful for the gift of time!

Annabeth looking lovely in her Derby Hat in Momaw's front garden

- Mark had been away many weekends and needed to be home and on-call so he and Owen stayed back. They spent Saturday at a car show featuring Matt and the El Chromino from their favorite You Tube Channels. Owen was SO thrilled to see Matt, Mer, and the car in person. He's officially a car fanatic! 

With THE El Chromino

The boys did skip the insanely expensive car show food

($8/corn dog!) but did splurge on Demolitia sunglasses and a hat.

Mr. O was SO happy!

- Monday night after Owen's t-ball game we hung around the ballpark and watched some of the high school kids play. Owen enjoyed eating his post-game snack and watching the big kids really hit and steal bases. He's told us that he plans to play baseball "until I'm 20 and then I'l coach t-ball forever"

- I ordered new address labels through Zazzle. I have found over the years that if you create your item, put it in your cart, and then leave the site they will almost always send a coupon code or PayPal will. This time I was able to combine a 25% off site sale, plus $5 coupon from PayPal, plus 5% cash back from Rakuten to save over $15. 

- Owen's t-ball pictures came in this week. We hand delivered to local family/friends and only had to pay to mail six of them. 

- Annabeth won $13 at the Derby Party and made some extra money by picking up pinecones at Momaw's house. She earned $.05/pinecone. She chose to save most of her money but did spend $3 at the ball field this week on snacks to share with friends. 

- Mark worked a federal training a few weeks ago and was paid for it this week. I also received my payment for the Here We Grow Again Kids Sale. We are saving for vacation :) 

We are looking forward to a low-key Saturday tomorrow with ALL of us home for the first time in months! 

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers and daughters out there. I am SO thankful for my mama, my grandmothers, and all of the women who have invested in my life. I am also eternally grateful for the gift of two children who call me Mama.

Happy Savings to All!