Frugal Friday 462

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday night we had Annabeth's birthday with her friends. We bought tickets to see the 6th Harry Potter movie at our local historic theater ($28 for 6 people) and took the girls all out for Frozen Paradise ($26 for 6 people) The girls all came with Harry Potter themed outfits, loved the ice treats, played on the courthouse lawn, and stayed out VERY late to enjoy the movie. I was happy to skip buying decor for a party and to support local businesses. Annabeth said it was the perfect night out with her best friends and I loved that it was exactly what she wanted!

- Saturday morning the kids performed at the Franklin Fall Festival. It was the last performance of their favorite dances from last season. I walked to a coffee cart where Mark's friends work and they really kindly gave us our coffees free. (Saved around $10) We also stayed after the kids danced for a free magic show. Mark, Annabeth, and me all got called up to help in the magic which was a Bucket List item for me! I have always loved magic and illusions. 

- Saturday afternoon we drove down to McCormick's Creek State Park for a family wedding. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, Savannah and Aunt Cheri had carefully thought out every single piece of the decor, hand making so many items, and it was truly just so beautiful. Join us in praying for Michael and Savannah as they begin married life. 

- Sunday morning I snagged a Shutterfly deal on stationary and address labels. I got 10 cards and one set of labels free - Saved $39.98!

- Sunday after church we went to Kristi's for Annabeth's birthday lunch with the Rileys. The Indy Rileys were sick and the IL Rileys had a change in travel plans but we brought over homemade Luna Lovegood cookies. Kristi got all the things to make homemade sushi too. One of her gifts was a new Monopoly game so we played a round before dropping Luke's gift by his house for his birthday.

 

Annabeth's homemade Luna Lovegood glasses cookie. SO cute!

Her baking skills amaze me.

 - Sunday evening Annabeth and I dropped 300+ items by the Here We Grow Again Indy South Sale. My two usual families skipped this sale so I took on a new consigner. Thank you to the Asher and Sichting families for saving wire hangers for me and to Cassidy for passing along some of her unused tagging supplied. I only have about $10 invested before the sale begins which means more profit! 

- A local dance family ran a Cards for a Cause fundraiser through my book business and earned over $350 towards their dance fees! Wow! I love how quick and easy this fundraiser is. They turned in money and orders last week and this week their accounts are credited and cards have arrived. Truly so quick and easy!

- I picked up a coffee yesterday. I used a giftcard making it free!

- While tempted to order in dinner last night for Family Movie Night, we resisted and Mark and the kids cooked dinner together. Annabeth made eggs and Mark and Owen made biscuits and gravy. We watched the new Call of the Wild movie and had a great dinner. 

- Through October 5, I am running my annual Fall Book Drive to benefit the Riley Cheer Guild. If you feel led to donate here is my link: https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8NFiXHkMfh

We are looking forward to a busy weekend, with family in town. Thankful for each precious moment with those we love.

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 461

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Friday after school, the kids and I drove down to Evansville. My parents treated us all to sushi dinner. It was lovely to stop by to see our dear friend Helen and to give her a hug. The pandemic had kept us apart for far too long. After dinner, Lu and I went for a long walk while the others stayed back to have a bonfire.

- Saturday we traveled down to Reelfoot Lake, TN. We enjoyed a BBQ lunch, visited a couple of areas at the state park, and saw the nature preserve. The kids were especially excited to see the raptors on display. Owen saw his bald eagles and Annabeth saw her owls. Both were in heaven!

- Sunday we went to the Discovery Park of America. I can't begin to explain how much there was to see and do there so I'll just leave a link for you to add it to your own exploration bucket lists. We opened and closed the museum and still had SO much we will have to go back to see!

- We had a sunset dinner at Blue Bank Resort. The view was gorgeous, the food was great, and it took me back to the dozens of waterside meals I shared with my own grandparents. It meant so much to me to be able to travel with Dad, Mama, and Lu and to have my kids make precious memories with them. Thank you to my parents for spoiling us with the beautiful lakehouse stay, museum tickets, and meals out. It was wonderful!

- Mark worked Saturday for a special event for work. Because of work he was unable to come with us this trip.

- Monday the kids and I drove back the 6+ hours from Tennessee so they could be at dance that night. We resisted the urge to stop and eat or pick up dinner once we got back in town. We ate car snacks and then ate  dinner at home. 

- Last night we enjoyed an Indianapolis Indians game. For years, in fact since I moved out for college, I have done EVERY survey one very receipt/website with the hopes of someday winning something. This was finally the time! Thank you to Meijer and Stouffer's Family Ballpark Experience for the game tickets (right behind home plate!) and for the giftcard which made snacks free for the kids! 

Seats right behind home plate were SO fun!

Meeting Rowdie and getting his autograph

Every game Mr. O, naturally, wants a picture with the Indians truck and cars. 

We had what felt like a really long week at home. I'm still feeling only about 80% after a high fever early in the week. Thankfully Mark's had some flexibility at work from working last weekend so he could help with the evening running for me. Looking forward to having a voice again and feeling 100% soon. 

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 460

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday Mark was off work, they are not offering over-time so once he hits his hours he has to be done for the week, so we did book-work in the morning and had an afternoon adventure. We explored a new hike on a Central Indiana Land Trust trail and visited Hunter's Honey Farm. We did spend a bit of money on local honey but it was not any more than grocery honey and better for us. We did splurge on fish food for fish in their pond as I have the best memories of doing that as a kid. They loved it too! We also purchased a kit,$7, to make beeswax candles at home. That was our evening project.

- Saturday Mark took the morning and hiked with a friend. They did a good 10 mile hike. They packed out a lunch so they only spent money on gas. 

- The kids and I visited the Farmer's Market for the last time this year. We spent $23 and stocked up on peppers, onions, spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zucchini, peaches, and 2 dozen ears of corn. The only item more expensive than grocery prices were the peaches. 

- We processed and froze corn for the first time. The kids LOVE sweet corn but we've just never frozen it before. It was fun to learn something new and it was a good project for Saturday morning for us. We saved $5 on grocery prices and supported local farmers. 

- Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a free Cultural Fair at the library. We met people from around the world, practiced some of their languages, made some art projects, and sampled lots of international food as we listened to presentations. 

- Saturday evening and Sunday Mama and Lu were here. We celebrated Lu's birthday with a special dinner out on Saturday, baking homemade vinegar pie together, Sunday brunch at Dale's 2 which was excellent, and, of course, a trip to Wild Geese Bookshop. I purchased a Christmas gift and used my 10% teacher discount. 

- I booked our dining for an upcoming vacation. I was able to get a gift-card with my Ibotta earnings which will make this very nice, sit-down meal completely free for us. 

- The past few weeks I have turned in two Cards for a Cause Fundraisers. The ladies running them have earned over $600 towards their children's dance fees. I love this fundraiser because it is truly so quick and easy for my customers. Please ask if you have a team, non-profit, or cause you'd like to raise money for. 

- Wednesday we took the day and went to Conner Prairie Homeschool Day. We haven't been for several years and were shocked at how busy it was! There was a long line to get in but it's a 50 minute drive so I went ahead and stayed. I am very thankful that they are so generous with their homeschool day discount. It was $14 for the kids and me to go. On a normal day it would have been $50. 

We've learned a great deal about the Oregon Trail and Laura Ingalls Wilder

this year so they were very excited to explore this wagon. 

Mr. O knows that I love pictures and asked me to make this one with him!

He didn't really remember being at Conner Prairie and LOVED seeing everything. 

- I have continued working to build my travel planning business. I have enjoyed getting quotes out to people and look forward to helping others build their vacation memories. Are you looking for help with upcoming travels? You can find me on Facebook, online, or via e-mail at a.riley@magicalvacationplanner.com 

- We did eat out a lunch this week. This was the first drive-thru trip we have made since our vacation in July and the kids were so excited! They had made an extra root beer for someone else so we also got a free drink. 

We had a wonderful but busy week. We are looking forward to lots of fun this weekend and cannot wait to see what adventures come next week!

Happy Savings to All! 

Frugal Friday 459

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Friday night, after a long week, I REALLY wanted to order pizza but resisted and cooked dinner with what we had on hand.

- Saturday morning Mark and Owen drove out to Shelby County to pick up our pig. When we got home, we were out of room in the freezers for three hams so we took one to our neighbors and delivered two to Mark's co-workers. 

- While the boys were out getting the meat, Annabeth and I stopped by the Farmer's Market. We got squash, peppers, and pumpkins for less than half of what we would have paid at the grocery store. Annabeth took along her own money and purchased some earrings and scrunchies. We shopped local and saved money! 

- We tried to go to our local museum Saturday afternoon but they were closed. We ended up using our Kids Bowl Free + 2 library coupons to get 2 games of bowling free. We did have to pay for shoes and then Mark treated us to ice cream after. It was a great, low cost afternoon.

- Right as we got home, friends surprised us by stopping by. They live about 90 minutes from us so it was very excited to have them over to play for a bit. Thank you Eblings! 

- Sunday afternoon Annabeth put together a meal from her Little House Cookbook. We had a fancy Sunday dinner of turkey, gravy, cornmeal stuffing, and  cranberry jelly. Together we attempted a homemade blueberry pudding with sauce. That was a frugal fail as I didn't keep a proper eye on the water and ended up scalding the pan and pudding mold. We had to throw both away and ended up buying a new stock pot. 

We are really enjoying this year of pioneer school

- Sunday evening Annabeth and I read and Mark and Owen went fishing. They caught a ton of fish and Mr. O was super pleased with this big catfish. 

- Monday we had a long, lazy Labor Day at home. We did go to Luke and Cassidy's for dinner. They made chilli and we took over cornbread. I tried a new recipe for the Crumble Cookie sugar cookies and everyone in my house agreed that this one was better than the last one I tried. Those cookies are very popular among Annabeth's friends but obviously not safe for her so I have been working on making our own version at home. 

- I got 6 free Christmas cards thanks to a photo deal from Walgreens photo. They were completely free with the deal so that was awesome! 

- Yesterday we had an appointment downtown so we popped into the JoCo History Museum for a bit. We were very excited to see the Artcraft 100th Anniversary exhibit. It was a fun way to celebrate that milestone vs expensive tickets to the actual Artcraft Theatre 100th Anniversary events. 

We spent much of the week settling back into a dance routine. We resisted the urge to stop for eat out food and/or coffee even as we were back and forth to the house a ton. August helped us really reset and stop that bad habit. The kids didn't even ask this week which means we helped them relearn to assume we will eat at home again.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend with lots of family! 

Frugal Friday 458

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- Last Thursday-Saturday we spent the weekend at Lakeview Villages with our best friends. We had the most wonderful weekend of campfires, cooking out, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, Bible Study under the stars, and so much more. Thank you Eblings for a wonderful time away from the hustle and bustle of home and quiet time doing what really matters.

Lakeview is our FAVORITE place and it was such a joy

to share it with the kids. 

Annabeth kayaking on open water alone for the first time.

We had her test it in the shallow waters but she quickly moved out to moving around the lake on her own. 

Early morning campfire Owen.

He had a great time showing off, and improving, his camping skills

- Sunday after church at Grace we enjoyed a hot dog and ice cream social. The kids played with friends and made paper airplanes and homemade rockets.

- Sunday evening we went to Luke's for dinner. He made the big meal and we took along Mexican Corn Pasta Salad. 

- Monday we took the day and did deep cleans of each of the kids' rooms. We didn't have any plans Monday or Monday evening so this was a great day to accomplish this huge task. This was the final cleanout before the Fall Kids' Sale.

- I processed and tagged all of our items for the Fall Sale. We only have around 100 items as we had a garage sale in the spring, we have passed on a great deal of items, and I've been selling on Facebook through the summer. 

- Yesterday we went back to our co-op. We were all so excited to be back with our school friends. We packed our lunches and met with friends at a local park after class. 

- We held to our August goal of not eating out. We don't eat out often but are often tempted to stop for coffee or snacks. We did eat out one special meal with just Owen and the grandparents gifted us take-out a few times. I wish I would have tallied all the times we wanted to stop but didn't. Overall, I am sure we saved money.

- Last night we enjoyed two hours at the pool for free thanks to the local libraries. Thank you library friends!

We are looking forward to a weekend with nothing on the calendar!

Happy Saving to All! 

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