Friday, September 1, 2023

Frugal Friday 506

 Happy Frugal Friday!

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

- In our big house clean-out, one of the biggest changes was changing from a TV stand to storage to one without. Since our new stand is really a record cabinet, that opens from the front, we lost all of our DVD storage. When we really thought about it, we rarely watch DVDs since nearly everything is streaming. We let the kids each keep 2 DVDs, Mark and I chose 2 for both of us, and we kept a few series. We decided to keep the complete sets of: Band of Brothers, Harry Potter, Little House on the Prairie, and Downton Abbey. We moved the DVD player, remotes, and our few keep ones to a little cabinet in our bedroom. The rest we donated with the exception of some Christian and educational ones we will take to co-op in a few weeks.

- Mark spent the weekend helping one of his scouts with an Eagle Project in Crawfordsville. The scout is doing work at the Rotary Jail Museum and Mark enjoyed helping. He also combined the trip with a drop off of our old TV cabinet. I had listed our items on Facebook and a college friend was happy to have it. We had been gifted the oak cabinet many years ago from a work friend and were more than happy to pass it along. 

- Saturday morning the kids and I met Luke, Cass, Kristi, and the kids at our fairgrounds for a Touch a Truck Event. This event was free, although we did give a freewill donation, and the three younger kids loved it. Annabeth enjoyed helping the little ones get in and out of the trucks. As always, the police and SWAT vehicles were the hit for Owen. A friend of ours, and officer Mark works with, joked "So glad you brought the kids out to look at police cars. It's a shame they can't see these at home." After the event, Mark's mom treated all of us to lunch out. Thank you Kristi! We had leftovers for dinner.

Glad he's not too old for trucks!

- Sunday and Monday we had a family TONK tournament. This is a card game the kids learned over the summer and we've had the best time all playing together. Mark, of course, won but we spent many hours playing over a couple of days. I love that it's a game with quick rounds that you can come back to whenever.

- Sunday afternoon we did a quick garage tidy. We found some trash/recycling, brought a ton of clothes in to be washed, and found a too-small life jacket and carseat that we listed on Facebook and were able to immediately pass along to others.

- Monday morning the cups fell out of the cup cabinet, again. I decided to take 10 minutes to take them all, wash down the shelves, and just put back what we wanted. The kids decided to part ways with 6 cups from birthday parties/restaurants. We still have FAR more than we need but it was a good start on the clean-out. 

- Tuesday was Owen's first night of Bears. He is thrilled to be back with his cub scout friends and is ready to take on the new year. He is selling laundry detergent, dish soap, and trash bags as a fundraiser so please let me know if you'd like specifics on that. All the money he raises will go towards his individual fees. 

- Wednesday we had an appointment downtown. We were early so we enjoyed a cool, almost-fall morning walk while we waited. After dinner that night, we headed to the Blue Park for some fun. The kids are really doing well with five-day school weeks but I want to make sure that we're still having plenty of outdoor time and movement. 

- In addition to passing along the cabinet last weekend, we also passed along a wicker chair and clothes dresser. All of these items had been handed down to us and we were happy to pass them along. It truly feels like we moved - every room in the house has been rearranged. It was all the fun of moving without the huge hassle or cost!

We're looking forward to a fun weekend with family in town and a BIG project in Annabeth's room.

Happy Savings to All!

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