Happy Frugal Friday!
Here is how we spent money wisely/saved money/made extra money this week:
- Mark had training and worked overtime this week. He's worked 100+ hours in the past two weeks. We miss him!
- I worked my Usborne Books & More business.
- I sold some leotards online. Made: $30 with those sales.
- Saturday afternoon we had a family day. We splurged and saw a matinee movie "Jungle Cruise" which was fantastic. We did not purchase snacks or drinks at the movies but we did have dinner out at Jockamo's Pizza. We had enough leftovers for two meals.
- Sunday evening we attended a special Back to School prayer/worship service at FCHS. It was a great event and our children's first exposure to praise band style music.
- I did our grocery shopping with WalMart pick up and we spent just under $65 for the week. (PSA: This is our family's budget. Could we afford to spend more? Yes. We CHOOSE to coupon, shop sales, eat our stock, etc. When we were first married, our grocery/household item budget was $125/month We paid off nearly $30,000 in student loan debt because of good, frugal habits. We continue to live below our means as we work on paying off our house.)
- Here were our dinners for the week (sharing because people often ask and/or message to tell me how unhealthy we must eat to do it cheaply) Pork Loin/Veggies/Homemade Bread, Homemade General Tso's Chicken with Rice and Spring Rolls, Keto Buffalo Chicken Bake, Grilled Chicken Alfredo over Zucchini Zoodles, Veggie "Meatballs" over High Protein/Fiber Pasta, and Hamburgers with Veggies.
- My Top 5 suggestions for reducing your grocery bill this week: 1. Shop your pantry/fridge/freezer first and make as many meals as you can from what you have. 2. Plan meatless meals. 3. Don't make meat the star of the show - I serve smaller portion of meats and no one complains as we have plenty of fruits and veggies. 4. Check out coupons, sales, deals, and earn cashback with apps like Ibotta. 5. Use a grocery pick up and stick to your budget OR take cash to the store and track as you pick-up items in the aisles. STOP when you get to your budget.
- We've been helping an elderly neighbor with her household chores. Their family kindly brought us coffee cake and veggies from their garden. This made great additions to our lunches for the week.
- Wednesday afternoon, I did our final clothing/shoe sort for the fall kids' sale. I have been able to sell a great deal of items online and have donated quite a bit. I hung the 40ish remaining items for the sale that afternoon.
- Wednesday evening we enjoyed a free night at the pool with the kids' dance studio. They enjoyed a long evening swim with friends.
- Yesterday, we spent about 3.5 hours at Apple Works. Some dear friends invited us to join them for blackberry picking and play. I spent $11 on blackberries and the kids had a great time picking! They played in the maze and barn happily for hours with their friends and some little barn cats.
- Last night, my first Express Tagger dropped off her sale items. I think I will have two more this sale as well.
For years now, Mark and I have made our family motto "Say Yes and Show Up" and we live with the intent purpose to show up for others while being a light for Jesus. This week was hard and heavy for me. Like real, real hard. Wednesday night I knew we needed a day "off" on Thursday and right as I sat down to plan my friend Andrea asked me about the blackberry picking. I said "Yes" and we had the best morning out. The kid "magic" happened and all six played happily together for hours and she and I had great, encouraging conversation. Then, last night's tagger was a recent addition to my list. My boss had asked if I could take her so I agreed. She showed up with her items and we had the longest, best talk. She's a Jesus Loving, Fire-Wife, Homeschool Mama who spoke so many hard truths to me. She was able to express nearly everything I had been praying over this week. God really used her to say "I see you, people see you. You're going to get through this."
I hope that in your week you found the encouragement that you needed. If not, I'll be praying that it comes your way!
Happy Savings to All!
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