Frugal Friday 416

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- A few weeks ago, during a big rainstorm, we noticed a window leaking. Mark called our friend Phil who works on windows and thankfully he was able to come over and fix it for us! This was a HUGE blessing as an initial search showed a huge delay on both new windows and people working on repairing windows. We are grateful for Phil's friendship and this gift.

- This year Annabeth has been borrowing a bike from her friend Audrey. Her family had an extra that was the right size so we borrowed vs buying. The back tire kept going flat so Andrew fixed it after dinner last week. Thank you to the Evans family for letting us borrow the bike and for fixing it for the rest of the year! 

- We changed some travel plans and cancelled a hotel. Despite the fact that we were not going for months, they had already charged my card ($189!) and it said it could take up to 10 days to process a refund. Ten days later, no refund so I messaged and called over and over. FINALLY I got the refund issued. I am confident that if I had not been so persistent they would have never refunded the money. Always check your accounts!

- We made our first grocery trip in two weeks. We have really done a great job eating down our stock which was great because we have quite a bit of company over the next few days so we had to make a pretty big grocery haul. As always, I earned cashback through Ibotta. Not already saving with Ibotta? Join Here. 

- Last Friday night we took Annabeth to see Simone Biles' Gold Over America Tour. This was her BIG birthday gift. We totally lucked out and due to show changes they moved our seats closer to the show! Mark did splurge and purchased three souvenirs for Annabeth. Her birthday wishlist was short this year and this experience/gifts were a huge hit with her! 

When I was 9, my parents took me to see the Magnificent Seven (1996 Olympic Team) on

tour and I STILL remember that night! I was SO excited to gift this to Annabeth! 

Forever grateful for our Miracle Girl

2020 Olympic Team Leo!

Dream Big, Work Hard Annabeth! 

- The weather has finally cooled down for the season. I still had the kids' drawers/closets half shorts/short sleeves and half long pants/long sleeves. We took a morning and made the big switch. This is the first year where both kids needed almost all new sizes from last fall/winter. Thankfully we have a good stock of hand-me-downs and thrifted items. They won't have quite as many choices as they have had in the past but they certainly each have enough.

- Tuesday evening I had a friend in for a long chat. She had an order mix-up earlier this year and generously gifted Annabeth and me a new diamond art project. Annabeth happily worked on that during a rainy afternoon this week.

- Owen loves to paint. He worked on some rock painting projects this week.

- The kids enjoyed Halloween events this week. Owen had his cub scout Halloween party where he received a whole bucket of candy and won a prize for Best Costume. The kids both enjoyed Trunk or Treat while at dance this week. Each of them are allowed one bucket of candy, the rest we will donate. 

We are looking forward to a weekend with family in town! 

Happy Savings to All!